Lord Hill, 46 - 48 Sidney Street

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The Lord Hill stood at number 48 Sidney Street, on the corner of Maxfield Street and in between Bridgeman Street and Lever Street.

The pub was founded in the middle of the 19^th century by John Winward. Originally from York Street, which was the next street along from Sidney Street, John was a weaver. In January 1840, he married Mary Partington from Nine Houses – later Ninehouse Lane – and by the time of the 1841 census the couple were living in Sidney Street.

As often happened at that time, the couple decided to pay the fee of 2 guineas (£2.10) to enable them to open their home as a beerhouse and they named the premises the Lord Hill.

John Winward remained at the Lord Hill until the early-1870s. Two events no doubt had a bearing on his decision to quit the pub. His wife, Mary, died in March 1869 at the age of 54. But in November of the following year, John Winward married again – this time to Betty Winward, his sister-in-law. Betty had married John’s brother William Winward in 1840, but she became a widow on William’s death in 1848 and hadn’t remarried in the intervening 22 years. Within a few years John, now in his sixties, had left the Lord Hill. He died in 1881.

The pub, which had by now expanded into the premises next door, was sold to Ellis Crompton of Crompton’s brewery on Derby Street. The Derby Street Brewery is perhaps Bolton’s forgotten brewery as information on it is so difficult to find. It was founded by George Pickering in the late-1820s and the front of the premises was just a few doors up from the Derby Arms. Initially a retail brewery it changed ownership on a number of occasions. William Maude was the owner by 1836, by 1853 it was in the hands of William Young and by 1876 it was owned by Ellis Crompton. But it was never a large brewery. Compare it to Magee’s, which was taking shape on a much larger scale further up Derby Street, and it gives you an idea of the battle Ellis Crompton faced. The Derby Street Brewery was tiny by comparison and when brewers began to build up their tied estates economies of scale ensured his operation was at a financial disadvantage. Magees, Atkinson’s, Sharman’s and Tong’s were large enough to snap up pubs all over Bolton. We have only ever come across the Lord Hill as a Derby Street Brewery pub (though that’s not to say there weren’t a few more). By the early-1890 the brewery had closed down and the premises were used for a number of years by Barlow Stores Ltd, an Atherton-based chain of grocery stores.

There were no fewer than four different owners of the Lord Hill in the 1890s. When Ellis Crompton wrapped up the Derby Street Brewery the pub was sold to Atkinson’s, a local concern not too far away from the Derby Street Brewery in Commission Street. But there were new owners again in 1895 when Atkinson’s sold out to Boardman United Breweries and just three years after that Boardman’s were taken over by another Manchester brewery, Cornbrook’s.

The Lord Hill lasted until 1951 and it was a Cornbrook pub when it closed. By then the writing was on the wall for much of the area between Bridgeman Street and Lever Street but the Lord Hill was one of the earliest closures. Pubs like the New Inn, the York Street Tavern and the Peel’s Arms lasted a few years longer. The General Havelock lasted until the eighties. 

The pub was demolished a few years after it closed. Sidney Street was cut in two as can be seen in the image below (copyright Google Street View 2015). Industrial premises now stand on the site of the Lord Hill which was about halfway up on the left-hand side as we look through the factory gates.

Peels Arms, 30-32 Sidney Street

The Peels Arms was one of the early beerhouses on Sidney Street, which at the time connected Bridgeman Street with Lever Street. William Grime was the licensee, according to the 1853 Directory and it seems that he was the pub’s founder.

Grime is listed in the 1841 Bolton Census as a resident of Sidney Street, one of many hand weavers that lived in that street. But it seems he had grander ideas and he turned number 30 Sidney Street into a beer house, the Peels Arms, which also sold general provisions.

William Grime got lucky. In 1884, George Hodgkinson and Sons’ built Hilton Mills. While the mill fronted onto Bridgeman Street it employed many of the weavers from Sidney Street that provided the Peels with much of its custom – and the pub and its attached shop was right outside the mill.

Grime brewed his own beer - he was listed as a brewer in the 1871 Worrall’s Bolton Directory – and the pub must have been a little goldmine, at least for a while. But unfortunately, Hilton Mills was destroyed by fire in 1892 with damage estimated at £30,000. But even then, the land was redeveloped for housing.

Magees took over the Peels and were the pub’s owners in 1962. By that time the brewery had been taken over by Greenall Whitley and there was the review of the tied estate that inevitably accompanies such a takeover. The area between Bridgeman Street and Lever Street was earmarked for redevelopment and a number of streets had already been demolished.

At the same time, Magees – or Greenalls – were pressing ahead with a new pub, the Morris Dancers on Sapling Road. Whereas the Peels was in a predominantly working-class and over-pubbed area, the Morris Dancers was in a more affluent area which had only recently gained its first pub, the Prince Rupert.

The brewery did a deal. They surrendered the licences of the Peels and the nearby Oliver Cromwell – two beerhouses – and obtained a full public house licence for the Morris Dancers.

The Peels was pulled down soon afterwards and the whole area was subsequently redeveloped as an industrial estate. The pub’s location was roughly to the rear of Samson’s auto repairs on Bridgeman Street.

Sidney Street seen at its junction with Cochrane Street. The street ends at that point but beyond the factory gates in the foreground the old street can still be seen. The Peels was situated  in the distance, on the left-hand side, not far from the junction with Bridgeman Street.