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| Marjorie with the History Group in the Horse & Jockey, 2009 |
I will remember her sense of fun, keen interest in the
history of Chorlton and her no nonsense approach to life.
She was a founder member of the Chorlton History group when
a small band of us met in the Horse & Jockey on the green.
Back then there were just usually enough of us to sit around
two tables by the door and Marjorie could be relied on to always have a
relevant and often witty anecdote about the Chorlton she loved which had been
where she was born and where she lived all life.
She was born in 1921 and the family lived first on Higson Avenue, then Stockton Road and later on Provis.
And because she lived here all of her life apart from a short period away during the war, she had a rich set of memories and still talked of old and new Chorlton, a distinction which for most of us today is a mystery.
But for Marjorie it was still part of her everyday life.
She had grown up and lived her whole life in old Chorlton which was the traditional centre of the township concentrated around the green and the Row.*
New Chorlton or the new village was that area around the four banks up to the library and down towards the station. It had once been known as Martledge a name that was lost as the area was rapidly developed for homes for the “middling people” who worked in the professions, and the offices of the city and who commuted everyday into Manchester by train or tram.
During the 1920s and 30s that division was a real one. New Chorlton had the banks reflecting the people with money while we in old Chorlton had a post office and the Penny Savings Bank which opened a few hours every Friday night in the school on the green.
I remember Marjorie telling me that this was the first bank that the family used.
She was proud of being from old Chorlton and whenever she ventured to Morrisons or the big post office, it was as she said “going to the posh end”.
And when she wanted to be particularly provocative she would mutter that “them at the new end were different from us, all fancy cakes and silk underwear.”
I shall miss Marjorie as will all her friends.
So I know there will be many who will want to know that her funeral will be at the Crematorium in Southern Cemetery on Monday March 10 at 11.20
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| Marjorie with her sister on her old bike, 1930 |
But for Marjorie it was still part of her everyday life.
She had grown up and lived her whole life in old Chorlton which was the traditional centre of the township concentrated around the green and the Row.*
New Chorlton or the new village was that area around the four banks up to the library and down towards the station. It had once been known as Martledge a name that was lost as the area was rapidly developed for homes for the “middling people” who worked in the professions, and the offices of the city and who commuted everyday into Manchester by train or tram.
During the 1920s and 30s that division was a real one. New Chorlton had the banks reflecting the people with money while we in old Chorlton had a post office and the Penny Savings Bank which opened a few hours every Friday night in the school on the green.
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| Marjorie in full flow |
She was proud of being from old Chorlton and whenever she ventured to Morrisons or the big post office, it was as she said “going to the posh end”.
And when she wanted to be particularly provocative she would mutter that “them at the new end were different from us, all fancy cakes and silk underwear.”
I shall miss Marjorie as will all her friends.
So I know there will be many who will want to know that her funeral will be at the Crematorium in Southern Cemetery on Monday March 10 at 11.20
Picture; courtesy of Bernard Leach,and from the collection of Marjorie
*Marjorie Holmes, 1921-2014, a dear friend and historian of Chorlton
http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/marjorie-holmes-1921-2014-dear-friend.html
**Chorlton Row was the old name for Beech Road
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