It is one of a collection of images which were donated to St Clements Church and were found in the attic of a house.
And that is about all I know of the history of the twenty or so photographs of Chorlton.
All except one date from sometime after 1900 and measure 25.5 cms by 42 cms and have been reproduced from picture postcards.
Now there will be a story there but I doubt it will ever come to light.
So instead I shall concentrate on this one which shows a gang of labourers at work.
I don’t have a date but the company whose name plate appears on the steam engines was Davies Brothers, Asphalt Road Makers who were listed in the 1911 directory with an office on Princess Street and a depot on Green Lane.
Green Lane ran from Brook Street to the Garratt Bridge by the River Medlock in Chorlton on Medlock and long ago was swept away by new developments which included the old BBC Broadcasting building.
Both contain a wealth of detail from the steam engines, barrels of tar to the wooden sets and the large number of labourers.
This was after all at a time when much of the work still relied on muscle power and so despite the steam engines it was still down to shovels, wheelbarrows and a lot of effort.
But the pictures also include that small band of spectators who have been drawn to the scene.
Like the workman they stare back at the camera with that mix of poses, some stopped in their tracks, a few looking curious and the rest those who just can’t miss the opportunity to be in the picture.
And of these the one I am drawn to is the chap in uniform pausing with his parcels to be caught on camera.
Pictures; Whitelow Road date unknown, from the Simpson Collection
Hi Andrew, my dad rip and my second husband worked on buildings. the big beam was used to level off the cement or tarmacadam on the road. Just thought of it. Well done on the photos they are fascinating.
ReplyDeleteThank you Patricia
ReplyDeleteThe big beam is there to demonstrate the Camber of the road, rising from each edge to the Crown in the centre, this prevents water from gathering on the surface during rainfall. Not all the men are labourers some are highly skilled at setting out and laying levels and machine operators.
ReplyDelete