Kingsway Hotel, Rochdale

Situated on the edge of Rochdale and close to 1930s housing, this red brick pub with some Art Deco styling in stone at the top was opened by the Rochdale & Manor Brewery Limited on Friday 7th October 1938 – see framed details on the wall near the servery - (Samuel Smiths bought the brewery in 1947 but brewing continued at Rochdale until 1974). It has a four rooms and also a further room upstairs and it very little altered with only the off-sales removed – it looks like it may have been replaced by a disabled toilet?

The entrance on Kingsway retains its original revolving door and mosaic floor. It leads to a large lobby bar with parquet floor, plain skylight, original fixed seating at the front on either side of the revolving door. The bar counter is the original with a distinct mainly horizontal panelled front, a top that has been replaced at some time, and the original 1938 bar back fitting with etched and frosted glass panels. The room has a panelled dado and also an unusual wide strip of horizontal panelling in similar style to the bar counter front. Note the ‘Ladies Toilet’ and ‘Gents Toilet’ frosted and etched panels in the doors – the gents has a black and white tiled floor, inter-war tiled walls and three original urinals; the ladies retains much of its original inter-war tiling.

A door on the front left has a ‘parlour’ etched and frosted panel, a carpet over the parquet floor, original fixed seating, a good 1930s looking fireplace (but was introduced in 2015) with tiles & wood surround and a coal fire and another wide strip of mainly horizontal original panelling. There is an odd space on the left hand wall with no fixed seating and now contains a radiator - there was a dart board here in the past. There is a disused door on the Milnrow Road side which leads to a passage with mosaic floor, then a parquet floor.

Off the passage the rear right room has a ‘Public Bar’ in an etched and frosted panel in the door, a parquet floor, original fixed seating, a tiled and wood surround fireplace, a small original bar counter with vertical panels, the bar back fitting looks like the original - the mirrored section at the top certainly does – but it is not in use. There are etched and frosted ‘Ladies Toilet’ and ‘Gents Toilet’ panels on both doors from the public bar and the inner doors, the gents’ has black and white tiled floor, original urinals but modern wall tiling, and the ladies retains original inter-war wall tiling.

In the passage twin doors with ‘Lounge Bar’ in etched and frosted panels lead to a large room on the front right of the pub where the parquet floor was revealed in 2015 and has some fixed seating but some removed in 2015 as this is now a dining room. There is a 1930s tiled and wood surround fireplace, an original bar counter with vertical panels and handpumps removed from the top, the original bar back fitting with mirrored panels is also not in use.

There is an entrance on the left hand side of the building with two doors – the left hand door seems to lead to what is now a kitchen in a flat roofed extension. The right hand door leads to a passage with mosaic floor as your enter and in this area is a disabled toilet with a ‘Disabled Ladies Toilet’ panel in the style of the original 1938 ones elsewhere. Upstairs there is a function room with a parquet floor and a counter that is similar in style to the others but looks modern; the bar back fitting is also modern and there is lots of 1930s frosted windows. The full sized snooker table is claimed to be the one used for the 1978 World Snooker Championships.