Home > Lancashire > Ashton Under Lyne > The Friendship The Friendship
© Copyright Alexander P Kapp and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
The Friendship was situated at 188 Old Street.
I worked behind the bar at the Friendship from around 1975 on and off for about 10yrs. The proprietors were Margaret and Derrick Hall (not positive on the surname). Derrick was a teddy boy with a big quiff, tight trousers and beetle crushers. Margaret was small and demure and pretty, with a tongue that could slice lemons; both in their 50s-60s. Chalk and cheese; Margaret with her soft, posh accent and good frocks and Derrick with his bad boy attitude. Both liked a drink and Margaret liked to water down the whisky. I think they eventually retired to a caravan in Cleveleys. I worked with my sister Sharon (I'm Yvonne) and we were both 16/17yrs old when we started. The pub/hotel was definitely the poor relation to the trendy pubs in the town centre, and its clientele mostly middle aged white male customers. It had a small bar and tap room, a larger lounge with a pool table. The juke box played mostly Jim Reeves and Johnny Cash and we made a small fortune in tips for after hours lock-ins. Our nearest neighbour was The Witchwood and the Spread Eagle, and the youth would use it as a first pub on their way into the centre pubs of Ashton. Sadly, the whole of Ashton is a giant motorway now, since local politicians made themselves a fortune stripping the town of its soul. I mean, who would put a major roadway through the centre of a small market town and then build a college on the market? Greedy politicians who don't live or shop in Ashton; that's who. Interestingly (or not) my sister was born in another deceased pub around the corner: the Happy Shepherd. Happy days. Gone now.
Yvonne Bryce (July 2025)
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Other Photos
Picture source: John Coffey
Date of photo: c1982	Picture source: Yvonne Brice