Now we are entering one of those long sustained periods of reflection on past events.
It began earlier in the month with the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War and will rumble on with coverage of the first big battles of that conflict and conclude with stories of the first war time Christmas of 1914.
And amongst all of that will be the 100th anniversary of the opening of our Library.
It is a story I keep coming back to, not only because it says much about how Chorlton was changing in the last decades of the 19th century but also because it was opened just two months after the Great War began.*
From the 1880s into the 1920s our township grew a pace with an influx of new residents taking advantage of the housing boom which pretty much obliterated the countryside around what we now know as the Four Banks and off along Wilbraham Road and the long roads by Oswald.
In the course of that development the old name for the area was lost and so what had once been Martlege became “New Chorlton.”
I doubt that many who moved in even gave a second thought to that older Chorlton instead they looked to stamping their own identity on the area.
They set up sporting and cultural clubs and societies and above all wanted the Corporation to honour its promise of a public library made when we voted to join the city in 19104.
This came about in November 1914 and so it is fitting that the Edge Theatre & Arts Centre are embarking on an exciting new project, which is being funded by the Arts Council of England and want as many people from the local community as possible, to get involved.
Janine Waters who will be directly involved in the project is keen that
“Opening 1914 will be a new piece of musical theatre; participatory workshops and accompanying exhibitions to celebrate the lives of ordinary people opening a long awaited for library, against the backdrop of a world just three months into the Great War.
We would love to hear from anyone who has any stories, photos, letters, anecdotes or imaginings about the library in its early days. It opened in the November which coincides with the annual Chorlton Book Festival and this project will be a highlight of the birthday celebrations.
Are you the great grandchild of Chorlton's first librarian?
Do you have an invitation in your attic from the Lord Mayor to the opening?
Do you remember stories from the streets surrounding the library in 1914?
Do you have anything to share about the people who lived and worked in Chorlton during WW1?
We also want to use this opportunity to explore the war memorial in the grounds of The Edge and any others in Chorlton.
We would love to hear from anyone who has a connection to this too”
Now I am quite excited about the project especially as it might give us an insight into how people got on with their lives when they weren’t thinking of the war or worrying about loved ones who had gone off to fight.
You can contact Janine janine@edgetheatre.co.uk or 0161 282 9776
Pictures; the Library today from the collection of Andrew Simpson, the opening courtesy of Sally Dervan and the Library in the early 1920s from the Lloyd Collection
*Chorlton’s Libraries, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Chorlton%27s%20libraries
**The Edge Theatre and Arts Centre, http://www.edgetheatre.co.uk/index.php/contact-us/
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| The Library in 2012 |
And amongst all of that will be the 100th anniversary of the opening of our Library.
It is a story I keep coming back to, not only because it says much about how Chorlton was changing in the last decades of the 19th century but also because it was opened just two months after the Great War began.*
From the 1880s into the 1920s our township grew a pace with an influx of new residents taking advantage of the housing boom which pretty much obliterated the countryside around what we now know as the Four Banks and off along Wilbraham Road and the long roads by Oswald.
In the course of that development the old name for the area was lost and so what had once been Martlege became “New Chorlton.”
They set up sporting and cultural clubs and societies and above all wanted the Corporation to honour its promise of a public library made when we voted to join the city in 19104.
 |
| Back in 1914 |
Janine Waters who will be directly involved in the project is keen that
“Opening 1914 will be a new piece of musical theatre; participatory workshops and accompanying exhibitions to celebrate the lives of ordinary people opening a long awaited for library, against the backdrop of a world just three months into the Great War.
We would love to hear from anyone who has any stories, photos, letters, anecdotes or imaginings about the library in its early days. It opened in the November which coincides with the annual Chorlton Book Festival and this project will be a highlight of the birthday celebrations.
Are you the great grandchild of Chorlton's first librarian?
Do you have an invitation in your attic from the Lord Mayor to the opening?
Do you remember stories from the streets surrounding the library in 1914?
 |
| The Library in the 1920s |
We also want to use this opportunity to explore the war memorial in the grounds of The Edge and any others in Chorlton.
We would love to hear from anyone who has a connection to this too”
Now I am quite excited about the project especially as it might give us an insight into how people got on with their lives when they weren’t thinking of the war or worrying about loved ones who had gone off to fight.
You can contact Janine janine@edgetheatre.co.uk or 0161 282 9776
Pictures; the Library today from the collection of Andrew Simpson, the opening courtesy of Sally Dervan and the Library in the early 1920s from the Lloyd Collection
*Chorlton’s Libraries, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Chorlton%27s%20libraries
**The Edge Theatre and Arts Centre, http://www.edgetheatre.co.uk/index.php/contact-us/
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