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Picture source: Phil Moran

The Manchester Arms was situated on the corner of Wellington Road and Petersgate. This pub was known as Cobdens at time of closure in 2013. Publican from 1900 to 1925 was Fred Briggs.

The Landlord from 1881 - 1886 was Arthur Richard Unsworth who used to carry a loaded revolver on his person and entertain prostitutes in the bar. He may have continued to run the pub after 1886 but that was the year his wife Mary finally left him, he being a violent drunk who had had a number of affairs and who had threatened to shoot his wife with the aforementioned revolver. The landlords wife Mary (Mundy) was my cousin four times removed. I gleaned the above information from her divorce petition.

Nichola Collinge (November 2015)

The Manchester Arms, on the junction of Wellington Road South and St. Petersgate, first was mentioned in the 1840s, when Edward Hooper was listed as landlord. By the middle of the nineteenth century the pub had been renamed the Cobden and Manchester Arms in tribute to Richard Cobden, Stockport’s MP from 1841 to 1847, and one of the leaders of the anti-Corn Law movement. A statue of the celebrated figure was erected just round the corner in St. Peter’s Square. Throughout the twentieth century, the pub was again known as the Manchester Arms. A Bell & Co. house at the start of the century, the Hempshaw Brook Brewery was taken over by Robinsons in 1949. In the 1980s, it was known as a bikers’ pub, popular with a mixed crowd including workers from the nearby Royal Mail sorting office and train station. The early 2000s saw a change of direction, when it was refurbished as a music venue aimed towards a younger crowd and, with a nod to its heritage, it was renamed Cobden’s. It finally closed in 2013 and was mothballed for almost a decade before being turned into Cobden House apartments.

Dave Stearn, Opening Times magazine, November / December 2025

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Name Dates Comments Adam 1988/1991 Worked here 1989-90. Bikers pub/Train station and post office workers in the snug. Postie who orders a “pint of mild in a pot”, old Tom on tap. I worked with Big Tim (bass player) “has anyone got a spare G string”, Steve and, diddy Dave once found in the cellar between the bitter and mild barrels after a long weekend. Crazy times great pub what an education the land lord was an alcoholic ex copper.

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Picture source: Danny Costello