BUTCHERS
ARMS
(Now
the Border Rose)
Walsden
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After the
Beerhouse act was passed in 1830, many beerhouses sprang up
all over, opened by opportunists seeing it as a way to earn
a bit of extra money. One purpose built beerhouse was the
Butchers Arms, which if the date stone of 1830 over the door
is correct, was probably the first one of its kind to be built.
The year can just about be made out today |
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The
landlord was Eli Crossley, and he and his descendents were to be
in continuous occupation of this pub for nearly a hundred years.
Eli was a butcher by trade, born at
Bottomley around 1805. He married Sally Newell, a local girl from
Horsepasture, and by 1830, they were running the beerhouse-cum-butchery-cum
grocers shop at Bottoms in Walsden. It
became known as the Butchers Arms, taking the name of Eli's occupation,
as was sometimes the custom.
Many
of these original beer houses can still be found today in rural
areas, still serving only beer and acting as a shop. It is like
stepping into someone's front room and back into a forgotten era.
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Eli and
his family of three daughters and one son carried on their
business in the busy Bottoms area of Walsden. With the factories
and concentration of housing built for the mill workers, trade
would be good in both the pub and the shop. Much like today's
one stop shops, you would be able to buy most of what you
needed under one roof and have a drink into the bargain. |
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Eli's
son Samuel went into the iron foundry and the daughters eventually
married. The youngest daughter Hannah had two chance children, Samuel
and Eli, by 1860, and she helped at home, working in the shop and
house. She later married Thomas Newell and they produced six daughters.
The
eldest daughter of Eli and Sally was Deborah born in 1823. She also
had two chance children, Sally in 1843 who died in 1858 and James
born in 1854. She had married John Kershaw from Calderbrook by 1860
and they had two daughters together.
Eli
died in 1862 and the business then passed to John Kershaw, Eli's
son-in-law. Sally, Eli's widow, went to live with her married daughter
Hannah Newell and family at Co-operative Street and died aged 83
in 1917.
John
was not adverse to a bit of law breaking, and he had not been landlord
for long before he found out that the law was not easy to evade
in Walsden and was vigorously upheld where possible. It
was reported in the Halifax Guardian on the 17th Oct 1863 that he
had appeared before the Petty Sessions charged with allowing gaming
on Saturday the 3rd of October. Not
only that, but he had also assaulted two police officers, P.C. Stopford
and P.C. Turner on the same day. He
was fined 40 shillings for the gaming offence, and 20 shillings
for each case of assault. Together with the costs, it added up to
£5-10s-0d.
Maybe
he learned his lesson, but gaming did go on in the back rooms of
pubs and was a common occurrence, so he no doubt was a bit more
careful in the future.
John
and Deborah Kershaw carried on the family business until John died
in 1885 when James Crossley Kershaw took over. James
or Jim as he was known, was born to Deborah before she married John
Kershaw, but Jim took the name of Kershaw and was noted in some
sources as Jim Crossley Kershaw. His father may well have been John
but whatever the case, he carried Eli's bloodline and carried on
the family ties with the pub. He married and had children. His wife
Martha came from Clitheroe and they ran the pub until he and Martha
retired and went to live at Dampier St., Walsden, where she died
in 1916.
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Photo
by kind permission of Frank Woolrych |
Jim died in 1923 and he is
buried with his wife in Lumbutts Methodist Chapel graveyard.
It seems a strange choice of burial place for a publican.
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On
Jim and Martha's retirement, their son John William became the landlord
of the Butchers Arms and remained there until at least 1922, possibly
making them one of the longest serving families to run one pub.
A continuous line from 1830 right through to the 1920's and maybe
longer.
Lawrence
Lupton, who was born in 1889, became the landlord at some point
after John William Kershaw. Lawrence's father, John Lupton, came
from Bacup, married a Todmorden lady and lived in Bacup for a while
after they were married. They came to Todmorden by the early 1880's
and then moved to Walsden. Lawrence's mother, Susy, was left a widow
at 41 with six children still at home. Two were full timers in the
mill and Lawrence was a half timer at 12 years old.
In
1901, the family was living at 785, Rochdale Rd., Walsden, not far
away from the Butchers, which was at 772 Rochdale Road. Perhaps
Lawrence used to help as a lad and so gained knowledge of the trade,
which enabled him to qualify as a landlord. He would be familiar
with the local people and was probably a popular landlord.
During
the 1920's, a lady arrived in Walsden and became a barmaid at the
Butchers Arms. She was from London and was a revelation to the people
of Walsden. She smoked and wore lipstick, and young boys would hang
from their bedroom windows to catch a glimpse of this exciting creature
from another world. It is thought
that she was related to the landlord, otherwise why come to Walsden
from London. Whatever the reason, she certainly brightened up the
lives of some of the young lads in Walsden.
The
pub finally became fully licensed in 1952, and in the 1980's, the
name was changed from the Butcher's Arms to The Border Rose. It
has changed hands many time since then and every landlord leaves
their own mark on a pub and alters it according to the times. Whether
this is a good thing is open to debate, and sometimes it is good
to preserve the history as well as moving forward. A hard thing
to do and difficult to achieve.
It
is still there, offering hospitality to all who care to partake
of its welcoming signs.
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