Friday, 22 January 2010

Yates's / Blob Shop / Brooks Bar / Market Trader, High Street

Yates's, High Street, 1990. (c) deltrems at flickr.

One of the more popular Yates's in town, this was a tardis of a pub.  A tiny entrance at the front betrayed a large cavernous room at the back.  One of the first pubs to introduce a queuing system at the bar due to how busy it got, this really worked and was respected by punters and bar staff alike.  Also had one of the steepest stairways to a toilet in Manchester and many a drunken customer would come crashing down at various times in the evening.  The pub itself was famous for its Blobs or "All Ins" if you were posh, consisting of Yates Original Liqueur wine, sugar and hot water.  A drink that seemed to speed up drunkenness to a young drinker like myself at the time.

Situated next to Champers wine bar (now Ruby Lounge), it was popular with people wanting a drink before the loud music in the venue next door and this in a time when this end of town was still very busy with revellers.  After the Blob Shop it became Brooks Bar when it really went down hill, probably on account of its all day 99p pints, which tended to attract a certain calibre of punter. Then briefly the Market Trader, Dr Livvy's, a down-market bar and grill, and nowadays it is Melodies, a karoake bar (no thanks).


Brooks Bar and Dr Livvy's, High Street. (c) Beer in the Evening and Manchester Bars .
at

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous5 September 2017 at 20:16

    I recall that you had to queue in line with a metal barrier. Not sure if at times there was was sawdust on the floor. And you could only purchase half pints and not a full pint. Would indulge in Australian Docks All In.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Queentammiefer28 November 2018 at 05:21


    This is a great post. I like this topic.This site has lots of advantage. It helps me in many ways.Thanks for posting this again.Unterkunft Frankfurt-Oder

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown7 September 2019 at 23:13

    Does anyone know of names of doormen in Yates in Swinton around summer 1989??

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous31 December 2022 at 15:59

    Did he father a child

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous27 December 2023 at 19:39

    I can remember back in the day you could go in the Blob Shop and place an order for whatever merchandise you wanted. Sit and have a couple if beers, and the merchandise would arrive courtesy of the many couriers that worked the bar.

    ReplyDelete