The top image is the Peel Hotel on Barton Street and at a guess, I would say it dates from the late 1960's or 1970's, as it has the Whitbread (ie, no longer Dutton's) sign by the doorway and the little terraced houses to the right are still standing, yet don't appear to be lived in. The houses were eventually demolished and an extension and new entrance were added to the pub and after being closed for the duration, it re-opened, refurbished, firstly as Salvador Dali's (see comments), then changed to the Malt 'n' Hops and later just 'The Malt'
The pub dates from the 1870's and very probably got its name, due to the fact that Sir Robert Peel was born nearby, on Fish Lane. The middle image shows the property the Peels lived in. It is believed that this particular photo dates from 1854 and is thought to be the earliest photo in the Blackburn Library archives.
The bottom image is a drawing from the latter half of the 19th century and was drawn by Chas (Charles) Haworth, who made many excellent drawings of Blackburn in the mid - late 1800's.
Fish Lane ran from Astley Gate through to Blakey Moor and sort of followed the line of present day Cardwell Place and Barton Street. It is thought the Peel home was more towards Cardwell Place than Barton St. There's a blue plaque near there now (see below).
I've never really studied the Peel family to any degree, but I do know that they were involved in textiles in a big way (in Bury, I think) and that various members entered politics, both local and national. I do remember being told at school, that Robert Peel (the younger?) played a big part in establishing what became the Police Force, which is why police officers became known as both Bobby's (Robert) and Peelers (Peel).
PUB PHOTO COURTESY OF MATTHEW COLE
FISH LANE PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COMMUNITY STUDIES DEPT. BLACKBURN LIBRARY AND THE DRAWING COURTESY OF THE LATE CHAS HAWORTH
INFO CAME FROM VARIOUS SOURCES AND MY OWN MEMORY ;-)
Hi, great photos and interesting story. Just one point, when the Peel Hotel finally reopened after it had been derelict for some time, it was first named , "Salvador Dali's" and was fitted out in a very modern and contemporary style for the time. It only became the Malt and Hops a few years later when refurbishment was due. Steve
ReplyDeleteThat's right it was Steve. I had forgotten all bout it being called that. Cheers CP
ReplyDeleteThe photo of the Peel Hotel was taken in the mid-1980s (with the soon-defunct Kodak disc camera, so the negative no longer exists) partly as a nostalgic exercise because the Peel was for me (as for many others) an early underage drinking haunt in the late 1970s. These visits had the additional challenge of avoiding the attentions of fellow drinkers on their way home from work at the nearby police station! I suspected a few years later that the pub would soon change in appearance, so took a snap.
ReplyDeleteMatthew Cole
Thanks for the additional info Matthew. Great photo. I can remember drinking in The Peel in the mid 70's and sometimes I'd meet my mates in there on Sunday evenings. The pubs back then didn't open until 7pm on a Sunday. At times we'd be waiting for the landlord to open the door to let us in and there was always a little old chap who came out of one of those little houses on the right (his door was actually around the corner) and he would have a huge jug with him. He used to get 4 pints of mild in his jug, then toddle off back to his house with it.
ReplyDeleteRegards
Colin