Parrs Wood is one of those places which looks cluttered.
It starts as the bus pulls from under the railway bridge and you get that full on mix of traffic lights and road signs, the overpowering leisure complex and the sheer volume of traffic.
And yes this is one of those slow reflective and nostalgic outbursts.
I am too young to have known what the spot was like before the coming of the Kingsway but do have memories of that little bit of green with its fascinating stone pillars and views beyond to the old high school.
Of course those much older than me will view my comments with some feint amusement given that their memories may just stretch to a time when the Kingsway was only just advancing south from town and Parrs Wood proper was still enclosed by a wall.
That wall is visible on many of the old images dating back to the early years of the last century, and I think it will be the arrival of the Kingsway that sliced through that bit of the estate.
And that may well give us the date for the creation of that green which today stands as an isolated little island surrounded by the flow of traffic.
Once I guess it might well have been a pleasant place to sit on a quiet Sunday morning watching the odd Corporation bus and noting the rumble of a train into the station.
Not so now, and I doubt that many will give it much thought as they thunder past on the Kingsway or arrive along Wilmslow Road heading for the supermarket or the cinema.
This may be progress and I may be seeing the spot through rose tinted glasses but I rather think not.
At which point I will pause and wait for the onrush of comments from those who put me right on the history of the green to those who think I am just wallowing in so much nostalgic tosh.
That said I bet on a warm summers day sometime around 1900 this would have been a fine spot to stop and admire the view.
Sadly I rather think the same can not be said for the same spot today, but then I am as guilty as many, often preferring the short trip from Chorlton to the cinema rather than wandering off into town.
So I shall put my righteous indignation at what has befallen this bit of Didsbury along with that used cinema ticket in the bin.
Pictures; the green at Parrs Wood, 2015, from the collection of Liz Scantlebury* and Parrs Wood from Wilmslow Road, 1909, m 78644, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
* Liz Scantlebury, http://www.lizscantlebury.com/
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| Parrs Wood 2015 |
And yes this is one of those slow reflective and nostalgic outbursts.
I am too young to have known what the spot was like before the coming of the Kingsway but do have memories of that little bit of green with its fascinating stone pillars and views beyond to the old high school.
Of course those much older than me will view my comments with some feint amusement given that their memories may just stretch to a time when the Kingsway was only just advancing south from town and Parrs Wood proper was still enclosed by a wall.
That wall is visible on many of the old images dating back to the early years of the last century, and I think it will be the arrival of the Kingsway that sliced through that bit of the estate.
.jpg) |
| Parrs Wood, 1909 |
Once I guess it might well have been a pleasant place to sit on a quiet Sunday morning watching the odd Corporation bus and noting the rumble of a train into the station.
Not so now, and I doubt that many will give it much thought as they thunder past on the Kingsway or arrive along Wilmslow Road heading for the supermarket or the cinema.
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| A wall and a railway bridge, 1909 |
That said I bet on a warm summers day sometime around 1900 this would have been a fine spot to stop and admire the view.
So I shall put my righteous indignation at what has befallen this bit of Didsbury along with that used cinema ticket in the bin.
Pictures; the green at Parrs Wood, 2015, from the collection of Liz Scantlebury* and Parrs Wood from Wilmslow Road, 1909, m 78644, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
* Liz Scantlebury, http://www.lizscantlebury.com/
Some great photos of the area here (http://www.levyboy.com/hell_is_a_city.htm) from 1959 when it was used in the Manchester based film Hell is a City.
ReplyDeleteSome great photos of the area here (http://www.levyboy.com/hell_is_a_city.htm) from 1959 when it was used in the Manchester based film Hell is a City.
ReplyDeleteSome great photos of the area here (http://www.levyboy.com/hell_is_a_city.htm) from 1959 when it was used in the Manchester based film Hell is a City.
ReplyDeleteSome great photos of the area here (http://www.levyboy.com/hell_is_a_city.htm) from 1959 when it was used in the Manchester based film Hell is a City.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/epw031063
ReplyDeleteLink above says the green was part of Parrswood house estate then separated once Kingsway built. Made into a formal garden by the then bus corporation opposite ( where Tescos is now)
Yes the small park was laid out in the 192os under the heading Gateway to the city, paid and made by Manchester Corporation.
Delete