Sinclairs Oyster Bar – Manchester, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 29.062 W 002° 14.638
30U E 550168 N 5926419
This pub has two different signs. One is a picture of John Shaw, the original owner in the 18th Century. The second sign shows Molly, John Shaw’s maid who worked in the pub. Both of them are clock watching, see below to find out why.
Waymark Code: WME953
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/21/2012
Views: 3
The pub was originally built as an extension to the Old Wellington Inn in 1738 and was called John Shaw’s Punch House and funnily enough sold alcoholic punch.
Licensing laws were very strict in those days and pubs had to close at 8:00pm. John Shaw, an ex army man was very strict about closing on time and used to crack a horse whip at closing time. If that didn’t clear the pub he would call for Molly to bring a pail of water.
The picture of John Shaw has part of a clock visible in the right hand corner, with the hour hand pointing to eight o'clock. He is carrying a punch bowl.
Molly's sign shows her standing next to a shelf of punch bowls and checking the time on a pocket watch. Interestingly the time on the watch appears to be 9:00, so all the customers should now be long gone.
John Shaw was landlord of the pub for 58 years until he died at the age of 83. The pub thne became known as Sinclairs until they also started to sell oysters in 1845 when it became known as Sinclairs Oyster Bar.
In 1974 the area around this pub and the Old Wellington next door was redeveloped to form the new Arndale shopping centre. During this development the two pubs were floated on a concrete raft and the buildings raised 4 feet 9 inches.
Then in 1996 a large terrorist caused major damage to Manchester city centre. The pubs were protected by the high rise buildings around them and were largely undamaged. However another major redevelopment took place as part of the repairs for the bomb damage.
This time both pubs were dismantled and over a period of two years moved 300 metres to a site near Manchester Cathedral. When they were re-assembled in 1999 they were placed at 90 degrees to each other.
Date of first pub on site: 1738 on original site 1999 on this site
Name of Artist: Not listed
Date of current sign: Not listed
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