Goldfinder, Oldham Road

Former Goldfinder, Oldham Road, Failsworth. (c) Rob Magee [1].

This brilliantly-named boozer stood on the corner of Croft Street and Oldham Road in Failsworth.  It can be traced back to 1853-4 when a Thomas Burgess opened the beerhouse, naming it after the Chester Gold Cup Winner which he'd just won big on at 50-1.  The Goldfinder was next to the huge Swedenborgia Chapel and over the road from the first Failsworth Co-Op.  Unfortunately, Burgess was a not a good beerhousekeeper, and many of his customers never paid for the beer, instead chalking up pints on the wall.  The Goldfinder is named in the 1860 census but then disappears from the records, so may be Failsworth's shortest-lived beerhouse, eventually becoming two houses [1].

Former location of Goldfinder, Oldham Road. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

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