Friday 16 March 2012

Devonshire, Stockport Road


Devonshire, Stockport Road, Ardwick. (c) Eddie Sinclair at Facebook

Shown as a Wilsons house twice in 1970 and 1971 after a lick of paint, the Devonshire was a grand hotel on the corner of Devonshire Street and Stockport Road in Ardwick.  In the past it was also known as Tommy Brown's Music Hall [1], a Threlfall's house, and the Devonshire was called The Circus for a time before its demolition.


Devonshire, Stockport Road. (c) anneokeefe1@hotmail.com with kind permission.

An evocative shot of the inside of the Devonshire, kindly supplied by Anne O'Keefe, shows it was a big and busy old pub.  The Devonshire was sadly knocked down at some point in the 1990s and has, rather ignominiously, been replaced with a McDonald's.


Former location of the Devonshire, Stockport Road. (c) Eddie Sinclair at Facebook.  

1. www.myspace.com/jimmarshactorsinger/blog/441672677.

9 comments:

  1. I remember well Tommy’s music hall.
    Many happy memories. If my memory serves me well. The venue was featured in a well known British film.
    Chris Bluer

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    Replies
    1. A Kind of Loving 1962. Pub crawl ended there. It started at Queen Victoria, Ealing Broadway 180 miles away!

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  2. I remember well Tommy’s music hall.
    Many happy memories. If my memory serves me well. The venue was featured in a well known British film.
    Chris Bluer

    ReplyDelete
  3. I certainly remember the good old days.
    I worked as the pianist here. My grandmother lived nearby in Small Street.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did you live in Oldham then ? And have a brother who also worked there ?

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  4. Hi, can anyone tell me, was there a drag queen running the pub in the 70's/80's..and what was her name..... Thanks.

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  5. Anne Mary O'Keefe8 April 2022 at 14:37

    Jackie Carlton and Bunny Lewis were prominent figures at The Devonshire but I dont recall any of them running the pub.

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  6. Jim and Alma were the last tenants at The Devonshire and prior to that it was Pat and Anne Slattery as far as I recall.
    Possible someone else had it in its very last days. ?

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  7. Does anyone know who owned it in 1971-72? I worked there. The tenant who hired me to work 4 nights weekly was very nice. It was a drag/transvestite bar and one night my ‘’straight’ boss from my daytime office job walked in! As I wasn’t allowed to work a second job, my jaw dropped. But, he was ‘caught’ frequenting a disreputable trans/drag pub with a decidedly raunchy act. We swore each other to secrecy and kept my job. I would like to know who owned it then and when Bunny Lewis owned it. Were people aware of the raunchy act?

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