Never throw away the negatives ....... part 4 ....the school ..... Derby Street

Of the collection of pictures I rediscovered of the streets off Cheetham Hill Road, this proved the most elusive to identify.

I remember our guide saying it had been a school and over the years I took it to be one of the Municipal Board Schools.

I had no name and wasn’t even sure whether it was on Derby Street, Bent Street or Empire Street.

To be fair the trip had been over thirty years ago, and I lost the notes and the original prints a long time ago.

But then in response to the Talmud Torah story, Michael identified it as a school on Derby Street because his mum had gone there.

From that, it was a skip and a jump to the directories where the school was listed in 1911, as the Jews School. The previous year it had space for 2,029 students and the average attendance was 668 boys, 625 girls and 581 infants.

According to the Local History Library the school was established on Derby Street “in 1869 and known as the Manchester Jews’ School [having] started off as Manchester Hebrew Association founded for religious classes in 1838 and by 1842 was established as a  school at Halliwell St., Cheetham, moving to Cheetham Hill Road in Spring 1851. 

From 1941to 1959 it shared a building with the Infants and Junior Departments of Waterloo Road, Cheetham. The school moved to Crumpsall and opened as King David High School, Crumpsall in 1959”.

The library holds a large number of records from the school including  admission registers, log books, stock books and teacher record books along with information on refugees, 1940-44, staff registers and visitors books, some of which are also available from Findmypast.

And for those who want more, Anthea Darling has posted, "Building designed by Edward Salomons, architect of what is now the Jewish Museum. Opened 1869 for 700 children, replacing earlier building in Halliwell Street. For more info go to Manchester Jews School Derby Street Cheetham.** Forgot to say it was demolished in 2012".

Location; Derby  Street, Manchester

Picture; The Jews School, 1986, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

* Records of the Manchester Jewish Community, 2015, Manchester Central Library,www.manchester.gov.uk/download/.../id/.../jewish_community_archives_guide.pdf

**Manchester Jews School Derby Street, Cheetham, https://www.manchestervictorianarchitects.org.uk/buildings/manchester-jews-school-derby-street-cheetham?fbclid=IwAR2h6y5XyS-Ysi1olWUbf7qj8pXO2dH9A3YwRH16cP1jhNfgVgvkN10cCss

Eltham High Street in the summer of 1915 and again sometime in the 1960s

At first glance it looks familiar enough.  

We are looking at the parish church  on a warm summer’s morning sometime in 1915.

It is a picture I have grown to like and given that I have just bought the postcard I am quite pleased with myself.

Now I say bought, but in fact I have ordered it up and if it hasn’t been sold I shall soon be the proud owner of a little bit of old Eltham.*

So back to the picture which has enough detail to mark it off as an image from almost a century ago.

The tram is about to leave travelling along Well Hall Road which was cut just over a decade before and on the eastern side of the road there are none of the familiar shops while just out of the picture on the extreme right was Eltham’s third Congregational Church.

It was built in 1868 “in a strong Gothic Style with a tall spire and was demolished in 1936.”**

And while I don’t usually do then and now pictures I couldn’t resist adding the second photograph which I guess is from the 1960s.

This is the Eltham I remember.

They say you should never go back and I have to admit the first time I returned after Burton’s had gone, along with the newsagent/bookshop it was rather like a little of my childhood had been consigned to the rubbish bin..

But all of that smacks of nostalgic tosh, and no doubt any youngster who had stood beside the photographer in the summer of 1915 may well have muttered something similar when Burtons opened its grand new shop on the corner of Well Hall Road and the High Street in 1937.

Now I have to confess the shop with its great Ionic columns and pilasters at first floor level still dominates the corner even if the sleek 1960s Italian suits, jackets and ties have been replaced by fast food and soft drinks.

And while I bought my first suit from the shop it will always be the memory of the crowds turning out from the dance hall above the shop on a Saturday night that I remember along with the newsagents which occupied part of the Well Hall side of the building.

It was there that I would buy my Penguin Classics many of which still sit on the bookshelves here in Chorlton.

But again I am in danger of sliding into nostalgia so it’s best to leave these two pictures in the past, until my post card arrives from Mr Flynn which no doubt will set me off again.

And in the meantime I would welcome any images of Eltham which will provide the material for more stories.

Pictures;  Eltham in 1915, courtesy currently of Mr Flynn and Eltham in the 1960s

*MARK FLYNN POSTCARDS http://www.markfynn.com/index.html

**Spurgeon Darrell, Discover Eltham, 2000

A conversation …. the Saturday boy … and heaps of vegetables …. at Muriel and Richard’s on Beech Road

Now Muriel and Richard’s will always have be a special place for me.

Their fruit and veg was always the best, and at Christmas Muriel always did that Nativity scene where local kids were encouraged to make figures for the display.

But above that they were always very kind to me, and during a time when I was juggling work, bringing up three kids and only shopping on Beech Road they could be relied to help out.

In particular Muriel acted as my bank, advancing me cash and letting me run up a tab.

To the consternation of some I would choose the fruit and veg, Muriel would ask if I needed any money and I would leave with assorted apples, pears, potatoes and more, with cash in hand.  To which some muttered that this was not how it was done.

Shops were not supposed to hand out produce and money and wave goodbye to the customer.  But this was Muriel’s and every Saturday the tab was settled.

I shopped there regularly through the 1970s into the 1990s and beyond.

I will have to ask Muriel just when they took over the shop, because I know in 1969 it was a confectioner’s run by a F. Lyth and now it is a letting agency.

Back then at the end of the 60s their shop was flanked by Joan Newman’s hairdressers and Mr. Morgan’s off license.

And a couple of decades later, the cutting of hair would be replaced briefly by a shop selling pianos before it settled on its long and continuing relationship with serving food and alcohol, while after a time as a vacant premises Mr. Morgan’s place became the Italian deli.

And that is about it.

Location; Beech Road

Pictures; Muriel and Richard’s, 1979, & 2002, and Muriel, 2004, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

When plastic bowls and a picture of San Francisco were a must ........ back at “Kingy”

Now I make no apology at returning to Kingspot.

If you are of a certain age and that pretty much covers everyone in Chorlton, you will remember Kingspot.

And for those who moved in after the shop closed here are two more pictures of what was an institution.

I wrote about it yesterday reflecting that “it was just one of those places we took for granted and long before Pound Shops it was somewhere you could get a bargain.

Here could be found everything from washing pegs, to happy colourful toys and that fabulous print of the San Francisco Bridge at sunset.

Much of what was on offer was plastic and sometimes I wondered whether they had their own plastic factory somewhere east of Hong Kong.

So it was no surprise that Kingspot was always full and getting round the shop could be a challenge which often involved avoiding the buggies, and shopping trollies as you worked you way down the two isles looking for a washing up bowl and ending up instead with two plastic imitation Flying Ducks to hang above the plastic water fountain.

Our kids always seemed to be in their usually when the latest craze for BB guns hit Chorlton which I suspect followed a few days after a new consignment of cheap toys had arrived from China."

And no sooner had I posted the story than  Bernard sent over two of his own pictures adding that "here are a couple of photos of Kingspot I took, I think it was Marhch1998,from data on photo. Maybe you could add them to your Kingspot blog."

Which of course I could and did.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; Kingspot, 1998, from the collection of Bernard Leach

Never throw away the negatives ....... part 3 .... The Manchester Ice Palace ..... Derby Street

Now when I stumbled across the negatives of a set of photographs I took in the mid 1980s I was quite pleased with myself.

The former Manchester Ice Palace, 1986

None of the prints of that day have survived, and nor have the research notes, so these half dozen negatives were a find.

I am the first to admit that the quality is iffy and they wouldn’t win the Robert Capa Award for best pictures of 1986 but they were taken as part of a research project in to Jewish Manchester.

That said they are a moment in time, and some of the buildings have now vanished and others look very different.

The former Manchester Ice Palace, 2015

But not so the Manchester Ice Palace on Derby Street which is still there and comparing my picture from 1986 with Andy Robertson’s of 2015 the building is looking better.

Those in the know will recognise this as one of those then and now sets of pictures, which is something I don't normally do and when I do I add a story.

But the Palace has been well written about so I won't this time.
That said I bet there are plenty of people with fond memories of the place.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; Manchester Ice Palace, 1986, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and in 2015 from the collection of Andy Robertson.

The Dark End of the Street 1967 .............. songs you never forget

I can’t remember listening to The Dark End of the Street when it was released in 1967 and it was only years later that I came across it.*

All of which is a shame because it is the sort of song that my 17 year old self would have instantly fallen for.

And it has the lot from unrequited love mixed with a big dose of a relationship based on a lie and of course some fine music.

It begins

“At the dark end of the street
That is where we always meet
Hiding in shadows where we don't belong
Living in darkness, to hide alone
You and me, at the dark end of the street
You and me”

And after that you are pretty much hooked.

It was written by Dan Penn and Chips Morgan and according to one source was inspired by a card game where the two were cheating and led them on to write a song on the theme of cheating.**

It took them just 30 minutes and was first recorded by James Carr and later by Percy Sledge.***

 Percy Sledge has always been one of my favourite singers but on this occasion I have to say that James Carr wins it for me.

But I am well aware that the jury will be out on that, so I shall just return to the story of  a love that they stole and the pain of having to let go.

Now you can’t get better than that either back them in 1967 or now a full 54 years later.

Picture; a young Andrew Simpson in the spring of 1966

*The Dark End of the Street, James Carr, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC3AXQ8dPJM&feature=share


**The Dark End of the Street, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_End_of_the_Street

*** The Dark End of the Street, Percy Sledge, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj3UdRmhgvM

Never throw away the negatives ....... part 2 .... The Talmud Torah School ....Bent Street

Now keeping the negatives never really seems worth it, but when the original prints get lost or damaged those negatives can prove very important.

All of which just points up how pleased I was that I found the set which I took of the streets around Cheetham Hill Road in the mid 1980s.

Not only have the prints gone but so have the notes I made of the research into the area.

This is the old Talmud Torah School opened in 1880, for “the teaching of elementary education in
Hebrew, the Scriptures and the Talmud and in the principles of the Jewish faith and practise. Talmud Torah schools were traditionally for boys only. Girls were admitted in modern times. 

The School was founded in 1880 and established in purpose built premises at No. 11 Bent Street, Cheetham, Manchester. In 1958 the Bent Street school was sold and in 1959 the new headquarters of the Manchester Central Board for Hebrew Education and Talmud Torah was opened in Upper Park Road, Salford. It closed in 2005”.*

I had half expected that the building would no longer exist but it does, still in commercial use as it when I came across it, but looking a lot better.  All but two of the big signboards have gone and these are neat and discreet.

Added to which a fair amount of the school’s records have survived, including account books payments and registers of contributions and a description of the damage done to the building during the Blitz.

And now its an exciting events place.

Location; Bent Street, Manchester

Picture; The Talmud Torah School, 1984, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

* Records of the Manchester Jewish Community, 2015, Manchester Central Library, www.manchester.gov.uk/download/.../id/.../jewish_community_archives_guide.pdf