This handsome little boozer was crammed in amongst the factories (and what looks like a church on the left) that once lined part of Oldham Road leading into town from Collyhurst through Miles Platting. The Old Pack Horse was a Wilsons house and in the early 20th century was run by a Tim Carlisle. He was a musical sort, and as well as running the pub, he sold sheet music in Blackpool, performed in plays and sung in pub concerts, while his sister Elsie was a locally famous singer in the 1920s and '30s [1]. By the 1970s, the factories around it were being pulled down and by the early 1980s, the Old Pack Horse was closed.
Remarkably, 1985 saw a restoration project on the Old Pack Horse, and this set of pictures show Wilsons 'restoring Manchester's oldest licensed premises'. A year later and the Old Pack Horse is shown here in glorious colour, fully restored even if it is standing alone, with a car park to the right and flats visible to the rear. Despite this noble restoration which must have cost a packet, it seems that the pub was demolished anyway as there is no trace of it on Oldham Road today in Miles Platting or Collyhurst. Oddly, there is no mention of "Manchester's oldest licensed premises" on-line or in any more books.
1. Ancoats Lad, Mick Burke / Frank Heaton (1996).
