The bridges of Salford and Manchester .......... nu 18 just three years ago.

John Casey often supplies me with fine pictures he took in the 1980s, but this one comes from three years ago.

Location Manchester & Salford






Picture; the river and bridge, 2014 from the collection of John Casey

Summer in the city ..... July 2018 no. 4 .... railway traffic

Location; Manchester











Picture; Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station, 2018, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Posters from the Past ........... no 10 The London and Brighton

Now the project is simple, take a modern image of a building we all love and turn it into the style of poster which was popular in the middle decades of the last century.*

This was the London and Brighton Hotel and just possibly someone at the brewery might have beaten a slick New Yorker to the idea of a name so good it was used twice.

The pub, according to one source opened in 1867 at the same time as the Queens Road Railway Station which serviced what had been the London and Brighton Railway.**

And yes we cheated the London & Brighton Railway disappeared in a series of mergers and the original photograph was taken long after this style of poster was popular.

So not historically accurate ..... just a bit of fun.

Location; Queens Road, London

Painting; The London and Brighton Railway Hotel, © 2017 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures 
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

*Posters from the Past,https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Posters%20from%20the%20Past 

**London Pubology, http://www.pubology.co.uk/pubs/13.html

Uncovering the story of Manchester’s destitute children

Now in the story of child care in the later 19th century the term “street arab” or “gutter children” are very emotive.

Boys admitted to the Refuge, date unknown

And perhaps, even more so for those of us who can trace a descendant back to one of the destitute and abandoned children who roamed the streets of all our big cities.

Children like William who was admitted to the Refuge in Manchester on January 1 1870.

He was fifteen years old, both his parents were dead and he had “been living in the streets and sleeping in boiler houses.”* 

Nor of course was he alone, for there was cases of children much younger sleeping under railway arches on beneath the stairs of tenement blocks.

That this should happen in one of the prime cities of the Empire where wealth was made in the huge Exchanges, and the myriad of factories, iron works and textile mills is and was appalling as of course were those two descriptions.

The terms refer to “children who are wanderers from place to place without any fixed dwelling or guardianship; who grow up in ignorance on the streets, and who manage to exist each day without any visible means of support.”**

This was a description much bandied about by the press but one which was rejected by some of those directly involved in helping young people and mainly because it was inaccurate.

True there were those like William, and three others admitted to the Refuge in 1870 who lived on the streets and the Chief Constable’s reports for the years 1870, ’71, and ‘72 pointed out that on “average 1,063 boys between the ages of 10-16 years of age were apprehended on the streets of Manchester.”

To which Mr Gilbert speaking to the Manchester Statistical Society in 1888 added that “I cannot estimate them at less than 700, .......... Of these probably 600 will be over ten years of age, and 100 will be under ten years of age; 500 will be boys and 200 girls.”***

Emma, 1913 at admission

But the evidence from Manchester suggests that most that were encountered on the streets, had homes, went to school and had parents.

“Only a minority, are actually homeless, and very few are orphans; a considerable number are the off spring of vice, and illegitimate – ‘not wanted,’ and, therefore, uncared for, at any rate until they are of some commercial value, and bringing in a ‘trifle;’ and their homes, in many cases are little more than places in which to creep for shelter, like a dog kennel- a considerable portion not even getting meals in them.”

At which point it is important to stress that whether they were destitute or had a sort of home, the experiences of these children was awful.

But the evidence from Mr Gilbert is damming.  The Refuge had tracked 50 children “from their streets to  their homes, 33 were over, 5 and under 10, and 17 over ten and under 13, 34 had both parents living and the remaining 16 had one parent, and out of this total of 50 only 9 could in any degree, be said to be so poor as to need the slight addition to weekly income afforded by street hawking.”

The survey had been conducted almost a decade earlier by the Refuge and published in their pamphlet Street Arabism Its Cause and Cure by the secretary Mr Shaw.

He too, rejected the term “street arab” and went on to argue for a series of measures to combat child street hawking.

The alternative was for many a slide in to criminality and in the case of girls, “”early and utter degradation.”****

Emma after admission

So the work with these “street hawkers” was important and the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuge played an important part, both as an organization which took parents to court on the behalf of neglected, and abused children but also in arguing for measures to combat the worst excesses of child exploitation for commercial gain through new legislation and a more an extension of the powers of the School Board and Industrial Schools.

And it was in part a success.

So that Mr Gilbert could report in 1888 that “one day last week a party of workers systematically searched the streets at 7.45 p.m., with the following result.  

In the whole of the city ...... there were under 60 children’apparently under the age of 14, out for the purpose of gain.  

Previous to the passing  of the Corporation Act of 1882 we counted five times that number an hour or two later.”*****

Location; Manchester

Pictures. courtesy of the Together Trust, https://www.togethertrust.org.uk/

Next; the Corporation Act of 1882 and the work dome to challenge street hawking.

*Admission records for the Manchester & Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges, 1870

** Street Arabism Its Cause and Cure, L.K. Shaw, 1880, Manchester, page 6

***Facts and Figures Relating to Street Children, Mr Gilbert and R Kirlew, Manchester Statistical Society, Session 188-89, page 44

**** ibid Mr Gilbert, page 44

***** ibid Mr Gilbert, page 46

When History met Art and became a book …………….. tonight ..... in Chorlton Library

We all have an idea about how a book is written but today Andrew and Peter will explore how they do it, with that usual mix of style, good taste and more than a bit of irreverence.

They have been collaborating for over a decade, and have produced everything from street installations, to exhibitions and of course their books which are a unique mix of Peter’s paintings with period photographs and maps, and Andrew’s stories of the past.

They focus on “the stories behind the doors”, and of people who history hasn’t just forgotten but never bothered to notice.

Often it starts with one of Peter’s paintings and the challenge for Andrew to “find the story”.  That challenge has now extended to seven published books, covering the history of Chorlton, Didsbury and city centre Manchester, with a foray into the fascinating story of an Elizabethan hall.

Now all this is a tad more remarkable given that both are dyslexic, and only wrote their first book together in 2013.

But Andrew had already published his first book the year before, and Peter had long been exhibiting his paintings.

So, given that they first met back in 1982, they decided it was time they got together, and combined their different skills which led to those seven books, and invitation from Chorlton Book Festival to talk about the partnership.*

Now there were alternative titles for tonight’s event, ranging from Travels with two dyslexics, A paintbrush, a faded letter and lot of books, and lastly, When the historian met the artist and it became a book ……………….. seven times.

In the end they went for the simpler, When History met Art and became a book, or how to create a book from the beginning to the end.

In the course of the evening Peter will explain the technical challenge of integrating his paintings, original images and contemporary pictures, with the stories, while Andrew will touch on how he went about the research, revealing some of the stories which never made the books.

And not wanting to short change anyone, they will be bringing along a full selection of the books, some fascinating pictures of Chorlton in the not so distant past and a few unseen photographs of the pair from when Harold Wilson was Prime Minister, Wagon Wheels were still their original size, and Sunday television ended at 10.30 with that little white dot.

The event is free, starts at 7.30 in Chorlton Library and looks to be a night of informative fun with an opportunity to quiz the authors, on everything from why they self-publish their books, to Peter’s style of painting and Andrew’s inability to spell.

 When History met Art and became a book, is the talk by Andrew Simpson and Peter Topping, and is part of the Chorlton Book Festival.

Location; Chorlton Library, Manchester Road, Chorlton, M21 9PN

*Chorlton Book Festival September 20-28, 2019, https://www.chorltonbookfestival.co.uk/

50 years of Brookburn Primary School ………………… what do you remember?

Now, whatever our own school days were like, the chances are we remember with fondness those of our kids.

In my case that was Brookburn School, where three of our four attended from the late 1980s through to the beginning of this century.

These were the years Mr. Clegg was head, and our family played their part on the governing body, helping at the school fair and at Saturday football, making the drinks and distributing the biscuits.

So, I was pleased to receive this poster, which I instantly decided, had to become a blog story, along with the trailer of the event in November.

And somewhere we may even have one last remnant of uniform, be it the red jumper, or the white polo shirt, along with the plastic reading bag and some reports.

These may or may not be of use, but I bet the memories of our Ben, Josh and Saul will be, as will be their friends and many others who passed through during that half century.

Standing in the road at Brook’s Bar …………. now that is a daft thing to do

Brooks Bar has long been a busy junction, but I am intrigued by the number of people who have stopped in the middle of the road to observe the photographer at work in this picture.

I can’t date it, but there may be a clue in the buildings stretching down Chorlton Road on the left-hand side.

On the corner there is that striking rounded building, which is still the today, and back then was the Post Office.

The name of the proprietor should offer up a time slot, and only requires me to go looking in the directories for the period.

Until then, I suspect it will be down to look very carefully at the other buildings and try and identify the presence of the Imperial Picture Theatre and Café which is now a timber warehouse.

The cinema opened in 1917, could seat 760 people and only closed in 1976.

By then the tall houses on the opposite side had been cleared away and trams no longer ran along Chorlton Road.

There will be someone who knows, leaving me just to ponder on whether this was a Sunday, given the lightness of the traffic and send you my history of the Imperial which has appeared on the blog before. *


And quick as a flash, John Anthony Hewitt, responded with the comment, "the number of full length skirts worn by the ladies, suggests pre-WW1 - post-war cost of materials had risen so much that ladies of the time switched to cheaper (shorter, less full) designs. 

The lady holding the umbrella is wearing a shorter skirt, whilst the boys are wearing knicker-bockers, which suggests Edwardian period. 

Three of the ladies in the road are holding a dog, a baby and long gloves. But, the mother with the pram was standing between the handles, and not behind the handle. 

Researching vintage photographs suggests that style of pram was late-Victorian to Edwardian, circa 1905. GMTS Website records electrification of the tramways as completed by 1903, but that Hulme to Chorlton-cum-Hardy was still served by horse buses in 1905. Princess Road tram depot opened in October 1909, but it is reasonable to assume that depot was built to relieve over-crowding at Hyde Road and Queens Road depots. Taken together, I would suggest a time-slot of between 1906 (earliest) and 1914 (latest)".

All of which just leave me to thank John Anthony.

Location; Brooks Bar

Picture; Books Bar, date unknown, courtesy of Steve.

*The Imperial Cinema, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Imperial%20Cinema

Summer in the city ..... July 2018 no. 2 .... where to go?

Location; Manchester

Picture; Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station, 2018, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Posters from the Past ........... no 8 eating fresh pasta in that fine building on Shudehill

Now the project is simple, take a modern image of a building we all love and turn it into the style of poster which was popular in the middle decades of the last century.*

And that has taken me back to no 77 Shudehill which is a building I have always liked.

I have passed it countless times over the years and never really looked into its past.

But all that changed last Sunday when Tina and I called in to The Pasta Factory which now occupies the ground floor.

The story of that visit and the excellent food we had has already appeared on the blog, so that only leave me to induct it into our Hall of Posters from the Past.**

You know the series ........ I nominate a modern building, Peter transforms it into an image which could have been used in a period poster and I write the story.

So here is The Pasta Factory at nu 77 Shudehill.***

The poster style dates from the 1930s through to the 50s when the site was a bank, but as ever we can be a little economical with the past.

Painting; The Pasta Factory, Painting © 2016 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures.
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

*Posters from the Past

**Sunday night on Shudehill in the company of some interesting history and some equally fine food at the 
Pasta Factory

***The Pasta Factory

War Memories ............. at the Bowling Green ......... tonight

Now, War Memories at the Bowling Green tonight will be a powerful reminder of the events of the last world war, more so because they are the memories of those men and women who lived through those six years of war.

The event is part of WarGen, which is “creating a crowd-sourced online repository of oral-history from the people who lived through World War 2.

Roger Hall, 1920-1943

That amazing generation who lived and fought through the Second World War is slipping away, their numbers dwindling daily.  

All too soon, there will be none left at all and World War II, like those conflicts before it, will fall out of living memory.

It is of vital importance that we capture as many memories while we still have the chance.  

Once they have gone, they have gone.  Those men and women will not be able to speak to us from beyond the grave.  But while they are still living, they remain crucially important witnesses to the most cataclysmic war the world has ever known”. *

Tonight’s event will cover the “Outbreak of War; Call Up; Evacuation; Defence; Bombing; Rationing; Visitors; Theatres of War; Normandy; Far; East; Horrors of War; VE Day; Coming home; Experiences, Wisdom and Legacy”.

Derby Evening Telegraph, 1943

Added to which some of the interviewees may be coming along to share the evening.

So, tonight, at the Bowling Green Hotel 7pm for 7.30pm.  Free Entrance Collection for “Reach out to the Community".





Location; The Bowling Green, Chorlton

Pictures; poster, courtesy of WarGen, and Roger Hall, 1938, and newspaper clipping, 1943, from the Simpson family collection


*WarGen, www.wargen.org

REMEMBERING THE EMPLOYEES OF MANCHESTER CORPORATION TRAMWAYS FEBRUARY 1917 ........ Martin Logan

In 2008 when I first started researching one of the names on the Manchester Corporation Tramways (MCT) WW1 Memorial Plaque, which was affixed to the outer wall of the now demolished Princess Road Bus Depot, I never for one minute realised that it would become a journey of discovery.

What first started off as a curious glance at a metal plaque on a wall has over the years turned into a passion bordering on obsession to tell their stories. Over the intervening years I have amassed a small library of information on the 310 MCT employees whose names are inscribed on the Memorial Plaque.

Since first making contact with the relatives of BERRY H- Herbert Berry, I have made contact with five more relatives: COLLINS G L – the great grand daughter of George Leonard Collins; STARKEY W – the niece of William Starkey; GORMAN J – the great nephew of John Gorman; PLAYFOOT E L-The great nephew of Ernest Lewis Playfoot; MAYNE J – the great nephew of John Mayne. Each of these relatives has provided me with photos and information of their loved ones.

A book titled “Manchesters in the Great War” has provided me with photos and info on another six employees: BARTON T-Thomas Barton; CLIFFE G- George Cliffe; JENKINSON R A- Robert Alexander Jenkinson; NEWMAN G E- George Edward Newham; TANNER E A- Ernest Aubrey Tanner; and STALHER J A-Joseph Stalher.

A further two photos have been provided the Manchester Evening News in articles on the Centenary titled “The stories 100 Years Ago”; RASTALL G H-George Henry Rastall and PENNILL A- Alfred Pennill.  Two photos of MCT employees in army uniform, one group and one single have been provided by the Museum of Transport Manchester.

With all this information in my possession it is now my intention to try and update the MCT Roll of Honour of the Great War, which was published in 1918.

To create a lasting memorial so that the current generation and future generations can look back with pride and sadness on the achievements and sacrifices made by the MCT employees in the Great War.

If you can help me in any way shape or form with this endeavour I would be very grateful. Please contact me at martin.logan@btinternet.com or by mobile 07985490124

At the base of the MCT War Memorial is the following inscription.
Let those who come after see to it that these names be not forgotten
LEST WE FORGET

© Martin Logan 2017

Pictures; courtesy of Martin Logan, 2017

Bits of Salford I like ........... nu 1

The picture says it all.

Location; around the Lowry












Picture; Salford, 2015 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Making stories out of our histories ….. part 3 ……….. sharing those stories ...

Now the title could quite easily have been reversed to “making history out of our stories”, and both are at the heart of a new project to record the memories of Chorlton people which will go a long way to addressing the traditional history books.*

All of which is an introduction to this exciting project.

“The Story of Our Lives is a community project which is bringing together older people who want to share their stories, lessons and memories, with a group of voluntary writers who are keen to listen, learn and record what they hear.

Once a week for a month, local people who may not otherwise have met, came together over a cuppa, enjoying a chat about a key theme and then together, working towards creating an anthology of tales that preserves and celebrates the memories shared that day. 

This project is being made possible by the support of Chorlton Good Neighbours and a range of wonderful volunteers including the story tellers and writers themselves." 

And this Sunday, the result of the project was previewed during Chorlton Arts Festival at Chorlton Unitarian Church**

Jolene who has organized the project commented “A massive thank you to Chorlton Unitarian Church and the Chorlton Arts Festival for hosting our Stories of Our Lives celebration event, as well as everyone else who came to support this wonderful community writing project. 

It was a full turn out, and the participants of this project really got a lot out of sharing their efforts with such a lovely audience.  If you want to support the creators getting their words into print whilst also getting a copy of the book yourself, see this link”. ***

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; The Story of Our Lives, Chorlton Unitarian Church, 2019, courtesy of the project

*Stories of Our Lives community writing project, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Stories%20of%20Our%20Lives%20community%20writing%20project

**Chorlton Arts Festival, http://chorltonartsfestival.org/

***Jolene, https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/thestoryofourlives

"She works at Woolwich Arsenal Now" ......... a song from 1916 and a choir for today ..... the Woolwich Singers

I have no idea if “She works at Woolwich Arsenal Now” was sung by my grandfather or any of our family who served with the Colours during the Great War.

The song sheet, 1916

But I bet it would have been popular on the Progress Estate which had been built to house workers at the Arsenal.

And the romantic in me wonders if the first resident of the house in Well Hall where we lived sung the song on his way to work.

This was Basil Nunn and if he didn’t sing it then at least he would have known of it.

“She works at Woolwich Arsenal Now” was written and composed by Robert Donnelly in 1916 and told of a wounded soldier who received a letter from his girlfriend announcing that she was working at the Royal Arsenal.

And it pretty much had the lot, he was wounded and in France, she was doing her bit amongst the shells and guns in Woolwich and both were working for a common cause.

So the chorus must have seemed all the more significant to both munitions girl and soldier with its repeated refrain

"I work at Woolwich Arsenal now,
"Give my message to your chums,
"Girls are working ‘midst the shells and guns
"Altho’ ‘tis tiring, as you’re requiring ammunition for the fighting line,
"We’ll do our share for you out there."

Working in the Arsenal, circa 1916

Now I would like to know more about Robert Donnelley but so far I have only been able to find a few references on the electoral rolls for the years just before the Great War and of course this might not be him.

But if it was, then in 1911 he was at 46 Waverley Road in Plumstead where he rented three unfurnished rooms, one basement and two first floor rooms for six shillings a week from a W.J. Weeks.

He also appears on various electoral rolls back to 1902 and possibly onto 1954, but is absent from the census returns saving 1891 when a young Robert Donnelley is living at home with his parents in Plumstead.*

And by one of those nice bits of coincidence his father was an “overseer at the Royal Arsenal.”

Laughter on the Steps, the Woolwich Singers, 2014

So we have almost come full circle but not quite, because the inspiration for the story came from James who lives on the Progress Estate and came across a reference to the song.

And by by another nice twist "She Works at Woolwich Arsenal Now" was first unearthed by a member of the Woolwich Singers who are a “are a community choir, which rehearses weekly on Wednesdays from 6.30 – 8pm at the Clockhouse Community Centre, Defiance Walk, Woolwich Dockyard, Woolwich SE18 5QL."**

The aim of our choir is to sing together, meet new people and have fun!
No one has to sing by themselves and there is no audition to join.

We sing a mixture of traditional and pop songs – something for everyone, and everyone is welcome.”
And that I think would have been something Mr Donnelley would have approved of.

Either way you can judge for yourself  with this version by the singers of that song.***

And the original inspiration from James can be seen at The Progress Estate, Eltham, SE9 http://progressestate.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/she-works-at-woolwich-arsenal-now.html

Pictures; cover of “She works at Woolwich Arsenal Now” courtesy of  Greenwich Heritage Centre, www.greenwichheritage.org T Tube Factory, Woolwich Arsenal, from the collection of Mark Flynn, post card dealer, http://www.markfynn.com/london-postcards.htm

*Enu 9 46, Plumstead East, Plumstead, 1891

** Woolwich Singers, www.woolwichsingers.co.uk/

***“She works at Woolwich Arsenal Now” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_wzpJ5E-Ds

In Salford at the end of the Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal, with a story

Looking across to Manchester, May 2014

Now the thing about Andy Robertson’s pictures is that there is always a good story behind them.

He recently was out on the old Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal in Salford just on the border with Manchester and in sending me some fine pictures offered up a sort of challenge.

“Don't know what you know about this abandoned area just east of Water Street and over Princes Bridge which Cathy had discovered  and dragged me round” and that was enough for me.

The Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal in 1830

“The Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal was built between 1797 and 1808 and joined Bolton and Bury with the River Irwell at Middlewood, Salford, serving a number of collieries along the way. 

A feeder canal known as Fletchers Canal linked Wet Earth Colliery in Clifton, now Clifton Country Park to the canal. 

Traffic continued along the canal in Salford until 1950 and it was closed in 1961. 

British Waterways Board owns half the length, and about 40% of the total canal is still in water.”*

The Salford end of the Canal in 1849

And now there is a restoration programme to restore the canal to navigation within the Salford boundaries.

All of which is a work in progress and as ever I am keen to hear stories and receive photographs of the canal when it was still a working water way.

Originally planned as a canal for narrow boats the company adapted the waterway for wider boats when it was decided to connect with the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

The docks at Salford date from 1808 and linked the canal to the River Irwell.

At the Canal in 2014

There is more but that is for another time.

In the meantime I will return to Andy’s pictures which provide fine views Manchester in the distance with a hint of what once was there.






Pictures; from the collection of Andy Robertson, detail from Bradford’s
 The Inland Navigation of England and Wales, 1830 and the Salford end of Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal from the 1849 OS for Manchester & Salford, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/



*THE RESTORATION OF THE MANCHESTER, BOLTON AND BURY CANAL IN SALFORD – PROGRESS UPDATE, REPORT OF STRATEGIC DIRECTOR FOR SUSTAINABLE REGENERATION
Policy CH7 of the City of Salford Unitary Development Plan

Ten minutes in a railway station .............. Piccadilly July 14 2015 ..... timetables and questions of destinations

Now I like railway stations which are only bettered by airports.

It is that mix of bustle and purposeful determination on the part of the passengers passing through and of course the promise of adventures yet to come.

Added to which you just know that there are a whole lot of stories unravelling in front of you.

They start with those sitting patiently on the seats, waiting for their connection, working out the train time or just catching up on the last chapter of the book bought at Euston the day before.

And then there are all those hellos and goodbyes.

Some do it in style in those special rooms given over to priority ticket holders while others just catch a quick coffee, snatching a hurried conversation and worrying about the train time, the connection at Birmingham or just sad at leaving after just a short stay.

And amongst all the travellers there will be the confident ones who planned ahead, know to the minute when the train will depart and will have reserved their seats.

Others will be less sure checking the overhead notices twice and may be seeking extra confirmation from the staff in the small office on the platform.

I always like to think I am one of the former and but all too often I leave it to the last moment and then of course it costs more.

Or having pre-booked I still get to the station an hour before I need to, constantly  check my ticket against the ever changing train information and get through all the papers I bought for the journey.

But at least I am secure in the knowledge that no traffic jam or tram delay will make miss the train.

And then long before I need to I make my way to the

platform, patiently wait as my train is cleaned, and  restocked and then happily board fully aware that there will still be acres of time before we leave.

Today there will also be free internet connection and a socket for any of the electrical appliances I might take with me and above all a table.

All of which is so different from that last age of steam travel, but that I think is for another time.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; Ten minutes in a railway station .............. Piccadilly July 14 2015 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

The bridges of Salford and Manchester .......... nu 17 ...... the Trafford Road Bridge

 From Ron Stubley











Picture; from the collection of Ron Stubley, 2017

Who stole the Sunday School? ………….. walking Chorlton’s past

Who stole the village green?

Now I know exactly who stole the Methodists’ Sunday school and while we along with the local publican who did much the same thing with our village green.

All was revealed yesterday when the band of 32, braved the rain, and potential thunderstorms to walk Chorlton’ past.

The history walks are now in their tenth year and this was one of the annual ones commissioned by Chorlton Book Festival which is now in its 15th year.*

We assembled at the old tram terminus, known locally as Chorlton Office and proceeded to walk down Beech Road, to the village green and on to the Edge Theatre, stopping off at key points to uncover our townships past.

The theme was simply what was Chorlton like in 1848, and who did you have to be polite too?

Pitts Brow, and Scotch Hill, and a big lake

That of course depended on who you were, and while I would have hoped all our residents would be civil to each other, there were nevertheless the “big cheeses” who because of their rank, money and possible influential position were people it would be wise not to cross.

These included the two big landowners, who were the Egerton’s and Lloyds, neither of whom would be seen in Chorlton, down to the 20 or so other landlords who rented out their land and cottages to Chorlton’s population.

Of the 20, the most interesting was Mr. Holt who had made his money in the textile trade in Manchester, owned a fine property in one of the fashionable streets off Deansgate, and in the 1830s retired to Chorlton.

His home was Beech House, set back in extensive grounds which ran the length of Barlow Moor Road, from Beech Road to High Lane, and then down High Lane as far as Cross Road and onto Beech Road.

Of cottages, fields and a laburer's lot

The Holt’s had an extensive portfolio of property in Castlefield and their Chorlton land stretched east from Barlow Moor Road down to Hough End Hall.

Equally noteworthy would have been the banker Cunliffe Brooks who lived in Barlow Hall and contributed to the upkeep of the old parish church, paying for the erection of the iconic lych gate and a large beautiful stained-glass window, which dominated the eastern side of the church.

But I have forgotten the villains, who included Thomas Taylor, farmer, publican and entrepreneur who walked away with that Sunday School.

It transpires that the building which the Methodists had built from local subscriptions was not secured by a trust and so reverted to the Lloyd Estate who sold the building to Thomas Taylor.

Learning about Chorton Rec when it was Row Acre

For a while Taylor charged the Methodists an annual rent but eventually in 1827 served notice on them to quit which was converted into cottages. 

No detailed explanation has survived as to why the Methodists lost control of the building they had sacrificed so much to build but it was on Lloyd land and George Lloyd was devoted enough to the established church to give land for the building of the new National School on condition that “the school to be conducted upon principles consistent with the doctrines of the Established Church”   

But it could equally have been a decision based purely on business.

And in the same way, Samuel Wilton enclosed the village green sometime in the early 19th century and made in his family’s private garden which it remained until the death of his daughter in the 1890s when it reverted to the Egerton estate, who in turn gifted it back to the people of Chorlton.

All this and more was revealed to our hearty band, including the beauty spot known as Pitts Brow, or Scotch Hill and the tribulations of living in a wattle and daub cottage.

After which at the end of the walk, we retreated into the Edge Theatre’s restaurant for a bowl of soup, and a glass of mulled wine.

Chorlton Book Festival rolls on for the rest of the week with plenty of events to enjoy, leaving me just to thank Beverley Williams who organised the Festival, along with the rest of the Library staff, and of course the “32”.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; walking the past with Chorlton Book Festival, 2019, from the collection of Beverley Williams

*Chorlton Book Festival September 20-28, 2019, https://www.chorltonbookfestival.co.uk/

**The Edge Theatre and Arts Centre, http://www.edgetheatre.co.uk/

Outside White City

For most people White City and those gates are just back the drop to the retail park which in recent years has undergone a makeover.

But it has a long history, starting with the site of the former Manchester Botanic Gardens which hosted the Art Treasures Exhibition of 1857.

After it which has also been the site of an amusement park and a sports stadium for athletics, greyhound and stock car racing.

For those who want to know there are plenty of good references online.
For now, I shall concentrate on the picture.

I have no idea of the date, but it must e after 1907 when part of the former Botanical Gardens was leased to a company who opened the “White City Amusement Park on the site.

And just to the left of the photograph looks to be part of the amusement park.

I like the picture, more for its record of the groups of people going about their business, some of whom may be waiting to go in.

All very different from a day back in 1970 when I along with thousands of others converged on the place to demonstrate against the South African Rugby tour when that country was still locked into Apartheid.

Location; White City

Picture; White City, date unknown, courtesy of Steve

Chorlton’s own snooker club ………..

This is how I remember the old Temperance Billiard Hall which opened in 1907 and was part of an influential movement.*

1990s

The hall was one of a number opened across Greater Manchester, which pretty much conformed to a uniform design.

Most have gone, with a few being adapted to industrial or retail use.

Ours survived, continuing to offer up billiards and at some point, morphed in to the Chorlton Snooker Club.

I can’t be exactly sure when the picture was taken but it will be in the mid to late 1990s, by which time the exterior had been much mucked about, and part of the hall was rented out to a taxi firm.

1958

All very different from the beginning of the 20th century when the power of the movement was such that plans for the rebuilding of two Chorlton pubs. 

The Bowling Green after initial objections went a head in 1908, but The Royal Oak had to wait till the 1930s.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; Chorlton Snooker Club, circa 1990s, courtesy of Steve, and the Temperance Billiard Hall, Chorlton, November 1958,  A.H. Downes, m18044, Courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*"Away, away with rum by gum," signing the pledge to forgo the demon drink
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