Now I am pretty sure that the date above this building is 1885, but I confess I am being lazy and haven’t walked up the road to check.
Either way I am certain that it dates from the back end of that decade and that presents the mystery.
On the odd occasion I have been in Leon’s which now occupies the place I have often wondered what the building was originally.
I always knew it didn’t start as a fabric shop and Leon’s own web site confirms that while they “are a third generation family business specialising in fabrics for over 80 years” they began from “humble beginnings on market stalls around the UK.”*
So as you do I went looking in the digital archive and found an image from 1959 with the accompanying notes that "419/421 Barlow Moor Road, printing works originally built for laundry. House adjoining used as offices for printers.”
In 1934 this was the Rapid Works [Printing] and so far a trawl of the Manchester Guardian classified section for the 1930s has drawn a blank so I think it will have to wait for a visit to Central Ref and the street directories for the period.
But there is also a mystery because there is no listing for the building in the early 20th as a laundry, printers or something else.
Now I know there will be answer and it will be staring me in the face so I h shall just have to go off and solve it.
And within an hour of the story being posted, Janice commented “my mum's neighbour worked there from when I was little in the 1950's till the 70's and it was still Rapid then.
I am sure that it was still there into the 80's. I will ask the sister of the lady who worked there, I know it changed hands at some point and lots of young people in the 60's in Chorlton went to work there or Nuttals' box factory on Beech Road. Some of them must remember."
Pictures;, the building on Barlow Moor Road, from the collection of Andy Robertson and in 1959 by R.E. Stanley m17530, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
*Leon’s, http://www.leonsfabrics.co.uk/
**Manchester Local Image Collection, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
 |
| The building in 2014 |
On the odd occasion I have been in Leon’s which now occupies the place I have often wondered what the building was originally.
I always knew it didn’t start as a fabric shop and Leon’s own web site confirms that while they “are a third generation family business specialising in fabrics for over 80 years” they began from “humble beginnings on market stalls around the UK.”*
 |
| The building in 1959 |
In 1934 this was the Rapid Works [Printing] and so far a trawl of the Manchester Guardian classified section for the 1930s has drawn a blank so I think it will have to wait for a visit to Central Ref and the street directories for the period.
But there is also a mystery because there is no listing for the building in the early 20th as a laundry, printers or something else.
Now I know there will be answer and it will be staring me in the face so I h shall just have to go off and solve it.
And within an hour of the story being posted, Janice commented “my mum's neighbour worked there from when I was little in the 1950's till the 70's and it was still Rapid then.
I am sure that it was still there into the 80's. I will ask the sister of the lady who worked there, I know it changed hands at some point and lots of young people in the 60's in Chorlton went to work there or Nuttals' box factory on Beech Road. Some of them must remember."
*Leon’s, http://www.leonsfabrics.co.uk/
**Manchester Local Image Collection, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
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