A history of Chorlton in just 20 objects number 20, a tram and the railway line that is 132 years old

Concluding the story of Chorlton in just a paragraph. They are in no particular order, and have been selected purely at random.

For my last object I have selected what must be the newest and one that takes our story into the 21st century.  It is a painting by Peter Topping of a metro tram near the station at Chorlton, and I think it is appropriate for many reasons.  The extension of the metro service brings back into use the old railway line.  When it was opened in  1880 it was a significant contribution to the development of the township making it possible to work in the city but commute home in just fifteen minutes to a pleasant enough place on the edge of open countryside.  So here there is continuity with the past but also the promise of things to come. And the painting is part of a new venture where Peter paints pictures of contemporary Chorlton and I tell stories of its past.  It works well enough and many of these can be read on the blog at  http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Chorlton%20artist%20Peter%20Topping%20in%20collaboration%20with%20Andrew%20Simpson and Peter’s full collection is available to see at http://www.gladtobe.in/

Pictures; ©Peter Topping 2011 www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

Walking the woods above Well Hall in 1977

Sometimes it is worth remembering just how pleasant it is to live in Eltham.

When we first arrived in 1964 I had no idea that just above where we lived on Well Hall Road were a stretch of woods which gave you a sense of being somewhere far away from the High Street and those busy roads which took you down to Greenwich or Woolwich.

But there they were a dense and wonderful set of woodlands in which you could walk for miles.

And so that is all I am going to say on the matter and just close by thanking my friend Jean for another  photograph of Eltham in the 1970s.

Picture; from the collection of Jean Gammons

Trams across Warsaw

I like trams.  

And that affection stretches from the old tall and stately looking Corporation trams which for over half a century trundled across our towns and cities to their modern sleek counterparts.

Here in Britain, we did away with trams and instead embraced the motor-driven bus and that hybrid which was the trolley bus.

But many European cities and towns retained their trams and while the ravages of the last world war destroyed the cars and the rail network when peace returned the authorities turned back to them.  

In some cases, investment was slow but today they are an essential part of the transport scene.

All of which is a lead in to my visit to Warsaw and my opportunity to explore its fleet of red and yellow trams.

My Wikipedia tells me that "The Warsaw tram network is a 146.2-kilometer (90.8 mi) tram system serving a third of Warsaw, Poland, and serving half the city's population. 

It operates with 726 cars and is the second-largest system in the country. 

There are about 25 regular lines, forming a part of the city's integrated public transport system organized by the Warsaw Transport Authority. 

Since 1994, the system has been operated by the municipally owned company Tramwaje Warszawskie sp. z.o.o.*

Now I can well believe that there 726 cars travelling the 25 lines, because where ever we were in the city we encountered them with our Josh happily opting to use them in preference to taxis.

That said he did take the occasional bus but preferred the trams.

At which point I could write about the history of the service which began in 1866, and which had its ups and downs, with low investment, it’s almost total destruction during the war, and the ill advised post war policy of relying on oil from the Soviet Union to power a fleet of buses so that Polish coal could be exported for hard currency and not used to generate electricity.

Even after the collapse of communism, investment was slow and it was not till 2005 that real money was spent to purchase new rolling stock and modernize the system.

Happily, today the trams whiz across the city.

Location; Warsaw

Pictures; Warsaw trams, 2026, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Trams in Warsaw, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Warsaw

Exploring the butchers of Peterloo ………. The 101 men of the Manchester Yeomanry

The passage of 200 years has not dimmed the horror of the actions of the Manchester Yeomanry on that hot day in the August of 1819.

The Manchester Yeomanry at Peterloo, 1819

The order to charge the crowd, and the reported glee at the way members of the Yeomanry performed their task have quite rightly stood as an awful example of repression, sitting alongside Sharpeville, the Kent Massacre and Tiananmen Square.

And I suppose they are best summed up by the comment “often wrongly described as ‘soldiers’, by amateur historians. These were petty paramilitary thugs, recruited from the ranks of small business, ill disciplined and drunk, out to enforce the ‘will of their betters.’, against the crowds who they saw as scum. One could imagine parallels in today’s troubled times”.

"oh pray Sir, don't kill mammay" 1819

So armed with that observation which pretty much chimed in with my own thoughts, I went looking for the men who rode down the innocent in St Peter’s Fields.

Now I am well aware that academics and those interested in Peterloo will have quarried this topic already, but I haven’t, and having come across a list of the Manchester Yeomanry in the Chartist paper, the Northern Star for August 20th, 1842 I decided to look at these men more closely.

And here I have to offer up the caveat, that I am only using the newspaper’s list and in the course of the research discovered misspellings of names which might hint at bigger inaccuracies.
Still the list is a start.

It lists 101 men, who were drawn from a broad spectrum of backgrounds, 87 of whom have a stated occupation and 74 who we can place in the twin cities of Manchester and Salford or some of the surrounding townships.

There are gaps in the information and some of these have been supplemented by referring to the street directories for the 1820’s and maps which have filled out details of residency, and occupations.

Residency of the 74 of the Manchester Yeomanry, 1819

As you might expect the bulk of the men were from Manchester and Salford with a few more from Broughton, Eccles and Pendleton, and more from Stretford.

Their occupations, pretty much fit the received assumptions with over a third drawn from the “people of plenty”, another 29% who made their living as publicans and shopkeepers, which left the rest as a mix of skilled, and manual workers, with the odd surprises which include a “Professor of Dance” and a quack doctor.

Occupations of the 87 of the Manchester Yeomanry, 1819

In some ways for me, the real find is the names, and the detailed street locations, which offer up the prospect of more research using contemporary maps, and trawling the rate books for the period with a look at the census records for the mid-century which may yield more background.

And for those who like their history in a tangible form which can be visited, many of the Manchester and Salford street locations still exist, and in the of the Briton’s Protection is still standing and still offering up a pint.

"Cut them down" 1819

Other pubs like the Fox, the Hen and Chicken, Crown and Thistle and the Blue Cap in Salford may have gone but we know exactly where they stood.

So, there you have it…………. More to follow in time.

Location; Manchester & Salford

Picture; "Manchester Heroes", Peterloo, print from etching by unknown artist, published by S W Fores, 1819, m07587, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass, and information drawn from the list of the Manchester Yeomanry published in the Northern Star, August 20th, 1819

A history of Chorlton in just 20 objects number 19, a Liverpool half penny dated 1791

Continuing the story of Chorlton in just a paragraph. They are in no particular order, and have been selected purely at random.

For the last two objects I tried to choose one of the oldest and newest which help tell the story.  This Liverpool half penny is not the oldest object to have come out of the past that belongs to a silver half groat of Charles found in the parish churchyard but at 1791 the half penny is beaten only by a contract dating back to 1767.  Half pennies like these were not strictly coinage but tokens which were only redeemable at the warehouse of the merchant who issued them.  But during the 17th and 18th century there was little low denomination coinage issued and so enterprising businessmen here in Manchester and in Liverpool and other Lancashire towns made their own.  Our coin was issued in 1791 in Liverpool as part of a very large series by Thomas Clarke who produced ten tons of these copper coins between 1791 and ‘94.   Clarke was a Liverpool merchant. The coin itself although common remains a beautiful piece of work.  The obverse side shows a ship under canvas with crossed laurel branches beneath and the inscription Liverpool Half penny.  The reverse bears the motto and arms of Liverpool. Ours had not fared so well and part of the upper mast and rigging from the ship had worn away.  I have no idea how it ended up in the parish churchyard or whether it had been used or was just a keepsake, but its Manchester equivalents may well have circulated in the township and there may even have been a reciprocal agreements between the merchants of Manchester and Liverpool.  Read the full story in Chorlton-cum-Hardy a new history due out later this year, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20new%20book%20for%20Chorlton


Picture; detail from the report on the Archaeological dig conducted by Dr Angus Bateman during 1980-81

Lost and forgotten streets of Manchester .......... nu 18 Marriot's Court

This is Marriot’s Court which for some people will just be a cut through from Spring Gardens to Brown Street and for others that narrow little street beside the Post Office.

Marriot's Court, 2016

But for me it is one of my favourite little streets, more so because back in the 1970s the building opposite the Post Office was home to a Curry House and a little jewellery shop which always caught my eye.

If I am honest I never clocked its name or for that matter the history behind the street.

Had I paused to think about the origins of Marriot’s Court I might have wondered who Marriot was and where the court was situated.

The court was easy enough to find it was on the north side of the street under what is now the Post Office and was there by 1793.*

But as to who Marriot was that has proved more difficult.  In 1775 a Thomas Marriot was the Borough Reeve for Manchester which was the most important municipal post and just twenty years later there are four Marriot’s listed in the street directory for 1774.

So you can take your pick from Mrs Marriot who lived at nu 6 Princess Street, Richard Marriot, a “fustian manufacturer" listed at the Bridgewater Arms yard, Christopher Marriot manufacturer who lived on Alport Street and William Marriot, yarn merchant residing at 41 Cannon Street.

Any one of these might have gone in for some speculative building leaving their name as testimony to their enterprise but I just don’t know.

Marriot's Court, 1851

The Rate Books are no help for while there is a William Marriot listed in 1768 and a Richard Marriot in 1798 neither has properties on Marriot Court and there are no others listed for the period from 1768 until 1802.

As for the occupants of the court which provided part of the streets name there no records although we do know that in 1850, at nu 9 there was Spencer John & Son  who were manufacturers, along with Samuel Sedgewick Goodwin, solicitors and John Prince, share broker.

Marriot's Court, 1900

Later in the century all the properties on the northern side were swept away to be replaced by the Post Office.  Work began on the new building in 1881 and was finished six years later which in turn was demolished in the 1960s.

I just missed visiting the old Post Office by a few years which is a shame particularly because I would have been able to see the large memorial to the men of the Manchester Post Office who died in the Great War.

It consists of a Winged Victory at the centre, holding a flaming torch flanked by a young boy and girl and at their feet are the symbols of war including a helmet and a sword.

After the closure of the Post Office the memorial went on its travels and currently resides the entrance to the Royal Mail Sorting Depot on Oldham Road.

Now I could have just left it there but in trawling the Annals of Manchester I came across this entry for 1775 when Mr Thomas Marriot took up his office of Borough Reeve, “the Theatre Royal, in Spring Gardens was built and opened on June 5.  The first stone was laid of the Gentleman’s Concert Room in Fountain Street.  

Marriot's Court, 1793

Mr Richard Arkwright took out another patent for carding, drawing and moving frames.

The ducking-stool was still in use.  

It was an open bottomed chair of wood, placed upon a long pole, balanced on a pivot, and suspended over a sheet of water at Pool Fold***  I

t was afterwards suspended over the Daub-holes- the Infirmary Pond – and was used for the purpose of punishing scolds and disorderly women.”****

Now I have no idea what Mr or Mrs Marriot would have made of all that or whether they frequented the Theatre Royal or even if they took a stroll down to Pool Fold but two centuries and a bit on I suspect they would have been a little miffed that their court had disappeared.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; Marriot's Court, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and Marriot's Court, 1851 from Adshead’s map of Manchester, in 1900 from Goad’s Fire Insurance Maps,  and in 1793, from Laurent's map, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

*Laurent’s Map

**Scholes Directory, 1794

***Pool Fold ran from Chapel Walks to St Market Street and is part of Cross Street

****Axon, W.E. The Annals of Manchester, 1885, p103

Painting that house in Eltham for just £4 12s 6d ............

I don’t do nostalgia and I am very quick to always point out that prices in the past must always be compared to take home pay.

But that said I have to admit paying £4 and a bit for having the outside of your house painted does seem eye watering.

The figure comes from a short extract taken from The Woolwich Story, which was published in 1970.

It is an excellent book containing heaps of information about the history of Woolwich including this short extract about Eltham at the beginning of the 1930s.

“This period saw the disappearance of the ‘Cinder Path’, the rough short cut to the older houses in Grangehill and Westmount Roads, before Westmount Road was connected to Well Hall Road.
Houses here and on the Castlewood Estate were being sold for £700.  Unlike most Eltham property these were freehold.  My own house near the Catholic Church of the Martyrs cost £650. 

 I arranged a mortgage under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act and borrowed the balance. Today [1970] it is worth at least £3000.

In 1930 I paid £4 12s 6d for a highly satisfactory exterior decoration which would cost £48 today. Hence the popularity of ‘Do it yourself’.

In 1931a man varnished our front door for 3sand our baby’s pram cots£5. 5s. 0d

My post pinhead suit for the christening was made to measure for £4 10s.0d and just before the second war came along, we bought a 14½ square yard Axminster carpet for £9 9s.0d."

In 1930 the average wage for a timework labourer in the engineering field was just under a shilling per hour; it dipped in 1933-4, then climbed again to around 1s 2d by 1938.

Most workers in heavy industry and agriculture, who were male, were paid proportionately more than female workers in the same or other sectors.

 In October 1938, the average hourly wage for adult males was just under 1s 6d, nearly double the average hourly wage for women, which was 9d. **

Location; Eltham in the 1930s

Picture; cover, The Woolwich Story, 1970

*The Woolwich Story, E.F.E. Jefferson, 1970

**Wages in the 1930s, http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_12269131_wages-1930s.html