11 iconic Preston pubs we've loved and lost including The Sumners, Jolly Farmer and Theatre Hotel
By Brian Ellis
Published 10th Mar 2023, 14:43 BST
Updated 25th Apr 2023, 15:06 BST
Lancashire Post Chief Reporter Brian Ellis looks back at iconic Preston pubs we've loved and lost over the years.
Lancashire Post Chief Reporter Brian Ellis looks back at iconic Preston pubs we've loved and lost over the years.
These cathedrals for the working classes have been declining in number at an alarming rate in recent decades.Some have been demolished and replaced by houses, shops or offices. Of those that remain, very few like the city's most famous pub - the iconic Black Horse in Friargate - have been preserved for posterity, frozen in time from a golden era.
Here are just some of the best that Preston folk have loved and lost.
Here are just some of the best that Preston folk have loved and lost.
9. New Plough Hotel
A 1962 replacement for the old Plough Hotel, pictured, on Blackpool Road at Lea, this large pub with an even larger car park boasted a separate cocktail lounge, manned by a barman in a white coat and bow tie, where guests indulged in such vintage drinks as a Snowball, a Blue Lagoon or a Tom Collins. But its popularity didn't last beyond the 1980s and, like its predecessor, it was knocked down to make way for a small housing development called . . . The Ploughlands. Photo: PDA
Opened in Ribbleton Lane in 1853 and had been pulling pints (of mainly Boddingtons Beer) for 152 years when it was closed down in 1999. One of Preston's hardest pubs in recent decades, it was said to border on the Wild West some Friday or Saturday nights. Yet the regulars still managed to be a caring bunch, who looked after their own. After 22 years standing empty and a target for vandals and firebugs, it was finally demolished just over a year ago to make way for an education centre. Photo: SEND IN
Originally the Farmers Arms Hotel on the corner of Orchard Street and Market Street, dating back to the mid-1800s. Renamed the Jolly Farmer in the late 1960s to become one of the trendiest places for both young and old, with great music in the popular cellar bar. It closed its doors in 1980 after being sold for more than £400,000 and became three shops. It has been a butcher's, a cafe, a betting shop and, more recently an amusement arcade. Photo: Submit