Just when you think that is the end of a story up pops something new.
And just about an hour ago Andy Robertson sent over some fine pictures of the site.
With his usual modesty he made little comment, but they reveal so much of the old baths and make me want to go down there and explore the site.
But Andy has done an excellent job so here are some of what was lost under back fill and is now again open to the sunlight.
The baths had been in by 1860 the Manchester & Salford Baths and Laundries Company which had been formed in 1855, and built baths in Salford, Mayfield at Ardwick and Victoria Park.*
Its assets were bought by Manchester Corporation in 1877.
The company had added a Turkish bath in 1860 which was the first in a public baths in Manchester.
The Leaf Street Baths were demolished in the clearances of the 1970s and today the site is open ground.
When I first posted the story I pondered on who remembered them and the response has been impressive.
There are those who wrote to me describing their first swimming lessons and those who still have their certificate proudly proclaiming their achievement at swimming a length, and memories from Tom who supervised children from nearby Royce School when they attended in the early 1970s.
Nor were the baths just a place for recreation, most also had a washhouse and facilities for families and individuals to take a bath, and in the case of Leaf Street it's own Turkish Baths.**
Location; Leaf Street, Hulme
Pictures; remains of Leaf Street Baths, 2016, from the collection of Andy Robertson
*Leaf Street Swimming Baths, the first of a set of stories,http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/leaf-street-swimming-baths-first-of-set.html
**Manchester and Salford's Public Baths, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Manchester%20and%20Salford%27s%20Public%20Baths
With his usual modesty he made little comment, but they reveal so much of the old baths and make me want to go down there and explore the site.
But Andy has done an excellent job so here are some of what was lost under back fill and is now again open to the sunlight.
The baths had been in by 1860 the Manchester & Salford Baths and Laundries Company which had been formed in 1855, and built baths in Salford, Mayfield at Ardwick and Victoria Park.*
The company had added a Turkish bath in 1860 which was the first in a public baths in Manchester.
The Leaf Street Baths were demolished in the clearances of the 1970s and today the site is open ground.
When I first posted the story I pondered on who remembered them and the response has been impressive.
Nor were the baths just a place for recreation, most also had a washhouse and facilities for families and individuals to take a bath, and in the case of Leaf Street it's own Turkish Baths.**
Pictures; remains of Leaf Street Baths, 2016, from the collection of Andy Robertson
*Leaf Street Swimming Baths, the first of a set of stories,http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/leaf-street-swimming-baths-first-of-set.html
**Manchester and Salford's Public Baths, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Manchester%20and%20Salford%27s%20Public%20Baths
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