Another in the short series celebrating our Municipal Town Halls which focus not only on the grand buildings but also the achievements of local government.
It’s not every day that you get the chance to decide on becoming part of a city.
But that was exactly what happened in the January of 1904, when the ratepayers of Chorlton along with those of Burnage, Didsbury, and Withington were asked to take a leap and join the big city neighbour.
We had been part of the Withington Urban District Council since it was set up in 1876 and bits of its legacy are sill knocking around if you know where to look.
Some of the streets grids still bear the name Withington UDC and out by the meadows are the remains of the sewage works, although I have to confess my favourite bit of this long vanished little local authority is Withington Town Hall.
It was built in 1881 for the Withington Local Board of Heath which in 1894 became Withington Urban District Council.
After our vote for incorporation into the City the building remained in public use and I can remember many evenings spent in the great hall, although the details of why I was there have faded.
I wish back then I knew of its proud history and of the discussions which went on over issues like the sewage works down by the Mersey, the provision of new schools across the district and the attractions of Manchester Corporation all of which I have written about.*
Painting; Withington Town Hall, © 2015 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
Facebook: Paintings from Pictures
* Here’s an offer you can’t refuse, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/heres-offer-you-cant-refuse.html
But that was exactly what happened in the January of 1904, when the ratepayers of Chorlton along with those of Burnage, Didsbury, and Withington were asked to take a leap and join the big city neighbour.
We had been part of the Withington Urban District Council since it was set up in 1876 and bits of its legacy are sill knocking around if you know where to look.
Some of the streets grids still bear the name Withington UDC and out by the meadows are the remains of the sewage works, although I have to confess my favourite bit of this long vanished little local authority is Withington Town Hall.
It was built in 1881 for the Withington Local Board of Heath which in 1894 became Withington Urban District Council.
After our vote for incorporation into the City the building remained in public use and I can remember many evenings spent in the great hall, although the details of why I was there have faded.
I wish back then I knew of its proud history and of the discussions which went on over issues like the sewage works down by the Mersey, the provision of new schools across the district and the attractions of Manchester Corporation all of which I have written about.*
Painting; Withington Town Hall, © 2015 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
Facebook: Paintings from Pictures
* Here’s an offer you can’t refuse, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/heres-offer-you-cant-refuse.html
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