Old Half Moon / Sainsbury's / Daniels, Chapel Walks

Grinch, former Old Half Moon, Chapel Walks. (c) carling.

The Old Half Moon was contained within the Old Half Moon Chambers and Padiham Building Society premises in Chapel Walks.  This itself was built on the site of the huge "old" Old Half Moon Chambers Hotel and alehouse which was lost in the 1860s [1].  Gaynor Browne has supplied a fantastic old postcard of the Old Half Moon Hotel, which was run by her great grandfather from 1874-1876.

Old Half Moon Hotel, Chapel Walks. (c) Gaynor Browne.


Old Half Moon Hotel, Chapel Walks. (c) Gaynor Browne.

The pub in the centre of this old photo from 1914, looking down Chapel Walks from Cross Street, is the  "new" Old Half Moon, as can be made out by the crescent moon sign.  In later years, it changed to Sainsbury's, a Bass house.  Its Worthington sign in this 1970s Archive photo totally osbcured the OLD HALF MOON CHAMBERS stone inscription that can be seen on the restaurant-with-bar, Grinch.

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Grinch, Chapel Walks. (c) markydeedrop both at skyscrapercity.

In between Sainsbury's and Grinch this location was called Daniels in the 1980s.  Described as a downstairs bar selling Thwaites in 1989 [2], it was turned into Grinch in the early '90s when business Ged Lynch sub-leased the bar from Vaux [3].  Luckily for him, Vaux had just spent £300,000 on refurbishments before they shut it down.  Unluckily for Manchester and those with taste, he also got rid of the old furniture and ale pumps, replacing them with chandeliers and fresh flowers.  There can be no accounting for taste though, as Grinch soon became popular with the ladies-what-lunch and weekend couples.

1. www.northmanchester.net/content/view/99/2.

2. Ale of Two Cities, CAMRA (1989).

3. www.enforbusiness.com.