A pub boasting of its "no smackheads" ruling and consistently providing punters with 5am lock-ins is still, somehow, standing tall.
Battering back lockdown woes which have seen hundreds of other Brit pubs call their last orders, The Gamecock still survives, with the Hulme, Manchester-based establishment still, technically, there.
It is not open, of course, but with the crumbling exterior on Booth Street not yet being bulldozed it is somewhat of a miracle it still stands in the street where many other places of residence have been knocked down.
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Built up back in the 1960s and closed down in the 1990s, The Gamecock has managed to survive three decades of abandonment, MEN reported.
Former landlord Julie Maguire has since said it is "sad to see" the pub in such a state, although she has fond memories of the "no smackheads" ruling and late-night lock ins which served the estate.
Her time as landlady saw a slate of lock-ins which were carried out to try and keep the place operating smoothly and raking in cash.
She said: "When the area was demolished, most of the pubs that were still there had to survive by doing late ones [lock ins]. I was hauled to the police station many-a-time.
"They said 'we'd had to bang the door Julie because you couldn't hear us'. I said the music was on. I once told them that I'd gotten engaged – I hadn't – but I had to use some cock-and-bull story as to why the music was playing at that time.
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"But like I said to the inspector, I'd like nothing more than to shut my doors at 11.30 and have made my money. But come Monday morning I've got six bills and I'll only have enough [money] to pay three.
"I said we're not doing it for greed, we're doing it because we need to keep the doors open. Some would go on to five o'clock [in the morning]".
Fond memories of lock-ins which lasted until 5am were followed by a particularly hilarious sign, although Julie says the reputation of the pub was nonsense and that "everybody all looked after each other".
"I used to have signs up saying 'no smackheads inside or outside'. When I put the sign up outside even the police started laughing at it."
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