WHO Could A Thowt It — but the very last landlord at the old pub in Grimshaw Park, Blackburn, has been in touch with Bygones.

Mike Dunbar and his wife Marie ran the pub, with the unusual name, for two years, before the men at the brewery decided to call time for the very last time.

Still living in Blackburn, the couple described it as a good little pub, where they enjoyed lots of fun and laughter with the customers who regularly popped into their end-of-the-street local.

And they agreed with our story from a couple of weeks back, of how the pub, on the corner of York Street, came by its name.

It’s said that a clogger, a convivial man, who used to have a little shop at the bottom of Haslingden Road, missed the company of his friends in the neighbouring alehouses and started inviting one and then another to join him over a few bottles, to keep him company, as he worked.

The custom grew until the shop became a regular meeting place, with an occasional barrel supplementing the bottle supply.

Eventually a local brewery heard of its popularity and sent a representative along who, on seeing the gathered crowd, came to the speedy decision that they had better buy the business and turn it into an alehouse.

On hearing this, one of the cronies came out with ‘Who Could A Thowt It’ and so the place was named.

Mike and Marie moved in behind the bar in 1976, when footwear magnate Tommy Ball was a regular customer and where, according to locals, there was a resident ghost.

Said Mike: “We never heard or saw any apparition, but our dog would never go into the cellar. He would sit at the trap door, but never venture any further down the stairs.”

The pub consisted of four small rooms – the bar, domino and darts rooms and the snug and there was always a good crowd on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, with not much room to move.

“Customers had their regular nights, some would come in five times a week, but the weekend was when it really rocked.

“We used to have a pianist on those nights, called Ken Parkinson and everyone would join in the sing-along; we would have a lot of laughs and never much trouble.”

Tied to Lions Brewery, the pub’s prices in 1978 were 39p for a pint of bitter, 36p for mild and 38p for mixed; it had a good bottle trade and sold a lot of cider, too.

Said Mike: “Those were the days when a lot of customers would order a pint and often a rum and pep to go with it.”

Who Could A Thowt It had a darts team, a juke box and a couple of ‘bandits’ and if there was money to be raised for charity the customers joined in wholeheartedly, building piles of pennies on the bar and organising a variety of events, such as a yoyo competition and head shave.

In the Queen’s silver jubilee year of 1977, it put out a team in a charity football match against nurses from Queen’s Park Hospital and was visited by the Mayor, who was presented with a cheque for his charity that year.

“The pub was a friendly place and whatever charity needed money, customers would be there helping to raise money, no matter what, said Mike.

“We got to know all our customers by name and what they drank, so we would pull their pint, as soon as they came through the door.

“It was a shame when the brewery decided to pull it down, though two weeks after we left, it was set alight by some kids!”