Eating out in the Northern Quarter, now and 100 years ago

Al-Faisal Tandoori, Thomas Street, 2014

It’s is nice to know that I am not the only one who finds the Northern Quarter a fascinating place.

I was talking to Peter recently about the area and sure enough he had a series of stories from when he worked there and quite a few revolved around the Al-Faisal Tandoori which is on the corner of Thomas Street and John Street.

Those I shall save for later, but he had just finished a painting of the restaurant and this I couldn’t miss out on.

Now when I was there a few weeks back the place was doing a respectable trade which is always a good sign and all the more so given the number of other eating places and bars that have sprung up along Thomas Street.

All of which got me thinking about that stretch of properties running east back from John Street to Kelvin Street.  All of them are now closed and waiting for something to happen and that I expect will happen soon judging by the number of smart suited people with earnest faces who were inspecting them when I was down there.

And given their interest I decided to look back into the history of this bit of Thomas Street and came up with the names and trades which were there just over a century ago.

So at number 58 now the Al-Faisal Tandoori was George R Clegg, stationers, and next door at 56 was E. Tapp and Co, ticket writers.

56 & 58 Thomas Street, 2014

Taking up the rest of the row was Lord’s Restaurant run by Mr Elliot L Lord who had been born in 1854 in Rochdale and was living just a tad distance away at 297 Cheetham Hill Road at the turn of the last century.

Now the Lord’s must have been doing well because a decade earlier in 1891 they were living above the shop and shared number 54 Thomas Street with their daughter and six other people including Elizabeth White, the cook, Mary Roberts the chambermaid, two lodgers and Patti Read and Edith Wiseman who also worked in the restaurant.

A decade before that they were in more humble surroundings on Oldham Road and Mr Lord gave his occupation as “Dining Room Keeper.”

But after 1911 I lose them I think Elliot Lord died in 1938 but that is it.

All of which begs the question what will be next for numbers 56 and58 Thomas Street and whether Peter will be back to paint the development?

We shall see.

Painting;  Al-Faisel ©2014 Peter Topping Paintings from Pictures
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Picture; 56 7 58 Thomas Street, 2014 from the collection of Andrew Simpson