The Junction

The Junction, Oldham, Lancs

A redbrick pub on the main A627 Oldham-Ashton road, set in an area of typical inner-urban decay and depopulation.

The Millstone

The Millstone, Norcott Brook, Cheshire

A late-Victorian redbrick pub rather off the beaten track, although not too far from Runcorn and Warrington. It closed around 2005 and has now become an attractive private house.

The Crown

The Crown, Aston-by-Stone, Staffordshire

Not yet boarded up, but clearly closed and stripped of its pub identity. A main road pub on the A34 between Stafford and Stone.

The Castle

The Castle, Widnes, Lancs

A street-corner pub at the north-east end of this chemical industry town. This was my dad’s local when he became old enough to drink.

The Hawthorne

The Hawthorne, Oldham, Lancs

Tucked away in an odd little rural pocket south-east of the town centre, this seems a rather unlikely location for a venue describing itself as “Pub and Dining”.

The Holden Bridge

The Holden Bridge, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs

Yet another massive inter-wars roadhouse in an area of the country that seems to have suffered particularly badly from pub closures.

The Swan

The Swan, Frodesley, Shropshire

A small village pub in the countryside south of Shrewsbury that closed in 2006 and is now a private house. Spot the pair of kegs still lying around in the back yard.

The Hen & Chickens

The Hen & Chickens, Oldbury, Staffordshire

Another massive West Midlands Tudor-style roadhouse, once a famous landmark on the A4123 Birmingham-Wolverhampton road, that has now become the Wing Wah Chinese restaurant.

The Bankfield

The Bankfield, Hyde, Cheshire

An imposing former Robinson’s pub with half-timbered detailing and a corner turret. Nobody can claim there is a lack of nearby housing here.

The Royal Hotel

The Royal Hotel, Waterfoot, Lancashire

An imposing four-storey Victorian building fronting a main road in Rossendale. It actually was a hotel with letting rooms as well as a pub.

The Bennett Arms

The Bennett Arms, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs

Yet another closed pub in Newcastle – this one not a big inter-wars roadhouse but a Victorian pub set back from the road.

Bar 2

Bar 2, Sale, Cheshire

Situated right next to Sale Metrolink station, so not short of potential customers, this looks like an old pub that has acquired a modern, trendy guise, but nevertheless has still bitten the dust.

The Top House

The Top House, Castleton, Lancashire

A typical street-corner pub in a rather run-down small town on the main road between Manchester and Rochdale.

The Brickwall Inn

The Brickwall Inn, Tarbock Green, Lancs

A chalet-style 1930s roadhouse in the strip of countryside between Widnes and Liverpool. The extent of the car park suggests that at one time this was a very popular destination pub.

The Salamanca

The Salamanca, Fourlanes End, Cheshire

A roadside pub by the A50 in the south of the county, still in Ansells livery, that has been closed and decaying for at least ten years. The name comes from Wellington’s victory in Spain in 1812, where local worthy Stapleton Cotton commanded the British cavalry.

The Golden Lion

The Golden Lion, Stockport, Cheshire

Now a solicitors’ office, but still retaining a sign showing its former pub identity. A former Burtonwood house in the overpubbed Hillgate area, once one of the least appealing calls on the annual pre-Christmas Hillgate “Stagger”.