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
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.
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.
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
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