On
the right of this image taken in August 2015 is the pharmacy built on the site
of the New Inn. The Windsor Castle was opposite the New Inn on the corner of
Lune Street. Adisham Drive was built in its place following the redevelopment of the
area in the early seventies and can be seen here with the white car waiting to
turn out. The Windsor Castle was on the corner nearest the camera. Image copyright Google Street View.
The
Windsor Castle was situated at the bottom of Halliwell Road on the corner of
Lune Street. Most pubs on the infamous ‘Halliwell Mile’ pub crawl were situated
on the right-hand side of the road as you head out of town. The Windsor Castle
was on the left and, along with the New Inn, was one of the first pubs you
walked into – or the last if, as tradition appeared to dictate, you started
from the Ainsworth Arms at the top of the road.
Writingon the Closed Pubs website, Mary Gray says: “The Windsor Castle was on the end of the first row of shops.
At the bottom end at the traffic lights was the District Bank on the corner of
Moss street. All gone now of course. I was born in 17 Halliwell Rd and lived
there until 1952.”
The
Windsor Castle dated back to at least the 1850s although the row of properties that
included the pub was standing as early as the 1840s.
James
Beddows owned the pub from the late-1850s until his death in 1882. James was originally
from Deane.
By
1895 the licensee was William Rogerson. Originally from Dunscar he left for the
Cheetham Arms on Blackburn Road where he died in 1913 aged 62.
Joseph
Goodlad, formerly of the Junction Inn on Egyptian Street and the Union Arms on Deane Road was another career publican
who ran the Windsor Castle. He certainly made a good living out of it. When he
died in 1920 he left an estate valued at over £5700 – the equivalent today of
almost a quarter of a million pounds. He was succeeded by his son, George, who
had previously worked as a joiner.
The
Windsor Castle became a Sharman’s pub in the early part of the 20th
century. Through various takeovers ownership passed through George Shaw’s of
Leigh in 1926, Walker Cain of Liverpool in 1931 and Tetley Walker of Warrington
in 1961. The pub received a full licence in 1962.
The
end for the Windsor Castle came in the early seventies when it was demolished
along with much of the immediate area. Practically the only building to remain following
those clearances was Moss Street Baths situated in a street to the rear of the
pub. That has since made way for a health centre.
 |
| The Windsor Castle pictured around 1930 |
According to the 1911 England Census, my great-grandfather, William Bleackley, ran the Windsor Castle hotel and pub at 37 & 39 Halliwell Road. He continued to run it until his death in March 1913, as shown on the probate of his will.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Bleackley was a career publican in and around bolton from around 1882 to his death in 1913. I have documents which show him at the following pubs in Bolton, must of which I assume are no longer in existence: the Bird I'th Hand in Kearsley (circa 1882-1885 or beyond); the Bowling Green Inn, 138/140 Blackburn Road (circa 1891); an unnamed pub at 26 Bury Old Road in Humpsall (1900-1905); the Van Tavern, 10 Arthur Street, Hulme (1906-1909ish); the Windsor Castle, 37 Halliwelll Road (1910-1913). Do you have information on any more of these particular pubs in Bolton? I would appreciate any information at all.
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