Hand & Heart, Ashton Old Road

Hand & Heart, Ashton Old Road, Beswick. (c) Manchester Local Image Collection. Click here to view full image [1].

The Hand & Heart was a Chesters pub on the corner of Chapel Grove and Ashton Old Road in Beswick, pretty much opposite the Grey Mare.  Shown here in the 1960s looking down Chapel Grove, by 1971 the Hand & Heart was closed and in the process of demolition.

Hand & Heart, Ashton Old Road. (c) www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html [2].

Although not shown on the 1891 map like the Grey Mare Hotel [2], the exact location of Chapel Grove and the Hand & Heart was just after Pottery Lane going away from town, where a Seamark unit stands today.

Former location of Hand & Heart, Ashton Old Road. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

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

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

Neptune Inn, Murray / Masonic Street

Neptune Inn, Murray Street, Miles Platting. (c) Adshead at Digital Archives [1].

On what was Murray Street in the 1851 [1] and 1891 maps [2], but Masonic Street by the 1920s, Neptune Inn was at the top end, just one building off Oldham Road on the Ancoats - Miles Platting border.  A couple of doors and streets along Oldham Road from the Angel, the Neptune is shown on Masonic Street in 1935 as a Cornbrook house.

Neptune Inn, Murray Street, 1891. (c) www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html [2].

The Neptune escapes coverage in the late Neil Richardson's superb (and still available) book [3], and just about comes under Miles Platting.  The old location of the Neptune is just north of today's Butler Lane where the first of the tower blocks stands.

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

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

3. The Old Pubs of Ancoats, Neil Richardson (1987).

Commercial Inn, Lime Bank Street

Commercial Inn, Lime Bank Street, Ardwick. (c) Manchester Local Image Collection. Click here to view full image [1].

The Commercial Inn was a Groves & Whitnall beerhouse on Lime Bank Street, north off Ashton Old Road in Ardwick.  Its sign advertises Red Rose ales, as per the rose sign favoured by G&W after WWII [2].  In the 1964 photo at the archives, the Commercial Inn is shown on the corner of Napier Street looking towards Meadow Street and Ashton Old Road beyond.

Commercial Inn, Lime Bank Street, 1891. (c) www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html [3].

The 1891 map shows that building that the Commercial was or became, and also shows the Lime Bank Works that gave the street its unusual name.  What was once a busy residential and industrial street, and which used to run on to an iron foundry, is now a quiet, cobbled road with a dead end at the small council house estate off Viaduct Street.

Former location of Commercial, Lime Bank Street. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

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

2. www.grovesandwhitnall.co.uk.

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

Crown, Fairfield Street

Crown Hotel, Fairfield Street, Ardwick. (c) Manchester Local Image Collection. Click here to view full image [1].

The Crown Hotel is seen here in about 1970 what is almost certainly the corner of Fairfield Street and Chancellor Lane in Ardwick - here's the view down Pin Mill Brow with the Crown in the background.  The grand Chesters pub is seen from an aerial spot looking down Lyon Street, a lost street just west of Lime Bank Street, in the 1891 map below (Castle Brewery to the rear of the Crown).

Crown Inn, Fairfield Street. (c) www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html [2].

The Crown must have been rebuilt at some point in the late 1890s or early 20th century as the small, square-shaped Crown Inn was clearly enlarged in later years.  Nothing but light industrial units, hidden behind advertising hoardings, stand on this spot today.

Former location of Crown, Fairfield Street. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

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

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

Blue Bell, Pin Mill Brow

Blue Bell, Pin Mill Brow, Ardwick. (c) www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html.

The Blue Bell stood on Pin Mill Brow on the corner with Crowther's Buildings in the norther part of Ardwick, as seen here in 1964.  It was a Wilsons boozer and was established in 1900, as the plaque on the front of the pub shows here, also in 1964.

Blue Bell, Pin Mill Brow. (c) Manchester Local Image Collection. Click here to view full image [2].

The 1891 map (top) shows the corner building so the Blue Bell had a previous use or was re-built as the Wilsons house a few years later.  Today this side of Pin Mill Brow - named after a cotton mill, see top - is a rather large shrubbery.

Former location of Blue Bell, Pin Mill Brow. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

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

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

Brunswick, Grey Mare Lane

Brunswick, Grey Mare Lane, Beswick. (c) Manchester Local Image Collection. Click here to view full image [1].

The Brunswick was a Wilsons house on the corner of Gillingham Street and Grey Mare Lane in Beswick.  Seen here in 1963, the Brunswick's old side door was bricked up and the pub was looking in a state of disrepair, at least externally, but looked a bit better from the rear.  Gillingham Street appears to once have run off Grey Mare Lane, roughly where the new Beswick Library is.  This means that the old Bobbin estate pub might have been the Brunswick's replacement during the relatively brief existence of Fort Beswick.

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

Kings Arms, Union Street

Kings Arms, Union Street, Ancoats. (c) Adshead at Digital Archives [1].

The Kings Arms stood further up Union Street (described as the ugliest in Manchester) from the Grapes oppsite the Rochdale Canal.  It was on the corner of the tiny Darlington Street which had notorious back-to-back dwellings along one side.  The Kings Arms opened in 1830 at the time of the Beer Act, and closed in 1870 [2].  On what today is St Vincent Street was, in the 1800s, Pott Street and both Union Street and Pott Street ended where the canal cut through, although the little bridge over the water is long gone.

Former location of Kings Arms, Union Street. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

1. Adshead's Twenty Four Illustrated Maps of the Township of Manchester divided into Municipal Wards, 1851 at Digital Archives.
2. The Old Pubs of Ancoats, Neil Richardson (1987).

Grapes, Union Street

Grapes, Union Street, Ancoats. (c) Adshead at Digital Archives [1].

The Grapes was an old beerhouse on Union Street facing the Rochdale Canal.  The street was described in 1849 by journalist Angus Reach:  "A more perfectly ugly spot you shall not find between sunrise and sunset.  Fancy a street one side of which is all mills... the grimiest, sootiest, filthiest lumps of masonry in all Manchester... On the other hand lies a canal... a ditch of muddy water, very much like rotten pea soup [2]."  The Grapes was just on the corner of New Islington, opening in 1811 and closing exactly a century later as a Chesters house [2].  Union Street used to run along the canal between the still surviving New Union Street and St Vincent Street.


Former location of Grapes, Union Street. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

1. Adshead's Twenty Four Illustrated Maps of the Township of Manchester divided into Municipal Wards, 1851 at Digital Archives.
2. The Old Pubs of Ancoats, Neil Richardson (1987).

White Bear, Hyde Road

White Bear, Hyde Road, Gorton. (c) Manchester Local Image Collection. Click here to view full image [1].

The White Bear stood on the corner of Kinley Street and Hyde Road in West Gorton.  It was between the Wheatsheaf and the Crown, the Holts house on the corner of Clowes Street, on the way into Manchester.  The White Bear is seen here in 1964, and a few years later showing its Hyde Road entrance in 1971.

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

Justice Birch, Hyde Road

Justice Birch, Hyde Road, West Gorton. (c) Manchester Local Image Collection. Click here to view full image [1].

Seen here in 1971 and a year later in 1972, the Justice Birch stood on Hyde Road in West Gorton.  Originally part of a row of shops and houses (below in 1891), in later years it was more isolated with only a 'Wash 'n' Shop' for company.

Justice Birch, Hyde Road. (c) Old Maps [2].

The Justice Birch was a Wilsons house and before closure, the Watney's signs appeared after the London brewer bought Newton Heath's Wilsons.  Despite that, next to the pub was a Chesters advert as seen in 1971 and a year later, an advert for 23 pence fags.

Former location of Justice Birch, Hyde Road. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

The Justice Birch has a little place in history as the location of Gorton AFC's (forerunners of Manchester City) first annual dinner on 20th April 1885 [3]. Today the old location of the pub, No.177 Hyde Road [4], is marked by the new flats between Pottery Lane and Clowes Street.

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

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

3. www.manchesterorange.co.uk/History/st-marks-church-manchester-city-orange-order.

4. www.pubhistory.co.uk/Lancashire/ManchesterJ/JusticeBirchHotel.shtml.

Vulcan, Oldham Road

Vulcan, Oldham Road, Miles Platting. (c) Adshead at Digital Archives [1].

The Vulcan Tavern, later the Vulcan Hotel, stood on the corner of Reather Street and Oldham Road in Miles Platting.  It was a Threlfalls house and in this 1961 photo, there is a rare display of what looks like bottled beers in the window.  The church in the background and on the 1851 map was what became St Casimir's, firstly a Methodist Free Chapel then a Polish, Lithuanian and Ukrainian church, and finally a garment factory [2].  Reather Street used to run all the way from Oldham Road to Rochdale Road but all that is left of it today after regeneration is the short Reather Walk off New Allen Street.

Vulcan, Oldham Road. (c) Manchester Local Image Collection. Click here to view full image [3].

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

2. http://manchesteris.org/blog/?p=339.

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

Locomotive / Smithfield, Ashton Old Road

Smithfield, Ashton Old Road, Openshaw. (c) Alan Winfield with permission.

The Locomotive was a huge Boddingtons pub on the corner of Cornwall Street and Ashton Old Road in Openshaw.  It is shown at the archives in two photos in the 1960s, and here in the 1970s.  The Locomotive was renamed the Smithfield - after the nearby wholesale markets - as shown above in 1992.

Locomotive, Ashton Old Road. (c) Gorton Tank [1].

The old Locomotive and Smithfield was demolished in 2003 [2] and nothing stands on this corner today.  Pubs either side of the this one on Ashton Old Road were the both-closed George and the Pack Horse.

Former location of Locomotive, Ashton Old Road. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

1. www.gorton-tank.com/VisitTheWorks.html.

2. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alscot1/AlanTuringW.htm.

Grapes, Booth Street West

Grapes, Booth Street West, Chorlton-on-Medlock. (c) Bob Potts [1].

Pictured above in the 1950s, the Grapes was a big public house owned by the Manchester Brewery, Walker & Homfray and Wilsons Brewery over the years.  The Grapes was at No.7 Booth Street West on the corner with Jenkinson Street and closed in 1968 [2].   The entrance to the Royal Northern College of Music marks the old location of the Grapes.

Former location of Grapes, Booth Street West. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

1. The Old Pubs of Chorlton-on-Medlock Manchester, Bob Potts (1984).

2. The Old Pubs of Hulme & Chorlton-on-Medlock, Bob Potts (2003).

Drovers Inn, Ashton Old Road

Drovers Inn, Ashton Old Road, Openshaw. (c) Manchester Local Image Collection. Click here to view full image [1].

The Drovers Inn stood at No.853 Ashton Old Road on the corner with Bartlett Street, Openshaw.  It was a huge Chesters pub and since closing in the late '90s or early 2000s (auctioned off in 2003 for £129k), it's most recently been used as an obscure church.

Former Drovers Return, Ashton Old Road, 2007. (c) Alan Bowden at ManMates [2].

The Drovers was known locally as the 'Sheepshouters' and before it closed was renamed the Drovers Return, no doubt latching onto the tenuous Coronation Street link.

Former Drovers, Ashton Old Road. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

The Drovers Inn is seen here in 1960 (full marks for the roof sign apostrophe), and looking a little less grandiose in the 1970s.

Former Drovers, Ashton Old Road. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

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

2. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alscot1/TheDrovers.htm.

George Hotel, Booth Street East

George Hotel, Booth Street East, Chorlton-on-Medlock. (c) Bob Potts [1].

The George Hotel stood at No.54 Booth Street East, just off Oxford Road, opening in 1859 and closing in 1971 under Threlfalls Brewery.  According to former landlord, Bill Gallagher (who later had the still-serving Gorse Hill in Stretford), the pub was known by Threlfalls employees as the 'Booth Street House' as they had a number of pubs called the George [1].  The University has expanded over the old site of the George Hotel.

Former location of George Hotel, Booth Street East. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

1. The Old Pubs of Chorlton-upon-Medlock Manchester, Bob Potts (1984).

Grapes Inn, Collyhurst Road

Grapes Inn, Collyhurst Road, Collyhurst, 1851. (c) Adshead at Digital Archives [1].

The Grapes Tavern opened in about 1829 as a public house [2] (the year before the Beer Act allowed anyone to open up their own beerhouse).  It was set back off Collyhurst Road and was part of Vauxhall Gardens, a small pleasure gardens hemmed in by the Red Sand Delph Pit, Vauxhall Street and the River Irk.  The gardens were opened by Robert Tinker, who gave his name to the old estate pub that once graced the area.

Grapes Inn, Collyhurst Road. (c) Bob Potts [2].

The Grapes Inn was a huge pub, and was one of the rare public houses to be marked on the 1922 map (centre, above).  By this time the gardens, closed in 1852 and lost to the sand quarrying, had become Collyhurst Polishing Works.  Sadly by 1964 the Grapes was bricked up having had its license suspended as a Joseph Holt's house in 1960 [2], for reasons unknown.  There is not much going on in this area these days.

Former location of Grapes Inn, Collyhurst Road. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

1. Adshead's Twenty Four Illustrated Maps of the Township of Manchester divided into Municipal Wards, 1851 at Digital Archives.
2. The Old Pubs of Rochdale Road and neighbourhood Manchester, Bob Potts (1985).

Bulls Head, Collyhurst Road

Bulls Head Tavern, Collyhurst Road, Collyhurst, 1851. (c) Adshead at Digital Archives [1].

The Bulls Head Tavern can be traced back to 1795 and lasted until 1937, when Chesters Brewery surrendered its license for one at the Woodcourt Hotel in Brooklands, Sale [2].  The Bulls Head, which had an attached brewhouse, stood on the corner of Delph Street and Collyhurst Road, just south of Barlow Street and Vauxhall Street, facing a dye works.  The kink in the River Irk that existed in 1851, and contained the dye works, had been diverted by the time the 1922 map was published.  These days, only Vauxhall Street remains of the little side streets off Collyhurst Road

1. Adshead's Twenty Four Illustrated Maps of the Township of Manchester divided into Municipal Wards, 1851 at Digital Archives.
2. The Old Pubs of Rochdale Road and neighbourhood Manchester, Bob Potts (1985).

Volunteer Inn, Everton Road

Volunteer Inn, Everton Road, Chorlton-on-Medlock. (c) Bob Potts [1].

The Vounteer Inn stood at No.81 Everton Road, opening in 1866 and lasting over a century before closing in 1969 as a Peter Walker & Son (Warrington) house.  Everton Road used to run off Shakespeare Street which ran between Stockport Road and Plymouth Grove.  The road was roughly where Aspull Walk and Dobson Grove run today either side of Devonshire Street South.

1. The Old Pubs of Chorlton-upon-Medlock Manchester, Bob Potts (1984).

2. The Old Pubs of Hulme and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Bob Potts (1997).

Waterloo Inn, Waterloo Street

Waterloo Inn, Waterloo Street, Lower Crumpsall. (c) Manchester Local Image Collection. Click here to view full image [1].

The Waterloo Inn was a small Boddingtons house on the corner of Celia Street and Waterloo Street in Lower Crumpsall.  The Waterloo, seen here in two 1966 photos (with the pub dog outside), was demolished in the 1970s, a few hundred yards from the Swan.  Nothing stands on the corner of Celia Street and Waterloo Street these days opposite the Irk Valley Community School.

Former location of Waterloo Inn, Waterloo Street. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

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

Highland Laddie, Junction Street

Highland Laddie, Junction Street, Miles Platting. (c) Adshead at Digital Archives [1].

The Highland Laddie stood on the corner of New Allen Street and Junction Street, just off Oldham Road in Miles Platting.  Adshead's 1851 Map No.21 shows how significant the railway was back in the mid-1800s compared to today.  The other change here is that Junction Street has been swallowed up by New Allen Street and council houses stand on street facing the railway arches.

Former location of Highland Laddie, New Allen Street. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

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

Lord Lovat / Cemetry Inn, Camelia Road / Boardman Street

Cemetry Inn, Boardman Street, Harpurhey. (c) Adshead at Digital Archives [1].

The Cemetry Inn - misspelt over a century before Morrissey famously did - stood on the corner of Boardman Street and an unnamed road at the entrance to Manchester General Cemetry (sic).  Shown above on the 1851 map of Manchester by Adshead, the Cemetry with its bowling green to the rear was in St Michaels Ward.  Map No.23 of Adshead's collection [1] shows this corner of North Manchester to be a pleasant mix of parkland, riverland, light industry and residential.


Lord Lovat, Camelia Road, Harpurhey. (c) Manchester Local Image Collection. Click here to view full image [2].

The Cemetry Inn was renamed the Lord Lovat under Cornbrook Ales, as shown in 1958 on the corner of what was then Woodland Street and Camelia Road.  While Camelia Road still just about remains, Woodland Street is now called Kingsbridge Road and the Lord Lovat survived until the mid-2000s.  The pub is shown again in 1958 before clearance of the area; the photographer would have been stood at the old cemetery entrance.  Alan Winfield visited the Lord Lovat in 1994 as a Bass house and took this photo of the rather sorry looking pub, which compares with the view today.

Former location of Lord Lovat / Cemetry Inn, Camelia Road. (c) Google 2013. View Larger Map.

1. Adshead's Twenty Four Illustrated Maps of the Township of Manchester divided into Municipal Wards, 1851 at Digital Archives.
2. http://images.manchester.gov.uk.

City Inn, Royle Street

City Inn, Royle Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock, 1920s. (c) Bob Potts [1].

The City Inn stood at No.28 Royle Street in Chorlton-on-Medlock, opening in 1856 [1].  The City Inn closed in 1963 as an Empress Brewery house having previously been owned by the Peter Walker & Son brewery of Warrington [2].  Royle Street was a tiny street that ran between Grosvenor Street and Rusholme Road.  The latter road was lost to re-development but Grosvenor Street still runs right across to Downing Street.  The old City Inn used to stand roughly where Stockland Close is in the new estate.

Former location of City Inn, Royle Street. (c) Google 2014. View Larger Map.

1. The Old Pubs of Chorlton-upon-Medlock Manchester, Bob Potts (1984).

2. The Old Pubs of Hulme and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Bob Potts (1997).