Adlington - Plough Inn

Name: The Plough Inn

Address: 33, Market Street (previously Bare or Bear Lane), Adlington

The Plough c.1910

The Plough Inn opened in the 1850's and later went on to have it's own brewery (John Mercer's), located to the rear of the premises.  

Listed Landlords at the Inn were John Naylor (1850's), Thomas Naylor (1861-71), William Harrison (1881-88), Samuel Broomhall (1891), Henry Naylor (1896-01), Henry Ellingworth (1911) and Mary Ann Ellingworth (1921).

Three generations of the Naylor ran the Plough between the 1850's and 1901 and clearly retained a proprietary interest in the business as family members were living and working at the property when Samuel Broomhall was behind the bar in 1891.

1861 Census

1871 Census

Article excerpt courtesy of Beer of Summer 2020

1881 Census

Chorley Standard and District Advertiser 17 February 1883

Lancashire Evening Post 21 August 1888

Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser 28 August 1888

1891 Census

Blackburn Standard 11 January 1896

1901 Census

Lancashire Evening Post 11 June 1902

Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser 11 October 1907

1911 Census

1921 Census Mary Ann Ellingworth

The following article from the BBC Project "People’s memories WW2" provides a wonderful insight into life in Adlington during WW2 and records the end of the Plough following bombing raids: -

Contributed by ElsieHo People in story: Elsie
Location of story: Adlington, Chorley, Lancashire
Background to story: Civilian
Article ID: A2412875
Contributed on: 11 March 2004

During 1939, I was working at Chorley Bleach Works and in September that year war was declared. In 1941 I was sent a letter to go for an interview at the Royal Ordinance Factory in Euxton, Lancashire.

Thankfully, I was not sent to work on the line (where they made bombs) as I had an allergy to the powder. I was sent to work in the canteen where I worked until 1945. I enjoyed the fellowship of the people that I worked with.

During 1942 - 1944 I remember the bombs being dropped on the village of Adlington, demolishing the Plough Hotel only yards from my own home. Two others dropped near the dye works, one a land mine, one went off and shattered a lot of windows nearby, bomb disposal soldiers came to detonate the one that didn’t go off, we all had to open windows when they did this, but a lot were broken again. When enemy planes came over and the sirens went off, we were supposed to go in the air raid shelters, the school had a large one, and a lot of people had small one’s in their gardens, air raid wardens came round to make sure no lights were showing because of the blackout. Car headlights had black strips covering them also cycles and motorcycles. It was impossible to get batteries for my bike so, I had carbide lights which went out if I went over a bump, which left me in absolute darkness. One night coming home from work, coming out of St. Thomas’s road, I had reached Fazackerly St. when someone shone a torch at me, it was a policeman, telling me my cycle light had gone out, we had no matches to relight it, he wouldn’t let me walk home to Adlington, a man came along who had a cigarette lighter, and between them they got it lit. They had a good laugh as they hadn’t seen a carbide lamp before. One Saturday night I was at a dance in the village of Adlington, the sirens went, we heard the plane come over, and a bomb was dropped on the doctor’s house 50yards away, trapping the doctor’s wife and family in the cellar I don’t think they were hurt just shaken.

Another time I was coming home from my aunt’s on the bus, I got off at the Elephant and Castle pub, I met two soldiers who were billeted at Adlington Hall, as we were talking a Jerry plane came over, they made a different noise to ours a sort of chugging droning sound, I looked up it was overhead, I saw the bomb doors open as it showed a light, we saw the bomb dropping, it fell near the smithy and damaged it, just seconds after I had passed. So home we went as quickly as we could. Finally, I was working on nights when the sirens went, there sounded more than one plane, a bomb dropped just missing the Royal Ordinance Factory an and Chorley Hospital, if either had been hit, there would have been enormous casualties.

In May I945 Britain celebrated V.E .day, the same year I married, and was granted permission to return to my previous employment, working there until late 1946 when my husband was de-mobbed and I became pregnant with our first child.

Market Street c.1940's The Plough can be seen centre-back