141 Robin Hood - Halliwell Road ( Bolton )

Not  visited

The  Robin  Hood  was  further  down  towards  Bolton. It  closed  about  6  years  ago  and  is  now  a  boxing  gym  owned  by  Tyson  Fury.

140 The Peels Arms - Halliwell Road ( Bolton )

First  visited  : 1  June  2017

This  one's  a  bit  further  down  Halliwell  Road  and  was  once , I'm  reliably  informed, Bolton's  gay  pub.  I'd  only  just  have  known  what  that  meant  ( c/o  Tom  Robinson ) back  in  1978.

There's  little  sign  of  that  history  now  in   the  re-christened  pub. It's  now  a  Wanderers  supporters  pub , designed  for  Sky-watching  with  a  screen  in  every  corner. It's  open, charmless  and  unfriendly  and  I  won't  be  re-visiting.

139 The Crofters' Arms - Smithills

First  visited  : 16  October  2016

This  large  pub  is  a  bit  further  down  Halliwell  Road  near  to  the  large  Falcon  Mill. It has  a
triangular  layout  with  a  large  two-sided  bar  but  little  to  warrant  a  further  visit. The  walls  are whitewashed  and  randomly  decorated, there's  a  small  stage  area  and  a  few  TV  screens ( though  it  looks  like  they  don't  have  Sky ). It  was  practically  empty  when  I  went  in  on  a Sunday  teatime.

138 The Stork Tavern - Smithills

First  visited :  2  September  2016

This  is  an  odd  one. It  didn't  look  very  promising   and  the  clientele  on  a  Friday  evening  looked  a  bit  grimy  but  it  had  a  certain  appeal  inside. It's  a  real  ale  pub  and  quirkily  decorated with  a  mixture  of  papered  walls  and  blue-grey  wooden  panelling. There  are  four  separate  lounges  and  a  back  yard  optimistically  advertised  as  a  beer  garden. The  best  feature  is  a  huge  wall  mural  by  local  artist  Lenny  Stevens  based  on  old  photographs  of  the  area.

137 The Coaching House - Smithills

First  visited : Spring  1998

Well  we  put  it  in  the  book  but  this  was  always  a  restaurant  rather  than  a  pub.

I  don't  think  you  can  count  sitting  in  the  porch  as  a  visit  so  I  didn't  enter  the  place  until  nearly  twenty  years  later  for  a  meal  with  Manchester  Christian  Social  Group. I  can't  find  it  on  the  printed  programmes  so  it  must  have  been  a  replacement  for  something  else.

It  wasn't  a  happy  occasion. Although  Julie  and  I  were  now  married  she  still  felt  that  the  MCSG  occupied  too  much  of  my  attention  and  the  focus  of  her  ire  was  generally  my  friend  Aamir  the  co-ordinator. He  said  something  that  she  took  exception  to  - almost  certainly  something  very  trivial - and  she  tipped  her  glass  onto  his  food  and  walked  out  into  the  night . I  assumed  she'd  gone  to  the  toilet  and  it  was  some  time  before  I  realised  she  was  no  longer  in  the  building. You'd  have  to  ask  her  why   a  four  mile  walk  back  home  in  high  heels   on  a  cold  dark  night   seemed  preferable  to  our  society.

I  have  a  feeling  we  went  back  there  a  few  years  later  for  a  meal  with  Bolton  Outdoor  Group  but  I  can't  be  bothered  rooting  around  for  the  exact  date.

It  closed in  August  2012 when  the  owners  sold  out  to  property developers.

136 The Ainsworth Arms - Smithills

First visited :  24 August 2016

We're  now  back  in  Bolton. The  week  after  the  Bramhall  Hall  trip,  Stephen  and  I  went  to  Lyme  Park  ,probably  the  furthest  we  ever  ventured  on  a  day  outing but  I  must  have  forgotten  to  take  the  notebook. It  was  back  for  the  next  trip  to  Smithills  Hall  although  most  of  the  journey  i.e  as  far  as  Bolton   had  already  been  covered.

It  wasn't  the  most  enjoyable  of  trips. Patrick  rejoined  us  and  he  and  Stephen's  seeming  inability  to  get  on  when  I  was  around  ( which  was  strange  given  they  lived  close  to  each  other  and  had  been  pals  for  two  years  when  I  was  at  a  different  school )  resurfaced  once  more  making  the  atmosphere  rather  fraught. It  also  chucked  it  down  all  day  which  didn't  help. We  broke  the  journey  in  Bolton  town  centre  and  walked  round  the  museum  again. I  remember  Stephen  lifting  a  little  lad  up  so  he  could  see  the  piranha,  one  of  those  little  moments  that  stays  with  you.

Our  ultimate  objective  that  day  added  to  our  disappointment . Firstly  the  nature  centre  had  closed  down for  the  winter. Secondly  the  hall  didn't  open  until  2pm  and  the  only  shelter  where  we  could  eat  our  butties  was  the  porch  of  the    adjacent  Coaching  House  restaurant    where  we  sat  amid  all  the  lovely  aromas  drifting  by. I  should  pay  tribute  to  the  tolerance  of  the   management  there  that  day; it  can't  have  contributed  to  the  ambience  of  the  place  to  have  three  bedraggled  urchins  loitering  around  their  entrance  for  more  than  an  hour  but  nobody  came  out  to  evict  us.  Finally  the  hall  opened  but  that  too  was  a  letdown. Coming  after  Bramhall  Hall,  it  seemed  a  threadbare  experience; once  you'd  read  about  George  Marsh  and  seen  his  supposed  footprint,  there  seemed little  else  to  it, a  poor  return  for  the  effort  we'd  expended  in  getting  there.  It  went  down  in  our  mental   records  as  "a  bad  trip". I  should  add  that  these  days  Smithills  Hall  offers  a  much  improved  visiting  experience   but  frankly  that's  just  as  well. Sadly  the  restaurant  is  no  more  and  is  in  the  process  of  conversion  to  living  apartments.

Anyhow  back  to  the  present  day . The  Ainsworth  Arms  stands  near  the  busy  four  way  junction  where  Halliwell  Road   and  Smithills  Dean  Road   meet  the  A58  ring  road. It  doesn't  have  a  car  park  which  means  parking  down  one  of  the  side  streets  off  Halliwell  Road

Simon  and  I  visited  on  a  Wednesday  tea  time  and  were  favourably  impressed. It's  nicely  laid  out  on  two  levels,  tastefully  decorated  and  friendly. The  landlord  seemed   like   a  nice  family  guy  and  chatted  with  us  about  football  and  the  barmaid  was  both  friendly  and  exceedingly  tasty. The  drinks  weren't  the  cheapest  but  I  could  live  with  that.

135 The Star Hotel - Rochdale

Not  visited

This  is  another  Drake  St   pub  that  had  a  number  of  make-overs  including  "Dreams  Bar"  and  "Harry's  Bar" . It's  currently  awaiting  redevelopment.

That  concludes  the  pub  names  collected   on  the  Bramhall  Hall  trip.