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.*
Now I wonder what Joe and Mary Ann would have made of the Sunday visitors.
They arrive in their cars, park up for a few hours, and saunter down to one of the bars and restaurants taking in the clothes shops, the pottery place, and art gallery, along with the deli and gift shops.
And on a very busy day they straddle both sides, and in an acknowledgement of just how narrow the road is they place their cars on the pavement, which is fine for the passing traffic but makes it difficult to walk the walk pushing a pram.
Not that this should ever be taken as a gentle side swipe at the Friends of Beech Road [occasional and Sunday division], just a reflection on how the road has changed in the time we have lived in Joe and Mary Ann’s house.
Its transformation from traditional retail into all that it is today is well documented and there are plenty, like us who remember its early incarnation along with that unhappy time when shops were closing with no indication of what would replace them before the beginning of the flowering of the restaurants, bars and all things quirky.
And that brings me to the picture, which is undated and belongs to a very different Beech Road.
If pushed I think we are on the road sometime in the late 1940s or early 50s.
The Rec has yet to have a new set of iron railings to replace those taken during the war, and the Morris Minor I think makes the picture no earlier than 1948, because that was the year the car went into full production.
There will of course be someone who can date it exactly, but given that it looks to be a two door version I think that does place it earlier rather than later. The two door car went into production in 1948 followed by the four door in 1952.
So it is a scene very familiar to Joe and Mary Ann.
That said they would also have been familiar with that other moment when the weekend visitors fell upon Beech Road. It started on a Saturday night and lasted through till Sunday evening.
What attracted them was the Irish Club, and in that time before the drink/drive legislation they came and parked up, spilling out of the car park along Cross Road and Beaumont and down Beech Road.
I don’t know when it started but suddenly in the 1980s it tailed away, partly I guess because of the legislation and maybe too because of other counter attractions.
You could tell the responsible drivers because they were the ones whose cars were still there in the morning, although some no doubt drove off having stayed on mineral water, coke or orange juice all night.
In the case of our new visitors, most are here for just a short time, taking in all that Beech Road has to offer, leaving some of us wondering about where they all come from.
Location; Chorlton
Pictures; Beech Road, date unknown from the Lloyd Collection
*The story of a house, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20story%20of%20a%20house
They arrive in their cars, park up for a few hours, and saunter down to one of the bars and restaurants taking in the clothes shops, the pottery place, and art gallery, along with the deli and gift shops.
And on a very busy day they straddle both sides, and in an acknowledgement of just how narrow the road is they place their cars on the pavement, which is fine for the passing traffic but makes it difficult to walk the walk pushing a pram.
Its transformation from traditional retail into all that it is today is well documented and there are plenty, like us who remember its early incarnation along with that unhappy time when shops were closing with no indication of what would replace them before the beginning of the flowering of the restaurants, bars and all things quirky.
And that brings me to the picture, which is undated and belongs to a very different Beech Road.
If pushed I think we are on the road sometime in the late 1940s or early 50s.
The Rec has yet to have a new set of iron railings to replace those taken during the war, and the Morris Minor I think makes the picture no earlier than 1948, because that was the year the car went into full production.
There will of course be someone who can date it exactly, but given that it looks to be a two door version I think that does place it earlier rather than later. The two door car went into production in 1948 followed by the four door in 1952.
So it is a scene very familiar to Joe and Mary Ann.
What attracted them was the Irish Club, and in that time before the drink/drive legislation they came and parked up, spilling out of the car park along Cross Road and Beaumont and down Beech Road.
I don’t know when it started but suddenly in the 1980s it tailed away, partly I guess because of the legislation and maybe too because of other counter attractions.
In the case of our new visitors, most are here for just a short time, taking in all that Beech Road has to offer, leaving some of us wondering about where they all come from.
Location; Chorlton
Pictures; Beech Road, date unknown from the Lloyd Collection
*The story of a house, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20story%20of%20a%20house
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