History: What’s in a name?

THIS BLACK and white photograph captures faces and memories from times gone by in Uppermill… but it also raises a question.

When did the ‘Granby’s Arms’, as shown in the picture, become the Granby Arms as it is known today and where does the name originate from?

The picture was reproduced by kind permission of Myra Shiel, 86, who found it among the possessions of her cousin, Ethel Bradbury, who passed away six years ago.

Myra explained: “Ethel’s husband’s father used to run the pub and is pictured in the centre.

“But no one really knows about the pub’s name and where it came from and why it has changed over the years.”

The Saddleworth Independent decided to look into the mystery and asked Saddleworth Museum curator Peter Fox to help find out the facts.

He uncovered a historical book about ‘Saddleworth Pubs’ which states that “Joseph Ashton, who had been running a wheelwright’s business on High Street since at least 1825, obtained a beer licence for his premises in 1831.

“At first the house had the sign of the Dog and Partridge but this was changed to the Queen Adelaide in 1840 when Joseph managed to get a full licence.

“Two years later there was another change and the inn became the Marquis of Granby.

“This grand, traditional pub name was shortened by subsequent tenants to the Granby Arms and it is so recorded in the 1851 census, when 22-year-old William Wood was in charge.

“…By the 1870s the pub was listed as the ‘Granby’s Arms’ and a photography dating from about 1891 shows the pub with this spelling on the signboard, together with licensee Alfred Rhodes, standing at the door.

“A few years later Henry Shaw’s Dukinfield Brewery bought the property and when the company fitted their signboards it became the Granby Arms once again.”

And so it has remained ever since, and is now run by licensees Debee Hardie and husband Jamie.