The outbreak of war in 1914 brought many new rules and regulations to Britain, the most important of these was the Defence of the Realm Act, passed on 8 August 1914 ‘for securing public safety’.
The Government were under the impression that the country’s workforce was more concerned with drinking than making vital war machinery to fight the Hun.
This draconian ruling included watering down beer and making it illegal to buy a round.
Opening hours for all pubs were cut back to 12 noon to 3pm and 6.30pm to 9.30pm, or 12 noon to 2pm at weekends.
It was even made an offence to serve a soldier in uniform unless he was on sick leave.
100 years ago in Salford: Shock as ‘wounded WW1 soldier scams them all
The licence-holder of the tiny Prince of Wales pub on Oldfield Road, John Little, was to bear the full brunt of these changes in the law.
The Prince of Wales – or ‘Little’s’ as it was known locally – opened as a Groves and Whitnall’s beerhouse next door to the St Philips Hotel, near Chapel Street, in 1838.
Chung’s Chippy – on the site of Little’s pub near Chapel Street
From 1910 to the 1950s it was run by the Little family – hence the nickname – and shouldn’t be confused with the much larger Prince of Wales pub further down Oldfield Road.
That pub, pictured below, closed in the 1990s and was replaced with the Fusion apartment block at the corner of Oldfield Road and Middlewood Street.
The Prince of Wales – by deltrems via Flickr
In January 1916 John Little was hauled before Salford Magistrates Court after an anonymous tip-off to local police landed him in trouble.
Police Constable Brierley called into the Prince of Wales at 2.35pm on a Sunday and found the pub half-full, with five women and 11 men, three of them soldiers in uniform, still enjoying a drink.
The officer spotted Mr Little passing a gallon jug of beer to one of the women, and made his move.
He asked the landlord if he was aware of the time, to which he replied: “The beer has been paid for before time, I am allowed five minutes after time to get the customers off the premises.”
Not to be outwitted PC Brierley pulled out his pocket watch and said that the correct time was 2.36pm.
Enraged, Mr Little took out his pocket watch and told the constable that it was actually 2.40pm – a petulance which seems to have sealed his fate.
When told that he would be reported to the Acting Chief Constable, Little retorted: “Do what you like. Are you after your Christmas Box?”
For his impudence the Magistrate fined Mr Little £5; some £300 in today’s money.
As a compromise a summons against Mr Little for selling beer was withdrawn.
It’s not recorded whether the Salford landlord was grateful for the court’s mercy under the Defence of the Realm Act.
Little’s pub itself closed in 1983 and reopened as Chung’s Chippy, which is still standing to this day.
