Grapes, Cross Lane

Grapes, Cross Lane, Salford, 1961. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

The Grapes at the top of Cross Lane, Salford can be traced back to 1803 when the Dog & Partridge on Richmond Place was granted a licence, when land to the west of Cross Lane was all fields.  It was renamed the Weavers Arms in 1816 then the Two Greyhounds in 1823, before becoming the Grapes Hotel in 1824, by which time Ellor Street and houses had been built around the pub.  In the 1840s and '50s the pub was run owned by Joseph Bleakley of the Sun Brewery in Ardwick. Towards the end of the century the Grapes advertised dinners, teas, well-aired beds and "balls, conversaziones and parties [1]."  

Former location of Grapes, Cross Lane, Salford. (c) googlemaps.

The Manchester Brewery had the Grapes followed by Walker & Homfray then Wilsons when it closed in 1966.  The fixtures and fittings of the pub were bought up by a local firm who exported the mahogany doors and acid-etched windows to America, while the licence was passed to the Woodman / Sports estate pub on nearby on Belvedere Road [1]. The Thorn Court tower block now stands on the site of the old Grapes, with the closed Paddock, Corporation and Golden Gate / Craven Heifer all in within a stagger of this once pub-rich Salford lane.

1. Salford Pubs - Part Three: Including Cross Lane, Broad Street, Hanky Park, the Height, Brindleheath, Charlestown and Weaste, Neil Richardson (2003).