How easy it is to take bits of Didsbury for granted.
I recently passed that small bit of public garden on the corner of Wilmslow Road and Grange Lane and for the first time ever took a picture of the space which a few days later appeared on the blog.
And as you do I pondered on the origin of the spot, which I assumed had once been something else.
But as hard as I tried I couldn’t remember what might have been here before the garden.
Opposite, the site of the garage had once been the grounds of Manor House which in 1911 was home to Mr. and Mrs. Mason, and their seven servants. He was the owner of a cotton mill, which may have been in Ashton-Under-Lyne.
But however, adapt he was at managing a factory, he seems to have got a little confused at completing the census return. All nine of the people at the house were described as British subject by parentage and he recorded that the house had 31 rooms.
Now there were some big houses in Didsbury, but 31 rooms seem a tad too many. That said some one in the know, steeped in Didsbury history will put me right
And they may also offer a history of a little public garden.
The OS maps for the late 19th and early 20th centuries show it as open land with trees, as do the photographs from the same period.
Up till the 1950s and maybe into the following decade there was a low wall around the area, and in one picture there were giant flower tubs beside the trees, while in earlier photographs there was a picket fence running alongside facing the shops.
So that is it.
The bit of Didsbury I took for granted.
Although having said that ….. you did get a bit on Mr. Sidney Mason.
My friend Barbarella told me the shop on the corner was once a Post Office, and I can confirm that in 1911 it was indeed “The Post Money and Telegraph Office” and Mr. George Edward Scott was the Post Master, while those who like contrasting facts, a big chunk of Grange Lane consisted of three, four and five roomed properties.
And that really is it.
Location; Didsbury
Pictures; that public garden on Grange Lane, in the 1950s, the 1900s, from picture postcards, and in 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
And as you do I pondered on the origin of the spot, which I assumed had once been something else.
But as hard as I tried I couldn’t remember what might have been here before the garden.
Opposite, the site of the garage had once been the grounds of Manor House which in 1911 was home to Mr. and Mrs. Mason, and their seven servants. He was the owner of a cotton mill, which may have been in Ashton-Under-Lyne.
Now there were some big houses in Didsbury, but 31 rooms seem a tad too many. That said some one in the know, steeped in Didsbury history will put me right
And they may also offer a history of a little public garden.
The OS maps for the late 19th and early 20th centuries show it as open land with trees, as do the photographs from the same period.
Up till the 1950s and maybe into the following decade there was a low wall around the area, and in one picture there were giant flower tubs beside the trees, while in earlier photographs there was a picket fence running alongside facing the shops.
The bit of Didsbury I took for granted.
Although having said that ….. you did get a bit on Mr. Sidney Mason.
My friend Barbarella told me the shop on the corner was once a Post Office, and I can confirm that in 1911 it was indeed “The Post Money and Telegraph Office” and Mr. George Edward Scott was the Post Master, while those who like contrasting facts, a big chunk of Grange Lane consisted of three, four and five roomed properties.
And that really is it.
Location; Didsbury
Pictures; that public garden on Grange Lane, in the 1950s, the 1900s, from picture postcards, and in 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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