Burtonwood Brewery Co. Ltd Round Black Backed Steel

Burtonwood Brewery Co. Ltd black backed steel tray dating from the 1930s.

The Brewery's Foundation

The brewery was founded on Bold Lane in Burtonwood, near Warrington, in 1867 by James and Jane Forshaw. James had some brewing training while employed at the Bath Street Brewery in Ormskirk. and probably chose the site because of its position between Warrington and St Helens, and its plentiful water supply.
The Company's first public house was purchased in 1874.
In 1880 James died and the brewery continued to be run by his nephew, Richard Forshaw, and his aunt Jane. Together they increased production by over 30% and started to slowly increase the firm's pub estate.
In 1890, Richard purchased the brewery outright from his aunt.
William Singleton joined the Company as head brewer in 1894, a position he and his son, Harold, held until his death in 1964.

Expansion and Quality Beers

Bottling commenced in 1895, and in 1896, Burtonwood won first prize at the Brewers' Exhibition for its bottled stout.
In 1904 the Company started supplying local working men's clubs and this became a key platform for its future success.
Richard Forshaw's eldest son, Tom, started working in the brewery in 1907, at a time when production had increased five fold within 20 years.
The business was registered in 1910 as the Burtonwood Brewery Co. Ltd.
Mary, Richard's daughter, became Company Secretary in 1912, and married John Gilchrist in 1919.
During and after World War I, Richard and Tom continued to expand the business in Lancashire and Cheshire, and when Richard died in 1930, Tom started selling Burtonwood beers in North Wales.
During the 1920s and 1930s Burtonwood continued brewing quality beers and won further Brewers Exhibition awards in 1929, 1931, and 1932.
In 1937 the brewery was substantially rebuilt, and by 1939 the firm owned 138 freehold and 96 leasehold public houses.
In 1946 Commander R.I.Gilchrist, son of Mary Gilchrist, joined the Company after serving in the Royal Navy during World War II. The Gilchrist family also had connections with the Hook Norton brewery business.
Following a reorganisation of the family's holdings, the Company was re-registered as the Burtonwood Brewery Co. (Forshaws) Ltd in 1949. Gilchrist became the major shareholder.

The Modern Era

To faciliate further expansion, the brewery became a public company in 1964, and its name changed to Burtonwood Brewery plc.
At this point Burtonwood owned over 300 public houses in Lancashire, Cheshire, Staffordshire and North Wales, and was selling its beers into a similar number of working mens clubs.
In 1997 Burtonwood Brewery plc merged with Thomas Hardy Brewers of Dorset. The new Company was renamed Thomas Hardy Burtonwood.
In 2004 Burtonwood's 460 pub estate was sold to Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries Ltd.
Thomas Hardy Burtonwood continued as an independent brewer, bottler and packaging business, on the Bold Lane site.
In 2015 the brewing arm was purchased by Molson Coors UK & Ireland Ltd, which announced the closure of the brewery in 2021.
The brewing site was vacated by Molson-Coors UK Ltd in 2022, and the original brewery buildings were demolished the following year.

The Thomas Hardy Bottling Group

The bespoke bottling and packaging business, which owns no beer brands, continues to be run independently on the Bold Lane site by the Thomas Hardy Bottling Group, which also has production facilities in Kendal, Cumbria.

There is no manufacturer's mark on the front, however the tray was known to have been produced by Hancock, Corfield & Waller as there is a sample sticker on the back. The tray can be dated to 1937 as evidenced by the words 'Estd 70 years'