"The Princess", Princess Road and Mauldeth Road West

The Princess Hotel, a large inter-war roadhouse, stood at the junction of Mauldeth Road and the newly extended Princess Road to the south of the railway bridge. In 1925 Manchester Corporation, encouraged by the brewing industry, began consultations over the provision of licensed premises intended to serve the Wilbraham Road estate.  The site proposed by the Corporation was at the extreme corner of the estate, close to the railway bridge on Princess Road. The brewers, no doubt, considered the site eminently suitable, lying as it did at an important junction of two of the intended main roads out of Manchester. However, it did not well serve the needs of the estate as a whole. About two-thirds of the houses being further away from the new pub than they already were from older "hotels" In the district.

The provision of a new public house for the district attracted a degree of controversy. Like many large inter-war housing estates, the Wilbraham Road estate lacked many of the conveniences found in older suburbs. There was as no day school, no post office, no picture-house, no public hall, not to mention church chapel, or Sunday school. At the time the nearest shops were at least half a mile away. In a letter to the Manchester Guardian, the vicar of St Crispin’s church questioned whether the convenience of the houses nearby for obtaining beer and spirits should be considered more important than their needs of milk, bread, groceries, and meat and concluded:  “There is a lack or a sense of proportion in the anxious care shown lest men should have to walk too far for their glass, while their wives and children have to go long distances for absolutely vital needs.

The license for the new hotel was approved at the Manchester Annual Licensing Meeting of 4 February 1932.

LICENSED HOUSES ON CORPORATION ESTATES. To the Editor of the Manchester Guardian. Sir, - The City Council has decided to take poll of the residents on each of its housing estates on the question of the provision of sites for new public-houses. There is danger that the importance of these polls may be overlooked owing to their taking place in the holiday season and to the fact that so little previous notice has been given of them. But for the summary of the Housing Committee's proposals which appeared in your issue last the first intimation of the poll taking place would have been the distribution of the voting cards. So far as the Wilbraham Road Estate is concerned the proposals seem to be singularly inappropriate. The site which the Corporation has selected, if the result. of the poll is favourable, is at the extreme corner of the estate, close to the railway bridge on Princess Road South. This may quite probably be a desirable situation for licensed premises from the point of view of the brewers, lying, as it does, on what will soon be one of the main roads out of Manchester. But it certainly cannot possibly serve the needs of the estate as a whole. About two-thirds of the houses on it will be farther away from the new than they already are from older "hotels." Moreover, this site can only be given up to the selling of liquor at the expense of more necessary purposes. I understand that the plot of ground is assigned in the Ministry of Health's plans to shops. Whether this is so or not, there is room for about six small shops, where one public-house would stand. And at present the nearest shops are at least half a mile away. Why should the convenience of the houses nearby for obtaining beer and spirits be considered more important than their needs of milk, bread. groceries, and meat? This is a district which suffers the lack of many of the conveniences of older suburbs. There is as no day school, no post office, no picture-house, no public hall, to mention church chapel, or Sunday school. To say the least of it. There is a lack or a sense of proportion in the anxious care shown lest men should have to walk too far for their glass, while their wives and children have to go long distances for absolutely vital needs. —Yours, etc., R W Balleine, Rector of St. Crispin's, Wilbramton. 106, Lloyd Street South, Wilbramton. Manchester, S. 11 August. [Manchester Guardian 1925 page 9]

THE NEEDS OF CORPORATION ESTATES - It would be an interesting footnote to the social history of our times if someone would collect data about the corporation housing estates of this country and show the order in which each of them acquired a post office, a day school, a church or chapel, a picture-theatre, and public-house. The Rector of St. Crispin's points out in our correspondence columns to-day that the Wilbraham Road Estate, which at present has none of these things— and is likely to wait long enough for some of to have a poll taken to decide whether licensed premises shall be set up in its midst. The reason why a licence is apt to come before a post office or a day school is that strong private interests derive personal profits from the issue of a licence, and they are consequently more energetic and pushful than the more remote interests which are only concerned with helping or educating the community. …….. [Manchester Guardian 13 August 1925 page 6]

Reference    Manchester Guardian 5 February 1932 page 16
Reference    Manchester Guardian 13 August 1925 page 6
Reference    Manchester Guardian 13 August 1925 page 9 - correspondence
Reference    Manchester Guardian 5 February 1932 page 16 – licence approval
Reference    Builder 22 July 1932 Page 156 – new licenced premises
Reference    Manchester Guardian 7 September 1974 – bowling green