Palmerston, Palmerston Street

Former location of Palmerston, Palmerston Street. (c) Google 2012. View Larger Map.

Today Viaduct Street ends at Palmerston Street but in the past it carried on up to Ashton New Road.  At the intersection of Palmerston Street, a Wilsons house of the same name stood.  The Palmerston wasn't the only beer outlet near here though, the off licence down the road sold Wilsons draught and bottled ales, while the corner shop on the other side of the road to the Palmerston was where you'd go for cigarettes.  These were in the days when there was barely a difference in off-trade and pub prices.  The Palmerston is shown here as a fairly large whitewashed corner boozer in 1963 and a year later looking down Viaduct Street.  This part of inner city Manchester on the Ancoats/Beswick border is strangely devoid of anything these days.

Blacksmiths Arms, Viaduct Street

Viaduct Street, Ancoats/Beswick. (c) Google 2012. View Larger Map.

Seen in 1964, this is the intersection of Viaduct Street from Palmerston Street, the corner shop is advertising Senior Service, Park Drive, Woodbines and Capstan cigarettes - evocative brands.  The off licence up the road offered the same but also Yates Ardwick Gold Medal Ales, on draught or by the bottle ("Beer, porter and tobacco to be served OFF the premises only").  Today, Viaduct Street ends at Palmerston Street here at the Ancoats/Beswick border, but in the past it ran all the north to Ashton New Road as this 1962 photo shows.  Viaduct Street was named because it runs alongside the railway, still in operation as a freight line, that runs past City's stadium.  Here's the Midland signal box on Viaduct Street in these two 1962 photos.

The Blacksmiths Arms was a Threlfalls house on the corner of Napier Street and Viaduct Street seen here in 1963.  It was a classic street corner boozer with the Threlfalls tiling to the lower half of the pub, a style which still survives on a few pubs in town such as the Lass O'Gowrie and Bank of England.  Though only a small boozer, the Blacksmiths was a multi-roomed house with the vault indicated on the window.  There were more beerhouses on Viaduct Street, the Palmerston and the Viaduct Inn...

Church Inn, Palmerston Street

Church Inn, Palmerston Street, Ancoats. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

On the corner of Russell Street and Palmerston Street, the Church Inn was a Groves & Whitnall house that lasted until 1966.  It was known locally as "Bill Illingworth's", the landlord, who was also a partner in Illingworth & Ingham's builders of Old Trafford [1].  The old location of the Church Inn is roughly where the pin is on this modern day map of Palmerston Street on the Ancoats / Beswick border.

1. The Old Pubs of Ancoats, Neil Richardson (1987).

Grove Inn, Tutbury Street

Grove Inn, Tutbury Street, Ancoats, 1970s. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

Tucked away on the corner of Grace Street and Tutbury Street, between Every Street and Palmerston Street, the Grove Inn only closed in 1981.  It was known locally as "Old John's" as Frank Pritchard describes in Neil Richardson's indispensable book on Ancoats pubs.  It was a Groves & Whitnall's house which was just like drinking in someone's front room.  There were no pumps so beer was brought from wooden barrels in the cellar in enamel jugs.  The beer would often be flat "so Old John, the landlord, poured it out from a height of about three feet to try to put some life and froth back into it [1]."  In those days the Grove Inn had no sign on the outside and drinkers often never knew its real name; by the 1970s it had passed to Greenall Whitley's who rectified this, as shown above when the pub stood alone amongst new flats.  Tutbury Street still runs through this part of Ancoats today, the site of the old Grove Inn is now residents parking in this new small estate.

1. The Old Pubs of Ancoats, Neil Richardson (1987).

Pineapple, Palmerston Street

Pineapple, Palmerston Street, Ancoats, 1920s. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

The Pineapple was on the corner of Dundas Street and Palmerston Street opposite the old Ardwick Club (now Ardwick Youth & Community Centre, strangely in Ancoats, not Ardwick).  The Pineapple closed in 1977 as an Inde Coope house [1] and has been replaced by new houses.

Former location of Pineapple, Palmerston Street. (c) Google 2012. View Larger Map.

1. The Old Pubs of Ancoats, Neil Richardson (1987).

River, Palmerston Street

River, Palmerston Street, Ancoats. (c) Google 2011 - View Larger Map.

The River on Palmerston Street, just off the inner ring road in Ancoats, was licensed in 1860 as a Cronshaws Alexandra Brewery house before becoming a Groves & Whitnall house [1].  By the 1980s it was a Greenalls house and as shown in these shots, before it shut, a freehouse.  Since closure The River has deteriorated badly.  However, work has been carried out recently to either begin the restoration of the building, or at least sure it up until someone decides what to do with it.  As Ancoats is (very) slowly regenerated, there may be a glimmer of hope for the survival of the building, if not the The River as a public house.

A photo of the River is by Gene Hunt is at flickr.

1. The Old Pubs of Ancoats, Neil Richardson (1987).