On an otherwise unremarkable Tuesday in January, The Church Inn in Pendleton is packed with punters - each of them saying a final farewell to the much-loved boozer.
Last orders at The Church Inn, in Pendleton, on January 18 brought 200 years of history to an end.
Locals describe the watering hole as a pillar of its community — and it's landlord says punters keep coming through the door.
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But according to its brewery, it has no 'long-term future'.
The death of the much-loved ‘community pub’ has left a small corner of Salford wondering why its local has gone.
However, brewery Admiral Taverns says necessary repairs were too costly to carry out - meaning the Inn has no 'long-term future'.
“It is very upsetting, I have lost my livelihood,” landlord Fred Wynn tells the Manchester Evening News. “A lot of people are upset. Regulars who are here most dinner times have actually been crying.
“They are taking another Salford pub away from us.”
He accepts that the Church Inn 'needed some repairs' but says the brewery 'could have done that'.
Fred’s bemusement at the decision to close the pub down is shared by regular Cliff Ravenscroft.
His wife has worked at the Church for the best part of 40 years, under three different landlords. He has been going throughout that time.
“No one knows why it’s going, no one knows when it is coming down or what it is going to be,” he says. “We don’t have anywhere to go from here. This is the last pub in the area.
“It is just absolute nonsense.”
While most pubs over a certain age can reference a hatful of history, the Church — which is Salford’s ‘oldest inn’ — might have a bigger claim than most, according to Fred, 52.
He explains: “I had some historians come. There's two tunnels that were apparently used by the monks and it would go on to St James's.
“It is a place hundreds of years old, the building. That's what I cannot understand — how they can knock it down.
“I have got the history back to the 1800s. That's old enough. It used to have stables and horses. It's the oldest inn in Salford, before it was a pub.”
Cliff adds that he’s been told there are foundations ‘here from the 1100s’.
On top of the history, Fred says that the Church was still thriving — and was a ‘community’.
He adds: “It was a family pub, it was a real family. There was never any trouble.
“It was a community pub.”
When asked why the pub has closed down, Admiral Taverns said it was selling up due to repairs being needed.
"Our focus is always on running sustainable pub businesses," a spokesperson told the M.E.N.
"However, due to the extensive repairs required to the Church Inn, we no longer believe the pub has a long-term future and have taken the decision to sell the pub.”
