Historic Preston Pubs: Part 13

PART 13 STRAGGLERS

This is our final instalment in our look back at the closed pubs of Preston. In each of the previous 12 articles we have covered a distinct geographical area. This time round we are picking up the ‘stragglers’ around the edges. Many of the pubs in this issue were modern estate pubs and short lived; one open for as little as 8 years. There is little or no information readily available about most of these pubs, so we must content ourselves with the pictures. As these pubs are spread across the city, we will attack them from west to east.

Our first pub is the WEAVERS on Longridge Road, near to Red Scar and the crematorium. A modern pub (probably dating from the 1960s) it carried the name BEES KNEES towards the end. It closed in 1992 and was subsequently demolished.

Next comes the LION on Langden Drive on the Moor Nook estate. Built by Matthew Brown, it had a reputation as a rough pub, with one former landlord quoted as saying ‘holding the fort at the Battle of the Alamo would have been easier than being the landlord at The Lion’. Towards the end of its existence it was renamed the Witt’s End – allegedly so named because the brewery were so fed up of it being vandalised by the locals that they decided to have one last go of making it a going concern before they finally gave up, as they were, supposedly, at their wits end. It made no difference as a few months later in 2000, it was burnt down in an arson attack and never rebuilt.

Moving slightly north, our next pub is the BROOKFIELD ARMS on Croasdale Avenue in Ribbleton. Another Matthew Brown pub built for a new estate, there is no record of the pub ever selling real ale, although it probably did in the early years. It was

closed in 2000 and demolished 2004

At the junction of Lytham Road and Sir Tom Finney Way stood the ROYAL GARRISON. Reputedly there was a secret tunnel from the barracks to the pub cellar which was once used by officers. Given the proximity of the barracks and Deepdale Football Stadium, this should have been a thriving and successful pub, but it closed in 2012, with its final demise blamed on poor trade and a run of temporary managers in later years. Having stood derelict for seven years, it was announced in 2019 that the pub was to be turned into eight flats, but the only happening of note since then is an arson attack in 2020.

Staying in this part of Preston, our

next pub is the shortest lived of the lot. The TOY SOLDIER was built on Deepdale Retail Park in 1998, and perhaps unsurprisingly given the name, had a large children’s play area. It only lasted until 2006 when it was demolished to make way for more retail units.

By contrast, the NEW SHIP INN on Watery Lane dates from the mid 1890s, although there has been a pub bearing the Ship name on this site or in the immediate area since approximately 1794. For a time in the 1980s, the pub bore the name the Jolly Roger. The pub had a large concert room which was in use until almost the end. It closed in 2011 and was turned into a restaurant.

The JOHN O’GAUNT, on Cottam Avenue in Ingol, was built by Boddingtons in 1964. Another of the ‘estate pubs’ it had a lounge for live music and the public bar contained a sizeable trophy cabinet and was the headquarters for Ingol Rangers F.C. Real ale in the form of Boddingtons’ Bitter featured from the start although this had been discontinued by 2004. The pub closed in 2014

and was converted into a children’s nursery.

Fairly close by, another new estate pub was the FALKLAND HEROES on Village Green Lane in Tanterton. Built by Matthew Brown in 1983, it was named to commemorate the Falklands War and was decorated with badges, pictures and other memorabilia. A single large room with a central bar it was serving real ale in 1992 in the form of Theakstons Best Bitter but following a serious fire in 2002, the building was demolished.

Finally we come to the SAVICK, which was a large plain looking estate pub on West Park Avenue in Ashton. It was built by Matthew Brown to serve a new housing estate and had a separate lounge and games room. The 1992 Preston Guild beer guide notes it as selling Matthew Brown Dark Mild and Theakstons Best Bitter, stating that it was a recent convert to real ale. This clearly didn’t last too long, as by 2004 it was no longer doing so. The pub closed in 2008 and was subsequently demolished. ADRIAN SMITH All the excellent photographs used to illustrate this series of articles come from the Jim Holderness collection, and we gratefully acknowledge this and being able to use them. I hope readers have enjoyed these articles and, for those of you old enough to remember some of these closed pubs, has brought back some happy memories.