This pub began as a beer-house, it's proximity to the Woodhead Colliery pits likely gave it the name Miners Rest. In documents it is usually referred to as the Miners Rest, but had the nickname Pig and Whistle right up to it's closure.

There seems to be no formal evidence of it ever actually being called the Pig and Whistle, but it perhaps had that name when it was first a beer-house, which then got changed to the arguably more respectable Miners Rest later.

​

Samuel Thorley applied for a licence in 1865, but was denied. He must have been successful at some point after this, as he is the earliest known licensee.

​

In the 1871 census it is referred to has the Pig and Whistle , but a notice in the Staffordshire Sentinel a few years later (in 1875) refers to it as the Miners Rest, on the 1881 census it is again referred to as the Pig and Whistle.

​

In John Alcock’s 1888 diary there is mention of meeting William Bowers at the Pig and Whistle, Bowers was a wealthy coal owner who controlled the nearby Woodhead Collieries in the town.

​

Two theories on why it had the name/nickname Pig and Whistle have been suggested. Firstly that there was a slaughterhouse in the area and there was whistle that would blow. Another (less gruesome) is that the wind blowing through the grass, was like the sound of a pig whistle.

​

A sales catalogue from 1919 mentions the pub in relation to right of way, the name is given as the Miner’s Rest.

​

In 1942 John Thomas Thorley took over the pub with his wife Lillian, during the day he worked at Thomas Bolton’s in Froghall. At this time the pub was owned by the Burtonwood Brewery, who also owned some land next to the pub. This land was used by Mr. Thorley as a smallholding, with a small amount of cattle, pigs and chickens.

 

A full license was awarded to this pub in 1961 enabling it to sell beer, wine and spirits, a petition containing 108 names was presented to the bench prior to the license been granted - at this time the pub was owned by the Burtonwood Warrington Brewery Company (Forshaws) Ltd.

​

When John Thorley decided to retire in 1967, the brewery gave him two parcels of land, as a thanks for his 25 years service.

​

The land owned by the brewery, is now where the Hammersley Hayes housing estate is located.

​

In 2006 the pub came under the ownership of Admiral Taverns Ltd , by the following year it was closed. In an effort to find a new landlord they held an open day in May 2009, having spent £30,000 on improving the building.

 

Witherspoon Property Holdings Ltd. became owners of the  property in 2012.

 

After a period of struggling to stay open; in October 2012 plans were submitted to the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council to develop the building and the connected land into one commercial unit and sixteen flats. The plans went public in November and Cheadle Town Council recommended refusal of the plans; a petition against the proposal containing 522 names was also received.

​

The plans were also rejected by the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council during February 2013. It was reported in the Cheadle and Tean Times, that “they felt the applicant had failed to demonstrate that there was insufficient demand for the pub as a community facility”.

​

A new planning application was submitted to SMDC in March 2020, to redevelop the site for a small housing development (eight semi-detached properties). This application was withdrawn,  but resubmitted at the end of July and made valid at the end of August. These plans were supported by Cheadle Town Council.

Demolition of the building started in early 2022.

​

Past Proprietors:

​

Samuel Thorley (1871 Census, Staffordshire Sentinel 1875, 1881 Census)
Mary Ann Alcock (1901 & 1911 Censuses)
Anthony Carr (Kelly’s Directory of Staffordshire 1940)
John Thomas Thorley (1942–1967, Joanne Hemmings)
Bert Slack (1967, Joanne Hemmings)
Fred and Murial Blackburn (1972-1978, Ange Blackburn)
—

Bob and Marlene Holden [from Aug 1994] (Cheadle Post and Times 1995)
Jane Shakeshaft (Cheadle and Tean Times 2002)

Steven Trevor Hawkins (SMDC website 2005 – June 2006)
Tammy Mason (SMDC website from Sept 2006)

George Robertson Stoddart (SMDC website from Feb 2008)
Beverley Louise Denton (SMDC website from Nov 2008)
George Trevor Byatt (SMDC website from July 2009)
Kim Chadfield (SMDC website from March 2011- March 2012)
Kenneth Brian Stephens (SMDC website from May 2012 – July 2012)

​