One of the things about Peter’s paintings of Beech Road is the way they make you look again at the buildings and reflect on their history. So it is with this one.
When you walk down the road past what was once the Soap Opera towards the chippy and Etchells it is easy to regard the parade as one building but of course it isn’t.
The row of five shops is relatively new dating I think from the 1920s while the remaining two were built sometime between 1881 and 86.
And it is these that have caught my interest, because despite the passage of time there is continuity about what was traded from these two shops.
Today the Beech Road Takeaway sells what their own sign says are “Probably the best fish and chips” as no doubt did Isaac Wheatly in 1901 from the same spot. Next door Etchell’s newsagent continues to trade in newspapers as did Lionel Nixon in 1909 and his successors in the 1950and 60s.
Now this is not the only link with the past because Lionel’s family had been trading in Chorlton from the 1830s. His father and mother had sold books from what is now number 68 Beech Road, his grandparents had sold beer from the Traveller’s Rest which was next door from 1841 and his great grandfather had run the pub across the meadows by Jackson’s Bridge. And if this wasn’t enough, Lionel had married Hilda Brownhill in 1907, and Hilda was the granddaughter of William Brownhill who was the wheelwright up at Lane End.
Peter’s work is on display around Chorlton and can also be seen at https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures
An occasional series of stories and pictures in the run up to the Glad to be in Chorlton Past and Present exhibition during the Big Green Festival on March 31st.
Picture; Hilda and Lionel Nixon, date unknown from the collection of Sapfo Agapinopoulou , and © Peter Topping 2011 www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
When you walk down the road past what was once the Soap Opera towards the chippy and Etchells it is easy to regard the parade as one building but of course it isn’t.
The row of five shops is relatively new dating I think from the 1920s while the remaining two were built sometime between 1881 and 86.
And it is these that have caught my interest, because despite the passage of time there is continuity about what was traded from these two shops.
Today the Beech Road Takeaway sells what their own sign says are “Probably the best fish and chips” as no doubt did Isaac Wheatly in 1901 from the same spot. Next door Etchell’s newsagent continues to trade in newspapers as did Lionel Nixon in 1909 and his successors in the 1950and 60s.
Now this is not the only link with the past because Lionel’s family had been trading in Chorlton from the 1830s. His father and mother had sold books from what is now number 68 Beech Road, his grandparents had sold beer from the Traveller’s Rest which was next door from 1841 and his great grandfather had run the pub across the meadows by Jackson’s Bridge. And if this wasn’t enough, Lionel had married Hilda Brownhill in 1907, and Hilda was the granddaughter of William Brownhill who was the wheelwright up at Lane End.
Peter’s work is on display around Chorlton and can also be seen at https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures
An occasional series of stories and pictures in the run up to the Glad to be in Chorlton Past and Present exhibition during the Big Green Festival on March 31st.
Picture; Hilda and Lionel Nixon, date unknown from the collection of Sapfo Agapinopoulou , and © Peter Topping 2011 www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
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