Blackburn’s Grapes pub has re-opened.  The town centre pub at the junction of King William Street, Northgate and Sudell Cross re-opened in early September.

The new Grapes Town Tavern opening was delayed by a week due to electrical safety precautions, but this didn’t seem to hinder matters.  There was a good bunch in the Grapes on my afternoon visit of its Friday opening day.

Three real ales from Thwaites were on sale.  I plumped for Gold and was pleased to be charged £2.30 for a pint.  There were a lot of familiar faces in the pub, mainly Blackburn Times regulars, also behind the bar were former staff from there.  But other nearby King William Street pubs also had some of their punters in to check out this newly opened hostelry.  Having an artist and butties on helped boost the crowd, as did their big screens, showing live Ashes test match cricket.

A week is a long time in politics, so said Harold Wilson.  But something similar can also be said about happenings with Blackburn town centre’s pub scene.  A week later, on my next visit, it was still busy in the Grapes, but not so much in Blackburn Times.  After watching the amount of hand pump activity in the Grapes, perhaps this might send a message to Times not to have sour grapes, but to get those cask ale pumps back on again.

Unfortunately it’s going to be a fruitless trip across the road to the Squire, where they won’t be selling real ale for its foreseeable future.  Barely a week after the Grapes opened; their nearest neighbour threw in the towel and ceased to be a pub.  Word on the ‘grapevine’ is it may become an Indian restaurant.  This is not only a bad blow for staff and regulars who went in here, but very annoying too.  It was turning into a good run around King William Street and its immediate area.  Optimistic eyes were even starting to look towards the Borough maybe being the next one to open.

Unfortunately in Blackburn town centre, it always seems to be two steps forward and one step back these days.  But at least the Grapes has made a good start to its new lease of life as a public house.  Let’s hope it continues to mature like fine wine and this becomes a vintage year for the Grapes and Blackburn town centre.

Plans are afoot for Blackburn’s Adelphi pub to re-open in July.  The Railway Road establishment is under new management and is in the process of recruiting staff.

Though still owned by Admiral Taverns, the pub will be managed by Farnworth based Change Hospitality.  They already manage three other pubs around the Bolton area, including the Market Inn, Farnworth, where this business is located.

Harrison Clayton is the owner of Change Hospitality and behind plans to re-open Blackburn’s Adelphi.  I put together a few questions for him which have been raised by punters in Blackburn:

• Your Facebook page says the pub is under new ownership.  But is it not owned by Admiral Taverns?

• Have you been inside the pub to have a look at it?

• Do you intend to refurbish this place?

• Have you studied local Facebook comments and looked into the past history of this pub?

• Do you intend to serve food?

• Will real ale be available?

Unfortunately there has been no reply forthcoming from Harrison yet.  He is obviously a very busy man, running three pubs and his recruitment business, so his time is probably very limited.  No doubt he will have business plans for the Adelphi and his other ventures look to be a good recommendation for what the Blackburn pub’s future could be.  But he might find punters at this end of the A666 are going to be more sceptical than those at the other end of the Devil’s Highway.  There seem to have been a lot of false dawns with Blackburn’s Adelphi pub.  Many people remain convinced it cannot be turned around due to current economic conditions, people’s changing drinking habits and the Adelphi’s reputation. 

Various attempts at making a success of the Adelphi have been tried over the years.  Sadly, these have proved rather limited.  This pub seems to have had a recent history of opening and closing as often as the lion’s eyes on nearby Morrison’s clock chimes.  Sadly this clock’s jungle scenes have also been compared to life in the Adelphi.  Yet it sits between our railway and bus stations, thousands of people pass this pub every day and a new football season will soon be here with plenty of thirsty fans landing in Blackburn town centre when Rovers are at home.

Hopefully the new regime in charge of the Adelphi can transform this pub into a thriving hostelry its position in the town centre should command.  But they have one hell of a task on their hands.

Blackburn’s former Grapes pub looks like it could be available as a pub again, following the end of Liz ‘n’ Lil’s café.

Re-opening as a pub is just one of many options for this former Thwaites house, where Northgate meets King William Street and Sudell Cross

This was one pub I never really took to.  As a teenager going in here, what used to put me off this place was the number of police officers who used to frequent this establishment.  They were easy to spot, coming in the pub in their blue shirts, darker blue ties and regulation footwear.  Being coppers, they were usually big blokes and they watched everybody like hawks.  After all, coppers are never off-duty, like some of the characters they had their eyes on.  This was enough to put off any teenager in the 1970s, gaining this pub its nickname the Sour Grapes.

For some reason police officers seemed to stop going in the Grapes in the 1980s.  No doubt this went down very well with many young people and most of the criminal fraternity.  But on the other side of the coin, the pub seemed to become very seedy, gradually deteriorating as time moved on.  Eventually it closed down and became Liz ‘n’ Lil’s.  Now this latest chapter in its history is also coming to an end.

Unfortunately this building is still owned by Thwaites.  It does not inspire many of Blackburn’s pub-going community to expect the Grapes to become a public house again.  A lot of drinkers say Thwaites have done for Blackburn’s nightlife what Venky’s have done for Rovers.

But our former town centre brewery is open to offers and the Grapes becoming a pub again is not out of the question.  Perhaps Daniel Thwaites’ Scottish owners may even be rethinking their practice of sticking restrictive covenants on some of their licensed premises.  This has been very anti-competitive over the years, depriving many of us of our locals and favourite watering holes, while the brewery seems to be less interested in brewing beer and more interested in estate management and trying to conjure up phoenixes from burnt down buildings. 

But we have proved in Blackburn we don’t need Thwaites anymore.  Microbrewers are the future of brewing.  Though at the same time, it would be nice to see some of our old pubs return.  Wouldn’t it be great if we were able to go for a pint in the Grapes as a pub again?  If this could happen; how about the Borough next?

Blackburn town centre has another new pub.  Andy and Karen Joss have opened up the Rock Box on King William Street.

Andy’s first foray into the pub trade was nearly a decade ago.  His local, the Lion Hotel on Wensley Road, found itself without a landlord.  No temporary manager was available at that time, so he stepped into the breach and kept his local open until a new licensee was found.  Andy subsequently had spells running the Stop and Rest up Brandy House Brow and the Moorgate Arms on Livesey Branch Road.

This micro pub used to be cocktail bar, Tiki Monkey, conveniently located straight across from our old town hall and next door to the Drummer’s Arms.  It is a cosy setting with dimmed light and intimate without being claustrophobic.  This helps create a perfect atmosphere for watching classic rock and blues music on their big screens.  Real ale is also on sale in the Rock Box.  Their opening cask was appropriately Blackburn’s own Three B’s beer and they had two of this local brewery’s ales available when the pub made its debut in early December.  Other local real ales are also regularly on sale.

Andy says he wants to help improve Blackburn’s town centre pub culture.  The Napier has proved there is a demand for rock music in town.  This pub mainly attracts a younger clientele, whereas Andy saw a niche market and his pub focusses on Classic Rock and Blues.  Andy enjoys working in the pub trade and hopes to carry on this for as long as he can.  He would also like to register his appreciation of the help and support he has received from next door neighbours James and Katy Quayle in the Drummer’s Arms and the team from Shh Bar on Northgate.

The Rock Box is another piece in a jigsaw expanding the north side of Blackburn town centre’s pub availability.  Its opening is a very welcome addition to this area, giving even more choice for punters.  Interestingly, apart from Livesey Branch Road, King William Street is now the only road in Blackburn where three seven day a week pubs can be found open. 

Andy and Karen have put a lot of time, effort and their own money into opening the Rock Box.  Let’s hope this good work continues and it leads to even more pubs opening up in our town centre in the future.