Time for a dip into the pages of The Salford City Reporter from December 1922 and see what stories were making the news and we start with this curious tale of the Salford publican in court for serving a pint of beer with too much in it! Emma Spivey the Licencee of The Miners Arms, Chapel Street, Pendleton appeared at Salford Magistrates Court charged with serving over measure in beer, yes that's correct too much as opposed too little. On December 2nd 1922, Police Constable Whitworth took a jug into the pub and asked for a pint of beer to take out, he was served and charged sixpence, he then took the jug of beer to the nearby Pendleton Town Hall and placed in a measured bottle which showed the quantity to be one and a quarter pints, The diligent P.C. Whitworth returned the next day with his trusty jug, ordered a pint for home and when this was measured it was found to be one and a half pints, not satisfied with this he again returned and ordered a pint which when measured was, one and a quartet pints. He then asked Mrs Spivey to show him a pint measure, she produced a pint pot which she said that she always used, he informed her that she would be reported for giving over measure she replied "I am always afraid of giving under measure" Sir William Cobbett appeared for the Defence and asked P.C. Whitworth if was true that he went into the off sales department which was detached from the pub and was served by Mrs Spivey, to which he agreed, he was then asked if Mrs Spivey had pulled the beer into a stamped pint pot which had frothed over and then poured into his jug, who then pulled more beer into the jug to fill it up? again he agreed with this. Cobbett then addressed the Stipendiary Magistrate. Mr P. W. Atkin and told him that Mrs Spivey had run the pub for the past eight years since her husbands death and the pub had been in their family for some 26 years and hadn't received a single complaint against them to the authorities. He then added that technically Mrs Spivey was guilty of an infraction of the law, but she had done it with the best of intentions to make sure that her customers got proper value for their money. and that by adding extra beer she had no intention to defraud. The Stipendiary Magistrate asked Licencing Inspector Ronan why the Police Constable had been sent there? he told him that he had received a verbal complaint from.....another licencee in that district. He then fined Mrs Spivey £5. That does seem very harsh, the poor woman and her husband had run the Miners Arms for 26 years without any trouble but the police acting on the words of a possible local licencee, had ruined her good reputation overnight, shame on them. Their daughter, Elsie Waters took over the pub in1949 and was 72 when the pub finally closed The pub lasted until 1963 when it was demolished on what has passed into Salford folklore as "Black Sunday",April 28th when eight pubs in the Hanky Park area of Salford closed in one night
