Where to Live and When to Buy …….. Chorlton or Prestwich 1914?

Now I am not a great fan of that cheap journalism which pits one period against another to make some superficial observations.

St Mary's Prestwich, 1952

But in this case I shall, if only because it arises from an earlier story which picked up on a 1914 newspaper article comparing the relative merits of Chorlton and Sale with Prestwich.

In the course of which the writer referred to Chorlton “as a particularly bright little suburb, [which] has the clean, cheery, holiday aspect of a seaside resort, [and] the favourite suburb of newly married couples, [with] a honeymoon atmosphere”.*

And in direct contrast to Sale which was where newly married couples  went “next when thy get on and prosper in the world”.

All of which may have been the case in 1914, but a full century and a bit later, I wonder if the residents of Chorlton or Sale would recognise themselves in those descriptions.

Or for that matter, just how much of Prestwich still conforms to his view that “the village itself is very plain and uninteresting, but the moment one leaves the main street one plunges into the picturesque and winding lanes, like Rectory Lane, with its magnificent old trees ….. and despite a good deal of building in Prestwich of late years since the tram reached it …. The new building has not impaired the old picturesqueness.

Heaton Cottage Farm, 1945

Ancient farmhouses, smithies, and carters’ inns are still to be found surviving there.  

There are some very delightful old things still to be found on odd corners of Prestwich”.

 So far so good, and as one who chose to first buy on the east of the city after years in student land in south Manchester, I could and still do see the merits of living away from the arc of suburbia which runs from Sale round to Didsbury, taking in Chorlton, Whalley Range, Fallowfield, and Burnage.

But, this was not really the point of the original article which was less about the beauty of Chorlton as opposed to the delightful “lanes and fine trees” of Prestwich, and more about selling houses.

So, having gently pointed out that it cost just 1½d to travel from the city into Chorlton and the same to Prestwich village, the article sweeps all before it arguing the case for owning property.

This was a far more secure investment than “most securities”, but above all as the “period of low house prices is drawing to a close” and with the demand for houses rising, at a time when building costs were also on the way up, the decision to buy “cannot be denied”.

Chorlton Golf course, circa 1930

Concluding with what he took to be the unshakable argument “it is the duty of every man to provide a house for his wife and children”.

But then …….how could it ever be otherwise when the writer was no less than Mr. Robert Clayton, Managing Director, Commercial Estates, Ltd of 176 Deansgate, Manchester? 

A man who “has bought and sold more houses and shop property than any half dozen firms in Lancashire, and is acknowledged by all to be the leading expert in the profession”.

Leaving me just to wonder how a modern estate agent might pitch the relative merits of Chorlton against Prestwich, and refer you to the countless articles about the advantages of life in Chorlton over the rest of the world.

Location; Prestwich and Chorlton

Picture; St Mary's Church, Prestwich, from the clough, 1952, m71008, Prestwich, Heaton Cottage Farm, 1945, m16133, T. Baddeley,courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass Chorlton Golf Club, circa 1930s, courtesy of Jennie Brooks

*Where to Live and when to Buy, The Manchester Guardian, May 10th, 1914