Wednesday, 5 March 2014

Berkshire, Victoria Avenue East


Berkshire, Victoria Avenue East, Higher Blackey/Charlestown. (c) Alan Winfield with permission.

The Berkshire was a big inter-war roadhouse boozer on Victoria Avenue East in Higher Blackley (or Charlestown) near Rochdale Road, just south of the M60 ring road.

Berkshire, Victoria Avenue East. (c) Mikey at flickr under Creative Commons.

Alan Winfield visited the Berkshire in 1994 when it was a Wilsons house (view his photo here).  The pub closed in about 2010 after suffering an armed robbery or two.

Berkshire, Victoria Avenue East. (c) Closed Pubs [2].

Predictably, in 2009 the then-recently closed pub suffered a mysterious fire; squatters at the Berkshire were blamed [2], although it may have reopened for a while before final closure in 2010.

Berkshire, Victoria Avenue East. (c) Manchester Evening News [2].

The fire was convenient - fast-forward a couple of years and a new Tesco stands on the site of the old Berkshire. 

Former location of Berkshire, Victoria Avenue East. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

Google Maps still shows the half-demolished Berkshire, but only from above.

Berkshire, Victoria Avenue East. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

3 comments:

  1. My Old local.
    F..k tesco.
    That was a brilliant pub where everyone knew everyone and we all grew up in.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh we all knew each other I remember you well anonymous used to drink half a mild and was shit at pool lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Berkshire was dam head and the lion and lamb was a close second

    ReplyDelete