Some remember a now vanished pub fondly as a ‘hive of the community’ full of ‘people and laughter’, while others remember ‘the roughest dodgiest pub’ they had ever had the misfortune to set foot in.
The Rocket pub on New Lane, Top-o’th’-Brow in Breightmet, opened in 1961. Like The Flying Shuttle, another notorious Bolton boozer, it gained an unsavoury reputation over the years, yet many locals loved its unique charm and sense of community.
The Manchester Evening News ran a story on the pub’s opening day on November 29, 1961. Mr Shields, chairman of the Magee Marshall brewery, told the journalist that they built the pub “in keeping with its surroundings”.
He said the name The Rocket was chosen because the brewery wanted to escape from the traditional pub names. It was thought that the name, referring to George Stephenson’s railway engine and the modern space rocket, fitted the bill.
A quarter-page advertisement that appeared in The Bolton News the same day boasted the new pub offered ‘maximum comfort in extra pleasurable surroundings’ while being conveniently placed on the route of the number six bus.
In January 1970, a fire broke out at the pub just as the landlord, Clifford Mann, and his family prepared to go to bed. The Bolton News reported that a fire had started in one of the pub lounges as they watched television upstairs.
An advert placed in The Bolton News for The Rocket pub on opening day. November 29, 1961
(Image: The Bolton News | Newspapers.com)
“We were lucky,” Mr Mann said. “If we had gone to bed, it could have been much worse.” The landlord and his sons were able to put out the blaze, which they believed may have been caused by an electrical fault or a cigarette end.
Mr Mann said the damage was “fairly serious,” but it would not close the pub. “We haven’t got any lights back in the pub yet, but we’ll be open tonight, even if it means by candlelight,” he added. “We must stay open.”
Several newspaper reports over the years show that The Rocket’s landlords and patrons raised money for various charities. However, the pub also had a history of antisocial behaviour and being unwelcoming to non-locals.
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In 1969, The Bolton News reported on ‘hooliganism’ and intimidation in and around the pub. Following an incident in the area where a young labourer was attacked and a telephone kiosk vandalised, The Rocket’s landlord, Clifford Mann, said the estate had got a “really bad name” for hooliganism. “When we find a troublemaker we bar him from the pub straight away,” he added.
One colourful account of a trip to The Rocket is on Bolton Wanderers’ fan site the-wanderer.co.uk. The story recounts one man’s visit to the unknown pub as he tried to tick as many pubs off a list he had made with friends as possible.
The story tells how the man had been chatting to locals at the Lord Clyde pub on the outskirts of Bolton town centre. When he told them about his mission to visit pubs, “they laughed” as they told him about a pub called The Rocket in Breightmet.
After telling a taxi driver where he wanted to go, the driver was “shocked” and advised him “in no uncertain terms not to go there”. Not heeding the sage advice, he arrived in the taxi outside the pub just as it was getting dark.
The Rocket pub in Breightmet, Bolton
Walking up the bar, the landlord reportedly asked him, “Are you a cop?” – as they didn’t serve cops. He bought a can of cider and sat down on his own before a group of “drunk locals” are said to have shouted over, “Oi, are you a cop?”
Telling the group ‘no’, one member of the group reportedly pointed to a lady with them and said: “She hates cops, if you are a cop, she’ll scratch your f*****g eyes out”.
After later talking to the woman in the car park when they went out for a cigarette, he was invited back to join the group of friends inside the pub and sat ‘nervously’ drinking with them. The out-of-place drinker recalled: “I was chatting to the locals but I was still very apprehensive. I felt that at any moment the mood could change from a relative calm to mayhem.”
Making his excuse to leave, the group is said to have taken “great offence”, asking: “What’s wrong with this pub? Not posh enough for you, why don’t you f**k off back down South, you posh f******g c***”.
Despite the intimidating experience, the man revealed he had a soft spot for the pub, saying: “Every time I speak to someone from Breightmet, I ask them about The Rocket and they all say it is rough and that they have never been in for that reason.”
Adding: “The Rocket will always have a place in my heart as the roughest dodgiest pub I have ever been in. On reflection I’m so glad I went there and I hope the pub is still around in 30 years time.”
Sadly (some would say) the pub wasn’t. In 2015, owners of Marston’s Brewery sold the site, and plans were put forward to demolish The Rocket. Developers cited reports of antisocial behaviour to bolster their application. The Bolton News reported in November 2015 that many of the pub’s regulars were unhappy, with the council receiving several letters objecting to its potential demolition.
One of the objectors was 29-year-old Karla Hornby. She had thrown a party at The Rocket to celebrate the birth of her baby boy and had been a regular there for years. Karla said she was “absolutely gutted” by the idea her favourite pub was to be reduced to rubble. She added: “I know it has had a bit of trouble in the past, but all pubs do. The Rocket does a lot for the local community.”
The demolition of The Rocket pub in Breightmet, Bolton
(Image: Dave Evans)
Despite the protests, the pub was demolished. A Spar was built in its place, but with a nod to its past, the convenience store still bears the name ‘The Rocket’ on its signage.
Although The Rocket pub has been gone for nearly a decade, people are still keen to share their memories of it. In a November 2022 post on the ‘I Belong to Bolton’ Facebook group, one woman shared a photo of The Rocket.
The caption with the photo read: “Rocket pub in Brieghtmet. Two cans of Stella, Two Es and Four Viagra please [laughing emoji]. Raggy Colin, the last Rag and Bone man in Brieghtmet used to drink in there, he used to take his Silver Cross pram in the tap room in case it got nicked. Bernard the Bolton Evening News seller used to go in there as well.” Adding: “I miss The Rocket.”
The post proved hugely popular, attracting hundreds of likes and comments.
The Spar that stands in its place still bears the name ‘The Rocket’
(Image: Dave Evans)
One man said: “[I] Went in a few times as a detective at Breightmet. The atmosphere was a bit edgy for a few minutes; maybe the odd bottle would land nearby. A few minutes later, everything was calm and the locals would go out of their way to have a chat.”
A woman posted: “I loved going to functions here – ruff [sic] as toast but a good night. Every town and areas have a ruff pub.”
Another said: “My dad used to say that you’d go in through the door and out through the window.” Another commented that it was the “Only place where it was 50/50 on whether you’d get a punch in the face or end up with 20 random new mates.”
However, for all the recollections relating to how rough the pub could be, many more positive memories were shared about The Rocket.
A woman posted: “Shame The Rocket was demolished – was a great pub back in the day. Always the hive of the community – always packed full of people and laughter”.
One man remembered a “fantastic pub” with a “brilliant football team.” Another simply said: “[I] miss this place, belting people and [having] a reet good laugh with everyone.”