The Britannia Inn is shown here in 1963 as a Red Rose house and would have been a busy local's boozer when this area was full of terraces housing. It may also have received trade from miners at the huge Bradford Colliery over the road until 1968, when it had to close due to the subsidence it was causing to houses in the area.
When the Commonwealth Stadium was built in 2001-2002, the pub was one of the few surrounding buildings to remain and when City moved in, Mike Summerbee bought an interest in the Britannia and it was named after the City legend. Sadly the pub had to serve out of plastic pots due to health & safety (like all pubs around the ground) and the fact it was keg or cans only didn't help.
Maine Road, Rowsley Street, Beswick. (c) jacoliame at panoramio.
Summerbee's was renamed Maine Road (Rowsley Street is the official address of MCFC) yet despite this positive development it failed as most blues preferred to sup in town. Despite the Evening News running a story in 2011 on the redevelopment of the pub, it was knocked down in 2010 after being bought up by the club with an eye on building a press accreditation centre in its place.
Former location of Britannia / Summerbee's / Maine Road. (c) googlemaps.
This was my parents local in the 50s and 60s Bill and Hilda Banks
ReplyDeleteall our family lived in Beswick