Why is it that only the rich and more especially the old landed rich can talk of holding a great house or estate for posterity?
They tell us as if we should be grateful that they are custodians, not owners and it is their duty to maintain it and hand it on to the next generation. All of which is fine, but theirs is always the family that holds onto it and raises the question of what about the rest of us? Do we not also do the same?
Some might argue that there is no comparison between Blenheim Palace, and a 1930 semi built on the outer reaches of Manchester. Or that a post war council house has anything in common with one of the country’s national treasures. Such a grand place with its Adam furniture, Capability Brown landscaped gardens, priceless paintings, steeped in history is unique and therefore ranks well beyond the mass produced, often ugly and in some cases poorly maintained social housing.
But both have histories, both were built for someone to live in and both were cherished by their inhabitants.
This is a roundabout way of writing about our house. It was built a hundred years ago, has had only four custodians, of which we are the only ones to have had children here. More than that this is the only home our eldest three have known and it was where one of them was born. It is also a place where countless friends have come and stayed before moving on, seen Christmas parties, a boat turning event in the back garden, and a succession of decorating fashions.
So over the next few months I want to tell the story of this one house set against the bigger picture of what was going on here in Chorlton and the national backdrop.
Picture; The house built by Joe Scot in 1911, from R.E. Stanley’s photograph taken in November 1958, Courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council m17662
The complete archive is available to see at http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
No comments:
Post a Comment