Some of you should enjoy this one - The best 17 pubs in Lancashire in 1985. I was still at school !
https://www.lep.co.uk/business/consu...-guide-3113605
I am a salmon !!
Thanks for spotting this and posting. Very interesting, as I used to live in Lancaster (1973-1983) and went to quite a few pubs in the town and nearby villages. There was a quiz league on Mondays and I've competed at many pubs in the Lune Valley and Morecambe as well as in the city.
Black Dog, Belmont, Bolton - never been, still open
Moorcock, Blacko - never been, though I've heard of it, now closed (notified just a year ago here, but still open on WhatPub) and turned into a fireplace showroom, of all things
Plough at Eaves, Woodplumpton, Preston - never been, though I've heard of it, had a temporary closure in Autumn 2019 according to WhatPub
Railway, Heapey, Chorley - the railway line closed in 1960, so it's a bit of a surprise that the pub was still going in 1985. No sign of it now.
Hodder Bridge Hotel, Chaigley, Clitheroe - now in residential use, as is the other pub in the village, the Craven Heifer
Whoop Hall, Cowan Bridge, Kirkby Lonsdale - I've got a feeling I've been here, as I was seeing a young woman who owned a car - this was 1977 - and I'm sure we went to a pub called the Plough further along the A65 past KL, and maybe here too. Passed it many times on the way to the Lakes.
Criterion Hotel, Blackpool - now called Churchills, never been here either
Th'Owd Tithebarn, Garstang - only went to Garstang once and that was when I was working in Preston and thought I'd try cycling from Lancaster - the A6 passes through. Just once. Never been to the pub. Has now reacquired it's "Th'Owd" after a period without.
Golden Ball, known as Snatchems, between Lancaster and Morecambe - finally, one that I've been to, and reviewed for PuG too. On the River Lune between the city and the sea. Snatchems because of press gangs snatching drinkers and hauling them off to sea. Last time I went here it was impossible to reach it - the pub is on the only high ground near the river, with the road in both directions flooded by heavy rain or high tide (or both).
Stonewell Tavern, Lancaster - my first visit here was in 1973 or 4 when it was till called the White Horse. I went in here quite often when it was the Stonewell Tavern and a proper lunchtime meeting place. Now a craft beer bar and music venue: the Stonewell Tap.
The Water Witch, Lancaster - this used to be a stable for horses pulling canal boats. After that finished, a man used to let punts which he stored in the stables while living on a narrow boat. I met him when I was at uni - we hired a punt for the whole of the summer term and finished off with a race from Galgate which is near the campus. I've been to the pub recently and not much impressed.
Highwayman, Nether Burrow, Carnforth - never been, now a Brunning & Price.
White Bull, Ribchester - came here in 2017 when on a cycling holiday in the Forest of Bowland.
Hark to Bounty, Slaidburn - I stayed at the hostel across the road from here, both on the cycling trip mentioned above and on a walking tour a few years previously.
Old Sparrowhawk, Fence - never been, still operating apparantly
Inn at Whitewell - another stop for me on my cycling trip in 2017. Posh hotel, original pub in the corner, but it's just an entrance to the main hotel reception and the bar behind. Lovely view over the river though.
Grey Horse, Preston - now a Yates, never been there. This is what it was like back in the day. There were some cracking good Boddingtons pubs in Preston when I used to work there (1978-83), but maybe they were going downhill when this guide was produced in 1985.
I make that three closed out of 17, and I've had a drink in six of them.
Come On You Hatters!
I have been in the Grey Horse in Preston (as a Yates) and i may have been in the one in Blackpool but I can't be sure.
I am a salmon !!
Blackpool (though as Churchill), Garstang, both Lancasters and Preston.
Well, obviously, it's on the wrong side of the Pennines, but I didn't know that back in the 70s and 80s. But looking back, some of that West Pennines scenery is very attractive, the Forest of Bowland in particular; and Morecambe Bay, looking across to the Lake District (part of which used to be Lancashire pre-1974) is - or at least, can be - breathtaking.
Come On You Hatters!