Cricketers, Beswick Street

Cricketers, Beswick Street, Ancoats. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

The Cricketers Inn or Arms stood on the eastern corner of Pollard Street and Beswick Street in Ancoats and was an Empress Brewery house when it closed in 1939.  However, the photo above, which shows the Cricketers over a century ago in 1912, appears to have 'Joseph (Hardman's?) (something) Ales & Stout' on its sign.  Can anyone shed light on this?  Mick Burke, chronicler of Ancoats boozers in Neil Richardson's fine book, remembers spending plenty of time in the Cricketers: "It was one of those places where you could stop as long as you like.  'Shut the doors, there's enough in now,' they would say. The police would come round at the top of Cannel Street and they'd have a drink, too [1]."

Former location of Cricketers, Beswick Street. (c) Google 2013. View Larger Map.

1. The Old Pubs of Ancoats, Neil Richardson (1987).