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Over the centuries, Blackburn has had quite a few breweries, ranging from small to very large. A few that spring to mind, are Park Place Brewery, Victoria Brewery, Snig Brook Brewery, Swan Brewery, Nova Scotia Brewery, Fountain Free Brewery (Redcap) and Nuttall's (Lion) Brewery.
The three largest were, Lion Brewery, Dutton's Brewery and of course, Thwaites Brewery.
Started in 1807, Thwaites are still going strong more than 200 years later.
One sight close to most Blackburn hearts, are the lovely drays, pulled along by magnificent Shire horses. When I worked at the college, there was many a morning I watched, as they delivered beer to the Courts Hotel on Blakeymoor/St Pauls Street. These gentle giants, pictured above, patiently standing in the road, great clouds of warm air, billowing from their nostrils, as they exhaled into the cold and frosty morning.
PHOTO USED BY KIND PERMISSION AND COURTESY OF THWAITES ARCHIVE
I used to work at the thwaites stable with the black shires,I went with them to the shows etc.in 1963 the main horseman (driver) was Pat flood and the other man in the photo was Harry Crossland.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information Albert !
ReplyDeleteYou've got to give credit to Thwaites for keeping this tradition going to this very day haven't you ?
ReplyDeleteIt's probably the only large company which truely has Blackburn "In it's heart"
I'm currently reading the history of the Thwaites family, and was amazed to find that during the First World War Elma Yerburgh insisted that all the men who had been conscripted would still have their wages paid to their dependants. After the War she took all the workers on an annual day trip to Blackpool, and each of them were given an envelope containing £10, which in those days was a hell of a lot of money.
What modern day company would do the same !!
I don't think even the modern day Thwaites would do that John.
ReplyDeleteI've had the Thwaites book for quite a while now, but haven't got beyond the first chapter yet. Daniel 1st was still a bloody tax collector or something in the Lakes when I put it down. I found it heavy going (and boring). I'll have to skip a chapter or two;-)