On Chester Road in the early 20th century

Now I am well out of my comfort zone and more than a bit out of what I know with this picture postcard.

We are on Chester Road.  I know that because that is what the caption says and the pub on the right is familiar enough.  It is that stretch heading up towards where the road divide and judging by the leaves and the shadows it must the morning of a summers day.

It was and still is the Old Cock Hotel but like so much of the area it has undergone much change, so while the building looks the same it no longer sells alcohol. It is a place I never visited and I am the loser.

In the same way  I wish I had taken more interest in the building hidden by the pub which was the old Manchester Carriage and Tram Depot which is no more.

Which begs the question of what the tram in the middle of the is doing.  The driver is facing us and the conductor is alighting from the rear, so perhaps the tram has come to the end of the route.

I know the lines run on but looking at a map of the network in this period this does seem to be the case and of course the carriage depot is close by.

All of which leaves  the building on our right which was there from 1895 and may be much older.  Its foot print suggests it ran off from the road, stretching with a longer wing or group of houses at right angles.

The rest I leave to someone who knows the history of the area far better than me.

Picture; from the collection of Alan Brown and detail of Chester Road from the OS map of 1888-1895, courtesy of Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/