This place is well alight. 3 tenders, aerial appliance and incident support unit.



I've got more pics on my camera, I'll post up when I get home.

Thanks xan. Good report.

Kids these days have nothing better to do.

Always good to have pics with news report thanks

I wondered how long it would take for this to happen when it closed. I lost my bet as it was later rather than sooner. Thanks for sharing them Xan

I know the feeling, I bet it would burn as well, but I thought it would have been sooner, maybe it was left this long so it didn't look even more suspicious than it already does

Shame I can't upload directly from my camera rather than my phone; ah well! Like I said, more to come later

Yeah Defo kids. Always is couldn't be anything else. Some of you people need to get a life.

wasn't a bad pub, Thanks for sharing pics

what are the crack heads going to do now,they stand waitng in rock lane east for there nasty

When did it close? Not been down that way in a while.

I remember I was walking through the car park of the Abby going home from school and got half a house brick in my head for nothing at all by the ... gang that used to hang around there around '95.
I still thought it was a great bar though,if your face fit in that is.

Still a lot of smoke coming from the roof of the Abbotford pub rock ferry,Still fireman present and police !

It doesn't suprise me that the police are there; the local kids looked the be getting in the way of the fire fighters

I watched Frank Bruno get spanked by Mike Tyson in there sometime in 1996 at about 4am on a Saturday night / Sunday morning. Not a bad pub back in the day. A few pubs in the area like the King's have spent a bit of cash and have mopped up the kind of discretionary trade that the Abbey used to heavily rely on. That's why it died on its arse. Also a load of the alkies went up to the Toll Bar in the Ferry when the Wetherspoon's opened.

there has been a gang of lads hanging around there recently and it had just been re shuttered as somebody had been there and taken all the metal shutters down.it was a fire waiting to happpen wonder what it will be now ,flats ,tescos or waste land like the rest of rock ferry at the moment

Have you actually been in Weetherspoons in NF ?Its really rather nice

used to stand outside the Great Eastern for their 'fix', now that's gone too,now they go down back entrys!!

yes with the RATS

off a friend who lives in the houses next to it

nooooooooooooo!

I remember using the gym in the back.

Great photo thanks, looks like a space ship in the smoke

i know i said that

lol

that will be knocked down now, and yet more luxury flats built(that wont sell)

i used to live in the 3 bed houses exactly the same as the ones next to this pub but behind it if u get me lol..

they are gorgeous but they just dont suit the area at all..

i thought it was getting knocked down to be made an asda (this was when it was very first shut down over a year ago as i when i moved in november 2010 the pub had just shut!!

thats where i lived 36 years ago, i think my mum said they were flats then

if i could have picked up my house and placed it in a nicer area PERFECTION!!! its a shame they waste so much money building nice houses around areas like this

i cant remember the area, we moved when i was 4, moved to Wallasey and then 15 years ago i moved back, just by the Lidl now, people think oh what a bad area, no its next prefect where is, sorry

maybe they'll build some 3 storey town houses and leave them all empty cos nobody can afford to rent them

Hmm past there this morning thought it was strange the doors were open and the board off the window and was the same friday when Tec demolition where there my guess someone didn't lock it back up?

pic from friday

That`s real spooky that it with the lights above the fire in the smoke great picture though

Another one bites the dust.......

By th way I drink in wether spoons in the ferry and its a really neice pub.I also live just down the road from the Abbey its not a bad place to live it just has some bad people like every where else

You've just jogged my memory TC, it was Total Demolition Services who where on the job. They looked to be clearing the building on Friday, but I haven't been past since.

As for the pics; had to do some emergency computer repair. Later on now

the pub didnt close through lack of trade i belive the owner sold the land to the devilipers next door and put all his money into renovaiting and reopening the derby over the road

Here are the pictures I took, I was luck to have my camera on me and only had it as I was heading to New Brighton for the sunset

Smoke Plume


Chasing the local reprobates


Aerial appliance arriving


The three tenders


Roofless


Fighting

Good pics xan, well done you.

Nice piccys, this is faster than the news.

I lived in the Abbortford from 1973 to 1983. These pictures are upsetting as I can identify all of my brothers rooms, the lounge , kitchen etc. When we moved in it was relatively new, it has a working man's bar bottom left at the front, an off license in the middle(where the front door is on the pictures), and two lounges back and front right. The front right lounge was the quiet posh one and the back lounge was the lively one with the duke box in it. The two lounges had illuminated glass panels on the front of the bars. The back lounge had cartoon pictures of monks/abbots playing bowls and the one at the front was wood, brass and red leather illumination. The pub was built by Whitbread and all of their beers and associated drinks were sold ther like trophy bitter, Heinekein, pony and Makesons stout as well as R whites mixers and smith's crisps. This was the time of disco and new wave and disco nights were introduced to the pub to the annoyance of the established customers I think. Christmas parties in there included cammel lairds and the dressmaking factory down the road whose name escapes me. When we moved in there was an old coop on the right and low rise flats behind. To the left and across the road was a large derelict victorian villa that was pulled down the following year, and Kirklands school was down St Peter's road were lads would go to learn woodwork and girl's dressmaking I think.Jon's chipshop was over the the New Chester Road on the left and of course the post office and greengrocers over the road on the right. I used to walk to the Dell Middle School every day. I have decent photos of people taken behind the bar and views from the window-I'll dig them out and load them. How sad all gone. Denise

Thanks for the history, Denise. I hope one of the mods can transplant it so it can be saved.

On a different note; the local papers have got on to the story 24hours later than Wiki and without pics!

BLAZE AT DERELICT PUB

I think the factory whose name escapes you was Carfax if we're on the same wavelength.

The Abbey has now been flattened didn't get a chance for a pic as I was driving

Doesn't suprise me, I'll see what pics I can get later

Developers were propbably a bit fed up waiting... there will be a whole load of 3 storey houses with "To Let" boards there in a few weeks time

I remember driving past a few summers ago - when it was open, the sun was shining and the beer garden was full, full of yobs fighting, throwing glasses, bottles etc etc....

Not surprised its closed, and been burned to the ground. My only worry is where all those yobs will end up....

Excellent photos there Xan.

I drove past the place about 2 hours before it caught fire. You could see a window board had been removed and the place was accessible. It crossed my mind to have a look but I guessed it would be full off feral youths or smack heads so I gave it no more thought. I am glad I left it.

Pity none of them was inside when it went up....

Hmm

Am I right in seeing in xans photos it looks like some complete sad-act has stolen the railings?

Good spot Ste, not noticed that.

... and up go the luxury apartments/Tesco Metro.

Or the lego houses all squashed together lol!

The other new housing developments in the area are a long way from being fully occupied (or built) as yet so I can't see any houses being built there for a long time.

Ah, they're going keep it as a wildlife/rubbish/discarded tyre conservation zone for a few years like the spot across the road?

Lol.

passed there on the bus last week and it was a pile of rubble.
what do they get from setting things on fire? probably be left now just like the site of the Great Eastern, supposed to be building houses there,but it's just left, and over grown with weeds, looks a right mess.