Now the thing with stories about old houses, is that they draw you in and can take you off in all sorts of directions.
And so it was with Binswood which is on Wilmlsow Road in Didsbury.
It started with just a picture of “Binswood Red Cross Old People’s Home", sent to me by my old friend David Harrop and given that he is particularly interested in the Red Cross hospitals from the Great War, I made the assumption that the house had served as a place to care for wounded servicemen.
A search in the Red Cross book of war time hospitals published in 1916 didn’t show Binswood, but then the charity continued to acquire properties right up to the end of the war.
And it may be that it will turn up as a hospital, but I think not.
In 1918 it appears in an article in the Manchester Guardian which includes a list of subscribers to the Christmas Comforts Fund and there at Binswood Didsbury was a W. Ruttenau who sent in £3. 3s.
And the property looks still to be a private residence in 1949 when it came on the market advertised by J.H. Norris & Son as “one of the finest large RESIDENCES, situate Binswood, corner of Fog Lane; large accommodation includes three fine entertaining rooms, ten bedrooms, billiards room, etc; 6,679 sq yards; vacant possession”.*
This may well have been when the property was bought by the Red Cross. A decade later there is a photograph of the house with a notice board announcing that it belongs to them and in 1967 The Guardian carried an “Appeal for a lift for the elderly”.
“The British Red Cross Society (East Lancashire branch) is appealing for contributions towards the sum of £7,000 needed to install a lift and make other improvements at Binswood, 611 Wilmlsow Road, Didsbury, Manchester, a short-stay home for the elderly”.**
Since then the house has returned to residential use and sometime in 2017 was redeveloped, with the addition of a new block which has been given the name of “The Fairfax” and sits beside “Binswood Hall”.
And as you do I went looking for the property and found that the new block offers 12 energy efficient executive apartments on of which one was on the market for £399,950.***
That just leaves me to track back the history of Binswood. I know who was living there in the early 20th century and that it appears on the OS map of Didsbury in 1894.
So a trawl of the rate books and directories will establish when it was built and those directories may also reveal when it ceased being a Red Cross Home.
We shall see.
Location; Didsbury
Pictures; Binswood, date unknown, from the collection of David Harrop, and in 1959, J.F. Harris, m42289, & in 1967, W. Kay, m41900, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
*Sales By Private Contract; Manchester Guardian, July 15, 1949
** Appeal for a lift for the elderly, the Guardian September 5, 1967
*** 2 bedroom apartments for sale, The Fiarfax, 611a, Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, rightmove, http://www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-64063198.html
It started with just a picture of “Binswood Red Cross Old People’s Home", sent to me by my old friend David Harrop and given that he is particularly interested in the Red Cross hospitals from the Great War, I made the assumption that the house had served as a place to care for wounded servicemen.
A search in the Red Cross book of war time hospitals published in 1916 didn’t show Binswood, but then the charity continued to acquire properties right up to the end of the war.
In 1918 it appears in an article in the Manchester Guardian which includes a list of subscribers to the Christmas Comforts Fund and there at Binswood Didsbury was a W. Ruttenau who sent in £3. 3s.
And the property looks still to be a private residence in 1949 when it came on the market advertised by J.H. Norris & Son as “one of the finest large RESIDENCES, situate Binswood, corner of Fog Lane; large accommodation includes three fine entertaining rooms, ten bedrooms, billiards room, etc; 6,679 sq yards; vacant possession”.*
This may well have been when the property was bought by the Red Cross. A decade later there is a photograph of the house with a notice board announcing that it belongs to them and in 1967 The Guardian carried an “Appeal for a lift for the elderly”.
“The British Red Cross Society (East Lancashire branch) is appealing for contributions towards the sum of £7,000 needed to install a lift and make other improvements at Binswood, 611 Wilmlsow Road, Didsbury, Manchester, a short-stay home for the elderly”.**
And as you do I went looking for the property and found that the new block offers 12 energy efficient executive apartments on of which one was on the market for £399,950.***
That just leaves me to track back the history of Binswood. I know who was living there in the early 20th century and that it appears on the OS map of Didsbury in 1894.
So a trawl of the rate books and directories will establish when it was built and those directories may also reveal when it ceased being a Red Cross Home.
We shall see.
Location; Didsbury
Pictures; Binswood, date unknown, from the collection of David Harrop, and in 1959, J.F. Harris, m42289, & in 1967, W. Kay, m41900, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
*Sales By Private Contract; Manchester Guardian, July 15, 1949
** Appeal for a lift for the elderly, the Guardian September 5, 1967
*** 2 bedroom apartments for sale, The Fiarfax, 611a, Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, rightmove, http://www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-64063198.html
I stayed at Binswood during 1991/2 during a secondment from London Underground to work with the operations management of Metrolink, Manchester's new Tram Network. The building was owned by the British Red Cross but care services for the elderly had been ended just before I was offered to reside there during my stay. I believe it remained 'non operational' until it was sold as referred to in your article.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful house with great memories for me and my family.
My nana worked in the kitchens there before she sadly passed away, I have great memories of binswood
DeleteDoes anyone have pictures or news or stories
DeleteHi Andrew, my grandma lived in the house working for the Red Cross during the late 80s and 90's. Do you have any other information on the house?
ReplyDeleteSadly know ....have you tried the Red Cross web site which has details of all those who served across the country.
DeleteWho was your grandma? Did she knoe mine??
DeleteHi this is rob, my nana was called Dorothy needham, she worked there as a cook in the 80’s and 90’s
DeleteWhat was your grandmas name?
DeleteAny news?
DeleteNo news my grandmother ever worked there
Delete👍
DeleteI’m currently working in a nursing home where a resident I look after was a care assistant there in 1982 and left in 1994 she was mentioning some lovely stories about her time working there and knew a Dorothy Needham. She is 88 years of age and it’s amazing to hear such lovely stories of how she enjoyed doing her job in them days.
ReplyDeleteThat’s amazing, someone knew my nana
ReplyDeleteWhat was her name?
ReplyDeleteI now cannot be precise about the years, but it would have been around 1950-51-52when I attended the Binnswood British Red Cross nursing home as a BRC Cadet. I had an aunt who was had been a BRC nurse during WW2 and she continued as a BRC nurse for several years after the war ended. When I joined the BRC our meetings were held above a row of shops on Dickensian Road, which as I recall were close to Victoria Park. Next to or very near by was a fabulous bike shop where I used to stare through the window at bikes well beyond the reach of my parents.
ReplyDeleteWhen I attended Binnswood, my duties were mainly serving meals, making pots of tea (coffee was a posh cuppa un those days!) and collecting and washing the crockery and cutlery. There was one quite young man, perhaps late 30s, who has remained in my memories ever since. He was crippled with arthritis, wheelchair bound and could barely lift his arms. What I remember about him particularly was he had perfected the technique of shaving himself with a Gillette type ‘safety’ razor on the end of a metal rod.
It was at Binnswood, probably around the age of 10 or 11, where I first found what developed into my life long love and eventually my passion for classical music. In the large lounge there was a radiogramme (remember those?) and a collection of records - 78 rpm in those days. The residents would sometimes ask me to switch on the radio or to play a record and I became hooked!
My visits to Binnswood eventually came to an end, as did my BRC membership, when I left school to start on my engineering apprenticeship, night school, day release and all that entailed.
Another local venue we sometimes attended as first aid providers was the University sports grounds which I think may have been on Slade Lane?
I never got that posh bike, a Hitchens Vibrant Triangle frame?
Gosh thank you for this.
Delete