Abandoned wine cellar discovered after sinkhole opens up on Manchester golf course
An abandoned wine cellar, thought to have been closed for nearly 120 years, has been uncovered after a hole opened on a golf course in Manchester.
The brick cellar, filled with dozens of historic wine and port bottles, was uncovered by staff on the 13th hole of Davyhulme Park Golf Club in Trafford last week.
It is thought to date back to the original mansion on the site, which was demolished in 1888.
Martyn Hamer, one of the club’s professionals, said: “The wide goalkeeper came into the shop and said: ‘I made a discovery on the golf course.’”
Staff had seen the sinkhole and assumed a sewer had collapsed. He spotted the brick structure after using the club’s on-site excavator to excavate the area.
He was then able to go inside and look around with a torch and found dozens of empty bottles.
“It’s pretty exciting for the golf club. We have a rich history and we recognize it was a mansion before the golf club was there,” Mr Hamer said.
He added that the response from the public has been overwhelming and members and staff are excited about the discovery.
“In our world, when we post something on social media, we are very happy if we get 100 views. On Instagram, we are very happy. [of the cellar] “We got 40,000 views in one day, which is a really good thing for us,” he said.
“There have been a lot of comments from local people who are very interested in the history of the golf club and it means a lot to us that people are really interested in the history of the club.”
Mr Hamer said the club was aware there were vaults on the course but never knew where they were located. There are likely to be more.
“If you think about how many golfers walk on the fairway where they don’t know there’s a huge vault underneath,” he added.
Mr Hamer estimated there were about a hundred bottles in the cellar: “Looks like they used to have a good time.”
People reached out to the club to offer to buy the bottles, but staff decided to display them in the clubhouse for all members to see.
