The North West has several of the clearest examples of former Beefeaters returning with another name. Preston Brook in Runcorn became The Canal House under Queensway Inns; Crewe’s Farmhouse became The Marshfield Bank Farm House under J D Wetherspoon. Morris Dancers kept its familiar name as a Queensway pub. A reopened building is therefore easier to recognise when the old and new names appear together.
Other addresses in the region have different outcomes, including hotel dining or no announced new operator. This page gathers the final venues from Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire and Merseyside, while keeping earlier departures such as Heswall’s Glegg Arms in a separate section. Those earlier places are not extra restaurants in the final-106 count.
What happened in North West?
- Reopened
- 3
- Hotel guests only
- 0
- Converted or redeveloped
- 0
- Plans announced
- 0
- No news yet
- 8
Photographs from North West
Three local stories
Morris Dancers, Scarisbrick
Morris Dancers has kept the familiar name at Southport Road, Scarisbrick, between Southport and Ormskirk. Its Queensway page advertises breakfast, lunch and dinner and identifies the neighbouring Premier Inn as Southport (Ormskirk). That combination of village, road and hotel name helps avoid confusing it with a restaurant in central Southport. The current pub information includes a garden and function room, while the exact reopening day is not published. For former regulars, the useful change is a new operator serving the same named place; the old Beefeater hours are retained only as historical information.
CAMRA venue record ↗ · North West CAMRA ↗ · Wikipedia: Scarisbrick ↗ · Current Queensway Morris Dancers page ↗ ·
Preston Brook, Runcorn
Runcorn’s Preston Brook Beefeater is now the Canal House under Queensway Inns. The Chester Road address at WA7 3BA links the new pub name to the former restaurant, so both names are kept together on its page. A search for Preston Brook can therefore lead to the current dining information without implying that Beefeater itself survived. The Canal House’s operator page publishes breakfast and all-day dining details. Its new identity is one of the region’s named reopenings, unlike properties where a sale notice gives no successor name or opening date. The building’s location provides the continuity through that change.
Current Queensway venue page ↗ · Queensway directory: 8 October check ↗ ·
The Farmhouse, Crewe
Crewe’s Farmhouse returned as the Marshfield Bank Farm House under J D Wetherspoon, opening on 1 September 2026. CAMRA dates the original Farmhouse Beefeater development to 1996 and distinguishes the pub from the retained Grade II-listed eighteenth-century farmhouse, which is not part of the current pub. That distinction matters when looking at photographs: the oldest structure on a restaurant site need not be the building serving today’s meals. The Coppenhall Lane address joins the former Beefeater to the Wetherspoon successor, while the two names and the dated reopening keep the stages of its history clear.
Current Wetherspoon venue page ↗ · Opening report ↗ · CAMRA: Marshfield Bank Farmhouse ↗ ·
Every final Beefeater in North West
Help find photographs of the missing venues →
- Border Gate, Carlisle — No news yet · CA4 0AD
- The Farmhouse, Crewe — Reopened · CW2 8SD
- Heaton Park, Crumpsall — No news yet · M8 4NB
- Morris Dancers, Scarisbrick — Reopened · L40 9RG
- Packet Steamer, Bootle — No news yet · L30 7PT
- Preston Brook, Runcorn — Reopened · WA7 3BA
- Quay House, Salford Quays — No news yet · M50 3SQ
- Red Lion, Bispham — No news yet · FY2 0AR
- Springwood Park, Tytherington — No news yet · SK10 2XA
- Stag & Rainbow, Liverpool — No news yet · L13 0DL
- Whitegate Inn, Oldham — No news yet · OL9 8DW
Earlier Beefeaters in North West
Glegg Arms, Heswall
A pub since the 1840s, the Glegg Arms on Chester Road, CH60 3SD, last served the public on 4 July 2024. It then served hotel guests. A 2026 proposal would demolish the pub and increase the hotel from 87 to 111 rooms. The reports describe opposition, including a petition with more than 400 signatures; they do not confirm approval.
Yahoo/Liverpool Echo ↗ · Wirral CAMRA ↗ · BritBrief, Jul 2026 ↗ ·
Heald Green
Built in 1935 for Chesters Brewery, the Finney Lane pub became Whitbread’s in 1967, a Roast Inn in 1984 and a Beefeater in 1991. Public service ended on 4 July 2024. A December 2025 demolition proposal sought a hotel block.