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Grey Mare, Grey Street, Ardwick. (c) John Briggs at Hulme, c.on.m, all saint, ardwick Facebook [1].
The Grey Mare Inn is pictured above, probably in 1971, in the shadow of the newly-built Coverdale Crescent flats, better known as Fort Ardwick. Shown here in 1968, this evocative but sad photo also from 1968 shows how all the terraced houses had been flattened around it, while the Boddingtons house was spared after the flats were built by 1971. It also shows us where the pub used to stand on Grey Street, which used to run along what is now no more than a path running off the eastern stub of the original street. It's nice to think that the Grey Mare was spared in order that the builders of Fort Ardwick would have somewhere to drink after a hard days' graft.
Location of new Grey Mare, Exeter Close and old former Grey Mare, Grey Street. (c) Google 2013. View Larger Map.
This may not be far from the truth in some cases. Whenever mass slum clearance was carried out, the pubs tended to remain, often for just a short time (e.g. the Derby Arms, Ordsall), because - the story goes - demolition worked refused to touch them as they wanted somewhere to drink during and after their shift. The fact that the original Grey Mere was soon pulled down and replaced with a new-build estate pub of the same name may not support the theory in this instance. The new Grey Mare on Exeter Street, shown here just after being built in 1972, has been closed for a number of years now but still stands, unlike Fort Ardwick.
Former new Grey Mare, Grey Street. (c) Google 2013. View Larger Map.
Nice one Cyril.It's cool that someone goes out their way to record the past. Those flats forte Adrwick still haunt. The estates and flats soon got run down. I was a child in the 80s who played in the flats the lifts stunk of puss, the intercoms never worked. It was a weird demograph if thats the correct term? The flats were open for kids to run around the floors and corridors it was dangerous really. On a rare occasion do I dream about that area? However, the Grey Mare wasn't better than the Ardwick Empire it was more child friendly.
ReplyDeleteGet back to me who ever wrote this up. I grew on these estates.
i also grew up on this estate in the 80s lived on lucas walk
DeleteWe had children in on a Sunday with a parents in the gray mare
ReplyDelete