Ship, Eccles New Road

Ship, Eccles New Road, Salford, 1951. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

Technically Eccles New Road, the Ship is usually included when people remember the Cross Lane pubs.  It was a huge, imposing corner pub built in 1888 to replace the Turf Tavern beerhouse which had stood on the corner of Eccles New Road and Cross Lane since 1868.  The Ship Hotel was named after the Manchester Ship Canal and was taken by Walkers & Homfray.  Concerts were advertised every night, "Everything in good taste. Nothing offensive. Nothing vulgar or rowdy" and the Ship was known as "The Winter Garden of Salford."  By the 1960s it was a Wilsons pub and it closed in 1973, a few years before the Regent Road roundabout and M602 arrived [1].

1. Salford Pubs - Part Three: Including Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (2003).

Sportsman, Cross Lane

Sportsman, Cross Lane, Salford (No.10). (c) Neil Richardson [1].

The Sportsman (No.10 above) was a small beerhouse a few doors down Cross Lane from the Corporation (7), Drovers (8), and opposite the Grapes (1), Fusiliers / Paddock (9) and Butchers Arms (4).  It was first called the Original Three Pigeons Inn in the 1850s.  By the early 1900s the Manchester Brewery were the owners and Sportsman eventually closed in 1928 [1].

Former location of Sportsman, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) googlemaps.

1. Salford Pubs - Part Three: Including Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (2003).

Butchers Arms, Cross Lane

Butchers Arms, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) ssplprints.

The Butchers Arms was on the corner of Unwin Street (now Churchill Way) at the top end off Cross Lane in between the Grapes and the Cattle Market Hotel.  First licensed in 1840, the Butchers advertised "the largest pig hog in the world" in 1867 - many pubs around Cross Lane would display freak animals that had come to the cattle market to draw in customers.  The pub was taken by Cardwell's Brewery in 1894 then Wilsons in 1899, Groves & Whitnall in 1907 then the North Cheshire Brewery in 1917.  In December 1922 the Butchers advertised"free wireless demonstrations", as pictured above. The pub closed before most of its Cross Lane neighbours, in 1967 under final owners, Inde Coope [1].

Former location of Butchers Arms, Cross Lane, Salford (Corporation, right). (c) googlemaps.

1. Salford Pubs - Part Three: Including Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (2003).

Church Inn, Cross Lane

Church Inn, Cross Lane, Salford, 1974. (c) Arthur Brougham with family's permission.

The Church Inn was in a row of shops, three doors from Regent Road at the bottom end of Cross Lane, opposite the old Palace Theatre.  It started out as a shop but in the 1860s, shopkeeper Matthew Bradshaw obtained a beer retailers licence.  Towards the end of the century the Church Inn comprised a front room vault, parlour behind with kichen and scullery to the rear.

Church Inn, Cross Lane, 1974. (c) NAH1952 at flickr.

The milk shop next door was incorporated and in 1906 a smoke room extension was added in the back yard by owners, the Rochdale & Manor Brewery who surrendered their licence at the Tyrone Castle, Arlington Street for these improvements.  By the 1960s Sam Smith's Brewery owned the Church, but along with its neighbours - the Wellington across the road, the Railway, the Station etc - it was pulled down in 1979.

Church Inn, Cross Lane, late 1970s. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

1. Salford Pubs - Part Three: Including Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (2003).

Station, Cross Lane

Station (left), Cross Lane, Salford, 1974. (c) NAH1952 at flickr.

The Station was next door-but-one to the Railway on Cross Lane adjacent to the railway bridge, opposite the old Cross Lane Station. The pub started out as the Star Inn in about 1850 and was (misleadingly) advertised as "an old original beerhouse" in 1858 [1]. Groves & Whitnall took the Star in 1891 and rebuilt it as the Station Hotel in 1898.  It finished its time as a Greenall Whitley house and - like its neighbours - was lost in the Cross Lane pub cull of 1979 due to the Regent Road roundabout construction.

1. Salford Pubs - Part Three: Including Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (2003).

Railway, Cross Lane

Railway, Cross Lane, Salford, 1974. (c) NAH1952 at flickr.

This beerhouse was briefly the Albion Inn when it opened in the late 1860s on the corner of West Albert Street and Cross Lane.  It was renamed the Railway Inn, possibly due to an original Railway Inn it replaced, in the 1880s and was bought by Groves & Whitnall.  The brewery bought the two remaining shops between the Railway and the Station Hotel just a couple of doors up Cross Lane, and also gave the pub and its neighbouring shop a Wilsons-like cream tiling similar to the Falcon and Wellington nearby.  In the 1960s the Railway became a Greenall Whitley pub and remained so until its closure in August 1979. The shop, then the Station, and finally the Railway were pulled down, with the latter's coloured lead windows depicting locomotives being the last to go [1].

Railway Inn, Cross Lane, Salford, 1970s. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

1. Salford Pubs - Part Three: Including Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (2003).

Buck Hotel, Cross Lane

Buck Hotel, Cross Lane, Salford, 1974. (c) NAH1952 at flickr.

The Buck Hotel was opposite the Wilton half way down Cross Lane, one door down from Liverpool Street.  In 1869 the Bucks Head beerhouse opened, with owner Edwin Done obtaining a full licence two years later despite the claim by neighbour Rev Clarke that there were already too many pubs and beerhouses on Cross Lane [1].  In 1888, the famous Buffalo Bill cowboy who'd been performing his Wild West Show at the racecourse, had been drinking in the Buck before he fled his cab fare back to his hotel.  The subsequent fine meant that Broadway would not be renamed Buffalo Bill Way in his honour [2]!


Buck Hotel, Cross Lane, Salford (left). (c) salfordonline.com.

Taylor's Eagle brewery had the Buck in the late 1800s and the Openshaw Brewing Company had it until the 1950s (advertising Walkers Ales and Jubilee stout, below) when it became a Bass Charrington house. When the Buck closed in 1975, barmaid Vina Lewis had been pulling pints in the pub since the 1920s, making her one of the longest serving barmaids in Manchester and Salford.  The council bought the pub in 1975 for £47,000 as the street was demolished for redevelopment [1].

Buck Hotel, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) James Herring at facebook.

1. Salford Pubs - Part Three: Including Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (2003).
2. www.salfordonline.com/salfordvideos_page/14532-salford_local_history_-_cross_lane,_part_3_of_4.html.

Falcon, Cross Lane

Falcon, Cross Lane, Salford, 1974. (c) NAH1952 at flickr.

The Falcon another Cross Lane Wilsons house on the corner of Hodge Lane and Lord Duncan Street, a site today marked by the northern tip of the Regent Road roundabout.  Listed in 1861 as a beerhouse, the Falcon was owned by the London & North Western Railway above which it sat (the pub of the same name was across the road a few doors up).  When the railway cutting at Cross Lane station was widened, the company had to knock down the bar at kitchen and when they rebuilt it, they assimilated the Globe Inn which stood next door. The Globe became the Falcon's new vault [1].

Falcon, Cross Lane, Salford, 1961. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

The Henry Cardwell & Company brewery of Hulme leased the Falcon in the 1890s then Wilsons took over in 1899, in 1918 advertising "Wilsons noted ales and stout in fine condition.  Cigars and cigarettes of all the choicest brands."  Wilsons bought up half a dozen houses either side of the pub and remodelled it with the standard Wilsons cream tiling.  Like most of lower Cross Lane's pubs, the Falcon was closed in the summer of 1979 [1].

1. Salford Pubs - Part Three: Including Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (2003).

Wellington, Cross Lane

Wellington, Cross Lane, Salford, 1970s. (c) NAH1952 at flickr.

The Wellington opened on the corner of Cross Lane and Myrtle Street in 1851 and was licensed as a beerhouse for most of its life, only becoming a public house in 1960.  In 1866 the pub advertised "choice mild and bitter ales, London and Dublin porters."

Wellington, Cross Lane, Salford (left). (c) James Herring at facebook.

The Wellington was bought by Wilsons in the early 20th century was was given its classic and distinctive Wilsons tiled frontage and "Sign of Quality" draughtboard in the 1920s.  Like the Falcon a few doors up Cross Lane, the pub closed in the summer of 1979 [1].  The Regent Road roundabout was built over this bottom end of Cross Lane with the loss of at least five pubs.

Wellington, Cross Lane, Salford, 1965. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

1. Salford Pubs - Part Three: Including Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (2003).

Cattle Market Tavern, Cross Lane

Cattle Market Tavern, Cross Lane, Salford, 1951. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

Not to be confused with the Cattle Market / Red Rose Hotel across the road, the Cattle Market Tavern opened a few years before the hotel, being shown on the 1831 map of Salford.  It was originally set back from the road with the front gardens used as a pull-in for horse-drawn traffic.  In 1867 there was an odd advertisement for the pub, "the greatest wonder out... to be seen alive, a calf with six perfect legs."  In the 1880s the pub was acquired by the Bolton Street Brewery who leased it to Cardwell's of Hulme in 1895.


Cattle Market Tavern, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) James Herring at facebook.

Wilsons then Walkers & Homfrays took the pub, the latter which rebuilt it in the 1920s in line with the Cross Lane shops.  They renamed it slightly to the Cattle Market Wine Tavern, as it was licensed only to sell beer and wine; it wasn't until 1960 that Wilsons obtained a spirits licence.  In 1966 the pub was included in the Windsor Extension compulsory purchase area and was pulled down (unlike its neighbour the Golden Gate / Craven Heifer) [1].

Former location of Cattle Market Tavern, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) googlemaps.

1. Salford Pubs - Part Three: Including Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (2003).

Wilton, Cross Lane

Wilton Arms, Cross Lane, Salford, 1974. (c) NAH1952 at flickr.

On the corner of Cross Lane and Liverpool Street in Salford sat the Wilton, first licensed in 1862, this pub had a thing for W's.  In the early 1900s Arthur Walters ran the Wilton which was owned by brewers Watson, Woodhead and Wagstaffe, before being taken over by Walker & Homfray in 1912 when they also acquired a couple of shops next door.  William Mottershead had the Wilton in 1940s, William Hayhurst in the 1950s and Josephine Walker in the 1960s, by which time it was a Wilsons house.


Wilton Inn, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

The Wilton was subject to a Compulsory Purchase Order in 1971 and four years later Salford Council paid owners, Grand Metropolitan, £20,000 and pulled it down [1].  Today the Co-Op funeral services stands here, diagonally opposite the closed Ship.

Former location of Wilton, Cross Street, Salford. (c) googlemaps.

1. Salford Pubs - Part Three: Including Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (2003).

London & North Western, Cross Lane

London & North Western, Cross Lane, Salford, 1920s. (c) Neil Richardson (2003).

Replacing a smaller nearby pub a few yards south called the Railroad Tavern or Railway Inn, the London & North Western Railway Hotel was built at a cost of £5,000 in about 1890 on Cross Lane at the corner with Wilton Street.  It was opposite the Cross Lane Lancashire Fusiliers barracks.


London & North Western Hotel, Salford. (c) James Herring at flickr.

John Higham who was previously at the Railway Inn took over and in 1891 advertised "the prettiest and best-conducted concert hall in Lancashire."  Salford Football Club was based at the London & North Western around this time and McEwan's and Burton Ales were on offer.  By the 1930s, Threlfalls Brewery owned the pub, followed by Whitbread by the 1980s when it had several makeovers [1].

London & North Western, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) James Herring at flickr.

In October 1981 the Salford City Reporter announced that the "dirty, dingy, nicotine-stained Victorian pub" had been transformed into the Norwest, a "trendy under-30s disco bar."  In 1983 live entertainment on was none other than the famous Foo Foo Lamarr, yet by 1985 the pub was known as The End.  It was indeed nigh as the pub was derelict by 1989 and pulled down a year later [1].

London & North Western, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) James Herring at flickr.

The location of the old London & North Western today is right at the bottom of Cross Lane, just north of the Regent Road roundabout and the  railway line which passes beneath.

Former location of London & North Western, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) googlemaps.

1. Salford Pubs - Part Three: Including Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (2003).

Grapes, Cross Lane

Grapes, Cross Lane, Salford, 1961. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

The Grapes at the top of Cross Lane, Salford can be traced back to 1803 when the Dog & Partridge on Richmond Place was granted a licence, when land to the west of Cross Lane was all fields.  It was renamed the Weavers Arms in 1816 then the Two Greyhounds in 1823, before becoming the Grapes Hotel in 1824, by which time Ellor Street and houses had been built around the pub.  In the 1840s and '50s the pub was run owned by Joseph Bleakley of the Sun Brewery in Ardwick. Towards the end of the century the Grapes advertised dinners, teas, well-aired beds and "balls, conversaziones and parties [1]."  

Former location of Grapes, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) googlemaps.

The Manchester Brewery had the Grapes followed by Walker & Homfray then Wilsons when it closed in 1966.  The fixtures and fittings of the pub were bought up by a local firm who exported the mahogany doors and acid-etched windows to America, while the licence was passed to the Woodman / Sports estate pub on nearby on Belvedere Road [1]. The Thorn Court tower block now stands on the site of the old Grapes, with the closed Paddock, Corporation and Golden Gate / Craven Heifer all in within a stagger of this once pub-rich Salford lane.

1. Salford Pubs - Part Three: Including Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (2003).

Cattle Market Hotel / Red Rose, Cross Lane

Cattle Market Hotel, Cross Lane, Salford, 1974. (c) Arthur Brougham with family's permission.

The Cattle Market Hotel, one of Cross Lane's many pubs, was a huge and popular boozer due to its music and dancing licence.  This pulled in the crowds at the weekend, often including coachloads of scousers who would invariably end up scrapping with the local Salfordians.

Cattle Market Hotel, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) Salford online.

You can see why the pub was so named in this photo taken at the turn of the twentieth century, courtesy of the Disused Stations site (www.disused-stations.org.uk).

Cattle Market Hotel, Cross Lane. (c) www.disused-stations.org.uk.

The Cattle Market changed its name in the 1950s to the Red Rose and offered wedding parties, dinners and dances in its ballroom.  The Red Rose is pictured below in 1962 and it closed in 1974.  It was at the top end of Cross Lane on the opposite side to the Craven Heifer. 

Red Rose, Cross Lane. (c) abrakeebabra at flickr.

Royal Oak, Cross Lane

Royal Oak, Cross Lane, Salford, 1950s. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

The Royal Oak was next door to the Golden Gate on Cross Lane in Salford.  While the Golden Gate building is still standing, the Royal Oak is long-gone.  It was known as the "Mad House" to locals, so you can imagine the sort of characters that would have used this pub.  The pub originated in the 1880s when a dining rooms and the beer shop next door combined to form the Royal Oak beerhouse.  Wilsons Brewery acquired it in the 1890s and they rebuilt the pub as it was described as being "in a ruinous state".  The new Royal Oak was completed in 1900, in line with the Craven Heifer next door.  The pub included a lobby and bar to the right, tap room and parlour to the left. The Royal Oak closed in 1970 as part of the Windsor estate compulsory purchase scheme, although next door somehow survived this [1].

Former location of Royal Oak, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) googlemaps.

1. Salford Pubs - Part Three: Including Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (2003).

Ship, Cross Lane

Ship, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) deltrems at flickr.

The Ship closed down recently due to trouble, a fate that seems to have met too many of Salford's inner city boozers.  Another, more famous, Ship is described by Tony Flynn here.  There's also detail of Cross Lane Station on the Manchester Exchange line, one of Salford's lost railway stations.  The Ship stands at the north west corner of Liverpool Street and Cross Lane, one of at least 18 which once stood on the lane.  The pub was run by Sam and Elsie Fawcett in the 1970s or '80s, a couple who had previously had the Falcon, also on Cross Lane. Before it closed for good, the cheapest Guinness in town was on offer...

The Ship, Cross Lane, Salford, 2011. (c) Alan Horrocks.

UPDATE:  The Ship has now been demolished:

"Last orders as well as the last rights have been called on the famous and notorious Ship pub on Cross Lane.  As I am writing this I can hear smashing and banging from inside The Ship as they are ripping out the heart of a once great Salford pub and hub of the Clarendon community before they deal the final blow and demolish it.   Built in the seventies to replace its namesake that stood on the corner of Eccles New Road and Cross lane it was a thriving pub until it started to attract trouble. it opened and closed its doors many times over the past five years but two years ago it shut the doors for the last time.  There has been much speculation about what they was going to do with the building, now we now they are to raise it to the ground. So sad another one gone never to return.  If you want to take some photos of it be quick they drop pubs in Salford overnight. [1]"

The Ship, Cross Lane, Salford, 2008. (c) Salford_66 at flickr.


1. www.salfordonline.com/localnews_page/29503-the_ship_pub_in_salford_is_finally_sinking.html.

Golden Gate / Craven Heifer, Cross Lane

Golden Gate, Cross Lane, Salford,2008. (c) Salford_66 at flickr.

Another of Cross Lane's lost pubs in Salford, like the Corporation, the Golden Gate has also found alternative use, this time as a mini-mart, Windsor, which I believe has also shut down in the last couple of years.  Follow the link to the above photo which also mentions the Royal Oak which once stood next door.

Golden Gate, Cross Lane, Salford, 2008. (c) Geograph.

The Golden Gate sits at the roundabout where Churchill Way joins Cross Lane, the pub being on the corner of Culverwell Drive, not too far from The Crescent.  The pub is shown in happier times below, a couple of decades ago in 1990 as a Whitbread house.  The Golden Gate was originally the Craven Heifer, a name which it held into the early 20th century.

Golden Gate, Cross Lane, Salford, 1990. (c) deltrems at flickr.

Corporation, Cross Lane

Corporation, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) kpmarek at flickr.

The Corporation at the top end of Cross Lane on the corner of Paxton Lane, is another of this lane's many lost pubs.  Like the Paddock across the road, it's been closed a while but still stands, having been converted to a takeaway - these days L.A. Pizza, and in the past, Salford Chippy.  

Corporation, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) Richard Rogerson at closed pubs.

The Corporation is a newer build than the older Paddock, and may have been built to cater for the high rise flats and council houses that neighbour the pub.  Its proximity to The Crescent (left, in the below shot) and the university suggest that the students as well as the locals stopped using this pub (and the others of Cross Lane). 

Corporation, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) googlemaps.

The thankfully retained signage advertising a "fine selection of traditional ales" suggests that decent ale was on offer, although "traditional" may refer to the 1970s and '80s tradition of kg, particularly in estate pubs like this.  A few comments from locals have suggested this was a rough-arsed boozer towards its final days...

Corporation, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) googlemaps.

Paddock / Fusiliers, Cross Lane

Paddock, Cross Lane, Salford, 2009. (c) Southern Driver at flickr.

Cross Lane in Salford used to have 18 pubs along its length from The Crescent and Liverpool Street.  Now there are none, and only a few remain, sadly closed, such as the huge Paddock on the corner of Cross Lane and Ellor Street at the top end.

Paddock, Cross Lane, Salford, 2011. (c) Alan Horrocks.

The Paddock's proximity to the old Manchester Racecourse explains its name and sign.  The Paddock has been boarded up for maybe five or six years now, and in its later days had downsized somewhat with the large lounge not in use.

Paddock, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) weasteman at flickr.

When The Paddock was a still a thriving locals pub back in the day it was full of characters "...1979... Jack Shore, George Vernon, Jimmy Davies and Jim Hope... brilliant characters, all sadly missed, never to be replaced, as is this once great Salford pub [1]."

Paddock, Cross Lane, Salford, 1990. (c) deltrems at flickr.

This aerial shot of the area shows where McDonald's is today, with the Paddock top left.

Paddock, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) James Herring at facebook.

1. www.flickr.com/photos/weasteman/3622273468/.