In the 50s and 60s, th'Oddies was known as Fishwick's by locals, and the Britannia, now sadly demolished, was always called Wally Bishop's. A lot of other pubs were called after their landlords, or had nicknames such as t'Dull Pick and t'Blood Tub, to name but two.
Cheers,
Phil

Town: philowen@blueyonder.co.uk

Which was t'Blood Tub? I vaguely remember my father-in-law, Joe Cunliffe, mentioning it, but can't remember where it was.

My links with Ashton go back to the early 1960s, and I moved here in 1973. Wasn't there a pub where Gorner's garage is situated now? I seem to recall it, and also the pub in the row of terraced houses that existed in Warrington Road where Robinson's is now.

My friends tell me of the 'Top House' in Liverpool Road near the Catholic Club, and though I was in Ashton before it was demolished I can't remember it.

If there isn't an Ashton Historical Society, there should be.

- David -

Hi David,
T'Blood Tub was the former Ashton Labour Club...I'm not sure what it is now, but it's the place just off Bolton Road near the Salvation Army HQ, Chapel Street I think, and the Labour Club building was previously the original home of the Congs Church. The Labour Club used to open at weekends in the afternoon just as the pubs were closing, around 3 or 3.30, so it was very popular with those who wanted to carry on supping. Maybe that's where the name came from, after all the drunken fights!
The pub swallowed up by Gorner's was called The Star, and the one in Warrington Road was actually called the Colliers Arms, but better known as t'Dull Pick. It was good for a late drink.
The Top House was officially the Queens Head or Arms, I think, and my best man and I went in there for 'a quick one' just before my wedding, as it was opposite St. Oswald's Church. Not a great idea, as we then left it a bit late for the service and plunged through some trees in the churchyard in our rush. Got covered in mud and had to call at the priest's house, where a very understanding Father Ripley allowed me to clean the worst of the mud off my new wedding suit...
Cheers,
Phil

Town: philowen@blueyonder.co.uk

my nan and grandad used to run the blood tub about 20 years ago its now called the presidential.

Town: spillmypintwillya@hotmail.co.uk

I don't know i Ashton does have a History Society, but I can think of someone who would...
I hesitate to mention the CAP, in the context of this board (!) but one of their councillors whose name I have not seen on here is Walter Carney. I don't know him personally, but he is a real authority on local history. I went to a talk he gave, about a year ago, and it was absolutely fascinating, full of superb information and photos, and very well presented with a lot of humour.

Phil

Town: philowen@blueyonder.co.uk

Yes, I've been to several of his talks over the years. I did speak to him at one time about the website with a view to his assisting with the history of Ashton, but he wasn't interested.

- David -

Town: dm@aimi.org.uk

If I remember rightly, t'Blood Tub was Ashton conservative club (oh, the irony!). I am remembering this from a conversation I had with 'owd Norm in th'Oddies a few months ago.

I have a great picture of the sad state of the Britannia at Bryn Cross. I do like the fact that they left the door posts standing though...that was comedy genius:

http://www.yatescentral.com/andy/images/britannia.jpg

I find the only place you can go to get all these stories is th'Oddies and even then, just a select bunch of about 6 people. Incidentally, there is still much wailing about the closure of the Cranberry in th'Oddies -- they celebrated/commiserated the anniversary of its closure not too long ago.

BTW, there is an interesting story about how the Oddfellows came about. The Oddfellows society was a bit of a poor man's Masons -- working class chaps who helped each other out. It still exists to a certain extent today.

Anyone remember what the Lion's nickname was in Ashton? It was Ma somebody's. My mother has memories of staying there when she was a kid as my grandfather had a crush on the lady in question.

Town: andy@REMOVETHIS.yatescentral.com

Nope, it was definitely the Labour Club, Chapel Street. There was very little blue blood around in Ashton then (ha ha ha)!

The Red Lion was and is still known as Old Mary's; other than that it's changed quite a bit over the years, to put it mildly.
I don't know or can't remember if the Golden Lion has a nickname or not...
The best pub in Ashton in the late 60s and early 70s was the Hingemakers on Heath Road, and I believe it still has the same landlord today...

Cheers,

Phil

Town: philowen@blueyonder.co.uk

I believe that this is the only pub in Britain with this name, it being derived from the small industries which existed in Heath Road in the 19th Century.

What was the name of the nightclub which was over what is now Greens? I visited it on a couple of occasions in the sixties - I still remember 'Big Julie' performing there.

- David -

It was the Manhattan. Ended up there on my stag night....!

phil,my sister lily & her husband maurice took over the red lion as landlady & landlord around 1960 from old mary & her lodger who was a ex army captain,when my sister took over there was a larger sales for spirits than for the beers due to very few customers & the fact that the captain & old mary used to sup excessively the whiskey, gin & any other spirit that they could get there hands on.i remember old mary & the captain leaving the pub but don·t know were they ended up. i occassionally worked behind the bar together with my sister & mother when maurice was running the bar at the then old road baths for special dances

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Replying to:

Nope, it was definitely the Labour Club, Chapel Street. There was very little blue blood around in Ashton then (ha ha ha)!

The Red Lion was and is still known as Old Mary's; other than that it's changed quite a bit over the years, to put it mildly.
I don't know or can't remember if the Golden Lion has a nickname or not...
The best pub in Ashton in the late 60s and early 70s was the Hingemakers on Heath Road, and I believe it still has the same landlord today...

Cheers,

Phil

Town: fredbryan@infortelecom.es

Fred, are you the Fred Bryan who posted about Mary Sudworth on the wigan genealogy board?

I tried to send you a message, but it bounced back.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Replying to:

phil,my sister lily & her husband maurice took over the red lion as landlady & landlord around 1960 from old mary & her lodger who was a ex army captain,when my sister took over there was a larger sales for spirits than for the beers due to very few customers & the fact that the captain & old mary used to sup excessively the whiskey, gin & any other spirit that they could get there hands on.i remember old mary & the captain leaving the pub but don·t know were they ended up. i occassionally worked behind the bar together with my sister & mother when maurice was running the bar at the then old road baths for special dances

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Replying to:

Nope, it was definitely the Labour Club, Chapel Street. There was very little blue blood around in Ashton then (ha ha ha)!

The Red Lion was and is still known as Old Mary's; other than that it's changed quite a bit over the years, to put it mildly.
I don't know or can't remember if the Golden Lion has a nickname or not...
The best pub in Ashton in the late 60s and early 70s was the Hingemakers on Heath Road, and I believe it still has the same landlord today...

Cheers,

Phil

Town: efranco@canada.com

Fred,
Was that the original Old Mary who the pub was named after? Do you know her surname? I have always guessed at Mary Hilton, as that was the name of the landlady on the 1901 census, but she would have been around 100 years old by 1960...a very very old Mary indeed...!
Cheers,
Phil

Just as a follow-up, you might be interested, from my diary...

I went back to Ashton yesterday. Die Fuhrer (my grandmother) is invading Poland or some such until next weekend. She's been so ****ed good to me that I felt I should do something that said thanks properly. So yesterday, I took out a spade and started digging. She's always wanted a pond, so a pond she would have. I'd bought the lining last weekend so I knew what size the hole should be. Unfortunately, by the time I had finished the hole, it looked like the final resting place of a midget. I had to leave it that way overnight before going getting the sand to bed it and the stones to border it. If the police had been called, I'd have been banged up by now for my intentions, pond or no pond.

Anyway, digging done, I went down to Th'Oddies. A first class evening ensued. As I started relating tales of my manual dexterity, I realised I was being shot down in flames by the locals...they've known me six months and are thoroughly convinced I am the most useless git on the planet unless I have a keyboard in front of me. Merciless they were.

Midst all the banter, a tale was told. That of old Ma Magraim. Apparently her son had had the need to dig some holes. He did so and dumped the soil on some waste ground behind the Brittania many years ago. Upon seeing these piles of soil, old Ma Magraim assaulted her son, asking "what are those hills doing there?"

In a very Allo Allo fashion, her son looked at her incredulously and gave it the "You stupid woman" look. He then explained that these were not hills but upside down holes. She seemed OK with that for a moment and then retorted "Well what are you going to do with them?"

A moment's silence ensued before the son said "We're going to dig a big hole and bury 'em."

My pint went from my mouth in a trajectory that **** near took out the pork scratchings on the wall opposite. The night carried on and on like that. Ste arrived in a form that you cannot imagine. I pity you people who will never make it to Th'Oddies. Not one of my mates there is under 50 (with the exception of Fearless Fred's missus) and you have never met a more diverse bunch of absolutely brilliant people...I wanted sand, Fearless pitched up this morning with a few bags for me -- no charge.

Town: andy@REMOVETHIS.yatescentral.com

Well done Moderator it’s nice to have the board up and running again.

Hi Vic -

Glad that you appreciate it - let's hope that we can keep it more civilised this time.

Congratulations on becoming Chair of Friends of Three Sisters, although you've effectively acted as Chair for some time now. I look forward to seeing what further projects FOTS can carry out.

- David -

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Town: RAINSUDWORTH@hot mail.com