The Salford pub was formerly known as The Lord Nelson and later Rovers Return
The pub will open this weekend (Image: Submitted )
A historic Greater Manchester building has undergone a major makeover and is set to reopen as a pub this weekend. First known as the Lord Nelson and later the Rovers Return, the venue in Salford is being reopened by a pub company with existing pubs in North Wales.
Reopening as The Anglesey in a nod to the team’s heritage, it will officially relaunch on Friday, December 12, just in time for Christmas. The first Greater Manchester property in the Salford Pub Company collection, the family has spent almost six months renovating the venue to get it ready for punters.
The one-roomed L-shaped pub features a large bar front and original tiles and woodwork still in tact. Its new owners have made sure to respect the history of the space with its new look and feel.
A look inside the revamped pub in Salford (Image: MEN)
Amy Brooke, whose family owns the pub, has been overseeing the renovation and will look after the opening before they continue to look for more Manchester-based venues. “We bought the building in August and have been renovating since then,” she explained.
“It’s all of the ground floor and it will be drinks-led, with no food at the moment. We’ve also put planning in for the first floor function room and terrace – but that’s phase two.”
The family have two other sites in North Wales including the Castle Court Hotel & Pub in Beaumaris in Anglesey, and the Auckland Arms Hotel in the centre at Menai Bridge.
“We took it on as Rovers Return, which shut down around Covid times. People who took it on before us were going to reopen it as a hotel, but we decided not to do that because we’ve done our market research and there’s already a lot of competition in that respect in this area. We’ve also tried to keep the older style but with a modern taste too.
The pub was last known as Rovers Return (Image: Supplied)
“It’s a freehouse so we can serve basically whatever we decide but we’ve also partnered with Molson Coors drinks company as our main supplier, and we can swap and change and use local breweries as well. Lagers there will be Pravha, Madri, Staropramen, Carling, a beer from Salt brewery and cask wise there’s Timothy Taylor’s and we’ll have Cheshire Cat Blonde Ale. We’ll have lots of wine and spirits as well.”
On their expectations for the pub, Amy says they’re “very excited” and they’re also looking for more opportunities between Greater Manchester and North Wales in the future. “I’m from Anglesey but my dad was born in Manchester and we’ve always come over here to visit.
“There’s a lot of demand here and we hope we can tap into that. We are aware of the costs going up, and we want to make sure we stay affordable for local people. Our pubs in Wales do well with the seasonal, tourist trade, and we do well being a freehouse but we’re also looking forward to the footfall of Manchester.
The Anglesey pub opens this weekend and is located at 89-91 Chapel St, Salford M3 5DF.