The Ancoats pub dates back to 1808 and has just undergone a £2.5m facelift
06:10, 29 Jun 2026Updated 07:59, 29 Jun 2026
The Spinners Rest has transformed the former Shamrock pub on Bengal Street(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
An Ancoats pub dating back to 1808 has reopened with a new lease of life after nearly ten years of being closed following a major seven-figure revamp.
The Shamrock pub, on Bengal Street, was described as being ‘the last traditional pub’ in the area when it closed its doors back in 2018. Surrounded by high-rise apartments and situated within a distinct part of town which has seen rise in its fortunes due to revitalisation, many saw it as unlikely that the building would ever serve its original purpose again.
But on Monday (June 29), the pub will reopen to the public under a whole new identity, a new operator and a new name: The Spinner’s Rest.
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Taken over by Manchester-based brewer Joseph Holt, the venue has been painstakingly refurbished and expanded as part of a major £2.5m revamp which, its owners admit, cost a lot more and took a lot longer than was initially expected.
“When we bought the pub in 2018, it wasn’t in the best of conditions and the view was to do it up properly,” Mark Norbury, Operations Director, explains to the Manchester Evening News. “We always wanted to create an expansion, so we knew we had to go through planning for it, but we didn’t think it would take eight years.
The aim is for the traditional yet modern pub to become a fixture of the local community(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
“There were a few unique challenges as it sits within a designated conservation area, but we were all ready to start work and then the pandemic hit, which we obviously didn’t factor in. After that, it was a couple of years of rebuilding the businesses but it also gave us time to really plan this place even more thoroughly.”
The top-to-bottom refurbishment aims to preserve the historic charm of the place, and to see it once again serve as a traditional pub.
“It’s an understatement to say that the pub has gone through a massive change,” Mark says. “We’re really proud to add it to our stable of pubs now. There’s not many companies these days that are willing to open new sites, let alone invest nearly £2.5m in revamping in one, so we’re very proud of what we’ve achieved here.”
The full refurbishment of the pub – including an extension – has cost around £2.5m(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Mark said the team at Joseph Holt spent a lot of time talking to the local community about what they wanted from the pub. It’s now hailed as home to one of the only gated beer gardens in Ancoats.
The pub’s name, chosen via a public vote, pays reference to the area’s cotton spinning factories. Hailed as the ‘world’s first industrial suburb’ due to its significance during the Cottonopolis era in the late 18th and early 19th century, Ancoats was an epicentre for textile manufacturing.
“We thought it was the right thing to do,” Mark says of the name change. “It’s a link to the industrial past of the area. Obviously, there are a fair few people who will have known it originally as the Shamrock but we felt it was important to move on from that and we’ve not had any negatives – it’s all been super positive.”
(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
The pub’s reopening comes at a celebratory time for Joseph Holt. The brewer, which is based in Cheetham Hill, just recently achieved its most successful year ever at the prestigious International Brewing Awards, taking home 10 medals.
“The bar here only has Joseph Holt beers and ales on draft,” Mark explains. “We’re so proud of our products. We launched Trailblazer after the lockdown and it was an immense success for us – often now outselling Guinness.”
The pub boasts one of the only gated beer gardens in Ancoats(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Mark said the aim is for The Spinner’s Rest to sit up there with the rest of their stable of Manchester pubs (including the likes of the Ape and Apple and the Crown & Anchor) whilst also feeding into its own community.
It will have Sky Sports to screen all the latest big games and matches, and there will be a ‘respectful’ amount of live entertainment, as well as plenty of food – with a bespoke curation of pies from HM Pasties only sold at the Spinner’s Rest.
“We want to be famous for our Sunday Roast,” Mark suggests. “We know we’ve got very stiff competition around here in that regard so we understand that it’s got to be really good. I cannot say too much about that right now, but let me just say that our Sunday lunch is going to be stunning.”
The pub reopens to the public on Monday(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Ahead of opening, the pub faced a bit of controversy on social media online when its signage went viral as people questioned the use of AI to create its imagery. Mark said he ‘understood’ the comments, and the operator was talking to their contractors to find out more.
Mark says that the team at Joseph Holt are undeniably proud of what they have achieved with the revamp of the Spinner’s Rest which will be led by former Crown & Anchor manager Danny Watson.
The pub will serve up a ‘stunning’ Sunday Roast as well as a curation of unique pies from HM Pasties(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
“We’ve got 127 pubs across Manchester and the North West now, and they are all superb in their own way,” Mark explains. “They all have their own character and offer something unique – they’re all stunning traditional pubs.
“We’re really excited to introduce people to the Spinner’s Rest here, we think it’s going to be something really special that will form a really big part of the local community here.”
The Spinner’s Rest is on 17 Bengal St, Ancoats, Manchester M4 6AQ. Opens Monday, June 27.