Staff of Life / Rainsough Brew, Rainsough Brow

Staff of Life, Rainsough Brow, Prestwich, 1990. (c) deltrems at flickr.

When the original Staff of Life on Rainsough Brow was demolished in 1973, Marstons Brewery rebuilt it in the estate pub style on the site of the old Rainsough Workhouse.

Rainsough Brew, Rainsough Brow. (c) Ian Pratt at Prestwich & Whitefield Guide.

The new Staff of Life was featured in the Roger Cook report when it was linked to protection money rackets by Salford and Manchester gangs.

Staff of Life, Rainsough Brow, Prestwich. (c) David Rowlinson [1].

The Staff of Life changed its name to the Rainsough Brew, an obvious pun on the road name, but closed down in the late 2000s and has since been demolished.

Rainsough Brew, Rainsough Brow. (c) Manchester Evening News.

Nothing has been done with the site yet, although Marstons were recently looking for buyers.  Rainsough Brow suddenly has no pubs, as the Plough down the road is also closed.


Former location of Staff of Life / Rainsough Brew. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

1. A History of Prestwich Pubs, David Rowlinson.

Bavaria, Hyde Road

Bavaria, Hyde Road. Colour (c) Barry Hargreaves at Belle Vue Facebook page [1]. Original (c) Manchester Local Image Collection. Click her to view full image [2].

The Bavaria was a German-themed Bier Halle on Hyde Road at the Belle Vue Gardens entrance dating back to the 1957, when it was converted from old stables into the Bavarian Banquet Street [3].  The two-pint steins of lager, the Schneider Oompah band and wild nights are recalled at the Bring Back Belle Vue page, where this coloured image is shown [1].  The original 1958 photo is shown at the archives [2], and this flickr photo shows the Bavaria to the right of the entrance.  The Bavaria appears to have lasted into the late 1970s and one of the trophies on offer at the stock car racing at the Hyde Road Stadium was the Bavaria Bier Halle Trophy.

Bavaria Bier Halle Trophy, 1974. (c) Football Zone.

1. www.facebook.com/groups/BBBelleVue.

2. http://images.manchester.gov.uk.
3. http://manchesterhistory.net/bellevue/dancing.html.

Dolphin Inn, Stretford Road

Dolphin Inn, Stretford Road, Hulme. (c) Manchester Local Image Collection. Click here to view full image [1].

Pictured at the archives in 1955, the Dolphin Inn stood at No.72 Stretford Road on the corner of Medlock Street in Hulme [2].  It was a Walker Cains house for a time, the Liverpool brewery, which was quite unusual for Manchester.  It was also owned by Hardy's Crown brewery and sold Bass ales.  The Dolphin opened in about 1840 [3] and closed in 1966 [2], presumably to make way for the Mancunian Way which now passes just to the west of where the pub stood.

Former location of the Dolphin Inn, Streford Road. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

Medlock Street used to continue south to meet Stretford Road here, in the shadow of the Hulme Arch, a local landmark soon to be immortalised on the cover of Manchester group, The Distractions', long-awaited boxset,  'Parabolically Yours' [4].

Parabolically Yours, The Distractions. (c) www.thedistractions.co.uk/home.html [4].

1. http://images.manchester.gov.uk.

2. The Old Pubs of Hulme Manchester (1) 1770-1930, Bob Potts (1983).

3. The Old Pubs of Hulme & Chorlton-on-Medlock, Bob Potts (1997).
4. http://distractionsnothing.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/parabolically-yours.html.

Brown Cow, Oldham Road

Brown Cow, Oldham Road, Failsworth, 2009. (c) Dr Neil Clifton at geograph under Creative Commons.

The Brown Cow was built in 1904 to replace an old beerhouse of the same name in a row of cottages along Oldham Road, Failsworth.  In 1929 a wine license was granted and by the start of WWII it was under the ownership of Cornbrook Brewery [1].

Brown Cow, Oldham Road, 2012. (c) Ian S at geograph under Creative Commons.

A police survey of 1939 reported three drinking rooms and a licensed living room or kitchen, with outside gent's urinals and an indoors women's toilet to cater for the large female trade.  As you entered the Brown Cow, the vault was to the immediate right, bar parlour to the left with the smoke room with the kitchen opposite [1].

 Brown Cow, Oldham Road, 1994. (c) Rob Magee [1].

Like most pubs, the Brown Cow became open-plan in more modern times, following the Bass takeover of the pub after they'd merged with Charrington United Breweries who had taken over Cornbrook [1].  The Brown closed a few years ago and is now private housing, whilst retaining its pub appearance.

1. Failsworth Pubs and their Licensees 1731-1995, Rob Magee (1995).

Victory Tavern / Victoria Tavern, Angel Street

Victory Tavern, Angel Street. (c) Together Trust [1].

The Victory Tavern stood at the bottom of Angel Street, backing onto Ashley Lane and facing St Michael's Square.  It was is first mentioned as the Victory Tavern in 1823, and by 1846 is listed the Victoria Tavern [2].  It's shown on Adshead's 1851 map as the Victoria Tavern, across the road from St Michael's Church and St Michael's Tavern, with the Weavers Arms (the great Angel Meadow survivor, the Angel) up the road [3].  

Victoria Tavern, Angel Street (top left). Adshead at Digital Archives [3].

 

The Victoria Tavern appears to have ceased being a beerhouse in 1881 when it was turned into the Old Victory Coffee House & Boys Refuse [1], and is later listed as a city mission hall [2].  In 1891 it's still called the Old Victory, while the old St Michael's Tavern is the Church Inn [4].

Victory Tavern, Angel Street (top, centre). (c) Old Maps [4].

The Boys' home was opened on 26th October 1881 by local MP, Henry Lee, and was to provide temporary help and a bed for up to 18 lads who lived in the common lodging houses around Angel Meadow and Ancoats [1], and by was a coffee house.  Sadly, by 1908 the building was derelict as seen at the archives [5], and was demolished in 1927.

Former location of the Victory Tavern, Angel Street. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

The former location of the Victory Tavern is immortalised by the famous L.S. Lowry, as seen here courtesy of the Friends of Angel Meadow [6].

1. http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/lending-helping-hand-in-angel-meadow.html?m=1.

2. The Old Pubs of Rochdale Road and neighbourhood Manchester, Bob Potts (1985).

3. Adshead's Twenty Four Illustrated Maps of the Township of Manchester divided into Municipal Wards, 1851 at Digital Archives.

4. www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html.

5. http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass.

6. http://www.friends-of-angel-meadow.org.

Grapes / Grapes of Prestwich, Bury New Road

Grapes of Prestwich, Bury New Road, Prestwich, 1990. (c)deltrems at flickr.

The Grapes is traced back to 1877 in David Rowlinson's book, when it was leased to Groves & Whitnall brewery.  It was described a a 'messuage' or beerhouse on the corner of Warwick Street and Bury New Road [1].

 

Grapes, Bury New Road. (c) David Rowlinson [1].

In 1888 Groves and Whitnall bought the Grapes and the pub is shown above in 1967 still with the brewery signage, although they had been swallowed up by Greenall Whitley six years earlier [1].

 Grapes, Bury New Road. (c)

In the 1990s under Greenall Whitley, the Grapes was renamed slightly for to the rather obvious Grapes of Prestwich, a name it appeared to use on and off until its closure in about 2009.

Grapes of Prestwich, Bury New Road, 2008. (c) Alexander P Kapp at geograph under Creative Commons.

The Grapes closed and was tinned up for a while, but has recently had a new lease of life as the Turquoise Cafe.

Grapes, Bury New Road, 2010. (c) Dr Neil Clifton at geograph under Creative Commons.

The Grapes was locally famous in the 1950s for the landlord only having one arm, so the regulars bought him a hook to help him pour pints [1].

Grapes, Bury New Road, 2011. (c) deltrems at flickr.

The Grapes wasn't on the Pub Shaman of Prestwich's route, so mustn't have been that good...

 

Former Grapes, Bury New Road. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

1. A History of Prestwich Pubs, David Rowlinson.

Nelson Tavern, Mill Lane

Nelson Tavern, Mill Lane, Failsworth. (c) Rob Magee [1]. 

The original Nelson Tavern stood on Mill Lane on the Failsworth-Newton Heath border, at the bottom of Rose Hey Lane near Green Lane, what is today's Millstream Lane.  The beerhouse can be traced back to at least 1841 and on Christmas day 1888 it was bought by the nearby Wilsons Brewery of Newton Heath.  In the late 1930s Wilsons decided to rebuilt the Nelson Tavern up the road near the new housing estate (still going), and the original beerhouse closed in 1939 [1].

1. Failsworth Pubs 1731-1995 and their licensees, Rob Magee (1995).

British Queen / Spragg Inn, North Dean Street

British Queen, North Dean Street, Swinton. (c) Neil Richardson & Roger Hall [1].

The British Queen was also known as the Spragg Inn and stood on North Dean Street which ran off Bolton Road in Swinton.  It dates back to the 1860s and ended up in the hands of Watson, Woodhead and Wagstaffe brewers of Salford.  In 1902 the British Queen was marked for closure as it had a rateable value of just £15 per year, and 1840 legislation required beerhouses to be rated higher than that.  The Quarter Sessions' decision was postponed  for a few years and the Spragg in stayed open until 1909 despite its dilapidated, propped-up state for its last 10 years.  The beerhouse and the rest of the terrace were demolished in 1914 [1].

1. The Pubs of Swinton & Pendlebury (including Clifton and Newtown), Neil Richardson & Roger Hall (1980).

Staff of Life, Rainsough Brow

Staff of Life, Rainsough Brow, Prestwich. (c) David Rowlinson [1].

The original Staff of Life on Rainsough Brow dates back to about 1860, when a shop and a cottage in the six Mount View cottages next to the Rainsough Workhouse opened as a beerhouse.  Taylor's Eagle Brewery of Chorlton took over the Staff of Life in 1898, adding a bay window in the 1920s, and it passed to Marston's Brewery in 1958.


Staff of Life, Rainsough Brew. (c) Craig Brisbane at Prestwich & Whitefield Guide.

Marstons demolished the old pub in 1973 [1], and rebuilt the Staff of Life in the estate pub style on the site of the Rainsough Workhouse.  This blighted boozer has recently been pulled down itself.

Staff of Life, Rainsough Brow, Prestwich, 1920s. (c) David Rowlinson [1].

1. A History of the Pubs of Prestwich, David Rowlinson.

Commercial, Barlow Street

Commercial, Barlow Street, Beswick. (c) Manchester Local Image Collection. Click here to view full image [1].

The Commercial was a tiny Wilsons beerhouse on the corner of Harrold Street and Barlow Street in Beswick.  This part of East Manchester has been swept away in the name of regeneration, but the former location of the old boozer can be worked out.  Barlow Street, which is today known as Bell Crescent, ran at right angles to Grey Mare Lane and joined it opposite the market entrance.  This puts the old Commercial, pictured here in 1963, precisely at the junction of Windcroft Close and Harvey Close in the new estate.

Former location of Commercial Barlow Street, Beswick. (c) Old Maps [2].

1.http://images.manchester.gov.uk.

2. www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html.

Red Lion / Egerton Arms, Chapel Street

Red Lion, Chapel Street, Patricroft, Eccles. (c) Tony Flynn [1].

The Red Lion stands on the corner of Chapel Street and George Street in Patricroft but has been closed for a decade or so.  It's been best known recently for housing a cannabis farms in 2004 [2] and then in 2007 [3], and was only a fully licensed public house under Boddingtons from about 1980 [1].

Red Lion, Chapel Street. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

The building dates back to about 1845 and the Red Lion beerhouse is first listed in 1866 and was first called the Egerton Arms when its front door was along George Street.  The Red Lion is the family badge of the Egertons which explains the name change [1]. 

Red Lion, Chapel Street. (c) Kev Dol at panoramio under Creative Commons.

1. A History of Eccles Pubs, Tony Flynn (1980).

2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/3563362.stm.

3. www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/cannabis-farm-in-derelict-pub.

Railway Inn, Wrigley Head

Railway Inn, Wrigley Head, Failsworth. (c) Rob Magee [1].

The Railway Inn beerhouse opened at No.59 Wrigley Head, Failsworth in the 1830s, but was not called that originally.  It was only the opening of the Oldham to Manchester railway in 1880 that gave the Railway Inn its name.  The introduction of the 1904 Compensation Act, introduced to cull unwanted and structurally unsound beerhouses, saw off the Railway Inn.  It was one of the first Failsworth boozers to close and was marked for closure at the brewster sessions in 1908.  The Railway Inn used to stand roughly facing Evening Street [1].

Former location of Railway Inn, Wrigley Head. (c) Google 2013. View Larger Map.

1. Failsworth Pubs 1731-1995 and their licensees, Rob Magee (1995).

Bay Horse, Cutler Hill

Bay Horse, Cutler Hill, Woodhouses, Failsworth. (c) Rob Magee [1].

The Bay Horse stood on Cutler Hill in Woodhouses near Failsworth, dating back to about 1804 when it was known as the Brick Hall.  It stood alongside the canal and the Brick Hall name was due to its proximity to the Hall on Failsworth Road nearby.  The beerhouse was renamed the Bay Horse in 1812 and a century later, was bought by John Taylor & Co of Ancoats.  Walker & Homfray's took over in 1929 before it passed to Wilsons in 1954 after their merger.  The Bay Horse closed in 1959 but its licence passed to the Willow Tavern which had been rebuilt that year [1], so the Bay Horse still lives on today in a way.

1. Failsworth Pubs 1731-1995 and their licensees, Rob Magee (1995).

Plough, Rainsough Brow

Plough, Rainsough Brow, Prestwich. (c) deltrems at flickr.

The Plough on the Prestwich-Salford border can be traced back to 1794 when three cottages were built on Rainsough Brow.  The Plough Inn beerhouse in two of the cottages, named after the farmland that surrounded the area, opened in 1883, and beer was first supplied by the Bentley Brewery of Prestwich [1].

Plough, Rainsough Brow. (c) David Rowlinson [1].

  

The Plough passed to the Manchester Brewery Company (as above) of the Britannia Brewery in Ardwick in 1909, then Walker & Homfrays of Salford and on to Wilsons of Newton Heath in 1949.

Plough, Rainsough Brow, 1952. (c) David Rowlinson [1].

In the '50s, Betty the big-handed bar maid was able to hold nine half pint glasses in one hand and pull beer into them with the other.  By 1965 the third cottage had been incorporated into the Plough, and the beer was kept in a room behind the bar rather than a cellar.

Plough, Rainsough Brow. (c) David Rowlinson [1].

The Plough closed in about 2011, and was placed up for auction, after the landlord was convicted of drug smuggling [2].  The pub had a dodgy reputation towards the end despite being a Holt's house.

Plough, Rainsough Brow. (c) I-Bidder.

1. A History of Prestwich Pubs, David Rowlinson.

2. www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/jailed-prestwich-pub-landlord-at-heart-859835.