Edgeley and Shaw Heath

Friday 21 November 2025

This stagger used to start down by the River Mersey next door to the pyramid. Due to closures and loss of real ale it is now it is but a shadow of its former self. There are no less than eight of the original pubs closed, with of the outlets still open, four don't serve real ale!

We start tonight at the Alexandra and left and right we see the Alexandra both in 1975 and today, but which is which? The trees in the older photo right have now gone and the cars are a little more modern but what else has changed?

Around the corner at the start of Castle Street we reach the Royal Oak. Back in 1979 the Royal Oak was in the hands of Wilson's Brewery from Newton Heath, Manchester. This is the first of many former Wilson's houses we will meet this evening. It is also the first no real ale pubs we will be passing this evening.

A little along Castle Street, and on the next street corner, we come across the Prince Albert. This was also a Wilson's house back in 1979. For a time it was bereft of cask ale but back in 2012 it started to serves Marston's beers so is back in the real ale fold.

Next up, again on the next street corner we see the Sir Robert Peel, known to generations of locals as the Bobby Peel. Back in 1979 it was another Wilson's house and presumably served real ale. After many years without real ale it made a comeback a year or so back with the return of a cask, but no longer Wilsons! After that brief flash in the pan, real ale is again unavailable, so ever onward.

Now for a bit of variety. Yes the Pineapple is still a Wilson's house, but this time in the middle of a row of shops and not a street corner! Unfortunately these days there is no real ale.

We are back to the norm, with the Jolly Crofter being yet another street corner establishment. Unfortunately it is difficult to determine whether this was yet another Wilsons house or not. Judging by the typeface used for the pub's name and size and shape of the end of brewery sign, it does appear to be a Wilsons house.

We now have an interesting array of photos of the Armoury. The initial photo (below left) has been dated as 1901 but the caption admits it could have be any time between 1895 and 1912. The middle photo is undated but the building has been rebuilt and/or modernised and looks closer to todays layout and now is obviously a Bells & Co. house. The third photo (below right) shows what the Armoury looks like today when it is firmly a Robinsons outlet.

The final photo from yester-years took some tracking down because in days gone by Ye Olde Vic was known as the Victoria Vaults. The older photo is undated, but can't be that long ago as shown by the municipal flats which loom in background. Nowadays Ye Olde Vic is a multi-ale free house, whereas then it was yet again a Wilsons house.

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Edgeley and Shaw Heath

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Updated July 2023

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