Lost images of Whalley Range part 3 the Whalley Hotel

I only ever once visited the Whalley Hotel which I think was sometime around the summer of 1975.

There was never any particular reason for this other than it was always somewhere I passed on the bus from town home to Chorlton, and once on the bus it always seemed a faff to get off.

That said the place has dominated the corner since the 1890s.

From the outside it doesn’t seem to have changed much.

The hedges have gone as has the large building which is now the rear car park.

And the houses along Withington Road have also been demolished.

Like some of the other Whalley Range pictures I have been featuring I am hoping that these of the Whalley will stir a few memories which might appear as a post.

Of course it has now closed, and has been converted into residential use.

Picture; The Whalley Hotel, Whalley Range, Upper Chorlton Road, 1960, A.H.Downes, m40816, m40813, m40814, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council

Lost and forgotten streets of Manchester nu 45 ......... Southern Street ....... all gone

Looking down Southern Street, 2003

This is Southern Street as it looked at the beginning of this century.

Back then some of the old late 18th century buildings were still standing and while one had become a garage
and another a printing works they were all still recognisable as houses with stories.

I remember talking to some of the men who worked in Andrew’s Garage in the centre of Southern Street along with the owners of the printing business at one end of the street and the motor bike shop at the other.

Nu 12 & 14 Southern Street, 2003

Collectively their memories spanned back into the 1950s and they formed an important part of a study I did at the time on how the area was changing.
And now that Southern Street has been transformed here is part of that piece.

“Southern Street in 1851 shows the same pattern of housing occupation as other working class parts of the city.

In many of the houses there is evidence of overcrowding and cellar occupation.

So at 3 Southern Street, 15 people are recorded there in 1851, with 5 living in the cellar, 2 in one room, 4 in another and 4 in the garret.  

Number 5 has 11 people.  Across the street number 12 &14 are now a garage.

In 1851, 7 people are listed as living in number 14.

Nu 3 & 5 Southern Street, 2003

It is easy to appreciate the degree of squeeze when you measure the size of these properties.

Put more simply when you look down Southern Street, remember that the 1851 census recorded 81 people living in this small street, which was a drop from the 200 living there a decade before.

Numbers 3 & 5 Southern Street is worth looking at in detail, as they may not be there for much longer.

The block has been bought recently and while there is some doubt about the future plans I can’t see them staying in their present state.

They were surveyed in 1993.  The houses consisted of three floors and a cellar.  

The second floor dimensions of number 3 are 22 feet 6 inches back from the front and 16 feet 4 inches from side to side. 

Number 5 varies slightly at 22 feet 2 inches by 17 feet.

Evidence for the cellar windows can still be seen but much else has undergone changes.

Looking up towards Liverpool Road, 2003

Ground and first floor windows are not original and the door to number 5 has been enlarged.

All the evidence suggests that they were built sometime around 1794.

Houses on Southern Street, Barton Street and Worsley Street are shown on a map of that year, when Liverpool Road was still called Priestner Street and terminated at Collier Street.

Street Directories record people living in them from 1795.  This fits in with what we know of the surrounding streets.

Tthe title deeds of the White Lion Inn and the Oxnoble Inn show that that six plots of land were sold in 1782 and  in 1804 the Oxnoble plot was sold again on condition that it was built upon within two years.”*

Location; Manchester

Pictures, Southern Street and Liverpool Road from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Castlefield, Andrew Simpson, 2003

Greenwich Park, the moment a full 53 years ago .......... nu 1 the walk

It will be a full 55 years ago but the memory of that walk through Greenwich Park on a Saturday in September 1971 has never left me.

I was in my second year at Manchester Poly and the pull of Well Hall and the family were still strong and so I found myself back home with three friends.

Lois was from Weston and Mike and John from Leeds and we travelled down from Manchester in John’s van on the Friday night.

Even now I have to say I haven’t forgotten the kindness of David Hatch who agreed to put Lois, Mike and John up on his floor.

It was a brief stay and most of it is a blur except for the walk from the gates on the Blackheath side through the park to Wolf’s statue, the observatory and that view down to the river.

At any time of the year that short stroll is pretty good but in late autumn it is magic.  The leaves are on the turn and the bright sunlight can still surprise you with its degree of warmth and the way it brings out the colours all around you.

The rest of the day and the weekend is lost to me but that hour and a bit were and remain special, more so because I was showing off my home.

All of which just leaves me to reflect on the postcard which was marketed in the USA and carried the imprint of the American YMCA of which there must be a story, but not for now.

Location; Greenwich

Picture; Greenwich Park, 1905 from the series Greenwich, marketed in 1911-12 by Tuck & Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://tuckdb.org/

Celebrating Chorlton ..... down at our library today

All this month there is a selection of paintings of Chorlton people with the intriguing title of Chorlton Champions.

I have never liked that idea of history which was all about Kings, Queens, generals and the odd scientist.

If you are of a certain age you will remember history lessons where the good, the great, and the not so good marched across the pages of text books making everyone's lives a lot better or profoundly worse depending on whether you were on the winning side or one of the losers.

So much better to know about people like me who could still have a powerful impact but didn't feed the cult of the individual.  

That isn't to ignore monarchs, statesmen or soldiers but as my old mate Bertolt Brecht once wrote when "Caesar beat the Gauls. Was there not even a cook in his army? and when Phillip of Spain wept as his fleet was sunk and destroyed. Were there no other tears?"*

And that brings me back to the paintings.

My old artist pal, Peter Topping tells me that for the next month the library is hosting  "Chorlton Champions which is part of the  Chorlton Library Pop-up exhibition. These portraits have been created to honour our local heroes in Chorlton. 

Through dedication, leadership and tireless effort, they have made a lasting and positive contribution to the social, cultural and civic life of Chorlton. 

Their commitment exemplifies the spirit of community and inspires others. The exhibition will be added to when more people are recognised for their achievements. Works of art by Chorlton Artists. @everyone"

All of which is another reason to visit your Library and catch the CHORLTON CHAMPIONS during June.

P.S. nominations for candidates to be inducted into the Hall of Chorlton Champions are welcome via Peter Topping or Chorlton Civic Society.

* A Worker Reads History, Bertolt Brecht, 1935, written, 1939 published

The Evolution of Trees ... one to listen to .... on the wireless ... today

I like trees and who wouldn't?

They look good, offer shade, have heaps of different things to eat and can be found in parks, along roads and in gardens as well as huge parts of our countryside.

So I am looking forward to The Evolution of Trees on BBC Radio 4.

It is part of the In Our Time series and today "Misha Glenny and guests discuss the earliest evidence we have of the existence of trees and how even plants we might have on windowsills or as vegetables in gardens can and do, in the right conditions, evolve into trees. 

Since their emergence around 400 million years ago after low lying plants started to develop stronger stems and grow taller and more upright, trees have transformed our planet, so creating ecosystems, altering the atmosphere and setting the stage for the world as we know it today.

With; Jenny McElwain, 1711 Chair of Botany at Trinity College Dublin and Director of Trinity Botanic Gardens, Christopher Berry, Senior Lecturer in Earth and Environmental Sciences at Cardiff University, and Bill Baker, Senior Researcher at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Produced by Conor Garrett"*

Location; BBC Radio 4

Pictures; trees wot i have liked, on the Meadows, 2020, Hough End, 2023, and Beech Road, 2026, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*The Evolution of Trees, https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002x5jl  

“Wally of the Whalley” Says Goodbye ......... stories of the Whalley Hotel

“Wally of the Whalley” Says Goodbye

It is one of those headlines that you just can’t miss.

“Wally of the Whalley” Says Goodbye appeared in the Manchester City News for November 16th 1951 and featured Mr and Mrs Summer who had run the Whalley Hotel for four years.

Mr Wally Summer and his wife Ethel were leaving Manchester for Anglesey, where they were to take over the Anglesey Arms.

“It's going to be a wrench leaving” he told the City News, “we’ve made hundreds of friends since we came to Brooks’ Bar.  I’ve been amazed at the number of people who have come up to wish us luck.”*

The Anglesey Arms is still there just at the edge of the Menai Bridge.

Now in the fullness of time I would like to find out more about Mr and Mrs Summer.

Painting; The Whalley Hotel,  © 2013 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

Facebook:  Paintings from Pictures
*Manchester City News November 16, 1951

Lost and forgotten streets of Manchester nu 42 ......... Bunsen Street the one that changed its name and was stolen

Now even I have to admit that perhaps I have just gone off on one with the title, but it’s true, Bunsen Street was Bennet Street and sometime in the early 20th century the developers stole a big chunk of it.

The bit that is left runs from Little Lever Street to Lever Street and is flanked by a car park and the sides of three buildings.

Unless you use it as a cut through or a place to leave your car I doubt it will excite much interest, but there is a bit of a mystery, because once as Bennet Street it continued on over Lever Street into Spear Street.

But sometime between 1903 and 1911 it vanished under that huge red brick block that dominates the stretch of Lever Street down from Dale Street and along to Stevenson Square.

That said it doesn’t seem to have excited any interest from the compliers of the street directories who failed to include it in either the 1903 or 1850 lists of Manchester streets.

And I suspect if I go looking for it during the half century between these two dates it will be missing.

All of which just leaves a trawl of the census returns because back in the mid 19th century there were plenty of buildings along its course and five of those look to be small back to back properties.

So as they say, watch this space.

Location; Manchester

Picture; Bunsen Street Late Bennet Street, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson