Jack and Annie Walker bought the lease of The Rovers Return and moved in on 4 February 1937.Originally Posted by sarah c
Annie continued the tenancy until 1984 when she signed The Rovers Return over to her son Billy making him landlord.
The brewery, Newton and Ridley, unhappy with the way the pub was being run into the ground by Billy Walker's wayward behaviour, made him an offer he couldn't refuse for the licence. Rather than resell the licence, the brewery decided to hire a manager instead and appointed Bet Lynch who became the brewery's first single manageress of the Rovers.
The following year Newton and Ridley decided to sell the licence to the pub and offered Bet first refusal. However Bet couldn't raise the money and Alec Gilroy lent her the cash to purchase the licence allowing her to become the landlady.
Either way, Annie Walker, who died c. 1995, was neither owner nor licensee at the time of her death so she couldn't have bequeathed it to anyone, let alone Betty.
