MCFC Social Club, Maine Road

Manchester City F. C. Social Club, Maine Road, Moss Side. (c) TBC.

Can't ever recall going in the old Social Club at Maine Road (though I'm told I did as a nipper), but walked past it hundreds of times.  I think you had to be a member or a Junior Blue to get in.  Also shown here in 1986, the club was run by former City player, Roy Clarke, at one point.  The area around Maine Road is eerily unrecognisable without the hotch-potch of stands that made up Maine Road (and of course, the massive floodlights), looming over the expanse of terraced houses and narrow alleyways. 

Former location of the MCFC Social Club, Maine Road. (c) Google 2012. View Larger Map.

The ground, built as the "Wembley of the North", which holds the record club attendance of 84,569 for an FA Cup quarter final with Stoke City in 1934, was reduced to a 30-odd thousand capacity, all-seater with completely differing stands on all sides.  While loss of the stadium as it was towards the end, is not mourned by too many City fans these days, the old Kippax Street terrace - windy corner, the white walls - Platt Lane benches, Main Stand moaners, dog shit alley, etc., and of course the great pubs, will not be forgotten.

Maine Road Fast Food Bar, Maine Road. (c) Google 2012. View Larger Map.

Parkside, Lloyd Street South

Parkside, Lloyd Street South, Moss Side. (c) NewtonBluesMCFC.

The Parkside, seen here in 1971, still stands on the corner of Lloyd Street South and Parkside Road.  This was the closest pub to Maine Road and probably the biggest, though definitely not the best, pre-match boozer.  Blues will remember the collection on the door "for the kids" by the burly bouncers.

Parkside, Lloyd Street South, Moss Side. (c) Gene Hunt at flickr.

I certainly recall one memorable pre-match as a youth, when my dad dragged me and a couple of mates in here for a good gawp at a buxom stripper doing a turn for some lucky birthday boy who ended up stood on the pool table with his trollies down.

Parkside, Lloyd Street South. (c) stephenbroadhurst at flickr.

An even fonder memory was bumping into the late, great Malcolm Allison in about 2000 after a particularly satisfying 5-0 thrashing of Everton.  The old fella was clearly not in the best of health but that didn't stop him chatting with pestering blues and enjoying a couple of cigars with his post-match pints.

Parkside, Lloyd Street South. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.

Like the majority of the Maine Road pubs in Moss Side and Rusholme, the Parkside didn't last too long without the custom from 20-30 match days per year.  There was a convenient fire in the pub soon after City left Maine Road, which led to the conversion into flats - thankfully retaining some signage as a mark of respect to the old place.

Parkside, Lloyd Street South. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.

Walker & Homfrays, Salford

Walker & Homfrays, Maine Road, Moss Side.

Walker & Homfrays of Salford was registered as a brewery in 1896 (though appears to have been in existence earlier than that) and was bought out by Wilsons of Newton Heath in 1949.  In 1929 Walker & Homfrays themselves had bought up the Creeses Brewery in Hyde. The sign on the Main Stand roof at Maine Road contains the line "Beer is the Best" - agreed.

The Crown (now the Deansgate), Deansgate. (c) www.northmanchester.net/content/view/99/2/.

Former Walker & Homfrays houses in town include the Ancoats Hotel, Waterloo, Frascati and the recently lost White House - the only one still standing is the Deansgate, formerly the Crown.  History of the brewery is scarce, but we do know that it was located at the Woodside Brewery, Wilmslow Street, off Eccles New Road.

Walker & Homfrays beer mat. (c) www.calvert-beermats.com.

Sherwood, Claremont Road

Sherwood, Clarement Road, Rusholme. (c) NewtonBluesMCFC.

The Sherwood was one of the livelier pre-match pubs, with drinkers regularly spilling out onto the car park and pavement.  Abiding memories of the Sherwood are early starts in via the back door, supping nothing but cans of Breakers, and being mithered for 20 pence by Daft Donald, one of the real City characters.

Sherwood, Claremont Road. (c) Matt E L at flickr.

Apparently the Sherwood was the drinking hole of choice for bands who recorded Top of the Pops at the nearby Dickinson Road.  On the corner of Claremont Road and Union Street, it was one of the first pubs around here to fold after City ended their 80 year association with Moss Side and Rusholme.

Sherwood, Claremont Road, Rusholme. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.

Osborne, Victory Street

Osborne, Victory Street, Rusholme. (c) NewtonBluesMCFC.

The Osborne (or Osborne House to give it its full title) was one of the finest pre-match boozers around Maine Road - and well regarded by ale aficionados - but it has been sadly closed for a few years now.

Osborne, Victory Street. (c) Adam_B at flickr.

A loyal legion of locals and closeness to the curry mile didn't stop this Hyde's house being the last of the four Victory Street pubs (Lord Lyon, Gardeners and the Rusholme Working Mens Club) to fall.  

Osborne, Victory Street, Rusholme. (c) Google 2012. View Larger Map.

Its location, tucked away at the end of Victory Street, hidden between Claremont Road and Platt Lane, didn't help attract floating custom, and it wasn't the most student friendly pub either. 

Osborne House, Victory Street, 2009. (c) Gene Hunt at flickr.

After City moved away the Osborne had a refurb and gallantly soldiered on for a few years but this classic backstreet boozer remains a mere memory for generations of blues.

Osborne, Victory Street. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.

Lord Lyon / Nelson, Claremont Road

Nelson, Claremont Road, Rusholme. (c) NewtonBluesMCFC.

The Nelson on Claremont Road closed not long after City vacated the area to move into the City of Manchester Stadium in the east of the city.  Better known as the Lord Lyon, it was a bit of a dive on the odd occasion we popped in here, usually on the way to better pubs like the Claremont or Beehive.  I'm not sure why the Lord Lyon was renamed - may have been after the original street name, Nelson Street - as shown here in 1969.

Lord Lyon / Nelson, Claremont Road. (c) Google 2012. View Larger Map.

The following describes the Lord Lyon in happier times, and also mentions another old, closed and much-missed Maine Road pub, the Welcome:  "Mickey Gold ran the Lord Lyon on Claremont Road in Moss Side, perhaps the nearest pub to Manchester City's old ground at Maine Road and only a cock's-stride from Roy St Clair at the Welcome on the other side of Wilmslow Road.  Good beer and good people at the Lord Lyon. [1]"

Lord Lyon / Nelson, Claremont Road. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.

Although still shown on googlemaps, the Lord Lyon / Nelson, which stood at the corner of Claremont Road and Victory Street, has recently been demolished, having spent its final years as a church meeting venue and then a snooker hall, 'Rusholme Pool Corner'.  It joins its old neighbours, the Gardeners Arms, Rusholme Working Mens Club and Osbourne on the ghost pubs of Victory Street.

1. www.wrestlingheritage.co.uk/forum.htm#nabble-td4864900.

Clarence, Wilmslow Road

Clarence, Wilmslow Road, Rusholme. (c) NewtonBluesMCFC.

The Clarence was in the middle of Rusholme's 'Curry Mile' and, although always doing a decent trade from curry goers, eventually turned into a restaurant itself a few years after City moved from Moss Side to Bradford.

Former Clarence, Wilmslow Road. (c) Pubs of Manchester.

As of 2011, the old Clarence is a garish pink, alcohol-free restaurant.  The pub had existed on this site for over 150 years, shown below in a 1905 postcard as a Hardy's Crown Ales house.

Clarence, Wilmslow Road, 1905. (c) http://rusholmearchive.org/a-tour-of-wilmslow-road.

The Clarence was an rare pre-match haunt of ours - don't remember much in the way of real ale, just the wood interior and occasional mither with visiting fans.

Former Clarence, Wilmslow Road. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.

Robin Hood, Upper Lloyd Street

Robin Hood, Upper Lloyd Street, Moss Side. (c) Google 2012. View Larger Map.

The Robin Hood was an odd looking grey brick Robinson's house on Upper Lloyd Street in Greenheys (or Moss Side), and one of many pre-match boozers frequented by Blues.  The Robin Hood closed well before Manchester City moved from Moss Side to Bradford and has been an appliances shop for years.

Shown as a Robinson's house in 1971, it was a rough and ready locals boozer, heavily frequented by the Afro-Caribbean community.  There is a wonderful photo of a crowd gathered outside the Robin Hood at Mancky [1].  A fine Clement Cooper mini-documentary on black culture in Moss Side featured the Robin Hood in the 1980s, and later after it had closed and become filled with washing machines and cookers [2 - link now dead].

"The opening sequence concentrates on day to day events taking place within the pub as they have always been doing for countless years without change.  A mid-morning card game slips by to a lilting reggae beat into an afternoon of volatile dominoes played for pennies.  Life outside, casually observed through ornate stained glass windows tinged acrid yellow with the last drifting whiffs of stale tobacco smoke, carries on regardless.  Doing what merciless time has and will always do, progress.  Leaving the Robin Hood pub and the lives of all the unemployed middle-aged patrons seeking refuge and solace in there far, far behind [2 - link now dead]."
 

This passage about the Moss Side Carnival gives further indication of the type of inner city pub the Robin Hood was:  "When I moved to Acomb Street my friend Joe, who grew up on Cowesby Street, made me swear on my life that I would never go into the Robin Hood pub which was very close by.  He wouldn’t tell me why, but he implied that this was for my own safety [1]."

"I probably would never have gone in the pub anyway but I was always intrigued by Joe’s dire warning.  When the carnival parade made its way along Lloyd Street, the people in the Robin Hood came outside to watch.  This was my chance to see what the regulars looked like without going inside, so I took a picture of them.  They didn’t look scarey after all – but they had great hats [1]."

1. http://www.mancky.co.uk/?p=1654
2. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE4ZLKw3JdA (link now dead).

California Vaults, Great Ancoats Street

Former location of California Vaults, Great Ancoats Street.(c) googlemaps.

The California Vaults was a short-lived beerhouse on "The Lane" (Great Ancoats Street).  It opened in 1850, probably at the same time as its next door neighbour, the Commercial Inn, but was a linen draper's shop by 1958 [1].  It was third property in from Meadow Street (now Millbank Street) which puts its former location at the second house in with with the arched windows in this Piccadilly Basin block.

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

Commercial Inn, Great Ancoats Street

Former location of the Commercial Inn, Great Ancoats Street. (c) googlemaps.

The Commercial Inn beerhouse was next door to the California Vaults in a row of shops opposite Bradfield Street, between Meadow Street (now Millbank Street) and Chapel Street (now Chapeltown Street).  The Commercial was first recorded in 1850 like the California Vaults. However, two years later the Commercial was a pie shop, then a greengrocer's, then back to a beerhouse in 1855, with no records of it thereafter [1].  Its approximate location was the first property in the modern block which forms part of the Piccadilly Basin development.

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

Flower Pot, Great Ancoats Street

Former location of Flower Pot, Great Ancoats Street. (c) googlemaps.

The Flower Pot beerhouse closed in 1924 as a Groves & Whitnall house.  It was near the corner of Bradfild Street, opposite Meadow Street (now Millbank Street - where the cars are packed, set back off Great Ancoats Street, above) [1].  This spot today is marked by the corner of the new flats that have sprung up here as part of the Islington Wharf development.

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

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.

Oxford Wine Bar, Oxford Road

Oxford Wine Bar, Oxford Road. (c) Bob Potts [1].

Just a few doors towards the city centre from Frascati was the Oxford Wine Bar, a Wilsons Brewery pub.  If it were still standing it would be separated from Frascati by the Manchester Aquatics Centre.  Before the redevelopment of this area, the Oxford Wine Bar was on the corner of Rusholme Road, a lost main street that linked Oxford Road to Downing Street, parallel to and just south of Grosvenor Street.  Following closure, the bar was bought by UMIST and became a day nursery for students who had children.  In 1979 the nursery was licensed to care for 30 kids from students of all of Manchester's and Salford's universities [2].  The nursery moved out in the '80s which is perhaps when these buildings were demolished.

Former location of Oxford Wine Bar, Oxford Road. (c) googlemaps.

1. The Old Pubs of Hulme and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Bob Potts (1997).
2. A History of The University of Manchester 1973-1990, Brian Pullan (2004).

Frascati, Oxford Road

Frascati, Oxford Road, 1951. (c) Bob Potts [1].

Frascati was an Italian pub-cum-restaurant (referred to in some records as Frascati's Restaurant) on Oxford Road.  The pub was a Walker & Homfray then Wilsons Brewery house and closed in 1965 having formerly been known as Cima's Restaurant [1].  It's shown here at the archives in 1956 (the hung sign says "Bar & Lounge").  Frascati was a grand looking pub on the corner of Rosamond Street East.  Both the buildings and the street have been lost; the route is still there but pedestrianised down the site of the Manchester Aquatics Centre (out of shot to the left).

Former location of Frascati, Oxford Road. (c) googlemaps.

1. The Old Pubs of Hulme and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Bob Potts (1997).

Auld Lang Syne / Touchetts, Pollard Street

Auld Lang Syne, Pollard Street. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

While following development of the Picccadilly-COMS-Droylsden tram line at the incomparable Sky Scraper City Manchester site, the Auld Lang Syne was mentioned.  The quirky old building that has been retained while redevelopments and the tram lines spring up around is not actually the Auld Lang Syne.  The pub was on the other corner of Boond Street as shown above in Neil Richardson's book (there was a pub adjacent to the brick and timbered building - the Fire Brigade / Pollard) [1].  Like so many inner city pubs that fall victim to redevelopment, the site of the old pub remains vacant.

The Auld Lang Syne was originally the Touchetts Arms going back to 1819, named after the gent who owned the land that Pollard Street was built on, off The Lane (Great Ancoats Street).  The name Auld Lang Syne appeared in 1840 although by 1873 it was back to the Old Touchetts Arms, before reverting back again in the 1880s.  In 1842 the Touchetts was listed as having "...nine beer taps... 13 spirit casks... a brewery with 9, 18 and 36 gallon barrels... the stock consists of about 30 barrels of ale porter, a quantity of rum, gin, brandy, whiskey... [1]."  The pub was demolished some time in the early '90s, thankfully photographed by Alan Winfield of Pubs Galore before the event.

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

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/.