Another former pub has bitten the dust in Salford after plans were passed to turn it into student accomodation.
Salford City Council approved plans by a developer to turn the ground floor of the vacant Railway Inn on Broughton Road into a self-contained three-bed flat for rent.
The pub itself – tinned up and with the brickwork in poor external condition – was sold at auction in 2013 for £40,500 with planning permission for offices.
Just a few yards further up Broughton Road towards Broad Street was the Unicorn pub – owned at one time by Graham Nash’s mum.
That too has been taken over – this time by estate agents Mistoria.
The Unicorn, Pendleton
Last orders as estate agent takes over former Hollies pub in Pendleton
The Railway Inn on Broughton Road was built and opened in the 1880s.
The pub stopped pulling pints in the early 1990s but in recent years has been used as a religious meeting place.
It’s now owned by Stockport-based Falvia Services Limited.
The pub was named for its proximity to the Manchester to Bolton train line and sat above the former Pendleton railway station.
At one time Pendleton had two railway stations around 100 yards apart on Broughton Road: Pendleton Bridge, and Pendleton Broad Street.
In 1885 the connection was authorised from the new line at Brindle Heath to the Bolton line at Agecroft.
The two lines opened in stages to transport freight in 1887 before opening to passengers on 1 June 1889.
A 1910 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing railways in the vicinity of Pendleton – Wikipedia
At its peak in the 1970s Pendleton Broad Street had four platforms serving both the Manchester-Bolton line and the Wigan line and was one of only two stations with Sunday services.
Pendleton Broad Street survived until Salford Crescent opened in 1987 further down the line towards Manchester.
This took much of the traffic away from Pendleton, sending it into an irrevocable decline.
Pendleton station in 1989 – Wikipedia
Salford Crescent Station, 2016
By 1988 services on the Bolton line were withdrawn, and an arson attack closed the station for the final time in July 1994.
Read more on Salford’s former stations – 100 years ago: Murder scandal at Cross Lane Barracks
So to the pub itself.
Drinkers in the 1980s may remember the Boddington’s house for its excessively cheap beer prices and as one Stephen Thorpe writes here: “I remember drinking there with my flatmates, we were students living in Larch Court, Salford Precinct.
“We were the only students who drank there as it was all workers in there.
“It had a stone floor, and only sold Boddingtons.
“It was a perfect pint and it was the cheapest in Manchester 28p a pint.
“It was the only pub in Salford where the locals were friendly to students!”
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