St Ann's Tavern / Horts, St Ann's Square

St Ann's Tavern, St Ann's Square. (c) Tim Martin with kind permission.

St Ann's Tavern was a basement bar on the square, and was later known as the wine bar, Horts. It was one of Manchester's first proper continental beer bars, with Carlsberg Hof, Heineken Special Export and bottled Lowenbrau, Kronenbourg, Reschs and Castlemaine on offer, as well as the more usual Tetley and Guinness [1].

St Ann's Tavern, St Anns Square. (c) Tim Martin with kind permission.

There was an Italian bar billiard machine in the St Ann's Tavern, and next door was originally a Henekey Inn steak and schnitzel bar [1], later a Quality Inn, as seen in the above photos courtesy of Tim Martin. In the era of Horts, the larger upstairs bar was called Ronnies Cafe Bar.


Horts, St Ann's Square. (c) Alan Winfield with kind permission.

Sadly the old St Ann's Tavern, and its neighbour up above, are now a McDonald's 'restaurant' on this beautiful but pub-less Manchester square.

St Ann's Tavern, St Anns Square. (c) Aidan O'Rourke at www.aidan.co.uk.

1. The Manchester Pub Guide, Manchester & Salford City Centres (1975).

Royal Veteran, Stanley Street

Royal Veteran, Stanley Street, Salford. (c) From the Andy Robertson Collection.

On the corner of New Quay Street and Stanley Street (south of the Mark Addy), just over the Irwell into Salford, is this large old building known as the Ralli Buildings or Riverside House. The 1848 map of New Bailey and Ordsall shows that this was the site of the original Royal Veteran Tavern, as it was then, on the corner of Irwell Street and Stanley Street [1]. It was run by Daniel Hodson, who went on to run a Temperance Hotel in Bank Row, Chapel Street near the cathedral [2].

Royal Veteran, Stanley Street (c) Google 2016. View Larger Map.

The old Royal Veteran building standing today probably dates from around 1860s when the New Bailey Prison which loomed over it was demolished in 1868 [2], and the railway built. You can see the Royal Veteran Tavern on the Ordnance Survey map scan halfway down this page; bottom left. The Royal Veteran survived until before the Second World War and was a Swales Brewery pub when it closed (veteran drinkers of Manchester will recall "Swales swill").

Royal Veteran, Stanley Street (c) Google 2016. View Larger Map.

After closing the old pub appears to have spent time as a workshop and place for religious gathering. Although 5 years ago it looked derelict and destined for demolition as part of the Chapel Street regeneration scheme, it has since had a spruce up, so this fine building may have a future after all. As a pub, unlikely, but never say never.

1. New Bailey & Ordsall Lane 1848, Alan Godfrey Maps (2009).

2. Don Erskine communication, 2015. 
3. http://manchesterhistory.net/manchester/gone/newbailey.html.