Travels on a tram ....... the much neglected Firswood

Now, never let it be said that Andy Roberston doesn’t roam wide.

In the space of two days he took off from Chorlton to Pomona and on in search of the new Trafford spur, and had time to explore Firs Wood, once a place of open fields and a farm.

Location, Firswood



Picture; on the tram 2018, from the collection of Andy Robertson

Revealing the secrets of a Salford building

Now if like me you belong to that generation that grew up during or just after the last world war the scene of the side of house revealing what had once been a family home is still all too vivid.

And perhaps also for those that lived in clearance areas the memory of houses shorn of their front walls and roof exposing the peeling wall paper and empty fire places would have also been a common sight.

So here for all those who rarely see such sights is one from Andy Robertson’s collection which may very well have now gone.
Location; Salford



Picture; the end of a Salford building, 2016, from the collection of Andy Robertson

In Flanders Fields at Central Ref* ...... the Lord Mayor’s visit

Now the growing popularity of the exhibition in Central Ref commemorating Manchester’s involvement in the Great War got a Civic recognition last week.

David and the Lord Mayor

On Wednesday, the Lord Mayor Councillor June Hitchen, toured the exhibition.

She was shown round by David Harrop, who organised the display of memorabilia from his extensive collection which includes material from Miles Platting and Newton Heath which is the ward Councillor Hitchen, has represented for the last 16 years.

Also attending were the three councillors for Chorlton Park, Cllr Dave Rawson, Cllr Mandie Shilton-Goodwin, and Cllr Joanna Midgley, all of whom have shown a special interest in David’s permanent exhibition of material drawn from both world wars in the Remembrance Lodge in Southern Cemetery.

Both of these exhibitions are quite unique for not only are they drawn from one private collection and range from medals, letters, official documents and other personal items, but many have a direct link with Manchester.

David with "Civic Friends"

And so it was fitting that one of the visitors on that day should be Helen Flanagan who discovered that some of the exhibits on display had belonged to her great uncle.

Nor has she been alone in being able to make a personal connection with In Flander’s Fields.*

Over the course of the last month and a bit other people have told David of their own links with the exhibition, making this truly an event for Manchester as well as Greater Manchester.

But given the length and the impact of the Great War, David has also added items from his collection which focus on other parts of Britain, including the bombardment of Scarborough and a scrap book compiled by a young Londoner during the early years of the war.

Discussing the exhibition

And it is of London that I shall close, because central to the exbition has been the George Davison Collection.

Mr Davison was born in north Manchester, grew up in Chorlton and began his married life in Hulme.

But as a member of the Royal Artillery he spent a lot of time in Woolwich  and was billeted just yards from where I grew up in Eltham.

His wife also stayed briefly at that address and one of the residents signed Mr Davison's will.

All of which takes the exhibition out of Central Ref and the city to a wider place.

Location Central Ref

Pictures; The Lord Mayor’s visit, 2018, courtesy of Helen Flanagan

*In Flanders Fields will continue in Central Ref till the end of November

Antonio Peduzzi making what we wanted at 33 Piccadilly in 1824

Antonio Peduzzi was from Lombardy and settled in Manchester around 1810, ran a series of successful businesses, was married twice and ended his days in the Chorlton Workhouse on Stretford New Road where he died in 1846.

It is not much of an obituary for a man who had the courage to leave his native Italy, settle here in Manchester mixing his skill as a craftsman with more than a bit of entrepreneurial verve, loved two women and died insane in the workhouse.

But it is the starting point for a fascinating story which was first revealed by Alex Roe who works in Milan, has a wonderful site offering up all sorts of news about Italy http://italychronicles.com/ and is related to Antonio Peduzzi.

I began thinking about the Italian contribution to the city a few days ago in the story Of Naples in 1961 and Little Italy in Ancoats in 1901 and as you do I was drawn in to the history of those Italians who came over at the beginning of the 19th century, which is the cue for Alex who wrote that

“my very distant relative Antonio Peduzzi died in 1846 after having been certified insane. Antonio’s madness may have been caused in part by the loss of both of his wives. He did not have any children either, poor man.

Prior to his insanity and death, Antonio Peduzzi ran what was by all accounts a successful business which framed and glazed needlework, drawings and pictures; re-gilded and silvered old frames and mirror plates; and made and repaired barometers, thermometers and hydrometers. He had premises in Oldham Street and in Deansgate in the early part of the 19th century.

Antonio Peduzzi’s brother, and my more direct ancestor, was called James. Not a very Italian name, I know. I don’t know whether it was his real name, or one he had chosen to make his life in England a little easier.
James Peduzzi married Elizabeth Ward. The couple had three children, one of whom was Francis who would have been my great, great, great, great, great grandfather. I may have got the number of ‘greats’ wrong! Sorry, but it’s greatly confusing.

James Peduzzi set up in business as a picture frame maker in Spear Street in Manchester and later expanded into the making of thermometers and barometers. After applying for British citizenship, James was able to buy property, which he duly did.

In 1848, James bought a workshop and engine in Foundry Street, off Oldham Road. The property included other small workshops, houses and some shops. James’ business, it seems, flourished which fits in with the family rumour that the Peduzzi’s were quite well-off.

One of James’ sons, born in 1815 was Francis, who along with his younger brother – another James, joined his father in the Foundry Street premises.

Francis left this world in 1866 and his wife took over the business, but, and for reasons unknown, the Peduzzi business ceased trading after Elizabeth’s death in 1870."

33 Piccadilly marked in yellow in 1842

So with Alex’s permission and the help of the Museum of Science & Industry whose collection includes a barometer made by the Peduzzi company I plan to explore more of the life of Antonio and something of the Manchester he knew.

Location; Manchester












Pictures; the buildings opposite the infirmary including the premise of Peduzzi & Co, 1824, m5291, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass  33 Piccadilly and the Infirmary from the 1844 OS of Manchester & Salford, by permission of Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/   and detail of Carvers, Gilders, &c. From Pigot & Dean’s New Directory of Manchester & Salford 1821-22

In the company of the Manchester Bees ..... no.22 ..... The Inscape 3

Now, just a few months ago the Manchester Bees were a tourist attraction.

Lady Buzzington

They were visited, photographed and written about and during the summer I regularly featured them on the blog, and then they were gone.*

But not quite, because here are three I missed, courtesy of the archivist of the Together Trust who alerted me to the final resting place of three bees.

These are Lady Buzzington, Let there bee love and Robot battle bee, which are now in the offices of the Together Trust in Cheadle.**

The design and names of the bees were created and voted for by students from Inscape House School which is a non-maintained day special school in Cheadle, Cheshire,  meeting  the needs of children and young people aged five to 19 years with autism spectrum conditions and related social communication difficulties. ***

Let there bee love

At which point I shall just quote what the school has said about each bee.

"Lady Buzzington was painted at Inscape's 25-year anniversary party this May, with each hexagon on the bee decorated by past and present students and staff. 

The multicoloured design of the bee reflects the diverse nature of autism and its glorious variety of outcomes.

Let there bee love was inspired by a song with the same name from Manchester band Oasis. 

Many of the young people at Inscape are nature lovers, so they designed their bee covered with flowers. 

Robot battle bee

Its design also represents peace, love and unity and the colourful and diverse nature of the many children who painted it.

Robot battle bee's unique design is partly realistic and partly robotic, with a steampunk edge. 

Its design reflects Manchester's industrial and worker-bee heritage, with cogs, wheels and Victorian machinery hidden amongst its design"..

And that is it.

Location; Together Trust, Cheadle

Pictures; three bees courtesy of the Together Trust

*Manchester Bees, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2018/08/in-company-of-manchester-bees-no21.html

**Together Trust, https://www.togethertrust.org.uk/

***Inscape House School, https://www.togethertrust.org.uk/special-education/inscape-house-school

Everyone Remembered .........commemorating those who fought in the Great War

Each of the forthcoming memorial services for the men and women who participated in the Great War will be a special event.

But for me attending the event in Cheadle on November 13 2018 will be particularly poignant.

Over the last two years I have worked closely with the Trust on a new book to mark their 150th anniversary, and in the course of that project I came to know something of the young men associated with the charity who went off to fight.

A plaque has been commissioned, in memory of those who died and will take pride of place in the Cheadle grounds.

Alongside this Together Trust have also been awarded five silhouettes, funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust for display.

Young people from our Ashcroft service have been working hard to learn more about the charity during World War One and have been involved in art work, music and poetry. A

ll will be displayed on Tuesday 13th November and we hope the local community will join us to remember those who fought.*

You can read the full story of the preparations for the day by following the link to their blog.*

Location Cheadle

Pictures; courtesy of the Together Trust

*Remembering those who fought in WW1, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.com/2018/10/remembering-those-who-fought-in-ww1.html

“Regent Cinema, Eccles 1920-1962, opened with Fatty Arbuckle, closed with Ingrid Bergmann”

“Regent Cinema, Eccles 1920-1962, opened with Fatty Arbuckle, closed with Ingrid Bergmann”

Now in terms of cinema history that pretty much sums up how many of our picture houses went.

They opened in their hundreds across the country as this new form of entertainment caught the public attention and started going dark as televisions proved an even greater draw.

And so Andy’s comment which accompanied the photograph pretty much says it all.

The lucky ones became Bingo Halls and some even made their way back to showing films, others became supermarkets, and even undertakers while the unlucky ones remained closed and eventually were demolished.

The Regent fared a little better and so while its bingo days lasted for just a few short years it became a wine bar in 1983, reopened as the Silver Screen night club and in turn was saved by J.D. Wetherspoon becoming the “Eccles Cross.”*

Nor is that quite all because in looking for information on the old cinema I became a cross a wonderful short video on Eccles in 1949 which as you would expect included our picture house.

Picture; the “Eccles Cross” from the collection of Andy Robertson, August 2014

*Regent Cinema, from Cinema Treasure, http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/36699

**Salford Online “Rare and unseen film footage of Eccles in 1949, http://www.salfordonline.com/salfordvideos_page/40710-video:_rare_and_unseen_1949_eccles_film_footage_sees_the_light.html

Up the Junction with those brooding Owen Street Towers

Now yesterday Andy took himself off to photograph the Grand Junction which has always caught my interest but a pub I never visited.

Those two towers

There was no reason for my failure to call in other than that I lived in Chorlton and never quite got round to breaking my journey and getting off the bus that was taking me to town.

Recently I decided I should give the place a go only to find it had closed.

But more on the Junction later, for now it’s those two tower blocks on Owen Street that have got into the story.

2015

After all you can’t miss them, and even more than the Beetham Tower they seem to be the buildings you can see from so many different parts of south Manchester.

All of which is how they got here, but now that is dealt with, on to the Grand Junction which my copy of The Old Pubs of Hulme Manchester, informs me was first licensed in 1846, although it was intended as a pub the year before.*

In 1969 it lost its third floor and is now closed.

2018

Location; Hulme




Pictures; the Grand Junction 2015 and 2018, and those towers, 2018 from the collection of Andy Robertson

* Potts Bob, The Old Pubs of Hulme Manchester, 1983

Manchester Retold ......A City’s Journey Through History ...... Part 2 ..... Grim Tales

Now I am looking forward to Manchester Retold ......A City’s Journey Through History, which is a special evening of readings and book signings with local authors, hosted by the History Press at Central Ref.*

As the title implies this will be an opportunity to sink deep into our collective history with Graham Phythian, Joanne Williams, Michala Hulme, Sheila Brady, Michael Billington, and me.

The subjects covered by the six historians include Manchester during two world wars, the darker side of the city’s past, the history of Urmston, Flixton and Davyhulme, and the contribution of the residents of Chapel Street in Altrincham to  the Great War.

And as I promised earlier I have decided to feature each of the six in turn, and so in no particular order, the second is Michala Hume, whose book, “A Grim Almanac of Manchester collects together 365 of the darkest tales from Manchester’s history – terrifying true tales of riot, assault, murder and crime, of slums, disease, death and disaster.

It is filled with amazing historical horrors ranging from the bizarre – such as the night a poisoned cake caused a sickness to sweep through Ancoats – to the horrific, like the tragic time twenty-three people were crushed to death attempting to escape a fire in the overcrowded Victoria Music Hall.

Some of these incidents were resolved, but many remain mysteries to this day**.

At which point I could write about Ms Hulme, but instead, you can talk to her yourself on the night.

The event will take place in the Performance Space of Central Ref, and is free ...... but with only 108 places you are advised to follow the link and book soon.**

* Manchester Retold,  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/manchester-retold-a-citys-journey-through-history-tickets-51397657778?aff=ebdssbdestsearch#

**A Grim Almanac of Manchester, Michala Hume, 2015, £12.99 & Manchester Bloody British History, Michala Hume, 2016, £9.99

The 10/- insurance........ and other stories

I suppose it must have been my dad who got me to carry a 10/- note in my wallet whenever ever I went out.

Three telephone kiosks, Kanresbrough, 2013

It was an insurance against having spent up and was the emergency reserve.

I pretty much carried it from when I was 16 through to when I left Well Hall for Manchester three years later.

By which time I had abandoned smart jackets, Ben Sherman shirts and neat ties for the uniform of a student, and wallets didn’t quite fit the image.

But now I have reverted to the habit and carry a fiver, which I know is daft, because in this almost cashless world we inhabit, my piece of plastic will pay for a bus ride, a cup of coffee and much more.

My favourite Nokia, 2014

And that got me thinking of the passage of time and the things we, and our parents and grandparents never went out of the house without.

For some, depending on wealth and status it would have been the pocket watch, which might have been engraved and would have been suspended from a heavy silver or gold chain.

While during the war years there would have been the necessity of always having your identity card, and in the early stages of the last world war the all important gas mask.

Both dad and grand dad always wore hats, which in the case of granddad was a flat cap and for dad it varied between a beret and a homburg.

And for mother and Nana it was the head scarf, which might be swapped for a hat on special occasions and was always accompanied by one of those string bags, which had to be carried “just in case I see something I want.”

Today the move away from plastic shopping bags has brought a return to the “bag just in case” but the watch I think may be on its way out.

Pocket watch, 2016

After all, who needs to a watch when most of us carry a mobile?

And that mobile phone offers up a shedload of things which made much of what we carried or needed to do totally redundant.

Like looking for the right change for the telephone box, buying an early edition of the Evening News, and the most basic of all, not having to prearrange a meeting place after a day shopping separately in town.

Now I grant you that in the great sweep of history stories this is nothing more than a triviality, but it is the small bits of the past which are often so much more fun to read about.

And yes I do think Wagon Wheels are smaller today, Jubilees were a con, and sherbet and liquorice sticks are as disgusting now as they were when I was ten.

Abandoned and forgotten, 2015

But I still savour sherbet lemons, miss the white dot as the telly was turned, have no idea what to do with our growing collection of ancient mobiles, and wonder what happened to my ten bob note.

Location; sometime before now

Pictures; three telephone kiosks, Knaresborough, 2013, my Nokia 3310, 2014, a selection of our old phones, 2015, and the watch of Earl C Duffin, courtesy of David Harrop

In celebration of the new Salford ......... nu 6 waiting for a tram

A short series mostly around the Quays looking at  Salford

Location; Salford

Picture; Salford, 2015, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Bowling along on the Berlin Tram

Now I will apologise at the outset for the title and move on, to the interesting stuff.

The Berlin network is one of the oldest, having been established in 1865 and is the third largest tram system in the world beaten only by Melbourne and St Petersburg.

It runs 22 lines covering 430 kilometres and boasts 800 stops.

All of which made it a perfect subject for Peter to paint.

Now there are plenty more fascinating facts but I shall leave them for another day.

That said there will be plenty out there who will have lots to say including Peter who has done the Berlin tram routes and is therefore a better authority than me.

Location; Berlin

Painting; the Berlin tram © Peter Topping, 2008

Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

Facebook: Paintings from Pictures https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures

In Flanders Fields in Central Ref ......... remembering James Pearson Biddle and an announcement

Now the exhibition by David Harrop, commemorating the contribution of the people of Manchester and Salford, during the Great War has been running at Central Ref for just over a month and a bit.

I asked David to select each week one cabinet which could be featured on the blog.

This is Cabinet 3 and David tells me it “includes the posthumous medal of James Pearson Biddle of Didsbury, who is commemorated on the war memorial outside Didsbury Library".

But the fascination of the exhibition is the scope of material to see, and so in the same cabinet there are pieces of crested porcelain, a newspaper report, and part of a scrap book, compiled by Master Harold James Bain.

And in recognition of the significance of the exhibition which commemorates the contribution made by the people of Manchester, Salford and surrounding area, the Lord Mayor of Manchester will be visiting in Flanders Fields, on Wednesday.

The exhibition is on the first floor of Central Ref and runs until the end of November.

Location; Manchester









Pictures; Cabinet 3, of the In Flanders Fields exhibition, courtesy of David Harrop

So ........ what is stirring down at Dock 4 in Pomona?

Now I never knew the old Pomona, but like so many areas left empty by the retreat of traditional industries, the land that was once Dock 4 is about to get a new lease of life.

Not that we should be surprised, for across the twin cities any brown site is being earmarked for development.

And with each of them, young Andy Robertson is on hand to record the changing landscape.

In the course of the last few years, he has patiently photographed the two Owen Street towers, wandered across Salford recording the demise of old buildings and everywhere taking pictures of cranes, building sites and near completed blocks of apartments and offices.

This week he was back on one of his favourite places which is the area around Pomona.  The pictures speak for themselves.

And as ever they raise questions about the flurry of new developments which some people complain about, bewailing the demise of old Pomona, old Salford and old Hulme.

To a degree they have a point, but the question that hangs in the air, is what should happen to brown sites?

The obvious answer is social housing and lots of it, but behind that solution is the assumption that any old bit of land is OK for social housing however industrialized the sites had been.

But money and nature abhor a vacuum and so we have private developments in abundance.

And before we all shudder at that, it is well to remember that rightly or wrongly much of the “old places” were built in the 19th century by property speculators, businessmen and industrialists with an eye on profit above anything else.

So while some of our great warehouses and factories were built with beautiful and intriguing features, the rows of terraced housing that went up beside them, were basic, and in the early 19th century pretty low on quality.

Well rant over, apologies to Andy for hijacking his pictures and I await the next stage.

Location; Pomona

Pictures; Pomona, 2018 from the collection of Andy Robertson

From a window ........ Castlefield on a Sunday

Now I am just going to let the picture say it all.

This was the view from a window in Castlefield yesterday.

Location; Castlefield


Picture; Looking out over Castlefield, October, 2018, from the collection of Cathy Robertson

Of things to come ....... the tram that takes you to Trafford Centre

Now I am a great fan of the tram, and will be one of the first to travel on any new route.

I was there for the opening of the last bit of the line from St Werburgh's to East Didsbury, took the long trip up to Rochdale, and happily watch out of the window as the tram passes through east Manchester.

 My preferred route through town remains the Second City Crossing, although I do also love the journey from Cornbrook via Deansgate Castlefield in to St Peter's Square.

All of which means I want to be one of those trams that takes the spur to Trafford Centre.

Andy Robertson was down by the construction of the line where it is about to join Pomona tram stop, and took a series of pictures.

I will of course now lay down the challenge for him to follow the route and record more of the construction which should be ready in 2020.

So Andy, plenty of time to take plenty of photographs.

Location; Pomona





Pictures; the new Trafford Centre spur under construction; 2018 from the collection of Andy Robertson

Pictures from an Eltham bus ........ no.23 ....... today at the cinema

The top deck of a London bus has to be a pretty neat way of seeing the world below.

From the High Street, 2018

And when it is the same bus at about the same time every day then you have got yourself a project.

All you need is a camera, and the patience each week to record the same spot, and the rest as they say is Larissa Hamment’s “Pictures from an Eltham bus”.*

And we are now getting closer to that first performance of "Gone with the Wind" in Eltham since its premiere.

So, when it is all finished perhaps a trip down from the North for the grand opening.

From the car park, 2018

We shall see.

In the meantime I shall just say "look upon my works" you cinema goers and be prepared to be have some fun.

Location; Eltham





Pictures;  the site of the new cinema, 2018, from the collection of Larissa Hamment

*Pictures from an Eltham bus, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Pictures%20from%20an%20Eltham%20Bus

Home Thoughts from Abroad ......... changing Chorlton

To anyone who lives here, the development of the Post Office site will not even get a second glance.

But for those who have moved away and for whose memories of the place are locked in the past, here is what is happening to the space beside and in front of the Post Office.

And because the pictures were taken by Andy Robertson, who adopts places and continues to return to record the changes, there will be more photographs.

Leaving us a fine legacy.

When finished they will document how a little bit of Chorlton has been transformed.

Location; Chorlton




Pictures; Wilbraham Road, October 2018 from the collection of Andy Robertson

Of letters, and postmasters in the Eltham of the 19th century

Eltham in the 1830s

I am back with the post office in Eltham and in particular two men who straddle the history of letters, parcels and other odd things sent by the postal service.

James Pike and James Lawrence were the postal service in Eltham for a big part of the 19th century and their stories have been unearthed by Jean Gammons and so I shall hand over to her.

“James Pike was Eltham’s postmaster for perhaps forty years.  He was a clockmaker and his house was in the High Street.  

Very little is known of him and the earliest reference is a record of the death of his first wife in the parish records in 1798.  I could find no record of his birth or his marriage to Elizabeth so he may not have been an Eltham man.

He remarried in 1809 when he was 49 to a young woman from Eltham called Ruth Patterson.*

She was some twenty years younger than him and the records show they ran the post office together.

This was on the High Street just up from the old Chequers inn.  They would have conducted the business of the postal service from a room in their house and people waited outside in the street to be served through a window.”

Burial entry of James Pike, June 1837

James died in the June of 1837, and was buried in the parish churchyard.  

His wife Ruth survived him by twenty years, but the business was taken over by James Lawrence whom the Pike’s had taken on as their apprentice in their clock making business.2

He had been born in Eltham in 1819 and we can follow him from the 1841 census when he was listed as watch maker through the next four decades.  By 1871 while he may still have had a connection with the clock business he lists himself simply as postmaster.

This was an important time in the development of the Post Office.

Looking towards the parish church

The year before “the post office had taken over the private telegraph companies and James Lawrence must have been very proud when his eldest son, then a lad of just 13 became one of the Post Office’s first Telegraph messengers.  

In 1876 Eltham’s little post office was upgraded to a Head Post Office and Lawrence was placed in charge of all the smaller post offices in the Eltham district with an overnight salary rise from £31 to £60 a year.

But his office was still at no 54 High Street in the old shop where it had been since the 18th century, roughly where the milkman’s cart is seen in the picture."

The Post Office is roughly where the milkman's cart stands

All of which takes us into a new and bold period in the history of Eltham and its postmasters.

Pictures, of the High Street in the 1830s, and in 1909 courtesy of Jean Gammons and Mr Pike’s burial entry from St John’s parish records, courtesy of ancestry.co.uk, and the City of London Corporation Libraries, Archives and Guildhall Art Gallery Department

*Another Eltham life brought out of the shadows, the story of Ruth Pike, nee Patterson, 1782-1857

The cabinet maker, a restaurant called Tre Ciccio and a story of Altrincham

Now I like the way that stories have a habit of bouncing back, which is what happened to the one about an  Altrincham ghost sign.*

At the time, the picture of the brick warehouse with the name G.W. BONSON picked out at the top of the building was just an interesting example of a ghost sign, which is a record of a business long gone.

In this case, it refers to G.W. BONSON who after setting up a carpet beating business at the age of 23 in 1881, moved into this fine brick building in 1894, and started trading as a cabinet maker, upholsterer and furniture outlet.

At the time, that was pretty much it, and while I promised myself I would go looking for more on Mr Bonson I never did.

And then by chance a friend took us on a mystery trip to a new restaurant.

We had no idea where we were going or what to expect, but as we walked up Moss Lane into the heart of Altrincham, there was Mr Bonson’s warehouse, complete with the ghost sign and below it picked out in black the name Tre Ciccio!**

I have to say eating pizza in the former warehouse gave me  a sense of continuity with the past, and that becomes the rest of the story which began when two friends“started one magical summer’s evening meal in the Campania region of Italy, and ended by becoming the masterminds behind who we are today.

Invited to the extremely popular La Terrazza in restaurant in Calvanico by the lovely Scafuri family, we experienced an evening like we never have before.

From owner Michele managing his hungry guests from his scrap of paper and pen, to the mouth watering authentic Neapolitan pizzas, roast chicken diavola, Cacciatore and freshly picked porcini mushrooms that we devoured, we were left craving much, much more!”.

More than that it set them off with the idea that these simple Italian dishes could work here, and the success of the restaurant Tre Ciccio! proved them right.

We were there last night, on a cold Thursday evening and the place was full.

At which point I could write in detail about my pizza, the starters, or Tina’s roast chicken, but I am no food writer, just a jobbing historian, so instead I shall let the pictures do the business and recommend the place.

And as historian I was intrigued at how the shop had been converted into the waiting area where you can watch the pizza’s being made before gently being slid into the giant wood burning pizza oven.

The old wooden ceiling and some of the original features have been retained, while in contrast the restaurant which was the workshop, has a contemporary feel with a roof which can be pulled back on those rare days when the sun shines and you could be under a Neapolitan sky, consuming San Marzano tomatoes, Amalfi lemons & buffalo mozzarella direct from the south of Italy.

And that is about the extent of my food writing, so instead I suggest you step into Mr Bonson’s warehouse and enjoy a night at Tre Ciccio!

Location;   Tre Ciccio! Altrincham

Pictures; Mr Bonson’s warehouse, 2016, from the collection of Andy Robertson, remaining images courtesy of Tre Ciccio, 2018

*Finding a ghost sign in Altrincham, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2015/02/finding-ghost-sign-in-altrincham_19.html

** Tre Ciccio!   https://www.treciccio.co.uk/

As others saw us ....... No. 1 ... the children’s charity

An occasional series featuring a comment from someone about the twin cities.

“Manchester has many glories but none I venture to think which shine brighter or reflect more completely on the city’s best self than the Refuges and Homes” The Right Rev F.T. Wood 1920

The Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’s Refuges and Shelters began in 1870, offering young homeless boys and bed and a meal for the night.*

It quickly expanded its activities to include homes for girls and boys, provided vocational training, migrated some to Canada as well as offering summer camps, and campaigned for the rights of children.

In 1920 it moved out to Cheadle from where as the Together Trust it still works today.**

The comment was supplied by the archivist of the Together Trust.

Location; Salford and Manchester

Picture; courtesy of the Together Trust

*The Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’s Refuges, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Manchester%20and%20Salford%20Boys%20and%20Girls%20Refuges

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

Manchester Retold ......A City’s Journey Through History ...... Part 1 ..... Our Radical Mayor

Now I am looking forward to Manchester Retold ......A City’s Journey Through History, which is a special evening of readings and book signings with local authors, hosted by the History Press at Central Ref.*

As the title implies this will be an opportunity to sink deep into our collective history with Graham Phythian, Joanne Williams, Michala Hulme, Sheila Brady, Michael Billington, and me.

The subjects covered by the six historians include Manchester during two world wars, the darker side of the city’s past, the history of Urmston, Flixton and Davyhulme, and the contribution of the residents of Chapel Street in Altrincham to  the Great War.

And as I promised earlier I have decided to feature each of the six in turn, and so in no particular order, the first is Joanna M. Williams, whose book “Manchester's Radical Mayor” is a biography of Abel Heywood.

“Known in his day as the man who built the Town Hall, Abel Heywood was a leading Manchester publisher who entertained royalty at his home and twice became Mayor of Manchester. 

Yet before he found success his life was one of poverty and hardship, marked by a prison term in his pursuit of a free press. 

A campaigner for votes for all and social reform, Heywood attempted to enter Parliament twice, but his working-class origins and radical ideas proved an insurmountable obstacle. 

As councillor, alderman and mayor, he worked passionately and tirelessly to build the road, railway and tram systems, develop education, improve the provision of hospitals, museums and libraries, better the living conditions of the poor, and make Manchester a great city. 

Going beyond the experiences of one man, this book explores the wider political, cultural and class context of the Victorian city. It is an honest tale of rags to riches that will appeal to all who wish to discover more about the dramatic history of industrial Manchester and its people”.**

At which point I could write about Ms Williams, but instead, you can talk to her yourself on the night.

The event will take place in the Performance Space of Central Ref, and is free ...... but with only 108 places you are advised to follow the link and book soon.*

* Manchester Retold,  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/manchester-retold-a-citys-journey-through-history-tickets-51397657778?aff=ebdssbdestsearch#

** Manchester's Radical Mayor, Joanna M. Williams, the History Press, 2017, £14.99