I am a great fan of those cast iron and glass canopies which linger on in some of our old shopping parades.
One of these is the one being restored by the Friends of Lapwing Lane.
It has been a long two year project but the funds have been raised and the work began back in January.
In the early 20th century these canopies were everywhere, from shop parades to theatres and cinemas.
They added a bit of style to shopping and at the same time kept you dry.
But by the late 1950s they were becoming neglected and seen as old, expensive to maintain and not in keeping with the swish sleek appearance that many shop keepers wanted.
So, some were torn down leaving a gaping void in what had once been an elegant sweep of iron and glass, or they were each painted in garish colours which in time peeled and were not repainted.
Worse the broken panes of glass were not replaced and the resulting gaps let the rain through and speeded up the spread of rust.
All of which is a shame because each has a story to tell.
It starts with the name of the foundry where the pillars and framework were cast, and if you are lucky to the builder who erected the structure.
Along the way you can be presented with some surprises, like the canopy that adorned a south Manchester cinema.
I came across a photograph of that canopy with the name of the photographer and tracked the actual image to the East Dunbartonshire archive, which seems a long way from home.
But the canopy had been made by the Lion Foundry just north of Glasgow and its collection of documents and pictures are now held by the East Dunbartonshire Archive.
And that one photograph led me on to discover much about Charles Ireland who took the picture, and whose father had begun the business in the very early years of commercial photography.
So as they say never ignore the story behind the canopy, which brings me nicely back to Lapwing Lane and this painting by Peter Topping.
Peter painted it as part of the project to record how Didsbury has changed since the beginning of the last century.
Along with his images I researched the history of the places and of the people who lived there and these appear in the book, Didsbury Through Time.
Painting; © 2013 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
It has been a long two year project but the funds have been raised and the work began back in January.
In the early 20th century these canopies were everywhere, from shop parades to theatres and cinemas.
They added a bit of style to shopping and at the same time kept you dry.
But by the late 1950s they were becoming neglected and seen as old, expensive to maintain and not in keeping with the swish sleek appearance that many shop keepers wanted.
So, some were torn down leaving a gaping void in what had once been an elegant sweep of iron and glass, or they were each painted in garish colours which in time peeled and were not repainted.
Worse the broken panes of glass were not replaced and the resulting gaps let the rain through and speeded up the spread of rust.
All of which is a shame because each has a story to tell.
It starts with the name of the foundry where the pillars and framework were cast, and if you are lucky to the builder who erected the structure.
Along the way you can be presented with some surprises, like the canopy that adorned a south Manchester cinema.
I came across a photograph of that canopy with the name of the photographer and tracked the actual image to the East Dunbartonshire archive, which seems a long way from home.
But the canopy had been made by the Lion Foundry just north of Glasgow and its collection of documents and pictures are now held by the East Dunbartonshire Archive.
So as they say never ignore the story behind the canopy, which brings me nicely back to Lapwing Lane and this painting by Peter Topping.
Peter painted it as part of the project to record how Didsbury has changed since the beginning of the last century.
Along with his images I researched the history of the places and of the people who lived there and these appear in the book, Didsbury Through Time.
Painting; © 2013 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
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