SalfordOnline

A pub where Karl Marx used to ponder political theory over a pint could be sold to developers.

Anyone with £690,000 to spare can buy themselves a piece of history now The Crescent in Salford, Greater Manchester, is up for sale.

The grade II listed building, built in the 1860s, sits in a row of houses in The Crescent, a dual carriageway which is part of the A6 corridor into the city centre earmarked for development.

The terraced properties were originally licensed dining rooms favoured by the father of Communism and his intellectual partner Friedrich Engels as a haunt to thrash out the path to revolution.

The pub's name back then - The Red Dragon - perhaps spurred them on.

But now Salford Council and Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company hope to transform The Crescent and adjacent Chapel Street into a partly pedestrianised shopping and eating haven.

A spokesman for the agents selling the pub, Christie and Co, admitted the plan for this new gateway into Salford has meant the property has caught developers' eyes.

Andrew Dodd said: "There's been a lot of interest and we've sent out a lot of information packs on the property to publicans and developers.

"It's an up-and-coming area so it's going to attract developers.

"We're marketing it as a pub which has the potential for other uses, subject to planning permission.

"The owners put it on the market as they're retiring."

But he added: "The fact it's steeped in history is going to appeal to publicans though.

"It's a well-established drinking hole in the area and I think many people will want to keep it that way."

The pub is famous for its range of real ale and homely food, regularly appearing in food and drink guides.

In 2004, the Crescent was named Manchester Food and Drink Festival Pub of the Year



This story has been reproduced with the kind permission of 24dash.com

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