Friday 2 June 2023

A history of Didsbury in just 20 objects number 9 ........... Goodbye teachers

The story of Didsbury in just twenty objects, chosen at random and delivered in a paragraph or more.

It was billed as “The People’s Farewell to Didsbury” and marked the end of over 200 years of teaching on the site that looked out on the village green.

Sometime around 1812, the fine house known as the Pump House, became a boarding school.

Later it was turned into a theological college and later still into teacher training college.

And before that was a private residence dating back to about 1744.

The stone cladding to what was originally a brick building was added by the Wesleyans when they took it over in 1841.They also added the wings at either side and that is what generations of people from Didsbury have seen as they pass by.

 And in 1965 Manchester Corporation added a set of teaching buildings and a gym to mark the expansion of the site into a teacher training college.  My brief contribution to its history was as a postgrad student between 1972 to 73.

All of which meant I was not going to miss the farewell Didsbury Picnic in the June of 2014, to mark the closure of the site and its move to Hulme.

Location; Didsbury

Picture; The People's Farewell to Didsbury, June 25th, 2014

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