The story of Martledge, the exhibition at Chorlton Library from October 4th

Few people today will have heard of Martledge, and yet it was as much a part of our township as Chorlton or Hardy.

It was that area stretching roughly from the four banks up towards the Library and was a mix of farms, labourers’ cottages, a few fine houses and the old Royal Oak.

As a way of bringing it out of the shadows Peter and I have mounted an exhibition at Chorlton Library beginning tomorrow.

The exhibition charts the changes to the area with pictures and stories and contemporary paintings.

And it is fittting that it should be the library because this was the site of Red Gates Farm which had been home to generations of farmers from the 18th century.

The last family to live at Red Gates left around 1910 and within four years the site had become the library.

Picture; Red Gates Farm from the collection of Carolyn Willitts and Chorlton Library from the Lloyd Collection