The following is an extract from an interview with a Mr Morris of Barmhouse Lane, Godley on March 19, 1985. The interviewer was Norma Woods, who was a member of the Hyde Historical Society. The society were very active in the researching of the local history of Hyde in the 1980's. They produced many booklets on the subject.
"The end cottage in Barmhouse Lane was originally a pub called the Mount Pleasant Inn, which closed some 130 years ago. The Lane originally started as Tetlow Fold Lane. In the cellar of the cottage was an old well, which presumably was used for cooling the beer. This has now been covered due to flooding.
The cottage has been in the family for 130 years since it closed as a pub. Godley reservoir was being made at the time and the railway line to Sheffield about the same time. There were a lot of men knocking about who patronised it.
Anne Wrigley built the house and opposite there were 5 more houses and when Manchester Corporation bought the property they knocked them down about 100 years ago. My mother remembered the houses but they were before my time.
My mother used to hear water rats in the cellar, splashing about. The Manchester Corporation put down broken glass and bars and they never came back again.
Mr Morris commented that Godley had never developed due to the narrow bridge over the railway and it would never amount to much until the bridge was widened. He said the field at the back of his cottage had been sold for £30,000 but they could not build on it yet because of the narrow bridge and if they had it widened they would not make any money on the house building."
As a researcher in Pub history I was surprised when I first read this, that I had missed one in my book. I have gone over all the directories of the time , but have been unable to find any reference to a Public house called the Mount Pleasant Inn. The only reference I could find was in 1869 when an Abraham Tetlow was indicated to be a shopkeeper at "Mount Pleasant". Maybe he sold beer as well, which many shopkeepers did at the time.
Looking back at old maps it appears that "Mount Pleasant" was the name for the area around the collection of cottages.
Tithe map of the area around 1840.
Map of the area around 1910.
Construction of the new bridge in the 1980's
5 comments:
Great pictures.
I can't really remember the old bridge now .
I can't say that I know the area particularly well, but there's an old bridge alongside the new bridge over the railway, which now has a footpath on it. Is this not the original route of Barmhouse Lane, and therefore the original bridge?
...but there's an old bridge alongside the new bridge over the railway, which now has a footpath on it. Is this not the original route of Barmhouse Lane, and therefore the original bridge?
Yes it is Dave. Bits of the original 'Lane' remain as a bridlepath cutting through the housing estate.
I remember the bridge going in - they didn't mess about!
Great post Paul..
I've not heard of the pub myself before but hopefully someone might know of a snippet of information that might throw some light on this..
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