When Eltham did it first ..... travelling in a double-decker train

I say Eltham but strictly speaking it was the Southern Region of British Railways who came up with the idea of the double-decker train to alleviate the overcrowding during the rush hour on the Bexleyheath line into London.

Goodbye, 1971, Well Hall Railway Station

The service ran from 1949 to 1971 and was received with a mixed response.

I loved them making them my preferred train from Well Hall up to Charing Cross during the 1960s.

But some found the seats uncomfortable, ventilation of the upper deck was bad and worst of all the loading and offloading of passengers was slow. *

And I grant you having travelled on double decker trains into Milan which were quite swish, our version was a bit clunky.  

That said the appearance of our trains with their curved upper windows marked them out as very different.

I have never quite forgotten them although they have slid back in my memory along with those summer concerts at the Pleasusance, the Burton’s on the corner of the High Street and the pubs which were the haunt of my growing up.

But when the Today Programme on BBC radio ran the story that Eurostar had ordered some double deck trains, I was instantly back with the 8.30 from Well Hall nonstop to Waterloo.  The piece included references to our unique trains and rather dismissed them as having been a short experiment and raising again the issues of uncomfortable seats and poor ventilation.

Now that was a bit unfair given that they ran for twenty-two years which is quite long in the history of public transport vehicles.

And that is almost that, although there is delightful account of the design and history of the Bexleyheath double decker’s in Gus White’s book, The Bexleyheath Railway at Eltham, 1895-1995, published by the Eltham Society.

And an equally interesting article from BBC News which carries a Pathe News clip of the trains from 1949.**

So a win for all. And yes there were other double decker trains around the world, and yes I would welcome more pictures and memories from anyone who like me let the "train take the strain" between 1949 and 1971.

Location, Well Hall, 1949-1971

Picture; the double-decker on its last run at Well Hall, October 1971 from the Kentish Times and reproduced in The Bexleyheath Railway at Eltham, 1895-1995

*Gus White, The Bexleyheath Railway at Eltham, 1895-1995, The Eltham Society

**Eurostar orders first double-decker trains, Katy Austin, BB News, October 22nd 2025, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz6n1w80z1zo

Lost and forgotten streets of Manchester ...... nu 66 Back Canal Street and Mr Thomas Griffiths

Now there are no photographs of Mr Griffiths and there is nothing surprising about that.

Home of Mr Griffiths marked in red on Little Canal Street, 1849

He was born in 1806 worked as a labourer and lived in Back Canal Street, which was a row of one up one down back to back houses facing on to the Rochdale Canal.

So unremarkable or perhaps so dire were the houses that they were swept away sometime in the 1860s to make way for a warehouse.

That said the warehouse still exists and is on Chorlton Street as is Little David Street which ran parallel to Back Canal Street.

History has been no kinder to Little David Street which is now gated off but given that it was the same width as its neighbour it will offer up an idea of what Little Canal Street was like.

Sadly so far the historical record has revealed little more about Mr Griffiths who was living at number 17 Back Canal Street with his five children who ranged in age from fifteen down too four.*

He was a widow and while I can’t yet find a reference to his marriage or the death of his wife, I am guessing that he may have been married sometime around 1826 and she might have died in childbirth giving us a date of 1837.

It’s all very vague and making a second guess of basing her name on that of either of her two daughters has proved a dead end.

Still I know that in 1841 when the Griffiths family were in Back Canal Street they were paying 9d in rent and that they were still there in 1842.  Now trying to make anything of wage rates and the cost of living is fraught with difficulties. But a labourer might be on a £1, a textile worker on a little more and rural workers on a lot less.**

Little Back Canal Street occupied half the same of the warehouse

But after that we lose them and the hunt is made more difficult by the large number of men with the name Thomas Griffiths.

That said there is a Thomas Griffiths who was living nearby in Silver Street in 1839 and another in Major Street a year later and both of these are very close to Back Canal Street.

Added to which the rents are pretty much the same so I think it would be sensible to say this is our man.

So far I can’t find him after 1842 but the census of 1851 reveals a Richard Griffiths who might have been his son.  He was the right age, used the same names for his children as Thomas's dad done and shared the family house with two of his siblings.***

Both siblings carried the same names as children at 17 Little Canal Street and were born at the same time as Thoma's children.

It might all be a little too far fetched but if historical research has taught me anything it is that such clues usually lead to the right conclusion.

Well we shall see.

Location; Manchester

*Census, Enu 10 8, London Road, Manchester 1841

**The History of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Andrew Simpson, 2012

**Census Enu 1k, 46, Ancoats, Manchester 1851

Pictures; the site of Little Canal and Little David Streets, 2016, from the collection of Andrew Simpson and streets in 1849, from the OS map of Manchester & Salford 1844-49 courtesy of Digital Archives Association,  http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

A 'gang' of 'teenagers' ........... just before the War outside the Horse and Jockey

Now I like the way that people continue to be generous with both their family pictures and the memories.

So I was very pleased when this one was sent to me by Yvonne.

The Horse and Jockey will always be special to me, not only because as one of our oldest pubs it featured in my first book and was the venue for its launch but also because as the “Pub on the Green” it has been at the centre of much of Chorlton's history.*

But rather than ramble on I will share Yvonne’s description of the picture.

"Hello Andrew!  I enjoy reading your post on the Chorlton Blog.  

I was born there - leaving when I was 8.  I have a photo of my mother and sister with their 'gang' from about 1936 outside the Horse and Jockey.  

It’s of a 'gang' of 'teenagers' just before the War outside the Horse and Jockey. 

My mum Dilys on the left, her sister Gwen on the right. She used to tell us all their names but the only one I can remember is Joe Rook!”

And that is a pretty good start.

Yvonne hopes it will “stir some memories up” and so do I.



All of which just leaves me to thank Yvonne.
Location; Chorlton

Picture; A 'gang' of 'teenagers' outside the Horse and Jockey circa 1936 courtesy of Yvonne Richardson

*The Story of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, 

When history repeats itself ……. and art imitates art

 "Never work with children or animals" is that famous one liner attributed to W.C.Fields and to this can be added never take a famous artist and assume he never came to where you live.

At the Lowry home to his paintings, 2006

Which brings me to L.S Lowry which my Wikipedia tells me that “Laurence Stephen Lowry was an English artist. His drawings and paintings mainly depict Pendlebury, Lancashire (where he lived and worked for more than 40 years) as well as Salford and its vicinity [often depicting] scenes of life in the industrial districts of North West England in the mid-20th century.

He developed a distinctive style of painting and is best known for his urban landscapes peopled with human figures, often referred to as "matchstick men". He also painted mysterious unpopulated landscapes, brooding portraits and the unpublished "marionette" works, which were only found after his death. He was fascinated by the sea, and painted pure seascapes, depicting only sea and sky, from the early 1940s”. *

At which point I have to say he don’t do anything for me, heretical as that is and I await abuse from Mrs. Treliss of Broughton his industrial landscapes and people don’t do it.

And all this despite heaps of discussions with my chum Peter Topping who over the years has patiently set time aside to explain Lowry and show me examples of his non matchstick work.

Lowry's friends at the Lych Gate in Chorlton

Peter who is also an artist long ago took Lowry to his heart and has celebrated the painter by producing pictures of Chorlton in the style of the man.

These over the years have found their way onto the blog under the banner of “When Lowry came to Chorlton”, and now it seems he may have done.

Last night Peter emailed over his discovery that "I uncovered an Instagram post that someone posted with a B&W drawing with Lowry’s signature and date 1960.

 And someone on ebay selling a print of it.

 On further research I found that he had indeed come to Chorlton and sketched The Lych Gate and called it Chorltonville.

 

In the Library, 2026

Somehow the title had got miss read, or miss printed and catalogued as Charltonville see attached copy below

 There is a known Lowry drawing titled something like 'At Charltonville / The Old Cemetery', dated 1960, and it has appeared in auction listings.

One such listing describes it as 'L S LOWRY AT CHARLTONVILLE THE OLD CEMETRY 1960 PENCIL DRAWING' .

Perhaps Lowry visited our Library

This confirms that Lowry produced a drawing connected with Charltonville (note the spelling) and a cemetery scene around that time.

 L S LOWRY AT CHARLTONVILLE THE OLD CEMETRY 1960 PENCIL DRAWING” does indeed appear online — but only as the title of an eBay listing, not as an authenticated catalogue entry or museum‑verified work. The listing shows a hardback print being sold, not an original drawing, and the spelling ('Charltonville', 'Cemetry') is the seller’s own wording, not Lowry’s, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/187509554804?msockid=3df35e1922496e41178348a6230a6f34”

So with that in mind Chorlton Library have asked Peter to put on a Pop Up exhibition of some of his pieces in the series “When Lowry came to Chorlton” .

Alas all of Mr. Lowry's paintings including his 'At Charltonville / The Old Cemetery' remain copyright and for all the right reasons I ain't putting them up on here.

So its just down to Chorlton Library to walk where  history repeats itself ……. and art imitates art.

Picture; At the Lowry home to his paintings, 2006, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Painting; If Mr Lowry came to Chorlton, © 2017 Peter Topping, and new paintings from the Lowry series, by Peter, 2026 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

*L.S.Lowry, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._S._Lowry

The old church on the green in 1933

This is one of my favourite pictures of the old parish church.

It was taken by F. Blyth and appeared in A Short History of Chorlton-cum-Hardy written by J. D. Blyth in 1933.

Now at present I don’t know whether J.D. Blyth was the father or brother of the photographer, and both remain shadowy figures.

The text is drawn from the work of the late 19th century historian Thomas Ellwood and pretty much repeats the earlier work word by word.

Not that there is anything wrong in that.

Mr Ellwood’s work had been published as a series of newspaper articles between 1885 and 86 and while some of them reappeared in church magazines during the early 20th century I rather think that that by 1933 they were less well known.

That said it is the three photographs that draw you into the short history, and this is partly because we do not have many floating around from the 1930s.

This one of the church was taken from the south and it shows off some of the detail which is often missing from other pictures.  The side aisles were added in 1837 around the time that two Arnot stoves were installed for heating and the flue and chimney of one of them is just visible behind the spire.

The church had just another seven years of working life because it was closed in 1940 and demolished in 1949.

The grave stones remained in place until the area was landscaped in the early 1980s and many of the headstones taken away.

Picture; the parish church from the south, 1933, by F. Blyth, from A Short history of Chorlton-cum-Hardy by J.D. Blyth, 1933

What was lost is found .... the continuing story of Little Ancoats Street

 History hasn’t been kind to Little Ancoats Street.

Little Ancoats Street from Newton Street, 2019

It is one of those very narrow streets, which has never warranted much in the way of official recognition.

It once stretched from Dean Street, across Newton Street, and almost but not quite running out on to Lever Street.

Today the bit from Dean Street to Newton Street has vanished under a block of new build which was constructed in the last few years, and which wiped out the Lord Nelson pub, which was doing the business of serving beer and good cheer from at least 1841.

In that year the landlord was a Robert Walker, and a decade later it was run by a Mary Ann Belshaw and judging by the occupants listed in the Rate Books it appears to have changed hands frequently.

Little Ancoats Street from Little Lever Street, 2019

As for Little Ancoats Street, it  remains a bit of an enigma.  It shows up on maps of the early 1790s, but as yet there are no listings for who resided there in the directories, nor as yet can I find any entry in the census returns.

And that is slightly odd given that the southern side of the street consisted of residential properties during the middle of the 19th century.

Their absence from the street directories may just be because they were not worthy of inclusion, but they should appear in the census records, especially given that the surrounding streets are all included.

The stretch of Great Ancoats Street, and Ancoats Street which were either side of our street are there in the official records but not ours.

That said some of the buildings along the part of Little Ancoats Street from Little Lever Street may be the original residential properties shown on the maps of the 1840s and 50s, which may be as close as we get to their inhabitants.

But in time and widening the search I am sure the mystery of who lived in them will be revealed.

All of which leaves me with the Lord Nelson, which was demolished in 2010.  That building only dated from 1895, and while there is a suggestion that the original dates from 1830, the first reference I have is 1841.

Little Ancoats Street, 1851

Nor have the records revealed any details of either Mr. Walker  or Ms Belshaw, but I shall keep looking.

But as history often shows .... something always turns up.

And so today Derek Jackson emailed me with an extract from the 1841 census along witha death certificate for a Mr. James Owen who lived on Little Ancoat's Street.

They are a fascinating find, because with a name comes another opportuinity to search the records for the cenus returns and the stories of others who lived on this litte street.

I may even with Derek's permission explore the life of Mr Owen who was born in 1768, died in 1848 and who had been a "weaver", but on his death was described as a "labourer".

Now I have no idea if he was a handloom weaver that skilled occupation which was eclipsed by the coming of the power loom and the absorption of the trade trade into the factory system.

But if so his eventual job as a labourer might be seen as another casuality of industrilization. 

And as you do the census return showed him living with his wife. and a an Ann Jones aged 20 and her daughter of six months.

So a thank you to Derek.

Location; Little Ancoats Street,

Pictures; Little Ancoats Street, 2019, from the collection of Richard Hector Jones, and in 1851,  from Adshead’s map of Manchester 1851 courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/


*Lost  Manchester Streets, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=Lost+Manchester+Streets

Home thoughts from abroad nu 4 ................ catching a train and borrowing a book

An occasional series on what I miss about the place where I grew up.*

Now when you leave the place you grew up and pretty much only go back for the odd short visit it becomes frozen in time.

Not so of course for my sisters and their families which of course is just how it should be.

All of which has made me come back to these two pictures of Eltham from the collection of Steve Bardrick.

They were taken by his grandfather sometime in the 1950s or 60s, and are just as I remember home and both in their way are special.

And the station is the first I would single out for having moved to Well Hall in 1964 I still made the train journey every week day back to New Cross and Samuel Pepys Secondary Modern School.

I can’t say I ever felt that happy about the school and so the walk up along the station approach was a mixed one and was something I did like the visit to the dentist.  You did it because you had to but it was never going to be something you chose to do.

Added to which as the trip was done during the rush hour the chances of getting a seat were never high.

That said the journey back was always something to look forward to and even now I can remember the train taking the curve past the signal box and pulling in to the station with that view of the woods above where we lived.

I never tired of it then and I still have fond memories of the scene  which signalled I was home.

The new station might be more shinny and look the part but the old one with its wooden booking hall giving out onto the platform and that cast iron footbridge are part of my Eltham.

And in much the same way so is the picture of the High Street offering as it does Woollies, the library and the electricity showrooms.

If you are of a certain age the old Woolworths will have powerful memories.
It starts with that special smell, continues with the wooden floorboards and those mahogany island counters and culminates with the sound of Apache or Telstar blaring out and those small round ice creams.

The library was to become one of my favourite’s haunts, a place you went when you needed to do some homework and better still the place to borrow an LP.

Even the electricity showroom was not without its charm with those odd shaped windows.

And by 1966 the library won out over the station, because in that September I had swapped schools and was going to Crown Woods, a place which will always be special.**

It was there I met friends that have stayed the course over the last fifty years and it was there that I discovered the magic of books, and history and a way of looking at the world which I have never lost.

All of which meant that it was looking down at the High Street from the top of the bus twice a day which pretty much took over from the walk up the station approach.

And then one day in the 1980s I returned to find that the station had moved, and later still Wilcox’s and Woollies were no more and even later still the Greyhound had been transformed

Of course there is that simple response that I should get back more often and there is much in that idea.

But even so I rather think I would still miss the old station and if I am pushed hard it will be that slow final pull into Well Hall with the view of the woods which were best seen from the old site.

And before I forget that look down on the Pleasaunce which in the summer would always be a place to stop and sit for a few minutes beside the old moat and equally old garden wall.

Location Eltham, London




Pictures; Eltham Well Hall Railway Station & the High Street circa 1960s from the collection of Steve Bardrick

*Home thoughts from abroad, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Home%20thoughts%20from%20abroad

**Crown Woods School Eltham, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Crown%20Woods%20School%20Eltham