King's Ransom
The King's Ransom is a Greene King pub on Britannia Road and School Road in Sale, Trafford. It sits on the side of the Bridgewater Canal, with some of the seating area floating directly on the canal.
Parking
The pub has a large customer car park which can accommodate dozens of vehicles at any given time. The car park is accessed at the bottom of the slope on Britannia Road.
Parking is free of charge for customers, though vehicle registration is mandatory at the bar to avoid a potential £100 parking charge notice. The parking enforcement and automatic number place recognition (ANPR) is provided by Britannia Parking Group.
History
Construction
Watling Street Inns were given planning permission by Trafford Council in December 1994 to build a £1 million pub. Specifically, it was to be located on the site of an old coal merchant on Britannia Road. The spot on the Bridgewater Canal in particular was described as an "eye-sore" and "the last place in that area that needs cleaning up".
The pub was architected to have a "strong period feel" to it, specifically with a Victorian interior. Construction was due to begin on the site in Spring 1995, and the developers had originally aimed to complete the project and open the pub by Christmas 1995. In January 1995, Watling Street Inns revised their figure for the construction project to be £1.5 million.
The definitive name of the pub wasn't known at the time of the planning approval, but The King's Ransom was always considered the "likely" name. The name was finalised either at the very end of December 1994 or during January 1995.
Opening
The King's Ransom opened in mid-to-late March 1996, somewhat behind the optimistic schedule of Christmas 1995. At the time of opening, it was the second pub developed by Watling Street Inns, and thus became the "sister inn" to the Waterside Inn in Leigh.
Upon opening it was described in the Manchester Metro News as being "without doubt the best pub in Sale",[1] but at the same time stirred debate over the fact it refused entry to customers who were "dressing too casually".[2][3]
Refurbishment
The King's Ransom closed on 26th February 2024 to begin a roughly one-month refurbishment, costing somewhere between £100,000 and £1 million.[4] It later reopened following the refurbishment on 29th March 2024.[5]
Sources
- ↑ Manchester Metro News, 5th April 1996, Page 44.
- ↑ Manchester Metro News, 18th April 1996, Page 6.
- ↑ Manchester Metro News, 26th April 1996, Page 6.
- ↑ Popular south Manchester pub to shut for huge renovation, Manchester Evening News, 25th February 2024, accessed 11th February 2026.
- ↑ A LOOK INSIDE: The King's Ransom in Sale, Life in Sale, 2nd April 2024, accessed 11th February 2026.