Pubs of Manchester

All pubs within the city centre and beyond.
A history of Manchester's hundreds of lost pubs.

Friday 13 April 2012

Tom Dobbins Club, Ardwick Green North

Former Tom Dobbins Club, Ardwick Green North. (c) Google 2012. View Larger Map.

Next to the old Grove Hotel on Ardwick Green North was the Tom Dobbins Club, and the building still stands today in fine condition.  The club was in the middle building of the three shown above with the Grove to the left.  It is shown in 1971 at the archives, but there is no indication anywhere of the type of club it was.  Dobbins is mentioned here as the Chairman of the Old Scholar's Association of the nearby Ardwick Technical School [1]. 

Thanks to his family who've been in touch since since we originally wrote about him, we've learned more about Tom Dobbins.  He owned the flag manufacturers based in the Crown Mills on the nearby Manor Street, and himself lived at No.23 Manor Street round the corner.  The mill closed in 1987, which had been run by his daughter (nee Lucy Dobbins) and her husband, and the company, J T Dobbins Ltd held the Royal Warrant.

During his life, Tom Dobbins did a huge amount for the elderly people of Ardwick Green and on his passing, aged 66, the Ardwick & District Old Peoples Club was renamed the Tom Dobbins Club by none other than the Lord Mayor of Manchester.  Thanks to Christina Peake, Tom Dobbins' granddaughter for this history.

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