tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004003316485029748.post6304581677177037055..comments2024-03-25T14:27:52.347+00:00Comments on JC's Beer Blog: From the Archives - August 1985John Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00132845616834779091noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004003316485029748.post-85291315585497796192020-07-07T12:47:41.484+01:002020-07-07T12:47:41.484+01:00Hi Grovel
Many thanks for the update. Not surpris...Hi Grovel<br /><br />Many thanks for the update. Not surprised to hear the Levenshulme has closed again. I wonder if it's finally run out of lives>John Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00132845616834779091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004003316485029748.post-89310533543584792842020-06-26T16:02:16.582+01:002020-06-26T16:02:16.582+01:00Update on the Bay Horse - Longsight
The remnants o...<b>Update on the Bay Horse - Longsight</b><br />The remnants of the building was demolished in 2019 [it made such an impression I can't even say whether it was spring or autumn]. The builders moved in - it is to become an extension to (replacement of?) the continental Manchester Supermarket next door. [Note for lovers of Indian cuisine, if you ask for their large offering of basmati rice it is likely to be a 25kg sack!] There was a flurry of building activity - I do remember the giant corkscrew machines boring foundation holes. Then nothing much.<br /><br /><b>Update on the Levenshulme</b> (surprisingly in Levenshulme!)<br />It was open pre-lockdown [or should that be lock-out?] but is now supporting a “You can run this pub” signage and all the ground floor windows are now shuttered/boarded. Me thinks it will be a Covid19 casualty.<br /><br /><b>Church in Longsight</b><br />This pub has the interesting accolade of having experienced a drugs raid from the local constabulary, curtesy of SELNEC [I think they were the bus company at the time]. Because the ‘proprietors’ always had a spotter placed outside [you’ll know what I mean if you’ve been down Great Ducie Street in Broughton/Cheatham Hill] there was no way of approaching in marked vehicles. Round the corner on Kirkmanshulme Road a number 53 bus was flagged down and a platoon of bobbies boarded [though whether they paid individually, as a group or the bus was commandeered is not clear]. Proceeding on to Stockport Road and there is a bus stop right outside [see vintage photo].<br /><b>Bus doors open, bobbies pour out, pub closes!</b><br /><br /><br />Grovelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004003316485029748.post-42978278489789256912020-06-26T07:57:34.729+01:002020-06-26T07:57:34.729+01:00And Sam's of course took on some of the ex-Oak...And Sam's of course took on some of the ex-Oakwell pubs, although I'm not sure how many were much of an asset to their estate. The Magpie in Carlisle is a lovely pub, though.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004003316485029748.post-81334343259970706112020-06-25T21:28:37.855+01:002020-06-25T21:28:37.855+01:00Hi Ian, that's very interesting. Rumour was th...Hi Ian, that's very interesting. Rumour was that the whole Oakwell set up was a venture of Humphrey's - rather than shutting down a competitor, he seems to have bailed out. Whatever the true story, it was all very odd.John Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00132845616834779091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004003316485029748.post-64448937571748358612020-06-25T12:59:25.816+01:002020-06-25T12:59:25.816+01:00Oakwell can be traced back to Humphrey Smith. The...Oakwell can be traced back to Humphrey Smith. There is a company called RBNB which in May 2016 was registered at 1 High Street, Tadcaster - where Samuel Smith is registered. As a private unlimited company, like Smith's, it is not obliged to file accounts publicly. The website 'We are Barnsley' has a news item on 5 March 2013 stating that RBNB owned Oakwell and planned to sell the site because the brewery was falling down. The May 2015 Annual Return for RBNB shows SSOB Acquisitions as sole shareholder - the initials are a bit of a giveaway. My conclusion is that this was a property deal by Humphrey, perhaps with the added angle of shutting down a competitor. I wonder what else that company owns? Ian Wordennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004003316485029748.post-15782648596503802492020-06-23T22:45:38.741+01:002020-06-23T22:45:38.741+01:00Hi Mudge - yes, the early start struck me. I think...Hi Mudge - yes, the early start struck me. I think it was unusual, even for then.<br /><br />Hi Phil - not sure if that's the same man, to be honest. Sports - yes that was the giveaway sign, I think. Or was that a Tetley thing?<br /><br />Oakwell was an interesting set-up and its unidentifiable ownership very strange. I did hear a whisper that, bearing in mind it sold well-made cheap beer and tended to splash the cash on very good refurbishments, that it was in fact a plaything of Humphrey Smith. Given the abrupt and rather ruthless way the plug was pulled on it all, that may well ring true. We'll never know, of course.John Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00132845616834779091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004003316485029748.post-1860764820245144402020-06-23T20:27:57.791+01:002020-06-23T20:27:57.791+01:00Peter Brookes, you say? Greying, hippyish, worked ...Peter Brookes, you say? Greying, hippyish, worked at War on Want, one-time member of Zoot Money's Big Roll Band? Small world if so.<br /><br />Re: Host and 'Sports' bars, were they the ones with the uniform triangular signage with a ball in the middle (presumably evoking snooker)? I remember finding it quite handy in identifying pubs to avoid.<br /><br />Fond memories of Oakwell Mild (never even had the bitter). What <b>was</b> going on there? I'm sure the world of beer offers a number of ways for the unscrupulous to get rich and/or launder the proceeds of getting rich elsewhere, but I can't see where running a brewery that was actually pretty good would come into the picture.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07009879034507926661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004003316485029748.post-41923117503015271602020-06-23T15:02:11.034+01:002020-06-23T15:02:11.034+01:00A 6 pm start - when men were men, cats were cats a...A 6 pm start - when men were men, cats were cats and pub crawls were pub crawls!Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.com