The lost pub on Port Street ...... Mrs Ann Gleave and bit of a mystery

I am looking at a picture Andy Robertson took back in 2018 of no. 75 Port Street.

The White Lion as was, 2018

Andy told me that  "I have unwittingly taken photos of. This the White Lion on Port Street which is a pub on the 1849 map but not a pub by 1969. The building is unusual in that it now stands alone"

Once of course it was just part of a long line of properties, stretching down from Great Ancoats Street to Dale Street.

Like Andy I have passed it over the years, and watched as some of its neighbours were demolished, the car parks on either side were upgraded, and it gained and lost a mural painted on the gable end.

 It appears as the White Lion in the directory for 1822, and is lost as a pub sometime between 1909 and 1911.

In 1849, the landlady was Anne Gleave  who first appears in the Rate Books as the landlady two years earlier and continues on the books till 1857, although there is strong evidence that she died in 1855.

Either way by 1858 the new landlady was Harriet Gleave, and in the fullness of time I go looking for her.

The White Lion with its traditional lamp, 1908

For now, I want to say with Ann Gleave, who is also down in the census return as living at 54 Newton Street and was a shop keeper.

All of which is a bit odd, because the Rate books list a James Gleave living at the property which is described as a house.

Part of the answer may lie in the fact that Ann married James in 1847, both are listed as living in Newton Street and both James, and Ann’s father, described themselves as weavers.

But James  does not appear on the 1851census with Ann on Newton Street, all  of which is a bit of a mystery.

Still, I am content that we can give a name to the landlady which ran his mum back in the middle decades of the 19th century.

And soon after the story was posted, PJ commented, "The White Lion can be seen at the beginning of this brilliant drone footage of the Northern Quarter. Now with a stunning artwork on the side of the building. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c4IeTOSmZM "

Location; Manchester

Pictures; the White Lion, 2018, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and in 1908, m04847, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

When they took my railway station ...........

Now, as a rule I don’t object to change and even I could see the logic of building a new railway station yards from the old one and calling it Eltham.

That old familiar entrance, circa 1960s

In the great scheme of things the coming of the motorway and the loss of the bus terminus beside the station made perfect sense.

But a little of my youth vanished when Well Hall Railway Station was demolished.
More than that, no one told me.

I had left from that wooden platform in the September of 1969 for a new life in Manchester, and while I regularly returned home during the following two decades I was not prepared for the day I alighted from what I thought was the wrong station, with the wrong name, on the wrong side of the road.

The new bridge, 2013

I should of course have been warned by the conversation at the ticket office in Charing Cross when my  request for a single to Eltham Well Hall was met with a stony look and a sarcastic comment about not keeping up with news, which was a tad unfair given that my subscription to Railway News had lapsed the month before.

Only the intervention of the nice lady buying a season ticket for Welling saved the day.

Off on a jolly, 1966

Even now on those occasions I go home I never feel quite right walking through the brick and concrete building and yearn with a bit of silly nostalgia for the wooden railway station of my youth.

Location; Well Hall

Pictures; Eltham Well Hall Railway Station & the High Street circa 1960s courtesy of Steve Bardrick, the railway bridge over Well Hall Road, 2014, from the collection of Chrissie Rose and off from Well Hall, 1966, from the collection of Anne Davey

On discovering Knighton …… that suburb of Leicester which was once its own place

An occasional series on the village and township of Knighton, as it was and as it is today.

Knighton in 1834

In 1846 Knighton was described as “2 miles S. by E. of Leicester, a village, township and chapelry, containing 465 inhabitants, and 1638 acres of fertile land, intersected by a small rivulet, and traversed by the Midland Counties Railway, and the turnpikes from Leicester to Welford and Market Harborough”.

On the north side of the chapelry "was a pleasant suburb called Stonegate, adjoining the Racecourse of Leicester, and having several handsome houses, occupied by manufacturers, &c, who have their places of Business in that town.  The soil on the north is good loam, and on the south strong clay.

Sir E.C. Martopp, Bart., occupied the Hall, as a hunting box, and is lord of the manor, and owner of a great part of the soil; and the rest belongs to G.A.L. Keck, Esq., Sergeant D’Oyly, Mr. Joseph Johnson, and a few other proprietors.”

The place was mentioned in the Domesday Book, and over the centuries passed through the hands of several landowners.  Its church predated the Norman Conquest, while Wesleyan chapel was only erected in 1816, and “the commodious National School was built in 1840”.

Knighton's most prominent residents, 1846

The description concluded with listing the 21 most prominent individuals of whom ten lived in Stoneygate  and had their places of business in Leicester.

 The remaining eleven lived in Knighton, and amongst them were two publicans, three farmers, assorted professionals, some shop keepers and Elizabeth Hughes the teacher at the National School.

All of which is a start, and because we have the census returns we can add to the 21, the other 400 or so inhabitants, recording their names, occupations, places of birth as well as the age profile of Knighton.

Added to this we also have the electoral register for 1841, which not only lists the names of those entitled to vote, but just how they cast their votes.

So, I know that Mr. Charles Simpkin, the farmer, voted for the Tories and Mr. Alfred Burgess, who described himself as a “Woolpacker” and was  later a J.P., cast his two votes for the Whigs.

And if I can locate the tithe records and rate books I will have a better idea of how the land was farmed, the size of farms, and  the level of annual rents.

All of which will provide a detailed description of Knighton in the 1840s, before it became a suburb of that big city two miles up the road.

Location; Knighton

Next; Who were the 18 Knighton electors in 1841 ..... and how did they vote?

Pictures; Knighton in 1834, from Greenwood’s map of Leicestershire, Greenwood’s Atlas, 1829-1834, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/, and Knighton’s prominent residents in 1846, from History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Leicestershire, 1846

*History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Leicestershire, 1846

Your invite to a new way of telling the stories of Greater Manchester …. today

 So, today at Wilbraham St Ninian’s Church you have the opportunity to roam over the history of Greater Manchester in a new and unique way.

Peter Topping and Andrew Simpson have come up with a different approach to exploring Greater Manchester’s past.

It is The History of Greater Manchester by Tram …. TheStories At the Stops in which the authors take all 99 Metro tram stops on all the eight routes picking out the interesting, the serious and the bizarre as well as the humours events and people at each destination which build to become a comprehensive account of the region’s past.*

At present there are four books in the series with a fifth due out later this year. 

They cover the journey into the centre from the south, crossing the city centre down to Victoria Railway Station and then east out to New Islington.

The fifth will travel from Old Trafford to Altrincham, with further books on Salford, and all the remaining towns on the network.

The talk will last for an hour, cost, £3 which covers refreshments and will be a mix of stories with how the authors researched and chose those stories, with plenty of pictures including some of Peter’s original paintings.

The books are available at £4.99 from Chorlton Bookshop, the shop at Central Ref, St Peter's Square, or from us at www.pubbooks.co.uk

And that is it.  Tuesday …. 1.30 at Wilbraham St Ninian’s Church

Location; Wilbram St Ninian’s Church, Egerton Road South, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester M21 0XJ

Pictures; a selection from the Power Point presentation, 2026

*A History of Greater Manchester By Tram, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Greater%20Manchester%20by%20Tram 

Lost Images of Whalley Range number 6 ....... the Allied Library 1962

This was the Allied Library which was on the corner of Upper Chorlton Road and Wood Road North.

It had grown as a chain of rental libraries in the years after the last world war and at its peak in March 1962 it hired out 362, 000 books through 1,489 bookshops.

And it is a reminder that a long side the public libraries there were a shed load of small shops ranging from newsagent to bookshops which rented out books.*

Picture; Allied Libraries at No 202 Upper Chorlton Road taken in August 1960 Downes A H m40870 Courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*Chorlton’s private lending libraries, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Chorlton%27s%20private%20lending%20libraries

The picture …. the municipal venture ….. and half a mystery solved

Here is a picture I keep coming back to.

At the Electricity showrooms, undated

It is a popular one which keeps cropping up on social media and was recently reposted by my Facebook chum, Christopher Roman.

Alas I have never been able to track a date or a source for the image, but the design of the building and the fashions on display would suggest the 1930s.

This was still the height of municipal socialism which saw local authorities continue to advance their responsibilities in a range of activities.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in the absence of much from central government it was local politicians who were making their towns and cities better places to live.  As Sidney Webb said the “municipalities have done most to socialize our industrial life.” *

And so a resident of Manchester, Birmingham or Glasgow could benefit from municipal supplies of water, gas and electricity, travel on municipally owned trams and buses walk through a municipally maintained park while knowing his children were being educated in municipally run schools.

Electricity Supply Box, 1915

“Glasgow builds and maintains seven public ‘common lodging houses’; Liverpool provides science lectures; Manchester builds and stocks an art gallery; Birmingham runs schools of design; Leeds creates extensive cattle markets; and Bradford supplies water below cost price. 

There are nearly one hundred free libraries and reading rooms. The minor services now performed by public bodies are innumerable.”*

And chief amongst those was the growing push to provide affordable gas and electrical fires, cookers and a range or household appliances which were promoted through local authority showrooms and supported by municipally run classes on how to cook with gas and electricity.

But the "City of Leicester Electricity Service" remained elusive ….. until last night when Tina turned up the story in a matter of minutes eclipsing my long practised historical skills.

It was all there in an article entitled City Hall, from the Story of Leicester.**

I have no intention of lifting other people’s research and so instead if you want to know the history of the service just follow the link.

Electricity Joan? 1938

Not that I am any closer to finding the date or the source, but I think it will be sometime after 1935 when the newly opened "Municipal Offices housed the Leicester Corporation Electricity Department (later the East Midland Electricity Board) and were specially furnished with a model kitchen for 'housewives who are interested in the modern uses of electricity in the home'. 

Exhibition Model Of All-Electric Kitchen, 1935

A special theatre also presented weekly cookery demonstrations and a Service Centre displayed, sold and hired out electrical appliances".**

Added to which I guess the picture comes from promotional material issued by the City Council.

Shopping for the new, date unknown

Now that is almost the end of the story but not quite, because after an appeal on the Leicester Old and New site and before Tina’s discovery a heap of people suggested the location for the offices as Charles Street.***

And that placed it almost opposite the air b&b we stayed at in January on one of our visits to see our Josh and Polly.

So as they say ….. it really is a very small world and armed with my newly acquired knowledge I will go and stand outside City Hall next time we are in Leicester.

Pictures; City of Leicester Electricity Service, source, and date unknown Manchester Corporation Electricity Works Supply box, circa 1915, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, advert from Manchester Electric Supply and picture of an all-electric kitchen 1935, Manchester Corporation

*Webb, Sidney, from Historic, Fabian Essays in Socialism 1889

**City Hall, Story of Leicester, https://www.storyofleicester.info/civic-affairs/city-hall/

***Leciester Old and New, https://www.facebook.com/groups/483822492579736/?multi_permalinks=855570792071569&notif_id=1691096569147245&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif

Lost and forgotten streets of Manchester nu 24 Barton Square .......... all in a name change or two

Barton Square, 2016

Barton Square is that narrow little street that runs from Exchange Street round to St Ann Street and is dominated by Barton Arcade that 19th century shopping mall more glass than wall.

I use it quite a lot and I always let my imagination wander as I follow its twisty route but until recently I had never given much thought to its name.

Barton is obvious given the arcade, but square seemed a little odd, after all this is a street. 

I supposed there might be a connection with St Ann's Square but that seemed remote and the more I thought about it even Barton threw up a puzzle given that the arcade was built in 1870 and the street is there a century before.

So as you do I went looking at the old maps of the area and the story is as complicated as you could expect.

In the 1840s and 50s that first stretch leading to the arcade was Red Lion Street which extended  under what is now the arcade just stopping short of Deansgate with four little side streets around a small square called Barton’s Buildings.  These were accessed via an entry.

Red Lion Street & Back Square, 1851

And that almost offered up the answer, but not quite, because the rest of what we now know as Barton Square had undergone a number of name changes, from Back Square in the first half of the 19th century to Back St Ann’s Square in 1793.

So mystery solved, and with a bit more digging it should be possible using the directories to pinpoint the date it all became Barton Square which it was by 1900.

Leaving me only to record that in 1851 Red Lion was occupied by mix of professional occupation including an accountant, commission agent, stockbroker and consulting engineer while Back Square was full of small manufacturing businesses.

As for Barton's buildings these belonged to a Mr Barton and consisted of four warehouses and an office with a joint annual rental income of £305 which were occupied by George and Edward Wood who dealt in cotton and cotton waste and and Tobler Anschelf & Co listed as merchants.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; Barton Square, 2016, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and in 1851, from Adshead’s map of Manchester, and in 1900 from Goad's Fire Insurance maps, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/