In Memorium

Before being bought by Whitbread in 1989 Boddingtons was a wonderful local beer brewed in Strangeways, next to the prison. In my youth I used to spend a lot of time standing on Victoria station waiting for the train to York from where I would catch a connection to Scarborough where I lived and worked. The smell of malt was intoxicating as it wafted over the tracks - goodness knows how it worked on the guys banged up in the "Strangeways Hotel". Whitbread launched Bods as a national brew; "The Cream of Manchester", but changed the recipe and the beer sold around the world bore little resemblance to the fine, straw-coloured, bitter beer which was usually dispensed through a diaphragm pump in pubs around the city. Whitbread's intervention did save the company though and sales increased. When InBev (Interbrew) bought Whitbread any lasting affection for the brand was lost - Whitbread had been shareholders in Boddingtons for a long time before the buy-out in order to keep the company afloat. InBev finally closed the Strangeways brewery and the Victorian chimney with the name of the brewery spelled out down its length; a landmark in the city, was demolished a few years ago.

Backblip - the only photo I took all day; it seemed appropriate.