Now I am back at 523 Barlow Moor Road where my friend Ann Love lived during the 1950s and 60s.
It is still there today but has undergone conversion into flats.
Over the last few months Ann has been sharing her memories of growing up in the house providing a vivid account of everything from the kitchen range to her bedroom along with some wonderful sketches of both the inside and exterior of the house.
And now along with more stories her husband has produced a series of detailed models of the property which perfectly create a large Chorlton house in 1960.
"The basement, or cellar as we used to call it, was reached by a door and steps from the kitchen.
It was always cool, and an ideal place for storage.
Half way down the steps was a wide shelf, where cold meats were kept, on a large platter, then continuing down, there were five rooms.
Firstly there was the coal cellar, this could also be reached by a door on the side of the house next to the workshop.
Once or twice a year the coal cart would arrive, with sacks of coal, the cart would stop in the drive, and the coal man would lift the sacks of coal from the cart and empty them down through the doorway into the cellar.
We would have to count the sacks s they were emptied, because once the coal was in the cellar, it was just a big heap. The coal men were covered in soot from carrying sacks of coal all day.
All through the winter coal would have to be carried up from the cellar in buckets to keep the range in the kitchen alight.
Under the Dining room was a storage area for food – there was a meat safe, with wire mesh to keep out the flies, and jars and big earthenware bowls with preserves, and preserved eggs in isinglass.
The small room under the hall was full of shelves of tinned goods, corned beef and salmon, and pickles.
Under the lounge were coffins, standing on end, which Dad had made during quiet periods, in case of flu epidemics, and bad weather in winter.
They were in a variety of different sizes, and good places to play when my cousins came over to play hide and seek!
Under the kitchen was where the planks of wood were stored, before being carried down the garden to be made into coffins. When the house was on fire, this could have been a real problem if it had caught fire."
© Ann Love
Models; Howard Love 2014
Over the last few months Ann has been sharing her memories of growing up in the house providing a vivid account of everything from the kitchen range to her bedroom along with some wonderful sketches of both the inside and exterior of the house.
And now along with more stories her husband has produced a series of detailed models of the property which perfectly create a large Chorlton house in 1960.
"The basement, or cellar as we used to call it, was reached by a door and steps from the kitchen.
It was always cool, and an ideal place for storage.
Half way down the steps was a wide shelf, where cold meats were kept, on a large platter, then continuing down, there were five rooms.
Firstly there was the coal cellar, this could also be reached by a door on the side of the house next to the workshop.
Once or twice a year the coal cart would arrive, with sacks of coal, the cart would stop in the drive, and the coal man would lift the sacks of coal from the cart and empty them down through the doorway into the cellar.
We would have to count the sacks s they were emptied, because once the coal was in the cellar, it was just a big heap. The coal men were covered in soot from carrying sacks of coal all day.
All through the winter coal would have to be carried up from the cellar in buckets to keep the range in the kitchen alight.
The small room under the hall was full of shelves of tinned goods, corned beef and salmon, and pickles.
Under the lounge were coffins, standing on end, which Dad had made during quiet periods, in case of flu epidemics, and bad weather in winter.
They were in a variety of different sizes, and good places to play when my cousins came over to play hide and seek!
Under the kitchen was where the planks of wood were stored, before being carried down the garden to be made into coffins. When the house was on fire, this could have been a real problem if it had caught fire."
© Ann Love
Models; Howard Love 2014
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