It is of course not a question any serious historian or person in the know would entertain.
But then I am neither, and so I am happy to be silly and frivolous on how I treat the past.
And the upshot has been a series of stories.*
I first came across its presence on the 1910 OS map of Stockport, located in that pocket of land between Great Portwood Street, and the River Goyt.
Today the site is a retail park, and as far away from cattle and other livestock as you can get.
But from 1879 until sometime in the 20th century it did the business and appears in local newspapers, from at least 1824.
Now all this I know because of the help of Bill Sumner, and Barry Collison who went off and dug deep into the pictorial history of the area and into records of the Manchester Evening News and Manchester Mercury.
The area according to one source had been a reservoir with the original cattle market sited on Castle Yard.
And Castle Yard was rich in history, with both the Romans and the Normans showing an interest in its strategic location leading both to add fortifications to the site.
In the 18th century Sir George Warren as lord of the manor levelled the land and built a circular brick turret, which was later demolished when the land was lowered in 1853 for the cattle market.*
And here as a nonresident of Stockport I had got a tad confused, because the Portwwod Road site was clearly not Castle Yard, and so I wasn’t able to square the historic aerial maps from the 1920s and 40s, with the location by the Market Place.
But the solution came in the form of a newspaper clipping from the Manchester Mercury dated, October 4th 1879, which reported that “yesterday the Stockport Cattle and Horse Fair was held for the first time on the new ground at Portwood.
Hitherto the fairs have been held in the Market Place and adjacent narrow street, which became overcrowded, , rendering locomotion difficult and dangerous.
The new fairground adjoins the new borough gasworks, being part of an extensive plot of land, formerly the site of a reservoir”
Later stories in the Manchester Evening News , reported that in the June of 1885, “more than a moderate stock of animals were on offer at the Borough Cattle Market this morning, although many were not in prime condition. Horses found few buyers at the prices asked, but many of these, as well as several young colts, remained on hand. Milch cows were sold at prices varying from £14 to £20, but higher figures were asked for the best stock on sale.
Calves looked weakly, and buyers were slow at making purchases. Neither these nor the cows were all cleared off. Pigs fetched from 24s to 36s. In the ordinary market there was a good supply of fowls, principally Spanish, which bought from 5s.6d to 6s. per couple; ducks 1s. dearer”.*****
Nor was August any better with the Manchester Evening News commenting “Trade was not brisk in the Borough Cattle Market this morning, although there was an appearance of activity ….[and] in the general market dealers complained of business being slow”.
Of course, these are but snap shots, and certainly in earlier years business was better, with the Manchester Mercury reporting the fair “was well supplied with every description. Calving cows were in great demand and sold well ….Good cart horses met with a ready sale, and good hacks fetched high prices.”******
There will be those from Stockport who will have chapter and verse on the story of the cattle market, and I hope they come forward.
I suspect its history goes back much earlier than 1825, while it’s demise will have been sometime in the middle decades of the last century.
Bill Sumner’s aerial maps shows that the Gas Works had expanded across the site, and, Dave from Marpletold me, "I worked for Northwest Gas at the Portwood site from 1975 till the late 80s when the new development took place. The site of the cattle market had up until the early 80s been occupied by Norweb, the electricity supply company. I have always known it was the site of an earlier cattle market as I recall there being a sign on one of the gates into the site identifying that it had been the site of a cattle market"
So there is still lots more to find out, but in the meantime thanks to Bill Sumner, Barry Collison and Dave from Marple.
Location; Stockport
Pictures, Opening of a New Cattle Market, Manchester Courier, October 4th, 1879, courtesy of Barry Collison, the site in 1910, from the OS map of Cheshire, 1906, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/ and the site in 1946, EAW 002115 Britain From Above
*Stockport Cattle Market, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Stockport%20Cattle%20Market
**Stockport A Pictorial History, Roy West, 2009, & 2013
***Britain From Above, https://britainfromabove.org.uk/
****Opening of a New Cattle Market, Manchester Courier, October 4th, 1879
*****Stockport June Fair, Manchester Evening News June, 1885
******Manchester Mercury, 1824
 |
| 1885 |
And the upshot has been a series of stories.*
I first came across its presence on the 1910 OS map of Stockport, located in that pocket of land between Great Portwood Street, and the River Goyt.
Today the site is a retail park, and as far away from cattle and other livestock as you can get.
 |
| 1910 |
Now all this I know because of the help of Bill Sumner, and Barry Collison who went off and dug deep into the pictorial history of the area and into records of the Manchester Evening News and Manchester Mercury.
The area according to one source had been a reservoir with the original cattle market sited on Castle Yard.
And Castle Yard was rich in history, with both the Romans and the Normans showing an interest in its strategic location leading both to add fortifications to the site.
In the 18th century Sir George Warren as lord of the manor levelled the land and built a circular brick turret, which was later demolished when the land was lowered in 1853 for the cattle market.*
And here as a nonresident of Stockport I had got a tad confused, because the Portwwod Road site was clearly not Castle Yard, and so I wasn’t able to square the historic aerial maps from the 1920s and 40s, with the location by the Market Place.
But the solution came in the form of a newspaper clipping from the Manchester Mercury dated, October 4th 1879, which reported that “yesterday the Stockport Cattle and Horse Fair was held for the first time on the new ground at Portwood.
Hitherto the fairs have been held in the Market Place and adjacent narrow street, which became overcrowded, , rendering locomotion difficult and dangerous.
The new fairground adjoins the new borough gasworks, being part of an extensive plot of land, formerly the site of a reservoir”
Later stories in the Manchester Evening News , reported that in the June of 1885, “more than a moderate stock of animals were on offer at the Borough Cattle Market this morning, although many were not in prime condition. Horses found few buyers at the prices asked, but many of these, as well as several young colts, remained on hand. Milch cows were sold at prices varying from £14 to £20, but higher figures were asked for the best stock on sale.
Calves looked weakly, and buyers were slow at making purchases. Neither these nor the cows were all cleared off. Pigs fetched from 24s to 36s. In the ordinary market there was a good supply of fowls, principally Spanish, which bought from 5s.6d to 6s. per couple; ducks 1s. dearer”.*****
Nor was August any better with the Manchester Evening News commenting “Trade was not brisk in the Borough Cattle Market this morning, although there was an appearance of activity ….[and] in the general market dealers complained of business being slow”.
Of course, these are but snap shots, and certainly in earlier years business was better, with the Manchester Mercury reporting the fair “was well supplied with every description. Calving cows were in great demand and sold well ….Good cart horses met with a ready sale, and good hacks fetched high prices.”******
 |
| 1946 |
I suspect its history goes back much earlier than 1825, while it’s demise will have been sometime in the middle decades of the last century.
Bill Sumner’s aerial maps shows that the Gas Works had expanded across the site, and, Dave from Marpletold me, "I worked for Northwest Gas at the Portwood site from 1975 till the late 80s when the new development took place. The site of the cattle market had up until the early 80s been occupied by Norweb, the electricity supply company. I have always known it was the site of an earlier cattle market as I recall there being a sign on one of the gates into the site identifying that it had been the site of a cattle market"
So there is still lots more to find out, but in the meantime thanks to Bill Sumner, Barry Collison and Dave from Marple.
Location; Stockport
Pictures, Opening of a New Cattle Market, Manchester Courier, October 4th, 1879, courtesy of Barry Collison, the site in 1910, from the OS map of Cheshire, 1906, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/ and the site in 1946, EAW 002115 Britain From Above
*Stockport Cattle Market, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Stockport%20Cattle%20Market
**Stockport A Pictorial History, Roy West, 2009, & 2013
***Britain From Above, https://britainfromabove.org.uk/
****Opening of a New Cattle Market, Manchester Courier, October 4th, 1879
*****Stockport June Fair, Manchester Evening News June, 1885
******Manchester Mercury, 1824
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