Auld Lang Syne, Pollard Street. (c) Neil Richardson [1].
While following development of the Picccadilly-COMS-Droylsden tram line at the incomparable Sky Scraper City Manchester site, the Auld Lang Syne was mentioned. The quirky old building that has been retained while redevelopments and the tram lines spring up around is not actually the Auld Lang Syne. The pub was on the other corner of Boond Street as shown above in Neil Richardson's book (there was a pub adjacent to the brick and timbered building - the Fire Brigade / Pollard) [1]. Like so many inner city pubs that fall victim to redevelopment, the site of the old pub remains vacant.
The Auld Lang Syne was originally the Touchetts Arms going back to 1819, named after the gent who owned the land that Pollard Street was built on, off The Lane (Great Ancoats Street). The name Auld Lang Syne appeared in 1840 although by 1873 it was back to the Old Touchetts Arms, before reverting back again in the 1880s. In 1842 the Touchetts was listed as having "...nine beer taps... 13 spirit casks... a brewery with 9, 18 and 36 gallon barrels... the stock consists of about 30 barrels of ale porter, a quantity of rum, gin, brandy, whiskey... [1]." The pub was demolished some time in the early '90s, thankfully photographed by Alan Winfield of Pubs Galore before the event.
1. The Old Pubs of Ancoats, Neil Richardson (1987).
No comments:
Post a Comment