Every area should have someone who writes about its past.
In the case of Didsbury there have been quite a few. In the mid 19th century there was the Reverand John Booker who wrote A History of the Chapels of Didsbury & Chorlton in 1857.*
It was one of a series he produced on the chapels around Manchester, and all of them have been plundered by historians ever since, because they not only contain accounts of the churches and chapels but are a detailed history of each area.
So along with accounts of the people, there are vivid descriptions of the townships in the mid 19th century which vast amounts of original documents.
Not to be outdone, later in that century Fletcher Moss produced a wealth of material on Didsbury’s history.
But today I want to concentrate on two books written in 1969 and 1976.
Ivor R. Million published A History of Didsbury in response to requests to build on a lecture he gave on Didsbury in the Middle Ages, while Ernest France and T.F.Woodall added to the story with their own A New History of Didsbury.
They come from that period when local historians in south Manchester were writing about the transformation of their villages and townships from rural communities to suburbs of Manchester. In Chorlton there was John Lloyd and in Streford there was Samuel Massey.**
In each case the knowledge of what had been was only just fading from living memory but for those buying into the suburbs of south Manchester the revelation that there had been fields, farms and plenty of historic buildings was fascinating.
Neither of these two books on Didsbury’s past is over friendly. They are packed with detail and original material and both are less an engaging romp through Didsbury’s past and more a carefully researched source of information.
One of their great strengths is that they drew on new information which had become available long after the works of Booker and Moss were published.
Both also took the reader on a journey around the old township which in the case of France and Woodall added a collection of memories from people who had lived through some of the changes.
Since then there have a series of small booklets on aspects of Didsbury's history and a picture book by Ernest France.***
And in 2013 it was our turn, to produce a book, which did not attempt to revisit or repackage what already has been published but to do something slightly different.
Didsbury Through Time chronicle the changes over the last century and a bi,t mixing old images of the place with new photographs and paintings by local artist Peter Topping and concentrates also on the people who lived there.
So along with Bertha there are stories of the great and good and the humble and industrious ranging from Fletcher Moss the historian and politician to William Wrightham cab driver and Mary Garside the cook at the Priory.
Location; Didsbury
Pictures; Didsbury Chapel in 1620 from Booker John, A History of the Chapels of Didsbury & Chorlton, 1857, cover of A History Of Didsbury Ivor R. Million, 1969, Didsbury Through Time, Topping, Peter, Simpson, Andrew
* Booker John, A History of the Chapels of Didsbury & Chorlton, 1857, Chetham Society Manchester
**Lloyd, John, The Township of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, 1972, Massey, Samuel, A History of Stretford, 1976
***many of the booklets have been written by Diana Leitch and are aimed at guides to places of interest. Didsbury in Photographs by Ernest France was published in 1997.
 |
| Didsbury Chapel, 1620 |
It was one of a series he produced on the chapels around Manchester, and all of them have been plundered by historians ever since, because they not only contain accounts of the churches and chapels but are a detailed history of each area.
So along with accounts of the people, there are vivid descriptions of the townships in the mid 19th century which vast amounts of original documents.
Not to be outdone, later in that century Fletcher Moss produced a wealth of material on Didsbury’s history.
But today I want to concentrate on two books written in 1969 and 1976.
 |
| A History of Didsbury, Ivor R. Million, 1969 |
They come from that period when local historians in south Manchester were writing about the transformation of their villages and townships from rural communities to suburbs of Manchester. In Chorlton there was John Lloyd and in Streford there was Samuel Massey.**
In each case the knowledge of what had been was only just fading from living memory but for those buying into the suburbs of south Manchester the revelation that there had been fields, farms and plenty of historic buildings was fascinating.
Neither of these two books on Didsbury’s past is over friendly. They are packed with detail and original material and both are less an engaging romp through Didsbury’s past and more a carefully researched source of information.
One of their great strengths is that they drew on new information which had become available long after the works of Booker and Moss were published.
Both also took the reader on a journey around the old township which in the case of France and Woodall added a collection of memories from people who had lived through some of the changes.
Since then there have a series of small booklets on aspects of Didsbury's history and a picture book by Ernest France.***
And in 2013 it was our turn, to produce a book, which did not attempt to revisit or repackage what already has been published but to do something slightly different.
 |
| Didsbury Through Time, 2013 |
So along with Bertha there are stories of the great and good and the humble and industrious ranging from Fletcher Moss the historian and politician to William Wrightham cab driver and Mary Garside the cook at the Priory.
Location; Didsbury
Pictures; Didsbury Chapel in 1620 from Booker John, A History of the Chapels of Didsbury & Chorlton, 1857, cover of A History Of Didsbury Ivor R. Million, 1969, Didsbury Through Time, Topping, Peter, Simpson, Andrew
* Booker John, A History of the Chapels of Didsbury & Chorlton, 1857, Chetham Society Manchester
**Lloyd, John, The Township of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, 1972, Massey, Samuel, A History of Stretford, 1976
***many of the booklets have been written by Diana Leitch and are aimed at guides to places of interest. Didsbury in Photographs by Ernest France was published in 1997.
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