The Ark Royal – Harpurhey

Lathbury Road Harpurhey M9 5SY

Looks to me as though the pub was launched in the 1960’s along with the surrounding houses and shops.

In 1910 Lathbury Road looked like this.

In 1968 the area was part of the Manchester slum clearance programme.

Photo: Tommy Brooks

The real Ark Royal was built by Cammel Laird at Birkenhead, completed in November 1938.

Torpedoed and subsequently sunk on 10th November 1941.

The pub closed in 2007 – here it is in 1992.

Photo: Alan Winfield

Another great looking estate pub that was on the same estate as the Hipp which it was also fairly close to.

There was the usual two rooms inside, I had a drink in the bar room which was quite busy on my Friday afternoon visit, there was also a more comfortable lounge.

The pub was a Robinsons tied house, there were two real ales on, I had a drink of Robinsons Bitter which was a nice drink, there was also Robinsons Mild on.

Another pub that was was well pleased to do.

Never Ending Pub Crawl

Here its is in 2007.

Photo: Mikey

The pub currently trades as the Pathfinder Church.

We are committed to the growth and development of individual, our local and international communities. In the interim may I use this medium to invite you to be part of the move of God in our church, the Pathfinder.

The Lord bless your richly as you navigate through in Jesus name.

The Gamecock – Hulme

Booth Street West – Boundary Lane Hulme Manchester M15 6GE

Manchester Local Image Collection

1964 the old Hulme, the old Hulme of tight dense dark terraces, shops, industry and hubbub.

Swept away by the waves of progress that washed over the area in the 1970s – a system built concrete haven, for a brave new world.

Thus heralding the birth of the Gamecock in 1974 as a Wilson’s house – very much in the Estate Pub manner.

The pub survived the demolition of the brave new Hulme from 1993 to 1995.

As fresher waves of progress heralded the expansion of Higher Education.

Seen here as a Belhaven house in 1993 – The Gamecock ever in the shadow of one of the few remaining housing blocks.

Photograph Alan Winfield.

Nobody knows precisely when it ceased to be a pub, suffice to say that at some point, it sadly ceased to be a pub.

It now stands abandoned, slowly reclaimed by nature – as bramble and dock scramble over its sharp interlocking volumes of brick and once bright white cladding.

The Four Heatons aka The Moss Rose – Stockport

63 Didsbury Road, Heaton Norris, Stockport, SK4 2BA.

Do not let the unusual design of the exterior put you off visiting this pub. When it first opened it was called the Moss Rose. An extensive refit had very considerably improved the interior decor of this once welcoming pub, with its pleasant vault and well appointed lounge.

Quiz is on Wednesdays and a Disco on Saturdays.

Lunches twelve until three.

Do not let the fact that the pub was demolished on the 26th of November 2013 deter you from visiting – we still have our memories and a few surviving snaps.

I have lived almost opposite the site for sixteen years, though ever so local it was never my local, but it provided a convenient and comfortable bolthole for the odd pint every now and again.

Once it looked just like this.

Opened in 1971, it was and always was a Hydes pub.

Stockport Image Archive

It had a distinctive architectural style and layout all of its own, an asymmetric timber clad dwelling at the core, complemented by a fan of single story rooms extending into the car park.

The name was changed subsequent to the tragic and unfortunate gangland killing that took place in September 1999. It never seemed to recover from such a damning reputation,  and though well used by the many residents in the well populated surrounding area, the offer of hard cash for the site. must in the end have proved irresistible.

The doors closed the windows boarded up – no more karaoke, no more Northen Soul, no more free pool – no more nothing.

 

The hoardings went up – the pub came down.

Now it’s a Co-op, with flats attached.

 

Bradford Inn – Manchester

112-114 Bradford Road, Manchester M40

Welcome to Miles Platting Manchester.

Early one Sunday morning I was on my way cycling somewhere else and had time to rest a spell and take some snaps.

Good traditional pub, makes a refreshing change from all these trendy wine bars, close to the Etihad stadium so a City pub. Beer was good and staff were friendly enough.

Trip Advisor

A million miles from a trendy wine bar, but ever so close to a gas holder.

And the site of the former  Bradford Pit.

Along with the rest of north and east Manchester,  the area has survived slum clearance, deindustrialisation, the building of ever newer homes and the arrival of fresh faces from almost everywhere.

At its heart it prevails, a newly refurbished community boozer with a clear role and identity, customers – whose ranks are swollen on match days by home and away fans, from the ever so almost nearby Etihad Stadium – Home of The Blues.

So if you’re in the area pop in for a pint of Joey Holt’s and enjoy one or more of the entertainment opportunities – open every day all day.

Currently in the grip of World Cup fever!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lowes Arms – Woodley Stockport

18 Hyde Road Woodley Stockport SK6 1QG

I passed by for years on bike and bus, never stopping for a pint but intrigued by the distinctive Sixties architecture, an exciting adjunct to the adjacent Woodley Precinct.

The physical embodiment of the post war brick and concrete optimism which permeates the post-war period. When full employment in a plethora of manual trades ensured a steady flow of post work-customers, expecting a steady flow of Robinson’s draught beers.

Then one day I passed by bike and you were shuttered up, sat silently on Hyde Road, the windows of your soul staring blankly at the passing parade.

When I pass by all the people say, just another pub on the lost highway.

 

 

High Bank Inn – Openshaw

High Bank Inn 138 Ogden Lane, Openshaw, Manchester, M11 2LZ.

Years ago, I came by here on the bus, the 169 or 170 on my way from Ashton to Belle Vue – seeking the thrills and spills of the Speedway or the wayward, way-out musical fare at The Stoneground on Birch Street Gorton, former Corona Cinema, turned loopy left-field hang out.

The area was always a busy mix of industry, housing, shops, markets – and pubs.

Forty five on Ashton Old Road alone.

There are now only a handful – the High Bank sadly, is no longer amongst them.

Upheavals in the fortunes of East Manchester mean that the familiar hustle and bustle of densely populated streets and industrious industry, are now the stuff of memory.

It closed in 2015, had been sold on and seems unlikely to reemerge as a pub. Once a well used Boddington’s house, the cream of Manchester has well and truly soured.

On my recent visit mother nature had already begun to take over, and the tinkers had taken the waney lap fence.

Photograph Matt Wilkinson Flickr

So if you’re passing, tip your cap, raise an imaginary glass and a smile – here’s to high times at the High Bank Inn.

 

The Tommyfield – Oldham

There been an market here since 1788.

Open markets were held on land owned by Thomas Whittaker, near Albion Street. The land soon became known as Tommyfield, and Tommyfield Market is still a bustling centre of activity today.

The Market Hall was destroyed by a huge fire in 1974. The blaze could be seen for miles around and damaged surrounding premises. The hall was replaced by a temporary market building, before construction work began on the new hall in the early 1990s.

There still is a market – and now there’s a pub too.

Custom built 70’s square box on the market car park. Inside it’s L shaped and smelly. The carpets are a mess and the whole place has a run down look. The pub is far better then the clientele though, most of whom seemed to be smellier than the pub when I called in one Friday late afternoon. One handpump on the bar but no pumpclip. Luckily there was no-one actually behind the bar serving. This meant that I could have a look around without having to buy a drink, bit of a result that. It’s awful.

That’s what Rob Camra of Pubs Galore thought in 2011.

Colin Chorlton on Best Pubs thinks otherwise

Worth a visit The Tommyfield, friendly pub. Great atmosphere, good beer and busy. Fantastic entertainment in the afternoons. A must visit, compliment your visit to Oldham, a must do.

 

I was there some two years ago, it was looking busy on a sunny morning in April, in good working order – the usual conflation of odd angles and assorted volumes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ace – Fitton Hill Oldham

Fircroft Road, Oldham OL8 2QD

Playing for the high one, dancing with the devil,
Going with the flow, it’s all a game to me,
Seven or Eleven, snake eyes watching you,
Double up or quit, double stake or split,
The Ace Of Spades

Subsequently curtly shortened to – The Ace.

Lying two miles south of Oldham town centre, the Fitton Hill Estate was built during the Fifties and Sixties on previously undeveloped moorland with scattered hamlets and farmsteads.

The layout of the estate obliterated all traces of the old landscape.

Wind whips the streets above the Lancashire Plain – swirling down and around the high hills above the city below. It was once an area rich on the pickings of cotton and coal, regular work and pockets almost full of cash, slipping carelessly into the landlords’ tills

Oldham has suffered the fate of many of Manchester’s satellite towns, their energies and opportunities absorbed by the centre of the voracious city centre, as attempts to invest and regenerate flounder on the swelling tide of decline.

The Ace all high angles and Anglo Saxons continues to fight on, serving larger than life sports TV, lager and lounge music to the locals.

There are two handpumps on the bar, but according to the landlord, they tried selling real ale for a while, but it didn’t sell and they had to throw it away.

Pushing up the ante, I know you wanna see me
Read ’em and weep, the dead man’s hand again
I see it in your eyes, take one look and die
The only thing you see, you know it’s gonna be
The Ace Of Spades, The Ace Of Spades

 

 

 

The Garratt – Longsight Manchester

In 1892, during excavation work in connection with the building of the Manchester-Sheffield-Lincoln railway line, a stone axe was found in the Gore Brook area. It probably dates from the Neolithic or New Stone Age (3500-2000 BC) and is an indication of how long this area has been settled by man.

Continued occupation of the area is evident as the line of Hyde Road is believed to be a Roman Road. It would have been constructed during the occupation from 79 AD until around 390 AD, after which it fell into disrepair until coming back into use in the 19th century.

It says so here.

Alas, I came too late – the Neolithic and Roman citizens having absented themselves sometime earlier, I assume. Gore Brook we are told was christened by the subsequent Danish inhabitants – filth they found to be the most apposite name for a brook.

Had I arrived in 1905 I would have found an area strewn with mature trees, picture book cottages and sylvan glades. Along with the emergent network of railways and attendant industries, hot on their heels.

The population increased from 3,000 in 1845 to 13,500 in 1890, and again to 27,000 in 1900. The Gorton Works of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincoln railway opened in 1848.

So the heady, carefree days of postwar expansionism, filled the area with industry, homes and people – a largely white working class population, with an Irish heritage.

I came in search of a pub The Garratt – alas again too late was the cry, this former Holt’s pub, with extensive decorative tile work and etched glass windows, depicting its railway connections was long gone – along with Beyer and Peacock and their enormous locomotive – now immobilised in the Museum of Science and Industry

 

So here we have Manchester’s History in microcosm, boom and almost bust, a short lived period of wealth that was never evenly distributed and eventually disappeared in a puff of locomotive steam. Hard working workers no longer slaking their thirsts, following a hard day’s work.

Lively atmosphere, and somehow it struggles on.

Ignore the Mild pump as they do not sell it.

The building is currently in use as a mosque

The Gorton Works of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincoln Railway closed in 1963, Gorton Foundary closed in 1966.

Archive material Manchester Local Image Collection

 

The Manchester – Bradford

The Manchester, Grey Mare Lane, Bradford, Manchester. M11 3DG

The Crossroads was a typical looking 70’s built estate pub that was just off the busy Ashton New Road. There were two rooms inside a decent sized bar and a smart lounge, the pub was very busy on my visit with a good mix of locals. The pub was a Bass tied house and there were no real ales on here I had a drink of keg Stones Bitter this was far too cold and a very poor drink. This pub is still standing with a part of it trading as a training centre, the side of the pub says The Manchester but I am not sure what this is. 

Alan Winfield Pubs Galore 1993

February 2016 I cycled by – stopped at the crossroads – The Manchester now sits in Eastlands, even though you are in Bradford, you are now in the shadow of the Etihad Stadium, which is owned by Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, commonly known as Sheikh Mansour, the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, minister of presidential affairs and member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi. The ghost of Alan Turing runs away to your right – heading off at a pace for Phillips Park and Openshaw, simultaneously.

The pub was open yet quiet, as you may expect on a cold, quiet mid week winter’s day, match days would see it spring to life. The building is a delightful mix of flat roofed brick and glass volumes, strong verticals and staggered windows, typical of its type.

Surrounded on one side by a large estate of 70’s social housing and on the other newer developments associated with the arrival of the football stadium, training ground, trams, retail park and roads.

Quite literally, but not nominally a crossroads – a collision of wealth and want.

As JK Galbraith said:

“Private affluence and public squalor”.

“We need, and surely will have, an end to freedom from regulation and at least some of the oratory of the magic of free enterprise”

Have a drink on me.