Every place should have its own history book ...............

Now Chorlton has had quite a few history books along with historians, starting with the Rev Booker in the 1850s, our own Thomas Ellwood, thirty years later  and eleven others.*

The old church, circa 1880

Of course modesty forbids that I should mention my own book,

The Story of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, or the five I written with Peter Topping covering Hough End Hall, Chorlton pubs and bars, The Quirks of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Didsbury,   Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Churches, Chapels, Temples, A Synagogue and a Mosque and the new one nothing to do in chorlton which was published earlier in the month

Each historian has brought something different to the story of where we live, ranging from personal stories to unseen photographs, and the best have drawn on a vast local knowledge gathered from living here or talking to people whose links with the area go back decades.

Chorlton from Alexandra Road, 1920

In writing his 26 articles in the winter and spring of 1885-86, Thomas Elwood drew on conversations with residents who had been born at the beginning of the 19th century, and who in turn could draw on the memories of family members, taking the story of Chorlton back to before King George lost the American colonies.

My own favourite historians include Miss Templar who lived almost her whole life at Dog House Farm, and wrote vividly of the history of our local churches, along with some fine descriptions of the aerodrome at Hough End Hall, and Tony Walker who combined his love of the past with photography and a flair for technology to produce a series of aerial photographs of the village green in the 1980s.

History of Chorlton, N. Fife, circ 1970

Some of our authors have sadly stayed in the shadows, like Mr Blythe who as a student produced a little history of Chorlton in the 1930s, illustrated with a number of photographs of the Horse and Jockey and the old parish church.

I found his booklet by sheer chance, and in the same way was introduced to a handwritten manuscript by N. Fife, who while recovering from an illness wrote his own history of the township.

It was never published and consisted of a mix of general history, with some personal anecdotes, including a description of the old water pump in the courtyard of the farm on Beech Road, facing the Rec.

What marks out most of these historians is their desire to bring something original to the story.

So my own book The Story of Chorlton-cum-Hardy*** described the area during the first half of the nineteenth century, and was not a general history, but a study of when we were a small rural community on the edge of Manchester, as the city was being transformed from a quaint Georgeian town, into “the shock city of the Industrial Revolution”.

That same wish to break new ground has informed my collaboration with Manchester artist Peter Topping, which has ranged from books on Hough End Hall, the Quirks of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, the story of our bars and pubs and the latest which is devoted to the places of worship across the township and into Didsbury.

But history shouldn’t just be delivered through books, and so we have run a diverse set of historic walks, and talks, mounted displays in shops and pubs, along with an ambitious 80 meter installation on the corner of Albany and Brantingham roads.

The History Wall, 2012

It told story of Chorlton’s past  in 16 panels, from the 15th century, to the present and was designed as a history walk allowing people to start at one end in the village green in 1512, moving through the area, as it turned from a collection of three hamlets to a suburb of Manchester.

And yes, I shall close with our new book, which is part history and part celebration of what makes Chorlton diverse and interesting.

Chorlton-cum-Hardy Churches, Chapels, Temples A Synagogue and a Mosque, draws on a collection of official records, newspaper reports, old photographs and maps, but is underpinned with contributions from those who have attended the different places of worship and remember those that are now just history.****

You can obtain your copy  from us at http://www.pubbooks.co.uk/ or Chorlton Bookshop, 506 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester M21 9AW 0161 881 6374

Location; Chorlton & Didsbury





Pictures;, courtesy of McCarthy & Stone,and from N. Templar, N. Fife and Tony Walker 

*Rev Booker, Thomas Elwood, Nora Templar, J.D. Blythe, N Fife, John Lloyd, S Dickens,Cliff Hayes, and Tony Walker, Peter Topping & Andrew Simpson

**Chorlton Historians, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Chorlton%20Historians

***The Story of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Andrew Simpson, 2012, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2011/11/the-story-of-chorlton-cum-hardy.html

****A new book on the places of worship in Chorlton-cum Hardy, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20places%20of%20worship%20in%20Chorlton-cum-Hardy