Catterall & Swarbrick

An advert from 1915

1951

Catterall & Swarbrick’s Brewery Ltd, Queens Brewery, Queens Square, Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire.

Registered 1894.

Brewing moved to Hardhorn then they built the Blackpool brewery.

James Richardson (Catterall & Swarbrick), Newton Springs Brewery, Staining Road, Hardhorn, Lancashire

James Richardson and over 12 houses were acquired by Catterall & Swarbrick in 1890. Used for bottling. Buildings remain as part of a camp site.

Link to an Ordnance Survey map of the site, 1891: https://maps.nls.uk/view/126516548#zoom=4&lat=8263&lon=1676&layers=BT

Catterall & Swarbrick's Brewery Ltd, Queen's Brewery, Talbot Road, Blackpool, Lancashire

Founded at Poulton-le-Fylde 1871. Registered July 1894. The Blackpool brewery was built in 1927. Acquired by United Breweries in 1961 (see Hammond's United Breweries Ltd) with 104 public houses. Closed 1971.

Link to an Ordnance Survey map of the site, 1930-1931: https://maps.nls.uk/view/126516434#zoom=3&lat=10271&lon=15056&layers=BT

The Blackpool site has been entirely redeveloped for housing, and the estate features roads: Coopers Way, Catterall Close and Swarbrick Close.

List of Catterall & Swarbrick pubs

Mike Brown writes:-

Catterall and Swarbrick, Queen’s Brewery

In 1858, Mrs Jane Swarbrick was running the Crown Inn, Birley Street and in 1876 James Swarbrick was running the Kings Arms, 99 Talbot Road (previously called New Road), which he ran until at least 1886. Friedrich’s Gazetteer also mentions J Walmesley brewing at New Road in 1884, but I have been unable to find any further details.

Catterall & Swarbrick were trading by 1880 and are thought to have been founded around 1871. In 1885, the business was shown as the Queen’s Brewery at Poulton le Fylde. In 1889, Richard Swarbrick & Co were wholesale bottlers at Railway Hotel, Talbot Road in Blackpool. This may be the site previously used by the Nicksons mentioned below.

In 1876, Hannah Barrett was brewing at the Victoria South Beach, but by 1879 it was shown only as a family and commercial hotel. The Barretts seem to have been at the pub from around 1869. They had also been involved with the Talbot Hotel, which may have brewed and was which later was run by the Nickson family. The latter were brewing at No 65 Talbot Road and bottling at No 44, the Station Hotel. However, by 1882, they were only listed as ale and porter merchants and bottlers.

On 6th July 1894, Catterall and Swarbrick became a limited company, with a share capital of £50,000 made up of 10,000 £5 shares. The directors included:-

William Catterall, Breck Road, Poulton
John Swarbrick, Tower Lodge, Poulton
Tom Lockwood, Golden Ball Hotel, Poulton

Known pubs included the following:-

Bay Horse, Church Street, Poulton
Pack Horse, Stalmine
Saddle Inn, Marton (see below)
Sportsman, Poulton
Star Inn, Blackpool
White Bull, Great Eccleston

There were also three beer houses in Fleetwood. In 1896 they bought two additional outlets in Blackpool:-

Victoria Hotel, Victoria Street for £4,050
Brewer’s Arms, Cocker Street for £7,100 (In 1851 Richard Laycock was running the Brewer’s Arms, North Shore)

In addition to Poulton, they had also acquired the Newton Springs Brewery. In November 1927, a new brewery was built on the corner of Devonshire Road/ Talbot Road, although they also continued to operate at Hardhorn (see below). They also had a bottling store on Kent Road, which later became the Central WMC. The Windmill on Preston New Road, near the M55 junction, was used as a store. In 1930, they opened the XL Hotel on the A6 near Garstang. This was named after one of their main products, but the hotel was renamed the Chequered Flag in the 1960s.

In 1961 Northern Breweries bought the brewery, with its 104 pubs. Hence, it later became part of the Bass empire and closed in 1973 for Runcorn. However, for many years it still had its own real ale brewed for some of its pubs.

Newton Springs Brewery, Staining Road, Hardhorn

It is possible that in 1884, George Ormerod was involved with this brewery (see Raikes Brewery Co). However, in 1886, the Brewers Journal stated that the Richardson & Atkinson, Newton Springs Brewery, partnership had been dissolved (p196).

In 1887, the business was trading as Richardson & Co, ale and porter brewers. In 1890, it was bought by Catterall & Swarbrick's Brewery Ltd and re-named the Queen’s Brewery and seems to have replaced their previous site at Poulton.

It is not clear when brewing ceased at Hardhorn, but the most likely date would probably be 1927, when the new brewery in Blackpool was opened. However, the site was retained and was still used for bottling Guinness in the 1960s. It was then used by the Tower Company and Palatine Food Services. The buildings remain as part of a holiday camping complex.

Images of the Newton Springs Brewery