Still almost a rural scene, the parish church yard 1921

As I often tell people my real interest in the history of Chorlton centres on the time it was still a small farming community. I have even admitted to regret that it ever had to change. But there was still enough of that rural past around well into the 20th century. The Bailey’s who had farmed on the Row and moved down to the bottom of Sandy Lane still kept bulls on land close to the old station well into the 1950s, and there are plenty of people who have memories of buying milk from local farms. My own favourite story comes from Marjorie Holmes who was often late to school in the 1930s because she had stopped to watch the blacksmith on Beech road “heating and hammering” at his forge.
So this postcard of the lych gate around the early 1920s is fascinating. It was taken in late autumn and the trees are just beginning to lose their leaves. The signboard beside the gate advertises the Harvest festivalstill a real link to our farming past and a reminder that the old parish church would continue to welcome worshippers for another 20 years before it was closed due to frost damage. Beside the gate is the old farmhouse and barn. During the 19th century there had been three farmhouses around the green which dated back to the 18th century. Later its farm yard would become workshops. Also on the green was the farmhouse of the Higginbotham’s who had farmed here since the 1840s. Old Mr Higginbotham was still in residence in the 1960s and the sight of him bringing his cows back from the meadows has yet to fade from living memory.
Picture; from the collection of Philip Lloyd