Last Orders For The Tatton Arms
Tatton Arms After Closure in 2007
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By Bernard Claptrap June 2007
Until 2003, Northenden Village had 6 pubs, and a fine bar and cabaret venue in the British Legion. Now, we’ve got 3 proper pubs - The Crown, The Farmer's Arms and The Spread Eagle - and no music venue. This month Northenden.Net, Northenden's leading source for news and community information, asks why have all our traditional pubs disappeared – and what are we going to do about it?
Scarecely a month after the dust has settled after the British Legion being demolished, new speculation is building over the future of the Tatton Arms building - will it meet with a similar fate?
The closure of the Tatton earlier this year, was the culmination of a difficult period for the pub. During this time the license was reviewed more than once and management were threatened with action following complaints of disturbance and noise. One resident on Boat Lane complained that "people who had clearly been drinking alcohol" were present outside the premises late at night on more than one occasion. During early November 2006, the same resident noticed a noise which "may have been a firework".
Clearly, people attempting to walk up and down Boat Lane whilst in varying states of inebriation is unacceptable behaviour. I need hardly remind anyone that the use of fireworks, car engines and other sources of noise is nothing short of reprehensible. A disproportionate amount of police vehicles – more than anywhere else in the village – can now be regularly observed near the Church Road end of Boat Lane. A clear indication if ever one was needed, that things have been getting out of hand at the Tatton, whos patronage has allegedly been pushing perilously close to double figures on some weekends.
Hen-pecked Holiday Home Owner Jonathan Raspberry-Smythe
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So whilst the closure of most of Northenden's other public houses has met with mixed responses, it seems clear that for some residents, the Tatton will not be missed. But what is to happen to the site and how will those residents approve? We walked up and down Boat Lane knocking on doors to get some public reaction. Mr Akhtar was working on a house near the corner of Mill Lane. He told us "What do you want. Go away. My sons will be here in five minutes. I own a lot of houses in Fallowfield. My sons are coming. Go away."
Jonathan Raspberry-Smythe, who owns a row of cottages opposite the Boat House, arrived a few minutes later and we asked him his opinion on the closure of the Tatton. He said "It doesn't bother me, one of these cottages I use occasionally when I've had an argument with Mrs. R-S. The rest are an investment. Rent them out? Good gracious me no, have you seen the kind of low-life round here? Haw haw haw."
"Listen, I've got a lot of experience in property development" he continues, "what you do is buy some old relic like this, then forget about it. Don't pay the council anything, don't answer any questions. Ignore all communication. When it's been empty for ages and looking shabby, no-one's going to mind if there's a bit of fire damage, you know what I mean? Especially if it gets the ball rolling. I'd like to see a massive block of flats built here. It's very handy for the motorway.
"We need something like a tower to put the village on the map. These days people forget that Northenden is the most successful and important suburb in Manchester. Buildings like the Beetham Tower are interesting attempts, but we can do far better. The possibilities for this piece of land are very exciting. Now I'm busy, so why don't you naff orf."
How The Tatton Flats Could Look
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Of course here at Northenden.Net we hold a fair bit of influence. It only takes a couple of phone calls and the plans are ours. We have obtained an artist's impression (right) of the redevelopment of the site, which will be done tastefully and with a subtlety rivalling the design of the linear park (recently voted Manchester's most successful example of "Stealth Development"). We have been assured that casual observers will hardly notice any difference in the building's appearance, an assertion welcomed by the committee (whose club house is actually an example of adherence to a traditional design dating back to World War II).
We were able to meet with two builders who have been earmarked for future developments in Northenden. They exclusively told Northenden.Net: "Poprosze. Rachunek poprosze, chce rozmawiac z kierownikiem. Prowadze wlasna firme. Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji urodzin, spierdalaj dupek."