Queens, Gartside Street

The Queens was a small pub at the bottom end of Gartside Street just off Quay Street, and was nicknamed the Bottom Hamer's, as the Crown was the Top Hamer's or Tommy Hamer's and must have been run by that family at some point. The Queens used to fill up with any drunks or troble causers that would get thrown out of the Crown. However, it was reported that the Bottom Hamer's was just about the only pub in the area that didn't water down its beer, and as such, the pub often struggled to make it pay. But the landlord still said, when told he should water his ale down like everybody else does, "No, never on your life. If I don't earn a penny, I'm not doing that [1]."

1. The Manchester Village: Deansgate Remembered, Frank Heaton/Neil Richardson (1995).