The Old Wellington Inn is the oldest building in Manchester. The building itself dates from 1552 but didn't become a pub until 1830. It was in the Market Place but in 1974 it was raised by 4 ft 9 inches (1.45 metres) and moved into the Shambles Square to allow for the development of the area into the Arndale Centre. In 1996 it was damaged when the IRA bombed the Arndale Centre. The Inn was dismantled later to redevelop Shambles Square and moved 300 metres northwards towards Manchester Cathedral. It reopened in 1999. I suppose you could call it a mobile pub.
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I love that pub!!! My Dad and I always go there when we are in Manchester. I've been in the most recent location and the one from before the bomb.
ReplyDeleteI used to be freaked out as I was in Canary Wharf the day before the bomb went off there and in Manchester a short while before that bomb. My friend Nina outdid me - she was standing in the exact spot the Manchester bomb went off 24 hours before it happened - she had arrived in the country from South Africa that week.
A mobile pub? As much as it has been moved around, it should have wheels on it permanently!
ReplyDeleteI lived in Manchester once but don't remember The Old Wellington Inn, but it's a lovely postcard and the pub has an interesting history.
ReplyDeleteI lived in Gorton, and later found out that Myra Hindley and Ian Brady lived around the corner once. I shiver when I think I could have drank in the same pubs and shopped in the same shops as they did!
I've never visited Manchester. The pub looks wonderful. It's about time I went back to England to see my great friends in Rye...they did come to Barcelona for the weekend in Oct 2008 when I was there but I really miss http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_450BnQG_YS4/SlybDvc44cI/AAAAAAAAAdA/dSM47_2mTKc/S45/Picture%2B8392.jpgthem!
ReplyDelete@Emm, I'd be freaked out too! A few too many near misses for me.
ReplyDelete@Max, it's unusual enough to have moved once. I heard that London Bridge in Arizona really isn't the bridge rebuilt, only a close copy with some of the stone. I'm wondering if this is the same.
@Blogaire, the memories Myra Hindley and Ian Brady as neighbours - no thanks!
@RNSane, Manchester is probably not the first city anyone would think to visit as a tourist, although there are plenty of interesting places in and around.
This is one of my favourite spots in Manchester.
ReplyDeleteI've started many nights out with a drink in the Old Wellington and Sinclairs which is right next door to it and is another pub that has been moved more than once in its history.
Seeing this card has brought back some happy memories,thank you.