General Sir Robert Sale, 97 Newport Street, Bolton

Follow @LostPubsBolton

Click here for the first General Sir Robert Sale.

The General Sir Robert Sale was previously on Crook Street close to the Bowling Green pub. However, it was demolished to make way for modifications to the railway, specifically an expansion of the Crook Street goods depot and improvements to the lines as they entered Great Moor Street station and the landlord, Thomas Lever, decided to move to Newport Street.

Thomas Lever had been running a beer house on Newport Street according to the 1843 Bolton Directory. With the closure of the General Sir Robert Sale he rented premises at 97 Newport Street and opened up again under the same name.

But by 1869, Thomas Lever was ready to get out of the pub business. He was now 82 years old.

“To Be Let – the Sir Robert Sale BEERHOUSE. Apply on the premises. 97 Newport Street.”

Bolton Evening News, 2 June 1869.

The pub was taken on by James Hardman. However, he was soon succeeded by John Balch, a carter whose wife Sarah came from a pub-owning family.

But rather like the original pub the General Sir Robert Sale was once again defeated by the railway. A scheme to build the Johnson Street curve linking the Bolton to Preston line with the Bolton to Blackburn line necessitated the demolition of a number of properties on Newport Street, including the General Sir Robert Sale. The pub closed in the early 1880s and a bridge over the new line was built in its place.

The bridge is still there and can be seen on this August 2015 image looking up Newport Street (copyright Google Street View).

General Sir Robert Sale, Crook Street, Bolton

Follow @LostPubsBolton

The first General Sir Robert Sale was situated on Crook Street in between the junctions with Ormrod Street and Blackhorse Street. The pub took its name from a British soldier in the garrison of Jalalabad during the First Afghan War (1839-1842). Known as “Fighting Bob”, General Sale was killed in action in 1844 during the First Anglo-Sikh War and was renowned for always being in the thick of any fighting.

In Bolton during the middle of the 18^th century, a pub on Crook Street named after “Fighting Bob” would have been quite apt. The area bordered by Crook Street, Newport Street, Blackhorse Street and Ashburner Street was known as Newtown. There was an influx of Irish immigrants following the Great Famine of 1848-49 and it soon became the roughest part of an already rough town.

Thomas Lever ran a beerhouse in Great Moor Street in 1836, but he was on Newport Street by 1841 and by 1849 he was on Crook Street in the pub which was now named General Sir Robert Sale. Previously the property was a private residence.Two years later he was employing a brewer, Joseph Walton, who lived on the premises along with his wife and two children.

The Bolton Directories for 1853 and 1855 both have the pub’s address as 47 Crook Street. The Bowling Green, close to the junction with Ormrod Street was number 45. Even taking into account the fact that in those days streets weren’t always numbered odd on one side and evens on the other it still puts the General Sir Robert Sale quite close to the Bowling Green.

In 1854, Thomas Lever decided to apply for a full licence for the General Sir Robert Sale. It was one of 23 beerhouses that applied for licences to sell wine and spirits as well as beer. But the application was heard by the staunch teetotaller Robert Walsh and all 23 applications were thrown out. [See here for more details].

Thomas Lever was still at the pub on the 1861. By this time he was 73 and his wife Margaret was 66. According to Gordon Readyhough, the pub was demolished a few years later to make way for modifications to the railway line in the area. The Crook Street goods depot was expanded and properties in the vicinity, including the General Sir Robert Sale, were demolished. But instead of giving up Thomas Lever simply moved to 97 Newport Street and re-opened under the same name. [1]

Click here for the second General Sir Robert Sale.

A car park now stands on the original site of the General Sir Robert Sale, on the right of the image below taken in August 2015. (copyright Google Street View)

[1] Bolton Pubs 1800-2000, by Gordon Readyhough. Published by Neil Richardson (2000).