On Manchester Road in 1911 ........... when I thought I was on Wilbraham Road ..... getting it wrong and owning up

Now earlier today I posted a story of the year the tram came down Wilbraham Road to Chorlton.

At the time I was quite pleased with the story, so pleased I reposted it today.*

And it turns out I was wrong for rather than being Wilbraham Road we are in fact on Manchester Road.

It was John Holden who questioned the location which in turn led to one of those historical debates with further contributions from Lesley Smith, and the more I looked at the picture the more it was obvious I was wrong.

Now never being one to stamp my feet and go off on one the best thing to do was revisit the story.

The tram net work was extended from West Point along Manchester Road and up to Southern Cemetery in 1911 so that is when we were on the bridge over the railway wondering where the workmen were.

And with that sorted I shall just add a bit from the earlier story

It’s the detail I especially like which takes us back to a time now well gone.  The upturned hand cart which you see so often in pictures of the period and the night watchman’s hut and brazier is a reminder that until quite recently someone had the job of sitting through the night in front of the red hot coals minding the site.

And then there are the adverts which cover the approach to the bridge and the bridge itself.

They are an untidy collection of posters advertising everything from Seymour Mead’s butter, to Oxo and variety acts.

My own favourite is the one for Comet Ale and stout.

This was brewed by Walker & Homfrays Ltd, at Woodside Brewery in Salford who also controlled the Manchester Brewery Company and along with many public houses in Manchester and Salford.  Walker & Homfrays went on to take control of the Stockport based Daniel Clifton & Company and in 1920 founded the Moss Side Brewery Company and the Palatine Bottling Company.

And round about the time that the tram track was being completed the Horse & Jockey on the green was selling Comet ales and stouts advertising them on the wall of the outhouse.

Nor is this all, for the chairman of Walker & Homfrays was John Henry Davies who in 1902 took over Newton Heath which was a struggling football team with debts of £2, 670.  Under his control the team changed its name to Manchester United and in 1910 moved to a new ground at Old Trafford.

But that as I so often say is another story and I suspect for someone else to tell.

Meanwhile a thank you to Lesley and John and especially to John who was off to test his theory by standing on the bridge at Manchester Road.  Now that's dedication.

And I have to report that John checked it and reported "walk taken! Well it's absolutely not facing away from Chorlton. 

The landscape, or should I say tree scape is so totally changed that that the view just doesn't exist any more. 

The only clue left is the building on the right which approximately does match. I would have to say knowing the source of the photo that this is 99% certainly the correct location."

Picture; Manchester Road circa 1911, from the Lloyd collection

*A new tram service for Chorlton, ........... at the railway station in the summer of 1913 but sadly not so, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/a-new-tram-service-for-chorlton-at.html