Now I can see that attraction of these two picture postcards which were marketed by the Rapid Art Photography Company sometime in the 1930s.
In the previous fifty years, great swathes of Chorlton had been built over, and what had once been fields, farms and market gardens had become rows of terraced and semidetached houses for the middling people who worked in the city and wanted the vestiges of a rural setting when they came home.
And that stretch of land from the old Chorlton village to the Mersey offered just that degree of open countryside, with the added benefit of a pub on the banks of the river.
None of this was lost on the Manchester Guardian which reported on May 10th, 1914, that “Jackson’s Boat is the picturesque connecting link between Chorlton and Sale. There is no boat there now, whatever there may have been at one time, but there is a half penny toll bridge for foot passengers and a pleasant inn. You need not pay the half penny if you prefer to take a glass at the inn”.
Concluding that “Chorlton itself is a particularly bright little suburb.
It somehow has the clean, cheery, holiday aspect of a seaside resort.
Chorlton has been described as the favourite suburb of newly married couples, and perhaps what one notices is a honeymoon atmosphere”.*
And where better for a romantic stroll than across the Meadows to the pub across the water.
The footbridge dates from the 1880s and replaced an earlier one constructed by Samuel Wilton in 1818, although landlords of the pub continued to retain the right to ferry people across the river by boat and charge a fee well into the 1830s.**
In its time the pub was known variously as the Old Greyhound, the Greyhound and the Boathouse, and dates from the 1780s.
And for the eager tourist wanting to travel out from the city centre, “the tram fare to Chorlton is 1d to Seymour Grove, or 1½d. right through to the village, [while] a third class railway contract costs 18s a quarter, which works out at about 1s 5d. a week”.
To which I can only add that on the side of the trams and over printed on the railway tickets should have been the simple entreaty “Go South you young couples”.
Location; Chorlton
Pictures; Jackson’s Boat, circa 1930s, courtesy of Jennie Brooks
*Where to Live and when to Buy, The Manchester Guardian, May 10th, 1914
**Jackson’s Boat, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Jackson%27s%20Boat
And that stretch of land from the old Chorlton village to the Mersey offered just that degree of open countryside, with the added benefit of a pub on the banks of the river.
None of this was lost on the Manchester Guardian which reported on May 10th, 1914, that “Jackson’s Boat is the picturesque connecting link between Chorlton and Sale. There is no boat there now, whatever there may have been at one time, but there is a half penny toll bridge for foot passengers and a pleasant inn. You need not pay the half penny if you prefer to take a glass at the inn”.
It somehow has the clean, cheery, holiday aspect of a seaside resort.
Chorlton has been described as the favourite suburb of newly married couples, and perhaps what one notices is a honeymoon atmosphere”.*
And where better for a romantic stroll than across the Meadows to the pub across the water.
The footbridge dates from the 1880s and replaced an earlier one constructed by Samuel Wilton in 1818, although landlords of the pub continued to retain the right to ferry people across the river by boat and charge a fee well into the 1830s.**
In its time the pub was known variously as the Old Greyhound, the Greyhound and the Boathouse, and dates from the 1780s.
To which I can only add that on the side of the trams and over printed on the railway tickets should have been the simple entreaty “Go South you young couples”.
Location; Chorlton
Pictures; Jackson’s Boat, circa 1930s, courtesy of Jennie Brooks
*Where to Live and when to Buy, The Manchester Guardian, May 10th, 1914
**Jackson’s Boat, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Jackson%27s%20Boat
What a fantastic find Andrew.
ReplyDeleteThank you
DeleteDo you remember when the Guardian did their 'Let's move to....Chorlton' ? Both articles would make a good compare and contrast.
ReplyDeleteI don't suppose you have the article Paddy?
DeleteLet's Move to Chorlton was printed the week we actually moved to Chorlton (or thereabouts) but alas, we were too giddy to have kept a copy😥
DeleteSomehow this is a reassuring picture as it could have been taken this morning! Nice to see continuity during this disturbing time.
ReplyDelete