Half Moon, Holland Street

Half Moon, Holland Street, Miles Platting. (c) Henry Bairsto [1].

The Half Moon was a small Wilson's pub at the top end of Holland Street, also shown here at the archives in 1963.  This street still runs through Miles Platting from Butler Street to Varley Street (and has the still-surviving Navigation pub), but in the past it continued on to meet up with Hulme Hall Lane (Alan Turing Way).  The Half Moon was at the Hulme Hall Lane end near Royle's Bridge over the canal, and was described as having the smallest bar room in the area - if there were half a dozen drinkers in the bar it was overcrowded [1].

1. Just Henry - Memories of Bradford and Moston Collieries Manchester, Henry Bairsto (1991).

Stag, Philips Park Road

The Stag, Philips Park Road, Bradford, 1971. (c) Copyright Manchester Libraries.

The Stag is shown above and in 1971 at the archives on the corner of Sedon Street and Philips Park Road.  The photograph of the Stag was taken by A. Dawson from here at the Manchester Local Studies Collection, and adheres to their policy of allowing not-for-profit sites to display a limited number of their images in low resolution. 

Philips Park Road, Bradford. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.

Sedon Street is long-gone but what remains of Philips Park Road will be familiar to anyone who's ever took a cab from the city centre to City's ground in Bradford.  The road runs up from Ancoats to the mini athletics stadium, but in the past, before the stadium and Bradford Colliery, it continued all the way over to Forge Lane, what is now Alan Turing Way, as shown below.  

Philips Park Road, Bradford. (c) Henry Bairsto [1].

1. Just Henry - Memories of Bradford and Moston Collieries Manchester, Henry Bairsto (1991).

Pubs of Manchester poster

Name all 105 Manchester pubs featured on this great poster (via @UtdNation at twitter)...

(c) hgwh at photobucket.

Prince of Wales, Oldfield Road

 Prince of Wales, Oldfield Road, Salford. (c) Salford Pubs of the 70s at flickr.

Next door to Jollies (formerly St Philips Hotel) the top of Oldfield Road near to Chapel Street was the tiny Prince of Wales.  It was known locally as "Little's", not due to its size and probably not to differentiate it from the other Prince of Wales further down Oldfield Road either, but because it was run by the Little family from 1910 to the 1950s.  As pointed out by Mr Wilson, it was fairly common to have two similarly named pubs in proximity to each other, and for them to be known as the "Big ..." and "Little ..." - the Big Queens and Little Queens on Regent Road, the Big Derby and Little Derby on Derby Street in Ordsall, and the Big Dover and Little Dover in Higher Broughton (both still surviving).

 Prince of Wales, Oldfield Road, Salford. (c) Salford Pubs of the 70s at flickr.

The Prince of Wales opened a couple of years after its neighbour, the St Philips Hotel, as the Horse and Groom beerhouse in about 1838.  By the 1870s it was renamed the Prince of Wales and was a Groves & Whitnall house towards the end of the century.  The aforementioned Littles took over in 1910 and by the 1950s it was a Tetley's house.  The Prince of Wales or "Little's" closed in 1983 and reopened as Chung's Chippy [1].  Three decades later and the chippy is still going, despite its old neighbour being demolished.

Former Prince of Wales, Oldfield Road, Salford. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.

1. Salford Pubs - Part Two: Including Islington, Ordsall Lane and Ordsall, Oldfield Road, Regent Road and Broughton, Neil Richardson (2003).

Mitre Inn / Wine Bar, Stretford Road

Mitre Inn, Stretford Road, Hulme. (c) Bob Potts [1].

The Mitre Inn actually started out as the Mitre Wine Bar in 1866 under Allsopps Brewery.  It modified its name and survived under the Walker Cain Brewery until 1966 [2], although the brick building pictured at number 63 Stretford Road was probably an update on the original pub.  Sadly the pub and its neighbouring boozers and shops, on what was once Hulme's bustling thoroughfare, were demolished in the late '60s.  Today the old location of the Mitre is this block of new-build flats in the shadow of the Hulme Arch which spans Princess Parkway.

Former location of Mitre Inn, Stretford Road, Hulme. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.

1. The Old Pubs of Hulme Manchester (1) 1770-1930, Bob Potts (1983).
2. The Old Pub of Hulme & Chorlton-on-Medlock, Bob Potts (1997).

Nottingham Arms / White House Tavern, Warde Street

Nottingham Arms, Warde Street, Hulme. (c) Bob Potts [1].

Originally the White House Tavern, a Peter Walker & Son house, this pub became the Nottingham Arms in 1860.  It stood on the corner of White Street and Warde Street until it closed in 1965 [2].  White Street has gone but the latter still runs through Hulme; the former location of the Nottingham Arms was just east of where Old York Street crosses Warde Street.

1. The Old Pubs of Hulme Manchester (1) 1770-1930, Bob Potts (1983).
2. The Old Pubs of Hulme & Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Bob Potts (1997)

Ivy House, Chapman Street

Ivy House, Chapman Street, Hulme. (c) Bob Potts [1].

The Ivy House looks strangely reminiscent of some of the Hulme estate pubs of the 1970s, despite the fact it closed in 1938 as an Empress Brewery house, having opened in 1862 [1].  It had previously been a Peter Walker & Son's house and stood on Chapman Street, a road which is long-gone since the Hulme redevelopments, but ran just north and parallel to the existing Warwick Street.  The surviving Junction and new-build Kim-By-The-Sea pubs are a stones throw from where the Ivy House once stood.

1. The Old Pubs of Hulme Manchester (1) 1770-1930, Bob Potts (1983).

168. Turnpike, Wilmslow Road

Turnpike, Wilmslow Road, Withington. (c) MEN [1].

The nearby Albert is a blast from the past that should be celebrated, and pleasingly the Turnpike officially has been, as earlier this year it was added to CAMRA's historic pub list.  This Sam Smith's pub has barely changed since the 1960s, when it was renamed and expanded from the old Rochdale & Manor Brewery pub, the Wellington, into the biscuit shop (or was it confectioners and tobacconists?) next door [1]. The entry for CAMRA's Heritage Pubs web can be found here and has some fine images as well as a detailed examination of the pub's layout and decor [2].  

Turnpike, Wilmslow Road, Withington. (c) Turnpike Pirates.

During our visit to the Turnpike, we tried both sides of the pub, but it was pretty busy so we settled for stools around the fire place as we tucked into our cheap and decent Sam Smith's bitter.  It was a cracking penultimate pub for our Fallowfield and Withington crawl.  The Turnpike is a fine local's pubs but they didn't mind a gang of sozzled gents popping in for a pint - no turnpike toll required (the old Withington turnpike road from Manchester to Wilmslow is the source of the renaming of the pub).  The pub is clearly a valued community hub and even has its own football team, the Turnpike Pirates.

1. http://menmedia.co.uk/pub_thats_stayed_in_the_1960s_wins_historic_status.

2. www.heritagepubs.org.uk/pubs/national-inventory-entry.asp?pubid=595.

Kings Arms, Oldfield Road

Kings Arms, Oldfield Road, Salford. (c) Salford Pubs of the 70s at flickr.

The Kings Arms sat on the corner of Allwood Street and Oldfield Road until as recently as 2000, and can be traced back to 1805 when the Good Samaritan opened.  Five years later it had changed its name to the Kings Arms and the owner was John Allwood, hence the street name.  The pub was rebuilt in 1848 and the brewhouse it had boasted since 1831 remained until at least 1850, advertised as the Royal Brewery.  Further alterations to the Kings Arms were confirmed by an 1854 datestone which was transferred to the pub when further work was done a century later in the 1950s. 

Kings Arms, Oldfield Road, Salford, 1961. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

Walker & Homfrays had the Kings Arms from 1898 and when it transferred to Wilsons in the 1960s, the Newton Heath brewer painted the lower floor's tiled frontage.  Holt's Brewery bought the Kings in 1982 and it remained open until September 2000 when it was demolished a month later for improvements.  As shown below, these are yet to take place, and the only reminder of the Kings Arms are the railings that stood in front of the pub in the '60s and 70's as shown above.

Former location of Kings Arms, Oldfield Road, Salford. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.

1. Salford Pubs - Part Two: Including Islington, Ordsall Lane and Ordsall, Oldfield Road, Regent Road and Broughton, Neil Richardson (2003).

Napoleon, Rochdale Road

Napoleon, Rochdale Road, Collyhurst. (c) Bob Potts [1].

The Napoleon was at 275 Rochdale Road, and as the Marble Arch is No.97 and the Osbourne on the other side was No.360, a rough guess for the location of the Napoleon would be around Bomley Street and where the railway passes under Rochdale Road.  The beerhouse opened in 1839 in the same year that Napoleon visited Manchester from France.  Known also as Napoleon the Third, "the Nap" and Henrietta's (after licensee Henrietta McHugh), it was a McKenna's, Walker & Homfray then Wilsons house.  It finally obtained its spirits licence in 1962 but was compulsorily purchases and knocked down just six years later [1].

1. The Old Pubs of Rochdale Road and Neighbourhood Manchester, Bob Potts (1985).

Sherwood, Wilmslow Road

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

The student-only pub (maybe one of the better nearby boozers should implement a No Students policy) known today as the Orange Grove, on the corner of Wilmslow Road and Sherwood Street, was previously known as the Sherwood.  Knowing student tastes, it's doubtful whether the Orange Grove offers much in the way of a traditional boozer or anything worth drinking, but we'll not get the chance to find out.  In the Sherwood 1970s it was a Whitbread house, before that, Threlfalls in 1959.  It's also shown in 1976 looking a bit different due to awnings having been added.

Crumpsall Hotel, Tyson Street

Crumpsall Hotel, Tyson Street. (c) Gene Hunt at flickr under Creative Commons.

The Crumpsall Hotel has been pulled down recently following stories in the local press about it being under threat due to expansion of the Cheetham Hill Shopping Centre [1].  Shown in the 1970s at the Manchester Local Image Collection, this Holt's house was another classic, grimly-functional estate pub on the corner of Bury Old Road and Tyson Street on the edge of the shopping centre.  Today, Iceland's equally ugly new neighbour has replaced the Crumpsall Hotel since it was pulled in 2007 under the compulsory purchase order. 

Crumpsall Hotel, Tyson Street, Cheetham Hill. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.


1. http://menmedia.co.uk/council_insists_on_last_orders_for_pub.

Kings Arms, Whit Lane

Former Kings Arms, Whit Lane, Salford. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.

The Kings Arms ceased to be a pub in the 1990s when it was known as Jolsons Bar, and became the Kings Court care home, a function of sorts it continues today as the Kiddies Kingdom nursery.  These days it sits on St George's Way off Langley Road South and Cromwell Road, but before the Charlestown redevelopment, Whit Lane used to pass all way from here up to where the closed Old House at Home is.  

Kings Arms, Whit Lane, Salford, 1972. (c) Salford Pubs of the 70s at flickr.

The original Kings Arms goes back to at least 1824 and by 1899 was in a bad state of repair so the Worsley Brewery Company built the new Kings Arms which remains today.  Walkers of Warrington had the pub, then Tetley, before its closure as Jolsons Bar after it had survived the regeneration of Charlestown in the '60 and '70s [1].

Kings Arms, Whit Lane, Salford, 1930. (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).

Old House at Home, Whit Lane

Old House at Home, Whit Lane, Salford. (c) David Dixon at geograph under Creative Commons.

The Old House at Home sits forlornly closed on Whit Lane off Langley Road near the looped River Irwell.  It's not been closed that long - shutting at some point in the 2000s - as evidenced by the satellite dish that the pub has sported until recently.  It's tinned up and probably primed for demolition, and in any case, the chances of a pub reopening anywhere in Salford these days is slim.

Old House at Home, Whit Lane, Salford. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.

The Old House at Home can be traced back to 1854 when it opened as a beerhouse amongst the dyeing and bleaching works, collieries and factories in this once-thriving part of the Dirty Old Town.  The licensee, William Bond, applied for a full licence so that the workers who used his beerhouse could have a tot of brandy with their pint, however, it remained without a wines and spirits licence until the 1960s.  Joseph Holt's Brewery bought the Old House at Home in 1899 and in 1938 they rebuilt the pub as we see it today [1].

Old House at Home, Whit Lane, Salford. (c) Salford Pubs of the 70s at flickr [2].

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

2. Salford Pubs of the 70s - www.flickr.com/photos/61756486@N05.

New Ship, Blackfriars Road

New Ship, Blackfriars Road, Salford. (c) Salford Pubs of the 70s at flickr [1].

This handsome boozer stood on the corner of Salford Street (long gone) and Broughton Road (later Blackfriars Road) where Blackfriars and Silk Street meet today, the original New Ship beerhouse opening in the 1860s.  Groves & Whitnall bought up the neighbouring shop and six cottages and rebuilt the New Ship in Tudor style black and white wood.  What can't be made out from these photos are the relief pictures of ships of the day on the ground floor signage, and inside were two tiled murals of the King Edward VII and Glory ships [2].  As with most boozers in the St Matthias area, the New Ship was eventually pulled down in the clearance scheme of the 1970s, closing in 1972 and disappearing a year later [1].

New Ship, Blackfriars Road, Salford. (c) Salford Pubs of the 70s [3].

1. www.flickr.com/photos/61756486@N05/6431204335.

2. Salford Pubs Part One: The Old Town, including Chapel Street, Greengate and the Adelphi, Neil Richardson (2003).
3. www.flickr.com/photos/61756486@N05/6318981825.

Cavendish Hotel, Cavendish Street

Former Cavendish Hotel, Cavendish Street. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map

Seen here in 1970, the Cavendish Hotel has been recently refurbished for student accommodation, as seen on the Manchester History website [1].  A couple of years later the Cavendish had apparently closed and may have been used as an army training centre as this 1973 photo seems to suggest.  This Cavendish is not to be confused with the old Wilsons pub, the Cavendish, on the other side of the road, which was also known as Clynes Wine Bar in the 1950s and '60s.  The place looked suspiciously closed for good when we passed it on a recent pub crawl.

1. http://manchesterhistory.net/manchester/outside/cavendishhotel.html.

167. Orion, Burton Road

Orion, Burton Road, Withington. (c) Gene Hunt at flickr under Creative Commons.

This was a quick visit as we diverted from the main road to try out a good old Holt's house that was new to most of us, bar our Irish chum who'd dodged taxes around here in the 1980s.  Back then it was a Whitbread house as Joseph Holt's only took the Orion in the 1990s [1]. Today it has the typical Holt's no-frills ale and atmosphere, and harks back to simpler times with its separate vault (with its own entrance) and lounge.  The Orion may have got its name from a landlord in the 1870s and '80s, John Norbury, who had served on HMS Orion, although the pub sign shows a 1930s warship [2].  Whatever the fine details of its history, the Orion is another throwback boozer and one to be celebrated.

Orion, Burton Road, Withington. (c) Gene Hunt at flickr under Creative Commons.

1. www.whatpub.org/guide/004000/Pub004351.htm.
2. http://ackworthborn.blogspot.com/2010/04/abc-wednesday-o-is-for-orion.html.

Lancaster, Stockport Road

Lancaster, Stockport Road, Longsight. (c) Manchester History.

The Victorian splendour of the old Lancaster Hotel on the corer of Plymouth Grove West and Stockport Road is barely recognisable from the modest conversion that stood here in more recent times [1].  Alan Winfield at Pubs Galore photographed the Lancaster as a Vaux house in 1993 [2], before it was demolished later in the '90s to leave nothing but an all-too familiar pub-shaped empty plot. 

Lancaster, Stockport Road, Longsight. (c) Manchester History.

Former location of Lancaster, Stockport Road. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.

1. http://manchesterhistory.net/LONGSIGHT/PUBS/lancaster.html.

2. www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/74286.

Langworthy, Langworthy Road

Langworthy, Langworthy Road, Salford, 1990. (c) deltrems at flickr [1].

The Langworthy Hotel was opened on Langworthy Road in 1900 by Threlfalls Brewery, "the finest house in the district, beautifully decorated" with a billiard room and rare public telephone [2].

Langworthy Hotel, Langworthy Road. (c) Salford Pubs of the 70s at flickr [3].

Pictured here in the 1970s by the brilliant Salford Pubs of the 70s [3], it named after this part of Salford and the road which cuts north to south from Eccles New Road to Broad Street.


Langworthy Hotel, Langworthy Road, 1973. (c) Salford Pubs of the 70s at flickr [3].

In 1985 Whitbread refurbished the Langworthy Hotel as simply the Langworthy, and it served the local area until 1993 when it became a hostel for a few years before sitting sadly empty ever since.

Langworthy, Langworthy Road. (c) Bill Boaden at geograph under Creative Commons.

In recent years, various schemes have been advertised for the Langworthy, not least by the last owners who claimed it could be "an integral part of the new urban village centre's revitalization [4]."


Langworthy, Langworthy Road. (c) Google 2013. View Larger Map.

How sad that earlier this year, its demolition was considered the best option "to improve the attractiveness of the site to potential investors [4]."

Langworthy, Langworthy Road, Salford. (c) Salford Star.

Rather than look to blame an unscrupulous pub company and their ruthless property magnate tactics, Langworthy locals have been more angry at those closer to home.


Langworthy, Langworthy Road. (c) MEN.

In 2000 Salford City Council bought the pub for more than £400,000, but have allowed it to deteriorate to such an extent that, as of March 2011, it has been approved for demolition (by the same council) [5]. 

Langworthy, Langworthy Road. (c) Google 2013. View Larger Map.

A recent article in Manchester Confidential starts out:  "As I sit waiting for Hazel Blears MP in her Langworthy office, my view is of a derelict pub, about to be demolished [6]."  


Langworthy, Langworthy Road. (c) Google 2013. View Larger Map.

"The Langworthy, as it was, is a huge, imposing building.  But in its current state, it acts as a stark reminder of the struggles the pub trade is facing and how its role as community hub is slowly being eroded [6]."  Quite.


Former location of Langworthy, Langworthy Road. (c) Google 2013. View Larger Map.

1. www.flickr.com/photos/deltrems.

2. Salford Pubs Part Three: Including Ordsall, Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (1997).
3. www.flickr.com/photos/61756486@N05.

4. http://mole45.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/how-much-are-we-over-budget-in-regen.

5. www.salford.gov.uk/seedleylang-srb-langworthy-hotel.htm.

6. www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/News/Hazel-Blears-MP-The-Big-Interview.

Druids Arms, Brook Street

Druids Arms, Brook Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock, 1912. (c) Bob Potts [1].

Back in the days when Upper Brook Street was simple Brook Street, there were a number of pubs at the city centre end, one being the Druids Arms, on at the top end of Grosvenor Street on the other side.  It was originally a Hardy's Crown Brewery pub but before it closed in 1962, it had been a Walker's of Warrington house for many years [1].  Nowadays, most of the properties along Upper Brook Street have been pulled down, and this almost forgotten artery into the city centre is a depressing route.

Former location of Druids Arms, Upper Brook Street. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.

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

Windsor Castle, New Windsor

Windsor Castle, New Windsor, Salford, 1961. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

The Windsor Castle Inn stood on the corner of West George Street and New Windsor (later Windsor) from 1791 until 1976, when it made way for the new Albion Way road which bypassed Cross Lane to join Regent Road and The Crescent.  The nearby Cross Lane Cattle Market attracted "the most influential of the cattle salesman, as well as the butchers" to the "commodious brewhouse" with "a good supply of excellent spring water."  When the Lion Brewery of Hulme merged with Watson & Woodhead of Salford in 1898, they took the Windsor Castle, which passed to Walkers & Homfray in 1912.  The pub was a Wilsons house from the 1960s before it was pulled down [1].

1. Salford Pubs - Part Two: Including Islington, Ordsall Lane and Ordsall, Oldfield Road, Regent Road and Broughton, Neil Richardson (2003).

Railway, Greengate

Railway, Greengate, Salford. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

The Railway was a beerhouse just a couple of doors up the north side of Greengate from the bottom of Chapel Street.  First recorded in 1840s, the tenant in 1869 was the prize fighter, Bill Brown who once fought fellow licensee, Jack Miller of the Pink Tavern on nearby Bury Street, for a prize purse of £50.  After 21 rounds and as Brown won, the police arrived and nicked the fighters and some of the audience, including a Sporting Life correspondent.  The Railway was pulled down in 1881 for the building of Exchange Station, the last licensee being Henry Chapman, whose name you can just make out above the Railway Inn sign [1].

1. Salford Pubs Part One: The Old Town, including Chapel Street, Greengate and the Adelphi, Neil Richardson (2003).

Lord Egerton, West Craven Street

Lord Egerton, West Craven Street, Ordsall. (c) Salford Pubs of the 70s at flickr.

West Craven Street used to run all the way from Ordsall Park to Regent Road, and on the corner of the lost Martha Street stood the Lord Egerton, which dates back to about 1868.  The Lord Egerton was nicknamed Blick's after owner William Blick, whom Express Brewery took over from.  Walkers Brewery had it in the 1930s but but 1964 the building was deemed unsafe due to shaking from the passing traffic.  The brewery pulled it down and, because the plans for the new Ordsall weren't finished, built a temporary pub over the cellars [1].  This strange, single-storye pre-fab boozer lasted until 1971 [2].  These days only the lower end of West Craven Street remains as the new Ordsall estate was plonked on top of the old thoroughfare.

Lord Egerton, West Craven Street, Ordsall. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

1. Salford Pubs - Part Two: Including Islington, Ordsall Lane and Ordsall, Oldfield Road, Regent Road and Broughton, Neil Richardson (2003).

2. Salford Pubs of the 70s - www.flickr.com/photos/61756486@N05.

Grey Mare, Exeter Close

Former Grey Mare, former Exeter Close, Ardwick. (c) Google 2013. View Larger Map.

The Grey Mare estate pub was built to replace an original Grey Mare, which is shown here in 1968 on Grey Street, and rather superbly, here in 1968 amongst the demolition.  The Grey Mare, shown here in 1972 just after opening, closed a few years ago but the building still stands despite the Coverdale Estate between Hyde Road and Stockport Road being drastically altered in recent years.  Like its better-known sister estate, the Hulme Crescents in the early 1990s, Fort Ardwick was finally condemned in the late 1980s [1].

Grey Mare, former Exeter Close. (c) Google 2013. View Larger Map.

Alan Wilson at Pubs Galore has a photo of the front of the Grey Mare taken in 1993 as a Bass house [2], which shows nicely how the estate was already being pulled down back then.  While the Grey Mare was spared demolition, Exeter Close itself has disappeared from the map, and the pub can't have closed that long ago as it's all over the internet on old listing sites.  These views here of the fenced off old Grey Mare are from Warmington Drive, and it's not possible to work out the function of the building today.

1. http://manchesterhistory.net/manchester/gone/Fortardwick.html.

2. www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/74283.

Railway, Liverpool Street

Former Railway, Liverpool Street, Salford. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map.

The Railway was rebuilt in 1963 in estate pub-style and remains today on the corner of Oldfield Road and the start of Liverpool Street.  Sadly, it's as a printers rather than a pub.  The original Railway was built in 1855 and towards the end of the century, Walkers & Homfray expanded the pub by incorporating three Liverpool Street houses and one on Clare Street to the rear [1].

Railway, Liverpool Street, Salford. (c) Salford Pubs of the 70s at flickr.

When Wilsons Brewery took the Railway in the 1960s, they decided to demolish it and build a new boozer on the same site.  A swap deal saw Greenall Whitley take the pub in 1980 and then the Railway was a John Smiths house by 1993.  A closure and brief reopening preceded the pub shutting its doors for good in 1996 [1].

Railway, Liverpool Street, Salford. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

1. Salford Pubs - Part Two: Including Islington, Ordsall Lane and Ordsall, Oldfield Road, Regent Road and Broughton, Neil Richardson (2003).

Broughton, Great Cheetham Street East

Broughton, Great Cheetham Street East, Higher Broughton. (c) deltrems at flickr.

This imposing old pub still stands as the Oriental Pearl Chinese restaurant on Great Cheetham Street East in Higher Broughton.  The pub dates back to 1875 as a Threlfalls house and was built as a commercial hotel to cater for the expanding districts of Higher Broughton.

Broughton, Great Cheetham Street East, Higher Broughton. (c) Alexander P Kapp at geograph under Creative Commons.

By the 1980s the Broughton was owned by the dreaded Whitbread and was styled as a "Chesters" house.  A 1986 refurb saw it reopen under the Delamere Inns pub company arm of Whitbread, but by 1995 it was boarded up, never to reopen as a pub [1].

Broughton, Great Cheetham Street East, Higher Broughton, 1978. (c) Salford Pubs of the 70s at flickr.

1. Salford Pubs - Part Two: Including Islington, Ordsall Lane and Ordsall, Oldfield Road, Regent Road and Broughton, Neil Richardson (2003).

166. Albert, Wilmslow Road

Albert, Wilmslow Road, Withington. (c) Whose View.

On face value, this small Irish pub offers very little compared to Manchester's finest boozers - no real ale, no decent bottled beers, and only the dreadful Guinness and smoothflow on offer aside from cooking lager.  However, in terms of character and atmosphere, the Albert has it in spades.  From the friendly, feisty barmaid ("Ale? We're just a simple Irish pub... we've got bleedin' Magners"), the cosy and cramped interior complete with dimpled tables, to the loyal locals who keep this pub going, this is a real throwback boozer.

The Alexandra Park, Moss Side, as seen in the Albert, Wilmslow Road, Withington. (c) Pubs of Manchester.

The old fashioned price list on the wall lists, amongst other delights, Watney's Red Barrell, and a few old Manchester photos are haphazardly pinned on the wall, such as the Alexandra Park pub in Moss Side.  The old Wilsons green and brown livery has been retained and if I recall correctly, the toilet was outside as well, which seals its place as a Manchester classic.  The Albert is the unlikely survivor of Withington; long may it remain.

Albert, Wilmslow Road, Withington. (c) Pubs of Manchester.