FISTS flew at a quaintly-named social event 'The Club Dinnering Day' held in a 19th-century village alehouse.

It all happened when a gang of brawny farm labourers gate-crashed the party after stoking up on liquid 'fighting fuel.' And it finally led to police objection against renewal of the beerhouse licence.

This forms one of the more rumbustious episodes in the chequered history of the Red Cat at Crank, now a swish, award-winning premises with well-patronised restaurant facilities.

For the record, landlord John Peet won his appeal for renewal, despite a police chief's objections on the grounds that at that period (in 1883) it was "a house of disorderly character."

Local history buff Bernard Murphy gleaned the information from the archives of St Helens Central Library.

And he discovered that there were, at that period, two Red Cat premises, standing whisker-to-whisker at Crank!

For at that self-same turn-of-century licensing sessions a William Lomax applied for a full licence for the Original Red Cat, positioned next door to its namesake.

His application was knocked back. Since then, it could only to sell beer as an off-licence.

The premises were described as being suitable for use as a "country public house," for farmers isolated from any other pubs - but it all broke no ice with the licensing magistrates who rejected the application.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.