Saltney Pub Plans Rejected
Plans to turn a well known, 162 year old pub into bedsits for 11 people have been rejected by Flintshire planners. A planning application was submitted to Flintshire County Council to transform the Corner Pin into a House of Multiple Occupancy (an HMO).
The rest of this article isn’t going to discuss this decision, but reading about this rejection has prompted me to take a nostalgic trip down Memory Lane. To begin with, just re-read the opening sentence. A pub, 162 years old. Wow, I bet those walls have some stories to tell. Without a doubt, the Corner Pin (The Pin), was a well known and popular pub in its day. Living in Saltney for many, many years, I can testify to that being the case. Sadly though, The Pin closed its doors for the final time in October 2023. I wasn’t there on that day, but I could give a good guess to some of those that probably were.
But what of The Pin (aka Little Goodison), in its better days?
Saltney Pub Memories
I must begin this next section by stating I was never a regular in The Pin in my Saltney days. Although, over the years, I did pop in there now and then and knew a lot of the regulars who drank in there. Some great characters frequented the small, friendly, what I would call, proper pub.
In my teens, it seemed to be the case that many Saltney drinkers from that end of Saltney drank in either The Pin, or the Saltney Ferry. Living halfway between the two, my first visit to one of the locals was, to a certain extent, a bit of a toss of the coin. As an eager 1X year-old (X = ?), The Ferry was chosen partly because I happened to be playing for the Saltney Ferry footie team at the time and, not unsurprisingly, the team met there. Another key reason was that I liked the cask bitter (The Pin didn’t sell cask) and the Chestnut Mild. Wow, Chestnut Mild. Now that does take me back.
Both pubs though full of great and interesting characters.
A Very Keen Sports Pub
Like The Ferry, The Pin was a very popular sports pub. I’m not necessarily talking about simply watching sports, but actually taking part. Also, like The Ferry, The Pin had football teams. And some very, very good players turned out for The Pin. I remember The Ferry played in the Chester and District Sunday League, while The Pin played in the Deeside Sunday League. As I mentioned, I played for The Ferry but never played for The Pin.
On one occasion I went to watch The Pin play a top of the table clash against one of the Flint teams. Flint always had some very good teams as well. The Pin played on Mount Pleasant in those days. A good turn out for this particular table topper fixture. Half-time arrived and all good for The Pin as they led 1-0. Cue Flint team making what turned out to be a significant half-time substitution. Mind you, he was only a slip of a lad. Is he going to be any good? Or, were the Flint team short of players?
The Flint team ran out 4-1 winners in the second half, with little known young, slip of a lad scoring all four goals. So, in answer to the question as to whether he was any good, he emphatically ticked that box. He was brilliant that day and to be fair, he didn’t do badly at Liverpool in the years ahead either.
Fair do’s to The Pin they always competed at the top end of the football leagues. A variety of other sports were also either played in The Pin, or The Pin was the home base. Cricket, carpet bowls, darts, bagatelle, pool, golf to name a few. In fact the Corner Pin Golf Society is still in full swing (no pun intended). Various tournaments, including trips abroad, still take place. That in itself shows the strong bond that still exists between the ex-patrons.
The Pin and The Country Maid
Another significant memory of The Pin for me was the regular visits made by Country Maid employees to enjoy a quick one in their work break. Seeing bakery workers in their “whites” hotfooting it to The Pin in their break for a quick glass of orange was a regular feature. At times it was like a steady procession. Half hour on, half hour off was often the shift pattern at the bakery, so there always seemed to be a steady flow of customers for The Pin.
As I say, I wasn’t a regular in The Pin so clearly my memory lane accounts won’t be as detailed as a regular’s. Suffice it to say though, anyone that has lived in Saltney will know of the popular venue and what it meant to the regulars. To the planners and the HMO developers, the Pin like so many other pubs, will unfortunately simply be another statistic to add to the thousands of other pubs closed. But that’s not the case for the many regulars who frequented this iconic pub for generations. May the happy memories long live on. Who knows, some day it may be returned to its former glories. Now that would be a good story to write about.
Chester Lifestyle Blog Posts
Thanks for visiting my Chester Lifestyle website and thanks for reading my latest blog post – Saltney Pub Plans Rejected. A post not about the plans themselves, but a nostalgic trip down Memory Lane reliving some of the pubs better days gone by.
If you would like to see all of my other blog posts on a variety of topics, then visit HERE.
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As This Is A Chester Related Website
As this is a Chester related website, you may be looking for the ideal Chester related gift for your loved ones. If so, then have a look at my Chester section of my new Etsy store. You can find out more about my Etsy store HERE.
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