Browse Sections
- Rochdale 150
- Useful information
-
Nostalgia
- Looking back
- Rochdale canal
- Web links
- Family notices
- Property price guide
- Traffic cameras
- Travel news
- Speed cameras
- Rochdale expats
- Obituaries
Interactive
Popular Sections
A touch of rainNostalgia
| 
Submit Comments
END of an era ... Red Lion landlord Alan Brown and his wife, Ida
advertisement
Time called on town centre pubs
22/ 3/2008
LIKE most towns Rochdale has lost more than its fair share of pubs over the years, many to a drop in beer sales, but quite a few were also knocked down in the name of progress.
For many years, right up to the 1970s when the town centre area around the Toad Lane market was re-developed, some of the best pubs could be found clustered within 100 yards of each other on Lord Street, between Newgate and Yorkshire Street.
Older readers will well remember such favourite drinking watering holes as the Old Clock Face and the Coach and Horses, the site of which now lays somewhere beneath the Exchange Shopping Centre.
Another was the Red Lion, at the corner of Newgate and Blackwater Street.
But in October 1971, last orders were called for the final time at the Red Lion which was to be pulled down to make way for the town centre re-development.
The last landlord Alan Brown was less than happy that progress had finally caught up with one of the town’s oldest pubs.
The building to be demolished had been there since 1909 but records show that there had been a pub on the site for at least 122 years, and probably much longer than that.
Speaking to the Observer after pulling his last pint, Mr Brown said: "I’m very disappointed that a place of this character must come down.
"I would rather see it incorporated in the re-development."
Certainly the Red Lion had had its moments – and its characters.
In the 1960s a man who claimed to be the ‘smallest landlord in England’ held the licence.
Wilf Fleming – Little Wilf – was 4ft 10ins tall and had to have a platform built behind the bar so he could pull a pint.
He had a great sense of humour and when troubled by an awkward customer, he would face straight up to them, regardless of their size, and say: "Please conduct yourself properly or I will have you out."
And, with a touch of his spectacles, he would add: "And don’t let these kid you, either."
In its early days the Red Lion was considered one of the best laid-out pubs in Rochdale.
For many years it was the meeting place of market traders and local merchants and was used for meetings by many organisations, such as Rochdale Rotary Club, the Central Lancashire Cricket League and a lodge of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes.
Ernest Butterworth was one of the Red Lion’s most respected landlords.
He was at the Red Lion for 20 years and had many friends, especially in the farming world. On cattle market days, many deals were sealed round the wooden lions which once adorned the main bar.
He also boasted that he never failed to say goodnight to his customers.
Many will remember his cry at closing time: "Time, ladies and gentlemen, please. The law compels."
Happy times, all gone. It almost makes you want to cry into your beer.
Most recent 1 of 1 user comments
Got an opinion you want to share?Have changes to the service meant that you now see your dentist less regularly?
| Card | BT Fee |
| Capital One BT Platinum Card | 3.0% |
| Virgin Credit Card | 2.98% |
| Capital One Platinum | 3.0% |
| Barclaycard Platinum 'As on TV' | 2.9% |
| Barclaycard OnePulse For London | 2.9% |
| Company | Typical APR |
| FirstPlus Exclusive Rate | 6.6% |
| Moneyback Bank | 7.6% |
| Alliance & Leicester | 7.7% |
| Barclaycard Personal Loan | 7.8% |
| Halifax (Semi-exclusive) | 7.8% |
| Bank of Scotland (Semi-exclusive) | 7.8% |
| Barclays | 8.9% |
| Provider | AER* |
|
BRADFORD & BINGLEY Internet Saver 3 |
6.51% |
|
CAPITAL ONE SAVINGS Easy Access Savings Account (Issue 5) |
6.50% |
|
ICESAVE Easy Access Account |
6.30% |
|
ICICI BANK HiSAVE Savings Account |
6.16% |
|
SAINSBURYS FINANCE internet saver |
5.50% |
Britlady
13/04/2008 at 20:49