Monday, 22 November 2010

Boardroom, Portland Street

Boardroom, Portland Street, 1970s. (c) Manchester Pub Surveys [1].

The Boardroom deserves its own entry as this refurbished venue's had so many name changes over the last couple of decades, it would get lost in amongst the Blue Parrot, Che, Huxters, AM:PM, Hugo Mash etc.  Seen here in 1975, the Boardroom was within the walls of County Hall (now Westminster House) on the corner of Minshull Street and Portland Street.  It was one of my first drinking haunts within the town centre in the 1980s, a Webster's house back then.  Then it was a long thin pub with no windows on the Portland Street frontage, and frequented by young scallies who liked to drink too much at a young age, before staggering off drunkenly home on the last train.  The Boardroom was a pre-match haunt for many and also boasted a bank of Space Invader arcade machines, a rarity in town in the '80s [2].  The place closed in the early '90s I guess, and following a refit and installation of windows, began its time as a succession of crappy bars in this seemingly cursed location.

1. The Manchester Pub Guide, Manchester & Salford City Centres, Manchester Pub Surveys (1975).
2. Phil Blinkhorn at www.aidan.co.uk.
at

8 comments:

  1. Sat In A Pub22 November 2010 at 23:08

    Ah, the Boardroom. Real ale drinking before I even knew what real ale was. Not a great pub in the light of day, but happy memories:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. granata23 November 2010 at 21:21

    Had some great old photos of the Boardroom, mislaid them unfortunately. What was the ale of choice in there, didn't ever go in, though we did do the Portland Bars on occasion as under-age boozers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sat In A Pub28 November 2010 at 09:54

    I seem to recall it was Courage. I remember the Portland Bars when local upcoming bands use to play there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous10 January 2011 at 01:58

    Originally Wilsons house built/opened abt 1975. First Landlady came from 'The Oxford' (opp Palace Theatre (long since demolished.)

    Very busy,lively pub and lots of after hours sessions if you were personally known. Radio Piccadilly staff Brian Clarke, Jim (please now call me James) Reeve were frequent memorable visitors.

    Red Barrel was most popular beer at the time...nuff said.

    ReplyDelete
  5. granata12 January 2011 at 20:10

    Cheers mate, will update entry with new info. The Oxford is on here, see the clumsy menu (soon to be improved) -->

    Brian Clarke and James H Reeve... names that evoke great memories for the Blue half, I mean quarter, of Manchester.

    ReplyDelete
  6. granata12 January 2011 at 22:36

    p.s. Thought you might like this:

    http://tinyurl.com/WatneysRB

    ReplyDelete
  7. martinmoor28 September 2019 at 20:43

    I worked there briefly in 94, it was known as boardroom tavern then and quite traditional looking all wood inside, we got all kinds in that and it was a laugh, brewery was Scottish and Newcastle at the time and worked with a Geordie,Scot and Irishman.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous2 September 2022 at 00:32

    The location of my stag night in 1979. Oh happy days!

    ReplyDelete