Stadium is looking shabby | Page 10 | Vital Football

Stadium is looking shabby

Well if you supped Greenalls you didn't have to worry about going home smelling of ale.
Walkers was nice I worked behind the bar in what used to be a cracking pub in the seventies the Ben Jonson at Goose Green it was a Walkers house probably supped more than I served.
Walkers also did packs of little stubby bottles called Light Peter and Brown Peter which were delicious, I can still smell the proper ale aroma of these.

How strange...yesterday afternoon I passed the Ben Jonson and noticed it still had the Walkers logo on the side. But it was the building to the side of the now closed pub. Was this the original Ben Johnson?
 
How strange...yesterday afternoon I passed the Ben Jonson and noticed it still had the Walkers logo on the side. But it was the building to the side of the now closed pub. Was this the original Ben Johnson?

No. the Ben Jonson has always been were it is now, although nowadays it is sadly closed. The two houses next to it were owned by the brewery at one time and I believe were once the stables, although that may just be something my Dad told me and not accurate.

Edit:

Actually disregard that bullshit above as a quick search on the web reveals that it is believed that the 2 cottages were in fact the original pub.


The pub was recorded under Pemberton as "Ben Jonson" in Baines Lancashire 1824 when the landlord was Peter Aspinwall. The earlier building appears to have been the cottages, still standing, next door to the building in use to day. Last time I looked the name was still visible painted on the side of these cottages. I would have thought that it WAS named after the poet and playwright. In the early 1800s, Rev. Edmund Sibson describing his investigations into the route of the Roman Road from Wigan to Wilderspool, recorded that:"..the ridge of the road appears again, very plainly in the Puet Meadow, in front of the Ben Jonson public house.." so there has probably been a hostelry on the site for some time!
 
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No. the Ben Jonson has always been were it is now, although nowadays it is sadly closed. The two houses next to it were owned by the brewery at one time and I believe were once the stables, although that may just be something my Dad told me and not accurate.

Edit:

Actually disregard that bullshit above as a quick search on the web reveals that it is believed that the 2 cottages were in fact the original pub.


The pub was recorded under Pemberton as "Ben Jonson" in Baines Lancashire 1824 when the landlord was Peter Aspinwall. The earlier building appears to have been the cottages, still standing, next door to the building in use to day. Last time I looked the name was still visible painted on the side of these cottages. I would have thought that it WAS named after the poet and playwright. In the early 1800s, Rev. Edmund Sibson describing his investigations into the route of the Roman Road from Wigan to Wilderspool, recorded that:"..the ridge of the road appears again, very plainly in the Puet Meadow, in front of the Ben Jonson public house.." so there has probably been a hostelry on the site for some time!

Was looking at it TB...it is still clearly visible on the cottage gable end and it also says Ben Jonson at the top.
 
Well if you supped Greenalls you didn't have to worry about going home smelling of ale.
Walkers was nice I worked behind the bar in what used to be a cracking pub in the seventies the Ben Jonson at Goose Green it was a Walkers house probably supped more than I served.
Walkers also did packs of little stubby bottles called Light Peter and Brown Peter which were delicious, I can still smell the proper ale aroma of these.
Had an excellent pint of Greenalls after their brewery tour, back in the day.
 
Had an excellent pint of Greenalls after their brewery tour, back in the day.

The Griffin at Wilderspool, opposite the brewery was the Brewery Tap and served the best pint of their bitter you could get. The landlord there was specially selected as they used the pub to showcase their beers and he was trained to keep the ale as it was intended. Apparently it was not the easiest of beers to keep and temperature of the cellar and cleanliness of the lines was very important, hence in so many other outlets it tasted sour.

They always had a decent Mild though and that was not as difficult to keep.
 
Who'd have thought that a spring based in an area that used to be a slum & was next to a prison would produce such good water?? The big brewers don't care & see everything purely in numbers

I'd always just thought that they'd put the brewery next to the prison to taunt the prisoners!!
Would have thought that the reason the brewery was there was because beer was safer to drink than water and a new brewery was needed to cater for the many mills and factories that were springing up in the area.
I still believe beer is safer to drink than water, especially after having dealings with United Utilities.
 
The Griffin at Wilderspool, opposite the brewery was the Brewery Tap and served the best pint of their bitter you could get. The landlord there was specially selected as they used the pub to showcase their beers and he was trained to keep the ale as it was intended. Apparently it was not the easiest of beers to keep and temperature of the cellar and cleanliness of the lines was very important, hence in so many other outlets it tasted sour.

They always had a decent Mild though and that was not as difficult to keep.
Was that not the Saracens Head which is I think now a Lees pub?
 
I stand corrected, mixing my Griffins and Saracens Heads up.

The Griffin I was thinking of is near the Saints old ground at Knowsley Rd. and did a cracking Sunday Carvery back in the day.
The most annoying thing about Greenalls was that they bought up a number of small regional brewers and shut their breweries then decided that competition from the national brewers was getting too hot then shut Wilderspool to concentrate on retail.
 
Have a pi
Douglas bank. Holts pub. On Woodhouse Lane. Cracking. Pint. If it’s still open. And cheap
Have a pint for me in there at the first home match John, unfortunately I can't take up my season ticket for the first time in ages as my immune system is still compromised following medical treatment and despite having had two jabs have been advised that it's not worth the risk of mixing yet, hopefully be back next season.
 
Douglas bank. Holts pub. On Woodhouse Lane. Cracking. Pint. If it’s still open. And cheap
Formerly ….The Woodhouses pub ….scruffy old place in the 70’s …I worked briefly at the old GKN place next door and went in occasionally at lunch times …..it may well be much nicer today but I haven’t been in for decades…….baCk then the Belle Vue and Prince of Wales opp the Latics supporters club were better…..especially the latter.

These were the days when nipping to the pub for a pint and a game of pool at dinner was the norm, frowned on or often banned these days. Not that I work anymore 😀
 
Don't know how true this is, yesterday I was talking to two rugby fans
And they told me warriors are planning to turn the stadium next door into a 15k rugby stadium
Three stands for seating one standing
Now I have known these two lads from way back
So I do think there might be some truth in this for the future
Anyone else heard about this
 
Don't know how true this is, yesterday I was talking to two rugby fans
And they told me warriors are planning to turn the stadium next door into a 15k rugby stadium
Three stands for seating one standing
Now I have known these two lads from way back
So I do think there might be some truth in this for the future
Anyone else heard about this
Wigan Council would probably foot the bill. Can't see that happening unless the council paid for the upkeep too. On too much of a good thing renting off us.
 
Wigan Council would probably foot the bill. Can't see that happening unless the council paid for the upkeep too. On too much of a good thing renting off us.
You might be right,but having a place of their own might bring back stay away fans
Who don't see the football stadium has their own
 
The egg chasers are planning it or Wigan council? The former won’t be funding it that’s for sure as makes no financial sense. Given their rent is pitiful it won’t make much difference to the stadium owners and would actually increase its viability through increased opportunities for alternate uses throughout the summer period.
 
The egg chasers are planning it or Wigan council? The former won’t be funding it that’s for sure as makes no financial sense. Given their rent is pitiful it won’t make much difference to the stadium owners and would actually increase its viability through increased opportunities for alternate uses throughout the summer period.
Don't think it would be the council, more than likely it's our lodgers
That want to get back their own identity and have a rugby stadium in Wigan, which at the moment they don't have one in wigan