Pubs Around Skem By Dave Ackerley
PUBS AROUND SKEM
By Dave Ackerley
Entering Skelmersdale from Ormskirk Road we would pass The Railway Inn (now The Roundabout Pub) at the end of Ormskirk Road by the railway crossing, over the crossing down the remainder of Ormskirk Road, past the junction at the bottom of Sandy Lane and down Clayton Street joining onto School Lane we would turn right into Sherratt Street and would have passed the Alison Arms (now gone) on the left.
Now we go back to Ormskirk Road and turn right we would go up Sandy Lane passing the Victoria Hotel on the left (still there), past Witham Road on the left, further up on the corner of Elson Road (see the Sandy Lane list of shops) we would pass the Market Gate Inn (the original which the new one became The Skelmersdale Arms and now has been named after the original!), past Beamans Terrace on the left we would then pass The Plough Inn (well back in 1881) then the Brown Cow Inn, which later became Lambs Chemist (all now gone). and at the top of Sandy Lane turning left down High Street we would pass The Skelmersdale Arms (the original now gone) which earlier was a plain brick building but later was rendered in a Tudor style.
Turning right at the top of Sandy Lane we would be going down Liverpool Road passing the Crown Inn (now gone) on our right near the corner, further down after passing over the bridge over the railway lines (now Railway Road) – you have to walk over the bridge now but once it was a road bridge – you would come to The Engine (now the Royal British Legion) on the right, then after passing the Methodist Church and School on the right we would pass The Knowl Brow Inn (still there) also on the right, further on after a few 100 yards on the left we finally come to The Horseshoe Inn (now gone).
Back to the top of Sandy Lane past the Skelmersdale Arms on the left and proceeding down High Street we would first pass on the left the Queens Inn (now gone) at the junction of High Street & Rigby Street, further down on the same side we pass two very old pubs first the Queens Head then the Miners Rest both long gone. After passing Barnes Road we pass the Alexandria Hotel (now The Village Inn) on the left and further down on the right opposite the end of Lancaster Crescent The George Inn (now gone), further down on the right by Coronation Cottages and on the corner of New Road there was the Colliers Arms, then nearing the bottom of High Street we pass the Derby Arms on the right,
and at the bottom diagonally on the left at the corner of Church Road we have the original Fox and Goose (now gone).
Hereon the High Street continues as Wigan Road and further down here we would have passed the later Fox & Goose just after the old railway bridge by White Moss Colliery.
Passing down Church Road we pass St Pauls Church on the left and about a hundred yards later the road forks off to the left into Kiln Lane where the Chapel House Inn once stood on the left (the original St Pauls Church was next door to the left roughly where the edge of the graveyard is). Continuing down Church Road passing Chapel House Farm on the right and where the road bends left we come to the Endowed School (now Crow Orchard School) and Berry Street which bends round the back of the School to the left (Mill Lane carries on to the right off it) and round the bend of Berry Street (now called Tawd New Road) we pass the Tawd Vale Inn (still there).
Continuing down Berry Street we’re heading out of Skelmersdale and into Stormy Corner now and soon we pass The Beehive pub on the left,
and further on past the junction with Summer Street on the right we pass the Seven Stars Inn now heading out of Stormy Corner.
Back to the top of Church Road and continuing down High Street and onto Wigan Road we pass under the railway bridge by White Moss Collieries (roughly where Hope Island is now) and pass the later Fox and Goose Inn on the right as the road bends left, further up we pass over the Tawd Bridge and pass the Tawd Bridge Hotel on the left, now the road is called Grimshaw Lane and we now pass the Grimshaw Pub on the right and again on the right the Cross Keys Pub 2-3 doors up from the Grimshaw Pub. On an old map of 1909 further up on the left there was the White Lion Inn and then where the road bends right there is the Hare & Hounds Inn which is still there, now we are heading towards Upholland.