The Alliance Inn was a Boddingtons beerhouse on the corner of Kate Street (now Russet Road) and Rochdale Road in Blackley. The above photo is from the 1960s and there are two 1958 photos showing the Alliance Inn a few years earlier. The late Eddie and Mavis Mees ran the Alliance between 1972 and 1974, and their sons Dave and Johnny, who lived at the pub, remember the pub's tiny bar about 1.5 metres long with just two pumps, bitter and mild. Bottled Heineken sold well so the Mees installed it on draught in late '72. Ted Stockton used to drink in here and remembers ordering at the bar stating a cryptic "No.2" or "No.4", etc. This was because no one drank anything other than bitter or lager and if you ordered half pints then that would have marked you out as a person of questionable tastes.
Although the license at the Alliance Inn didn't permit the sale of spirits, they always had a couple of bottles under the bar for the locals. Regulars at the Alliance during this time were characters like 'The Beast', 'Chic Chavio', 'Mary Mary' and Brian 'The Bear' Dunn. A 1973 oil painting of the pub painted by J. Murray for the Mees still resides with the family. The original Alliance Inn was knocked down in the 1980s and a new estate-style pub built in its place, set back a little off the main road, with the plot of the old Alliance still empty.
Former location of Alliance Inn, Rochdale Road (new Alliance Inn behind). (c) Google 2012. View Larger Map.
Although the license at the Alliance Inn didn't permit the sale of spirits, they always had a couple of bottles under the bar for the locals. Regulars at the Alliance during this time were characters like 'The Beast', 'Chic Chavio', 'Mary Mary' and Brian 'The Bear' Dunn. A 1973 oil painting of the pub painted by J. Murray for the Mees still resides with the family. The original Alliance Inn was knocked down in the 1980s and a new estate-style pub built in its place, set back a little off the main road, with the plot of the old Alliance still empty.
