Walking down Beech Road in the summer of 1847, today at 2 pm

The parish church, circa 1860

“this great tract of meadows, gardens and pasture land.”*

In 1857 the writer Edwin Muir had taken the train from Manchester to Stretford,  and after clearing the  “cotton mills, and dye works, and chemical manufactories of Cornbrook,” he arrived in Stretford where he saw “this great tract of meadows, gardens and pasture land.”  

To the south was the village of Stretford and to the north and east across open land and lost behind trees was our own township.

The Row 1847

Now I don’t think he came here and so would not have walked down the Row from Barlow Moor Lane to Chorlton Green which is a pity, because had he done so he would have been rewarded with views of some fine houses, much productive farm land, plenty of orchards and the relatively new Wesleyan chapel hard by the smithy and a beer shop.

All of which is a trailer for a walk down Beech Road in 1847, recreating something of what you would have seen, who you might have met and most importantly who you had to be polite to.

Sutton's Cottage on the corner of Beech Road and Wilton Road, circa 1890

Meet at the corner of Beech Road and Barlow Moor Road by the bus station, at 2pm today for a gentle stroll to Chorlton Green and the Horse and Jockey and lots of history

This is part of the GLAD TO BE IN CHORLTON, contribution to Chorlton Arts Festival.  Chorlton-cum-Hardy past, present and touch of tassology is collaboration between me and local artist Peter Topping with photographs and stories of the past and paintings of the present and a hint of the future.

Now given that most attempts at predicting the future are usually wrong and that the best we can ever hope to do is guess the outcomes using the present as a template, Peter decided we might as well fall back on tassology which is the art of divination using tea leaves.

It is an old practice which some sources have traced back to medieval European fortune tellers who developed their readings from splatters of wax, lead, and other molten substances and evolved into tea-leaf reading in the seventeenth century.

And coincided with the introduction of tea by Dutch merchants in to Europe.  Not to be outdone my source also suggests that in the Middle East the practice is carried out using left-over coffee grounds.

This may work for Peter, but as a crusty old historian I rely on the past and present to suggest the things to come but tassology does have the added benefit that you get to drink a cup of tea.

Gratrix Farm at the junction of Beech and Beaumont Road

And as we finish at the Horse and Jockey you can always go into the pub which is participating in our  tassology bit of fun, as are also The Post Office Cafe and the Lloyds Hotel and look through the tea leaves.

Moreover at all three along with another nine venues you can read excerpts from our History Trail.**

So all that leaves me to do is remind you of the walk and highlight walk number two starting at the National Westminster bank at the junction of Barlow Moor Road and Wilbraham Road on May 26th at 2 pm where we will pick up the story of the township and explore New Chorlton which developed from the 1880s.

Pictures; the parish church circa 1860s and Gratrix’s farm circa 1900, from the collection of Tony Walker,  Sutton's Cottage © Barri Sparshot, detail of Beech Road in 1847, from the OS map of Lancashire, 1841-53, courtesy of Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/ and Glad to be in Chorlton poster © Peter Topping

* Muir, Edwin, Lancashire Sketches 1869

** The History Trail can be viewed at The Horse & Jockey, Franny & Filer, St Clement's Church, The Lloyd's, The Library (occasions), Fosters Cycles, Unicorn, The Bar, Chorlton Eatery, Morrisons,Chorlton High School,The Post Box Cafe