Groves & Whitnall Ltd Round Brass

Groves & Whitnall Ltd brass tray dating from the 1910s. The Bathe & Newbold Regent Road Brewery, in Salford, was founded in 1835 and was acquired by William Peer Grimble Groves, his son, James Grimble Groves, and Arthur Whitnall in 1868. In a short timescale, the Company built a great reputation for the quality of its beers and by the turn of the 19th century the Company had amassed over 600 public houses. The Company was registered in 1899 as Groves & Whitnall Ltd and in that year it acquired James Cronshaw's Alexandra Brewery from which it adopted the 'Arrow in Hand' trademark. Brewing continued there until 1915 when wartime economies forced its closure. Other trademarks used by Groves & Whitnall included the more common 'Globe' and 'Red Rose' emblems. In 1900 the Company acquired a small local brewery, William Dockray of Hulme. Growth slowed due to World War I when Groves & Whitnall's fleet of delivery vehicles were commandeered to support the war effort. Worst happened in World War II when the Regent Road Brewery was directly hit by a German bomb. The brewery suffered terrible damage from which it took years to recover. After the war, the reputation of its beers, which had been the bedrock of its expansion, began to suffer. However, by the end of the 1950s, the acquisition of a number of breweries and their public houses, including W. & R.Wilkins Longton Brewery in 1952, made the Company an attractive proposition for a takeover. The Regent Road Brewery was acquired by Greenall Whitley & Co Ltd in 1961, brewing ceased in 1972, and the site was demolished in 1978.