 |
| The former Farmers Arms pictured in August 2015 (copyright Google Street View) |
The
Farmers Arms stood at 251 Derby Street on the corner of Haslam Street (known as
German Street until the start of the First World War).
The
pub seems to have dated back to the early- to mid-1860s. There is no mention of
it on the 1849 Bolton Licensing list [1] nor on the 1861 census. But by 1868,
Richard Beckett was running the pub though he had gone by 1870 when Richard
Walker was in charge. Richard was described as a “painter and beerseller” on
the 1871 census.
Later
in the 1870s the Farmers Arms was taken over by Isaac Openshaw. He moved from
the Brewers Arms on Atherton Street, just off Cannon Street. Isaac was a brewer
– he had named his previous pub after his trade – and like most pubs the
Farmers had its own brewery. Certainly, Isaac Openshaw made his fortune at the
Farmers Arms. He left shortly before 1900 and by 1901 he had retired to
Southport. He died in 1922 leaving an estate valued at £8197 – the equivalent
of over £400,000 in today’s money.
In
the 1920s, the Farmers was run by Harry Fletcher. Harry was born into the pub
business. His father Ellis Fletcher ran the Ninehouse Tavern off Rishton Lane
for a number of years.
The
Farmers was bought by the Bromley Cross brewery of Hamer’s and was a rare
outlet for the company south of the town centre. The only other pub Hamer’s
owned in the vicinity was Uncle Tom’s Cabin on Lever Street.
Hamer’s
were bought out by Dutton’s in 1951. Dutton’s became part of the national
combine Whitbread in 1964. The Farmer’s Arms closed in 2001 and was converted
into offices.
[1]
Pubs Of Bolton Town Centre 1900-1986, by Gordon Readyhough. Published by Neil
Richardson (1986).
No comments:
Post a Comment