All you ever wanted to know about the history of Manchester street names, today at St Ninians, Wilbraham Road

Today at 1.30 Jean Bailo, a Blue Badge Guide, will talk  about the history of street names in Manchester hosted by the Chorlton Good Neighbours at St Ninians Church Hall  on Wilbraham Road

Mary Street and James Leigh Street, 1844

Now we all have our own favourite bit of town and I suppose my is Castlefield.

That said over the years I pretty much wandered all over the city, armed only with my camera, a note pad and heap full of curiosity.

And as you do you can uncover some hidden gems, from buildings tucked away and missed by the developers to lost and bizarre bits of our history.

On one such adventure I found a forgotten and derelict stables in one of the railway arches off Water Street.
It entailed a bit of trespass and more than a bit of careful footwork but there it was from a time when all the railway companies still relied on horse power to deliver goods which had arrived at their stations.

It will have gone I guess by now but more often there are still clues to our past history, and some at least are there in the street names.

I was reminded of this when I turned down New Wakefield Street past the Salisbury and up that flight of stairs to Oxford Road Station.

Now the Salisbury is another one of those old Manchester pubs which seems to offer the past up with your pint.

The Salisbury on the corner of James Leigh Street, 2013

It dates from at least 1841 and can be found on the OS map of Manchester and Salford for 1849 surrounded by mean houses which were packed together in between Oxford Street and the railway line.

In total there were three of these narrow streets consisting of James Leigh Street, Cayley Street and Mary Street, which took in 28 small back to back properties.

And while the back to backs have long gone, the names of the people who built the houses are still there. So James Leigh, and perhaps his wife or daughter Mary left their mark as did Mr William and Mr Frank just round the corner in the streets they built.

And I bet Ms Jean Bailo, will have plenty more names and stories.

Map; New Wakefield Street and the surrounding area from the OS map of Manchester & Salford, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/

Painting; The Salisbury, © 2013 Peter Topping, 

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