Pub Sign Photo Study – The Rising Sun – Manchester

Tweet

Several kings of England have incorporated the hope inspiring new dawn fresh start image of a sunrise into their shield and coat of arms. Edward 3rd and Richard 3rd, and William Of Orange among them. A few pubs called the Rising Sun changed their names because of the folk song The House Of The Rising Sun, which is about a brothel of that name in New Orleans. Some pubs find themselves facing groundless rumours of being similar institutions of ill repute. The pub unusually has entrances on two different side streets parallel to one another so it is regarded as a cut pub. Many people walk through the pub without buying anything to just use it as a public footpath short cut to the other street. The police used to dislike such pubs as when they went in to intercept after hours or under age drinkers or other suspects they would find the suspect had simply fled through the opposite doorway. The main reason for having two entrances was that if drinkers approaching from one side had to go round a long terraced block containing other pubs before getting in, they might just stop at the other pubs instead, so the extra entrance saved the walk and reduced that risk. There have been claims that the pub was opened in 1688 when William Of Orange took the crown but given that the whole row of buildings has a 19th century origin that seems unlikely. The pub is a white building and half the size of its brick neighbours. It looks like a garden shed sandwiched between them. A brief attempt to turn it into an Irish theme bar in the 1990’s failed spectacularly and the pub soon recovered its original identity. The sign, recently replaced by a much less interesting one, features two silhouetted riders approaching a castle in the dawn’s early light with a spectacular blazing sun dominating the frame. It is a true work of art. Arthur Chappell