One hundred years of one house in Chorlton part 93 ......... waiting for New Year

The continuing story of the house Joe and Mary Ann Scott lived in for over 50 years and the families that have lived here since.*

The house, 1974

Now I know it’s daft to think of a house celebrating the coming of the New Year.

But when you have been in a place for 41 years you do rather come to feel a part of it especially as that ranks you as the longest resident after Joe and Mary Ann who were the first to occupy the place in 1915 and lived out their lives here till 1973.

The remaining two owners together clocked just seven years and one of those barely did a few months before they went off to South Africa leaving the house vacant.

And as I know nothing of how Joe and Mary Ann celebrated the event, it is down to our 41 years.

The Trevor, 1975

At the beginning it was the pub where there was an extension to see in the New Year, followed by a very drunken hour back in the house before we all conceded defeat, went to bed waking up with a hangover fit to rival all hangovers.

Back then the pub was the Trevor and despite the possibility of glittering parties most of the regulars stayed put and saw the New Year in with Stan, Mona, Chris and Lynn who ran the pub.

We always seemed to collect a group of friends who because they were also single ended up with us and that reminds me just how many people have passed through the house in those four decades, from Whispering Dave, to Jen and Shelia, along with the French bunch and of course Jack Harker.

In the Trevor, 1979

Some like Jack were a permanent feature who helped John build the boat in the back garden and often picked up basic groceries for us, while we were at work.

I have no idea how many passed through but all were made welcome, invariably stayed for a meal and often ended up on the setee for the night.

Some of them were part of those early New Year’s Eve Event

Later when the lads came along the flow of friends didn’t abate although we tended to spend the night of December 31st at someone else’s house with the slow walk back pushing the pram through quiet streets.

That said there were more than a few “in between” gatherings when the house was filled with family, friends and work colleagues in those few days between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve.

Celebrating, 1977

All of which just left the actual night to be celebrated quietly with uncle Michael who brought a selection of Blockbuster videos and a bottle of Moet Chandon.  The films were a mix of ones for the kids followed after they had gone to bed with more grown up ones.

Later still, we slipped in that more gentle set of celebrations as the lads, all now grown up went off to see in the new year in places as far afield as the city centre, Leicester, Warsaw and Berlin.

And along the way how the rest of Chorlton celebrated it all has changed.

Once on those still cold nights the sirens of the ships from the docks could be heard marking the transition from one year to the next.

Today even if those ships from across the world were still plying their trade in the docks I doubt that we would hear the sirens over the noise of the fireworks.

It used to be that fireworks were just for Bonfire night.

The New Year Eve meal, 2016

Now they dominate the time either side of midnight, with their noise crashing and rebounding across the roof tops, lighting the sky in streaks and cascades of colours.

There will always be the one who let them off early, either through sheer incompetence or in a desperate bid to outfirework the neighbours and those that decide to repeat the exercise at 3 am.

But this year as for the last few, we will be lucky to see them, having fallen asleep sometime around 11.30, with me telling Tina stories of Andy Stewart and the Hogmanay shows, all along way from the way we marked the passing of the old year back in 1976.

But just possibly, how Joe and Mary Ann would have seen in the New Year during part of their time in the house.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; from the collections of Andrew Simpson, Lois Elsden and Lyn

*The story of a house,
https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20story%20of%20a%20house

Thank you ......

This is that part of the year which for most of starts with the exchange of presents and ends with a reflection on the past year and what is to come.

So with that in mind and in keeping with all those childhood comics and grown up magazines which “wished their readers well” I shall do the same.

The blog is now read on every continent bar the one where the penguins live, and even there on a remote research station someone may be reading a the story or admiring a photograph posted by the growing number of contributors.

So it is not an idle boast to assert that here is “everything you ever wanted to know about the history of everywhere”.

Picture; Castlefield, 2006 & Varese, 2014, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Losing the Railway Tavern on Gibbon Road and remembering the chip loaf ............... an August day in 1960

Now it’s almost impossible to recreate an adventure you had when you were ten back in the summer of 1960.

But as you do I tried and it was doomed to failure.

That summer had hung heavy and although some of it had been spent with my grandparents  the rest was the usual mix of various parks, the odd long walk and when flush with pocket money a train ride or a Red Rover bus pass which seemed to offer up the world.

Me, I preferred the train but there is no doubting the freedom those Red Rover’s gave you to wander the city for what was just 2/6d.

I never planned my routes just turned up, bought the ticket and went off.  Sometimes you struck gold and others were one of those long journeys to nowhere.

But for now it was that adventure in the August of 1960 which took us out beyond Lausanne Road and up Gibbon Road.

We had planned to spend the morning in the park at Rye Lane but instead of staying on Evelina Road had turned off on to Gibbon Road and by degree discovered the cemetery which was I have to say a bonus.

Once inside it was far more magical than a park, afforded the potential for all sorts of scary and daft things and held out the promise of a return when the conkers had fallen from the trees.

Of course when you do these things for the first time and especially by accident it’s always a bit problematical if the trip can be repeated.

All of which I knew when I set off to recreate that walk, but the passage of  55 years can be hard on the memory and confronted me with more than a few disappointments.

The first was losing the Railway Tavern which has lingered at the back of my mind ever since we came across it because t was here that we had stopped to ask directions.

The pub was closed but the cleaners were in and the doors wide open and that distinctive smell of stale beer and polish permeated the entrance.

And if that wasn’t memorable enough this was where Jimmy dropped the bottle of Tizer which we had carried from home and which still was half full although by now it was warm and a little flat.

So I had good reason to look for the Railway Tavern only to find it had finally shut up shop in 2003 and been demolished three years later, making it another bit of my past that has been taken away from me.

The site is now new housing and comparing it with Adrian’s picture you would be hard pressed to make a match.

Still the old sign has been left although it’s not the picture I remember.

That said there had been one final bonus of the Gibbon Road jaunt and that was the discovery of the chip loaf.  Early on in the trip we had bought those small round loaves, and as walked we ate the inside.

Then at dinner time we filled the inside with chips and sitting down somewhere along the way home ate the lot.

That at least is something I still occasionally do much to the horror of Tina who being Italian thinks the inside should be filled with a mixture of roast vegetables, a few slices of mozzarella cheese and handful of basil leaves all covered with a dash of olive oil.

I can’t disagree with her but point out that in 1960, the inside would be less sun dried peppers and more likely a pickled egg or onion with a sliver of cheddar and a dash of vinegar.

And they say nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.

Which is certainly true in this case because I indebted to Simon Mitchell who has corrected the date of the picture, commenting, "sorry to disagree Andrew, but that photo can't be 1960 as there is an Austin Allegro in the shot and they were not on our roads until 1973."

Not that Simon should apologise I am just pleased we have got it right.  Thank you Simon.

Pictures; the Railway Tavern, 66 Gibbon Road, circa 1970s, from the collection of Adrian Parfitt and a London Transport single deck bus courtesy of Jean Low, 2015

Christmas Greetings to you and the family

Christmas Greetings ..............

......... from somewhere south of Chorlton

A better Christmas ........ because of the work of a children’s charity ........... part two

Now how those young people sent to Canada as part of the British Home Children scheme celebrated Christmas will be as varied as the farms and homes they were placed on.

Two young people from The Haven, 1912

We know from oral and written testimony that their experiences ran the full range, from those who were neglected, and abused to others who had been well treated and set on a path which would lead to happiness and fulfilment as adults.

I suspect there will be far more information about those who spent the festival in a receiving station somewhere in Canada which will offer an insight into their first Canadian Christmas, but that pretty much lays outside my research.

But in the course of the preparation for the new book on the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges I have come across a wealth of evidence on how the charity provided for the young people in their care at Christmas.*

Christmas Doings from The Worker, 1880

That evidence is drawn from the reports, letters and journals of the charity and from the media which described in detail the preparations and the activities over the period.

These involved a series of parties and special events stretching over a number of days and which included the distribution of presents.

In 1907 in all the homes associated with the Refuge, Christmas dinner was on the table at 1 o’clock and there were evening entertainments.

One of these was the Christmas tea party and entertainment given by the Refuge boys at the central buildings in Strangeways.

“The boys themselves arrange the festival bring in the guests literally from the highways and hedges, provide them with a substantial meal and give them an evening’s entertainment afterwards.

At the prison gates, circa 1900

On Thursday January 2 the young men living in the lodging-house have a party and entertainment in the gymnasium.  On Sunday January 5 there will be an anniversary service at Bethesda.  

The Messenger Brigade annual tea party takes place on Wednesday January 8 when prizes will be distributed.  On Sunday January 12, old boys assemble at the Young Men’s Institute at 5 o’clock and after tea will attend an anniversary service in the Refuge.” **

The charity  was also active in working with ex prisoners.  It had started a Prison Gate Mission in 1887, which was consistent with its principle of offering hope and alternatives to those in difficulty along with the practical one of assistance as the prisoners walked out of the prison door.

It helped that the HQ of the Refuge was close to Strangeways prison and so every morning discharged prisoners were met and offered a simple breakfast of coffee, bread and butter at the Mission Room along with advice about jobs and accommodation.

For those released at Christmas, the Refuge made a special effort.

In 1914 of the 50 prisoners who were discharged on the morning of December 24, 39 took up the offer of breakfast which included a “bag of cake, an orange, and a Christmas card.  In addition, the ten women were given packets of tea and the men tobacco and pipes and 7 of the men were also provided with articles of clothing of which they stood in need.” ***

Continuing the work, 2017

In the 23 years of its existence 265,959 men, women and children were helped.

The direction of the charity’s work since its foundation in 1870 has changed reflecting the changes in society and in the provision of care for young people.

But it is still engaged in the vital work of offering a happy and memorable Christmas for disadvantaged and vulnerable families.***

Pictures; detail from the Children's Haven, December 1912, extract from the The Worker, 1880, helping tat the Prison Gate circa 1900, and helping in 2017, all courtesy of the Together Trust

* Stories behind the book ....... nu 1 getting started,  https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/stories-behind-book-nu-1-getting-started.html

** Strangeways Refuges, Manchester Guardian, December 24, 1907

*** Breakfast for Discharged Prisoners, Manchester Evening News, December 24, 1914

**** Christmas and the Together Trust, https://www.togethertrust.org.uk/news/archive/201712

Sea, sky and some sailing boats .......... no. 15 ..... from The Goldsmith Collection

Location; Brighton







Picture; the beech, 2017, from the collection of Jillian Goldsmith

The new Manchester .......... the less intrusive tower

It is just possible to argue that the tower block in Andy’s picture is less intrusive thatn the new developments taking place across the city.

That said from this angle it does rather dominate the scene.

Location; Manchester

Picture; from the collection of Andy Robertson, 2017

A little bit of Eltham in Manchester

A little bit of home fell through the letter box yesterday afternoon.

December cover

Amongst the Christmas cards, unwanted adverts for double glazing, came a year’s back copies of SEnine sent up by my dear friend Larissa.*

Like all such magazines there is an online version but I treasure the hard copies and save them up to read over a few weeks.

And on the same day, in the same post came my new membership card for the Eltham Society.

Together they are a powerful reminder of where I grew up and its fitting that they should arrive just before Christmas, which is always a time I think of the family, and our Christmases in Well Hall.

Now I know lots of people will have left their child homes and struck out in new places, making friends, putting down roots and raising a family but most of us never quite lose that bond with where we grew up.

So that is pretty much it.

Location; Eltham

Picture; December, from SEnine publication December, 2017

*SEnine, http://senine.co.uk/

One hundred years of one house in Chorlton part 93 ......... the red decoration

The continuing story of the house Joe and Mary Ann Scott lived in for over 50 years and the families that have lived here since.*

Four decades of decorations, 2017

Now I have no idea of how Joe and Mary Ann celebrated Christmas.

Given that both had been born in the late 19th century and lived well past the middle of the next, they will have seen many changes in how the festive season rolled out.

At the heart of their Christmas will be the ones they experienced as children which will in turn have been partly fashioned by how their parents had celebrated the event back in the 1850s and 60s.

A big tree, 2013

Overlaid onto all that would have been the trappings which came from the last century when technological advances made everything different.

These will have included listening to the old King’s Christmas broadcast on the wireless, his daughter’s made via the telly, and receiving those seasonal telegrams from an ageing uncle who always forgot to post a card.

They may have had a tree, which on balance I guess would have been real but could have been  like an artificial one like ours in Well Hall Road, which Dad had bought in the early ‘60s and was essentially a green wooden rod set in a block with wire and brush branches sticking out of the sides.

Here in Joe and Mary Ann’s house, we went in for real ones, which over the years became taller and now require a bit of surgery to get them to fit into the space between the floor and ceiling.

The baby tree, 2013

And on the way we ended up having two.

A big one and a baby one, for which I blame our Joshua.

Added to which the spare branches became mini trees stuck in flower pots in each of the lad’s rooms, and are now used to embellish the hall.

The one constant are the tree decorations which in their way tell the history of our family Christmas.

Somewhere and I guess they will be with one of my sisters are those gaudy glass ones mother bought in the 1950s along with the small green candle holders which you attached to the tree in the days before electric Christmas lights.

Our decorations only date from the '70s, but have been added to over the decades and pretty much tell their own story of how we have celebrated Christmas.

My favourites are those red, green and gold glass globes which catch the reflection of the lights but shatter easily when they fall.

Rosa's nativity scene, 2015

They are the oldest in the collection and at least one may just have come from Well Hall Road, and perhaps even date back to the 1950s and Lausanne Road.

Others were bought from the German Markets, or the posh shops in town and some were hand made by the boys.

In Italy, Rosa and Simone don’t have a Christmas tree, but instead have a nativity scene which has grown over the years as they add more figures, many of which come from the street of nativity figures in Naples, where you can buy everything from a miniature baby Jesus, to a Trump caricature or a set of the latest team players for Napoli, Roma or Milan.

The big red bauble and friends,2017

But for me it will be that simple red bauble which captures my imagination.

It was bought in the old Woolworths opposite Piccadilly, has survived being dropped as well as being  attacked by the dog and a succession of curious cats, and has made its way from Grey Mare Lane, via Ashton Under Lyne and finally in 1976 to Joe and Mary Ann’s house.

In the process we have discarded the Christmas tinsel, used up four sets of lights and gone from those wonderful bright coloured ones to simple white with an option on blue influenced lights for the baby tree.

But that red decoration has stood the test of time and is now a full decade older than our eldest.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*The story of a house,
https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20story%20of%20a%20house

Stories from the Great Freeze...... No.2 clearing the snow in London

Yesterday I wrote about the Great Freeze of 1962-63 and as I expected it generated a lot of memories.

This one comes from my old friend Andy Robertson, who wrote, "this was taken outside our house in Fulham in 1963, February or March I guess, and probably by that intrepid photographer Gwendoline Robertson. 

I think it illustrates the makeshift vehicles that were used to clear some of the excess snow. 
I can clearly remember a small slab of ice still there by the kerbside in early April.

This was my last year at Primary school but the only thing I remember is how it disrupted the football season.

Before the freeze my beloved Chelsea were well top of old Division Two, then games were postponed or played on unfit surfaces so our skill factor was nullified but we did manage to get promoted....just!”

Location; Fulham, 1963

Picture; clearing the snow, Fulham, 1963, from the collection of Andy Robertson

Coming soon ........ the new historic plaque for Chorlton

Now after some hard work we will soon have a plaque on a wall here in Chorlton to honour Madge Addy.

She was a remarkable woman who not only went out to Spain during the Spanish Civil War but went on to serve as an agent in occupied France.*

It is a story I have been uncovering for a while and was prompted by a request from Cll Shelia Newman to research the life of Madge Addy who lived in Chorlton.

Interest has grown in Ms Addy since Chris Hall suggested that there should be a memorial plaque to this brave woman and there may be some who also have knowledge of Madge please contact Chris by email at christoff_hall@yahoo.com or on 0161 861 7448.

And now the plaque is ready and will soon be installed.

Location; Chorlton

Picture; photograph of the Madge Addy plaque, 2017, courtesy of Chris Hall

*Madge Addy, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Madge%20Addy

Move over Sherlock Holmes ....... the Case of the Mysterious Red Girder and a railway station has been solved

You know, even when a mystery has you stumped, someone will come up with a solution, and they don’t have to have a silly name, wear an even sillier hat and have a friend called Watson.

The Red Girder by Andy Robertson

And so it was with the Case of Mysterious Red Girder and a railway station which set me off on one on Monday.*

The culprit as ever was Andy Robertson whose photograph revealed a bit of red girder which was where it shouldn’t have been.

My own pathetic attempts at sleuthing were quickly swept away by a series of responses, which included a number of pictures and some straightforward suggestions.

Victoria Station, John Knight

So thank you to Bill, and John who both suggested it was part of the original roof and to Antony who went much further commenting that ”the red girder to the left is the yellow lattice girder shown in your photograph of the advertising hoarding Andrew Simpson. Together with the red girder to the right, these supported the old train-shed roof. 

These two girders, and those on the main station building have been deliberately left in situ to ‘preserve the heritage of the station’ (so said the publicity blurb at the time). 

One other reason would have been that cutting the beams was cheaper and caused no damage to the old buildings. Any attempt at complete removal would have been time-consuming to expose the hidden parts of all those joints and very expensive to make the good damage caused (with heritage materials?). 

This also explains the cascade of what appear to be rectangular drain-pipes that were provided to mark the outline of the former train-shed roof.

And that as they say is that.

Well not quite, because just a few hours after the story went live Lee Hutchings told me "I wrote the heritage appraisal for the shed roofs years ago and found that there were 3 or 4 dates of roofs in this location, all culminating over the restaurant, a very small part of the original 1840s roof a few sections of roof from the temporary c1860s shed roof and parts of the 1910s roof, I seem to remember that the 1860s roof was but as an open-sided shed extension that was adapted and extended when the final station frontage was completed in the 1910s".

Location; Victoria Station

Pictures; the red girder, 2017, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and Victoria Station, courtesy of John Knight

*The Case of the Mysterious Red Girder and Victoria Station, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/the-case-of-mysterious-red-girder-and.html

A picture a day ..... Barlow Moor Road

A picture a day

During this week of Ddcember I have decided to feature a picture a day, drawn from the collections that span a century and more of Chorlton

Picture; from the collection of Rita Bishop

A better Christmas ........ because of the work of a children’s charity

Today I am back with that excellent blog produced by the archivist of the Together Trust, and not for the first time I have “borrowed” one of the images.

But I have done so only as a trailer for this month’s article which is all about the work of the charity during Christmas.

Just follow the link to the story.*

Location; Salford and Manchester

Picture;  from The Children's Haven, 1880s, courtesy of the Together Trust

*Christmas at the Together Trust, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/christmas-at-together-trust.html#more

**The Together Trust; http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-together-trust.html

Bits on the beech .......... no. 13 ..... from The Goldsmith Collection

Every beech has its share of bits, from deck chairs, limps of sea weed and discarded sandwich wrapper. 

Location; Brighton



Picture; the beech, 2017, from the collection of Jillian Goldsmith

Snow over the Tudor Barn, one winter's day in 2013

© Chrissie Rose

One of an occasional series which feature contemporary photographs of places with a history.

We are of course in Well Hall looking at the Tudor Barn.

The pictures were taken by Chrissie last year when the snow fell across the south.

And I have to say despite growing up in Eltham I cannot ever remember seeing the Barn like this.

So here are just two of the ones she took.  The rest can be seen on her site Just Looking, along with plenty of other pictures.

Now as you do I asked permission to reproduce them and decided that I would choose my favourite and ask Chrissie to choose hers which she promptly did.

© Chrissie Rose

Reading the forecast I see that there is cold weather to come and certainly up here in the North that might translate into snow.

Not that Manchester gets that much.  We are sheltered by the hills and it has been a while since the snow fell and stayed.

Which for me is a shame because I love the stuff and am grateful that Chrissie caught one of the places which still means a lot to me.

Pictures; the Tudor Barn, © Chrissie Rose, 2013

*Just Looking, http://justlookingtoday.weebly.com/

A picture a day ... the Royal Oak Barlow Moor Road

A picture a day 
During this week of December I have decided to feature a picture a day, drawn from the collections that span a century and more of Chorlton
Picture; from the collection of Tony Walker

Tram 1013 ...... and the little question of that urban myth

Now here is a coincidence, which matches what seems to be an urban myth with a photograph from my old friend Ron Stubley.

A few days ago I was talking to Peter about our new tram book,when Peter mentioned a story he had heard about tram 1013, which he had been told never left the sidings because of its unfortunate number, leaving him to ask “why didn’t they just miss out the number and jumps straight from 12 to 14?”

Neither of us was sure whether this was just one of those silly superstitious stories, and Ron seems to have proved us correct, because here is a picture tram 1013, which Ron took on “the third day of the Manchester Victoria-Bury service, on April 8th, 1992 when 1013 was on driver training duties at Victoria”.*

At which point someone will point out that a training run is not the same as being in passenger service, which is true, so we will just have to wait to for someone come up with evidence of travelling on 1013, or the powers that be admit that the said tram never carried a collection of people in possession of a valid tram ticket.

Either way I rather think Ron’s picture will feature in the book which, will explore the history of Greater Manchester using the Metrolink tram stops as starters.

Already we have had a souvenir ticket from Geoff Ankers, Ron’s tram picture and a request from Bill Sumner to look into the history of Holt Town,which is on the East Manchester line between New Islington and Etihad Campus.

Bill commented that “whilst for me the Stretford stop has an interesting history with its goods yards coal wharf etc, the one that I would like to learn about is the at present unprepossessing Holt Town which I have discovered on old maps must have been a very different place back in the day”, which of course it was.

Following on from that, if there is anyone who wants to share their story of their stop, along with the treasured photograph or piece of memorabilia we would be happy to include them.   Just add a comment on the blog or on facebook or by following the link below and leaving a message.**

And no sooner had the story gone live and, Steven commented "as someone who remembers the introduction of the T68's very well I do not remember an issue with 1013 and I am sure it entered service as normal along with the rest. I do seem to remember that 1014 & 1015 entered service a lot later than the rest though. 

One of them could clearly be seen at the back of Queens Road depot, but the other was missing for quite sometime"​.

Which just leaves me to thank Fran who added "as a tram driver, I've copied the link onto our closed page to see if some of the former T68 drivers can help you out".

Pictures; tram 1013, on driver training duties at Victoria, April 1992, from the collection of Ron Stubley and tram 1001, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Ron Stubley, December 17, 2017

*The History of Greater Manchester ..... By Tram-The Stories At the Stops, Andrew Simpson and Peter Topping will be published during 2018, for details of this book and all the others written by the two authors, go to,http://www.pubbooks.co.uk/  

Tales from the Ordsall Chord ...... part 5 ..... Middlewood Locks

So yesterday I said there would be no more from the series on the Ordsall Chord, and then Andy came along with some more pictures and I just had to include them.

Now this is partly because over the years Andy has taken some stunning photographs of the Middlewood Locks, and because by his own admission “we concentrated on the Manchester side but when the train stopped for quite a while we leapt across our seats and took these from the Salford side. 

Didn't send them before because couldn't work out their location, anyway it is the Middlewood Locks development”*.

And that is all I am going to say.

Location; from the Ordsall Chord








Pictures; The Ordsall Chord, 2017, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*The Middlewood Locks, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Middlewood%20Locks

The Case of the Mysterious Red Girder and Victoria Station

Now as mysteries go I don’t think The Case of the Red Girder would excite Sherlock Holmes but it has caught my imagination.

The Red Girder, 2017

It is there in Andy Robertson’s recent picture of the bookstall and Left Luggage Office.

The building, with its gold lettering on a blue background is clearly a relic of a different age and I never tire of looking at it.

But that red girder seems rather out of place.

Clearly it once had a purpose but I have no idea what that was or when it was placed there.

The advertsing hoarding, 1988

Added to which I don’t ever remember seeing the side of the building above the bookstall during the 1970s when I regularly used the station.

The answer it seems is that for a while at least it was a bracket holding up a large advertising hoarding.

The sign was there in 1988 when E. Krieger took his picture, and for all I know may have been there in the ‘70s.

There will be someone out there who knows, can quote chapter and verse and will probably have the picture.

We shall see.

Location; Victoria Railway Station

Pictures; Victoria Railway Station, 2017 from the collection of Andy Robertson and in 1988 by E. Krieger, m63407, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

Tales from the Ordsall Chord ...... part 4 ..... looking out from the right side of the tracks

This will be the last for a while of Andy's pictures of a train journey along the Ordsall Chord, but I am going to save the rest of the photographs  for later.

What I like about them is that they offer up new views across the Twin Cities.

I know that along the way we lost a bit of our heritage down near the old Liverpool Road Railway Station and for that I ma sad.

But in the building of the bits that we have now lost, I doubt that the 19th century businessmen, speculators, engineers and navvies who brought the Liverpool and Manchester Railway across the Irwell gave much thought to the green fields, meadows and pleasing scenes which vanished.

Not perhaps a serious defence of what was demolished but a little unoriginal thought on progress.

And as Andy's pictures testify that progress is everywhere.

From the new blocks of flats that rise from the old empty Salford plots which have so long been tatty car parks to the new leisure complexes, like the Home and the YMCA.

They straddle both side of the Salford and Manchester divide.



Location; The Ordsall Chord




Pictures; the Ordsall Chord, 2017, from the collections of Andy Robertson

The full beauty of the Town Hall revealed

Now for pretty much a full century this view of the Town Hall had been obscured by buildings and even with the installation of the Peace Gardens in 1985 it rarely got the same attention as the Albert Square side.

And yet it does have a presence which today has been heighted by the relocation of the Cenotaph to a position just in front of the entrance.

And that I think is all I want to say except that Peter’s painting does the building proud.

Painting; New Cenotaph location and west entrance of Town Hall from a photograph by Andrew Simpson. Painting © 2015 Peter Topping, 
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
Facebook: Paintings from Pictures https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures

Tales from the Ordsall Chord ...... part 3 ..... a start and a view

Now Andy won't be the first to have "done the Ordsall Chord" last week but he took the pictures, and beat me to it.

Starting out

So as a thank you to Andy and as a celebration of the new railway link from Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station to Victoria Railway Station vi Salford here are two more with lots to follow.

What I like about the new series is that some will offer up views of Salford and Manchester most of us have never see.

All were captured as the train whizzed along the line.

And some are of bits of Salford's buildings that I know a few are not best pleased with ,but I have a soft spot for, like the elastaplast car park

Whizzing along

What better reason to travel the line.

Location; The Ordsall Chord







Pictures; the Ordsall Chord, 2017, from the collections of Andy Robertson

Tales from the Ordsall Chord ...... part 2 ..... taking the train

Now I was already to travel the Ordsall Chord, that new short line from Piccadilly Railway Station to Victoria Railway Station, but I was defeated by poor planning.

From the tram before the service began

But not so Andy Robertson who made the trip yesterday and sent over some wonderful pictures taken on the move on the journey.

And given that Andy did it first here is the start of the new series which I was going to call "A Day on the Ordsall Chord", but decided instead to stick with Tales from the Ordsall Chord.

They are in no particular order but are a fabulous record of the new railway line and I may add give views of the Twin Cities most of us have never seen.

The first of Andy's pictures

Location; The Ordsall Chord








Pictures; the Ordsall Chord, 2017, from the collections of Andrew Simpson and Andy Robertson