“went down to Jackson’s Boat” ............ Bill's adventure from Altrincham in the March of 1907

Bill's postcard to May, 1907

It is as David Harrop said to me a jolly scene and one that delights me as much as it must have done Bill who sent it to May Campbell in the March of 1907.

The railway line from Altrincham into Manchester was opened in 1849 and its main purpose was to ship agricultural products from Altrincham and stops down the line directly to the Manchester markets.

In this it was a great success, so much so that in the decade after it was opened the amount of produce sent on the Duke’s Canal dropped dramatically.

And on that March day which just happened to be a Sunday Bill and company set off from Altrincham, got off the train at Stretford and “went down to Jackson’s Boat.”

The weather forecast for the day was good, with the Manchester Guardian reporting  there would be “fair, mild weather and light breezes with some mist or fog locally” which was better than Monday when it would be “changeable with some showers.”*

Walking from Cut Hole towards the weir and on to jackson's Boar

Now we will never know their exact route from Stretford to Jackson’s Boat or if they were lucky with the weather.

If I had been them I guess I would have crossed the road from the station and walked along the Duke’s Canal as far as the Cut Hole Aqueduct and then by degree past the old weir picking up the northern bank of the river and continuing till I reached the new bridge that crossed the Mersey at Jackson’s Boat.

Of course that is just speculation and I bet there will be plenty of people with alternative routes.

But while I am on this wave of speculation I would just like to think that when Bill got back to Altrincham he bought the card, wrote the message and posted it the following day.

I had hoped I could find May Campbell but she and her address in Hulme have proved impossible to find either back in 1907 and I think now will have vanished.

All of which just leaves me with the Flyer and that cricket game.

Picture; Our Local Express, 1907, from the collection of David Harrop** and detail of the walk from the OS map of South Lancashire, 1893, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/

*Manchester Guardian, March 3 & 4, 1907

**David Harrop, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/David%20Harrop