Real Ale

Real Ale

Worthington - Crown Hotel

Name: The Crown Hotel

Address: Platt Lane, Worthington


Records for the Crown Hotel or Crown Inn as it was also known date back to the 1860's; there is no record of the Inn on the 1861, 1851 or 1841 censuses.  Hints to the beginning of the Crown are found in the following press article from 1868 when a Henry Atherton applied for a victualler's license for his house: -

Bolton Chronicle 29 August 1868
Clearly the Crown was already open in 1868 and whilst Henry's application for a victualler's license was turned down this did not put him off as the following article from 1870 records his application, and sadly further refusal for the granting of a spirits license.


Preston Chronicle 10 September 1870
Listed landlords on the censuses at the Crown Inn were Henry Atherton (1868-1891), George Holland (1901-1911), Dan Prince (-2016) and Andrew McKenna (2023).

1871 Census

1881 Census

Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 17 December 1881
1891 Census

1901 Census

1911 Census
The Crown Inn closed for business at the end of 2015 and the future of the business looked bleak for a number of years thereafter.

London Gazette 7th December 2015
Meetings of Creditors
THE CROWN INN (WORTHINGTON) LIMITED
(Company Number 05105149)
Registered office: Platt Lane, Standish, Wigan, Greater Manchester, WN1 2XF
Principal trading address: Platt Lane, Standish, Wigan, Greater Manchester, WN1 2XF
Pursuant to Section 98 of the Insolvency Act 1986 ("the Act"), a meeting of the creditors of the above named company will be held at The Crown Inn (Worthington) Limited, Platt Lane, Standish, Wigan, Greater Manchester, WN1 2XF on 5 January 2016 at 11.00 am. The purpose of the meeting, pursuant to Sections 99 to 101 of the Act is to consider the statement of affairs of the Company to be laid before the meeting, to appoint a liquidator and, if the creditors think fit, to appoint a liquidation committee.
In order to be entitled to vote at the meeting, creditors must lodge their proxies, together with a statement of their claim at the offices of Begbies Traynor (SY) LLP, Kendal House, 41 Scotland Street, Sheffield, S3 7BS, Sheffield.North@Begbies-Traynor.com not later than 12 noon on 4 January 2016. Please note that submission of proxy forms by email is not acceptable and will lead to the proxy being held invalid and the vote not cast.

23/01/2016 Wigan Observer- Crown at Worthington closes down
One of Wigan’s best known pubs has closed its doors.
Landlord Dan Prince told staff at the award-winning Crown at Worthington on Tuesday that the hotel had been forced to shut and that they no longer had jobs.
It’s a real shame to see an award winning pub have to close its doors because it’s not making money. It’s a sad end to a pub that has been held in such high regard and in 2009 was voted the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) regional pub of the year in 2009.
Ken Worthington, vice chairman of Wigan Camra, said: “It’s a real shame to see an award winning pub have to close its doors because it’s not making money.
“There are a lot of things that are involved with running a pub. There are overheads and you’ve got to be able to make a profit. It’s a real shame to see it go. This is happening a lot across Wigan. It’s not just pubs like the Crown, there are other pubs that are closing."
The exact reasons as to why the Crown has had to close are unknown, but for many years it has led the way with real ale and fine food including its legendary butcher’s block, which brought customers flocking from across the North West. However, back in 2014, Mr Prince, who ran the Crown with his wife Tracy, complained of extremely high business rates. At the time, he was challenging having to pay £2,500 a month and said it made “life extremely difficult.” The businesses rateable value had risen from £26,000 to £65,000 in just six years, while other similar sized businesses had seen a much steadier increase in that time period. CAMRA is now warning Wiganers that they need to use their pubs or risk losing them.
Mr Worthington pointed to a number of issues facing establishments every day and even said that the annual Dry January project – which sees people give up the booze for a month after Christmas – is adding to the list of problems,“there are a number of reasons pubs struggle,” added Mr Worthington. One is that people can buy cheap booze in supermarkets and off-licenses. Another is things like Dry January, which a lot of people are getting into which can be a death knock for some pubs after the Christmas period when it goes quiet. Rather than going into other pubs, they’re staying at home and pubs are struggling to get an income in. There is something now called Tryanuary which encourages people to try breweries and pubs otherwise this sort of thing can happen. A lot of people are moving towards micro-pubs, a lot of which are opening in Wigan. We are telling people to use their pub or risk losing it.”
Read more: http://www.wigantoday.net/news/local/crown-at-worthington-closes-down-1-7661082#ixzz3y3OsS1pO

Thankfully, after a four and half year absence from the pub scene in the Wigan and Standish area the Crown Hotel reopened its doors after the Covid-19 lock-down following a £250,000 renovation bringing it back to its original glory.


No comments:

Post a Comment