Saturday 14 April 2012

Another of those paintings by Peter and a story by me


It is the 500th anniversary of the building that is now the Horse and Jockey and I rather think Peter’s painting shows it off very well. What is more it allows you to see the complete layout including the two buildings on either side of the pub.

The building which is now the Horse and Jockey was already old when Henry V111 fell in love with Anne Boleyn but until relatively recently the pub was confined to just the rooms either side of the entrance. The other two houses served over the centuries as homes and shops. But during the last few months I have been drawn to the two buildings which flank the pub. Both were there beside the older property by 1841 and I guess may date back before then.

Sadly I doubt that any legal documents on either will take me back much before the beginning of the last century. The house to the left on the west side has however many stories and in its time was home to the Molloy family who ran a plumber’s business and brought up four children in its three rooms and later was a sweet shop. Some of those stories have already appeared in the blog and in the way these things unravel more will come to light.
http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/putting-pieces-together-story-of-james.html
http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/miss-wiltons-private-garden-story-of.html
http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/stories-behind-picture-chorlton-green.html

The houses which make up the unit on the corner of the green are later than the rest and before they were built the land was the bowling green of the Horse & Jockey. Here in the early 1860s a group “gentleman” had reserved the green for their own exclusive use one afternoon a week in return for a small annual subscription. And when the game was over retired to the pub for tea followed by an evening of cards. Later still they formed the first bowling club in 1864.

There are plenty more of Peter’s paintings on display in venues across the township and at https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures

Picture; ©Peter Topping 2012 www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

No comments:

Post a Comment