100 years of one house in Chorlton ..................Part Six

I have been indulging my love of this house and telling its story and the people who lived in it set against the big and small changes to the way we lived through one hundred years.

The development of Chorlton as a pleasant dormitory suburb of Manchester had been going on a long time before we voted to be part of the city in 1904.

Some of the builders who took part in the building boom which attracted many newcomers were themselves new to the township. In the case of Joe Scott who features so much in the story of the house it was his father who had moved here from London just as new Chorlton was being developed.

But Joe preferred to build his houses in what had been the old rural centre of Chorlton and aimed at the rented market for small two up twp down properties with a kitchen extension. These dominate the little roads off Beech Road.

The site of his own house was well chosen. The front looked out onto the Rec and from the back he had an uninterrupted view across fields to the Brook and beyond towards Hardy Farm and the Mersey. As late as 1922 this was still true, although by then the new Chorltonville estate obscured the view of Hardy.

This land would not be seriously developed until the third decade of the 20th century when he began building semi-detached houses which in time would block even his view of the open land.

The house itself was a fine end terrace. The two ground floor living rooms had open fires with tiled surrounds and large wooden mantle pieces. The kitchen was small but had an open range which years later and in keeping with the fashion were replaced by a gas cooker and free standing units.

Now the Corporation had been supplying gas cookers for sale or rent from before the beginning of the 20th century and by the 1920s had show rooms on Deansgate and in Withington as well as travelling showrooms. It was keen to promote cookery demonstrations and collaborated with schools and the Women’s’ Guild.

I think we easily forget the degree to which the gas cooker transformed the lives of those who were involved in the day to day grind of household cooking. No more was there a need to bring in coal and keep clean an enormous range, for at the flick of a switch here was an abundant supply of fuel.

Our incorporation in to the city had many benefits, not least was that from 1906 the Corporation bought out the Stretford Gas Company and began supplying Manchester gas at a cheaper rate.

Joe however did not opt for gas lighting. There is no evidence in any of the houses in the terrace of gas lamps, unlike the newly built Chorltonville which constructed in the same year relied on gas. This I suppose shouldn’t surprise me given that Joe was already head of the game by offering for sale garages fitted with electricity.

Picture; advert for Joe Scott from the St Clements Church Bazaar for 1928, kindly supplied by Ida Bradshaw