Peter Walker (Warrington) Ltd Small Round Tin

Peter Walker (Warrington) Ltd tin tray dating from the 1960s.

Peter Walker's Breweries

In 1846, experienced brewer Peter Walker moved from Liverpool, where he was operating his Everton Brewery, to Warrington.
There he bought Pemberton's Old Brewery at Town's End in Warrington.
His son, Andrew Barclay Walker, joined the business which traded as Peter Walker & Son.
In 1850 Peter and Andrew leased a brewery on King Street in Warrington.
The Company purchased the Monks Mills property on Dallam Lane, Warrington, and built a new brewery on the site in 1866.
In 1877 Andrew Walker, and his three sons, set up a new firm in Burton-on-Trent and built the Shobnall Brewery to brew pale ales. This became a branch of its Warrington business which focussed on brewing mild ales.
In 1890 the Midland Brewery of Burton-on-Trent was purchased becoming Peter Walker & Son's fourth brewery.

Peter Walker & Son (Warrington & Burton) Ltd Registration

In 1890 the Company was registered as Peter Walker & Son (Warrington & Burton) Ltd to acquire and amalgamate Peter Walker & Son's Dallam Lane Brewery, the King Street Brewery which had been purchased outright in 1883, A.B.Walker & Sons Shobnall Brewery, and the Midland Brewery, together with two wine & spirit merchants in Warrington and Liverpool.
When the new amalgamated business was formed it owned 270 licensed houses and by 1897 this had increased to over 800.
The Midland Brewery of Burton-on-Trent was closed in 1895
The Company purchased the Old Lion Brewery Co. Ltd of Tipton in Staffordshire in 1898, and Glover & Son of Liverpool with 35 public houses in 1905.
The firm's King Street Brewery in Warrington was closed in 1906.
A new lager brewery was added to the existing Shobnall Brewery in 1909.
Peter Walker acquired Burton, Bell & Co. Ltd of Wavertree with 37 public houses in 1907, and Tarbuck's Brewery Ltd of Liverpool with 17 tied houses in 1913.

Walker Cain Ltd Acquisitions

Peter Walker & Son (Warrington & Burton) Ltd merged with Robert Cain & Sons Ltd of Liverpool in 1921 to form Peter Walker & Robert Cain Ltd, later shortened to Walker Cain Ltd.
Peter Walker & Son (Warrington & Burton) Ltd became a wholly owned subsidiary of Walker Cain Ltd.
After the Walker Cain Ltd merger, the newly amalgamated Company began its significant acquisition trail which lasted 22 years.
Walker Cain's purchased Robert Blezard of Everton with its Liver Brewery and 48 public houses in 1921, Tong & Sons Ltd of Bolton with 100 public houses in 1923, and E.Spragg & Co. Ltd of Wallasey with 5 public houses in 1923.
The Shobnall Brewery in Burton-on-Trent closed soon after the merger in 1922, and was sold to Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton Ltd in 1923.
The Mersey Brewery of Robert Cain & Sons Ltd was sold to Daniel Higson Ltd in 1923.
A further five Lancashire breweries were acquired in the mid to late 1920s.
Airey's Brewery Ltd of Poolstock with its Victoria Brewery and 40 tied houses,  the Oldfield Brewery Ltd of Wigan with 90 tied houses, and Richard Barker & Co. Ltd of Huyton with 30 tied houses, were all acquired in 1926.
Ellis, Warde & Co. Ltd of Ormskirk, with its Bath Spring Brewery and 102 piblic houses, was acquired in 1929. It continued brewing until 1955.
The Empress Brewery Co. Ltd of Old Trafford, with 236 public houses, was purchased in 1929.
George Shaw & Co. Ltd, with its Leigh Brewery and 300 public houses, was purchased in 1931.
In 1943 the Company's final acquisition was Smart & Co. with its Castle Brewery and 11 public houses.

Peter Walker (Warrington) Ltd

The brewing business was renamed Peter Walker (Warrington) Ltd in 1946, which itself held a number of brewing subsidiaries.
These subsidiaries consisted mainly of Lancashire breweries which had been acquired by the group during the 1920s and 1930s.

Tetley Walker Ltd

After decades of expansion and successful trading Walker Cain Ltd, with 890 public houses, merged with Joshua Tetley & Son Ltd of Leeds in 1960 to form Tetley Walker Ltd.
Tetley Walker Ltd was later renamed Allied Breweries Ltd in 1963 following a merger with Ind Coope Ltd of Burton-on-Trent and Ansells Ltd of Birmingham.
A new brewery was built by Allied Breweries Ltd on the same Dallam Lane site in 1967.
The Company became part of the the Carlsberg-Tetley Group which closed the Dallam Lane Brewery in 1996.
The site was later demolished and now forms part of a large supermarket and the Warrington Wolves Rugby League ground.

The manufacturer's mark states - Reginald Corfield Ltd Lombard Road. London. S.W.19.