George & Dragon, Ardwick Green South. (c) With permission from Alan Winfield.
Shown on the corner of Ardwick Green South and Creswell Street in 1973, and in the same year from Ardwick Green, this old Wilsons pub still stands on the eastern route into town. It was converted to offices, maybe as late as the 1990s, having had a mean reputation for a few decades for fighting and other misdemeanours. As this 1959 photo shows, the next door building has been demolished and the row of shops to the left has been replaced with new apartments. Aparrently in the mid-1800s the Ardwick Gentlemen's Glee Club was held at the George & Dragon, and it turns out an earlier version of the pub existed. The following history is from tweek at rootschat:
The original George & Dragon was a low, white-washed hostel standing well back from the road and built in 1758 it stood for 113 years before being demolished in 1871. It seems to have had a bad reputation as there were objections to the new one being built by the gentry who were outraged by the behaviour of the lower classes on Ardwick Green, on which there were shelter houses for the poor. Children from the streets ran about in hordes, shouting and screaming. A particular problem was dirty, unwashed men sitting on benches in the Green all day Sunday smoking foul smelling tobbaco and blowing it at people leaving church [1].
Former George & Dragon, Ardwick Green South. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.
The original George & Dragon was a low, white-washed hostel standing well back from the road and built in 1758 it stood for 113 years before being demolished in 1871. It seems to have had a bad reputation as there were objections to the new one being built by the gentry who were outraged by the behaviour of the lower classes on Ardwick Green, on which there were shelter houses for the poor. Children from the streets ran about in hordes, shouting and screaming. A particular problem was dirty, unwashed men sitting on benches in the Green all day Sunday smoking foul smelling tobbaco and blowing it at people leaving church [1].
In its later years it was a John Smith's house.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was converted until the 2000's? I'm sure it was still a pub building when I moved back to Manchester in late 1997, though I'm uncertain of the date when it closed. I believe there was a murder at the pub which probably hastened its demise.
ReplyDeleteI was the manager there working for John Smiths I took over on the 5th Nov 1979 but I only stayed for one year as it was quite a bit rough of a night time, the lunch time's were very nice. Brian
ReplyDeleteMy dad had this pub in the 90s I loved upstairs
ReplyDeleteMy dad had this pub in the 90s I loved upstairs
ReplyDeleteThe upstairs was haunted.
ReplyDeleteMy father in-law run this pub late 60's FRANK FOSTER only left because his mate and local man robbed the takings one tim.
ReplyDeleteTime
DeleteThe Top Floor something Evil lurked but never came down stairs would not want to be living in the top floor flats .
ReplyDelete