Now here is an image of Chorlton which will nudge some memories.
We are on that twisty path which leads off from Brookburn Road, following the line of the Brook.
I have walked it countless times over the years, but only always remember it as a tree lined route into the heart of the meadows.
As such on a wet February day with the light fading fast it can be a magical place, which is no less so in high summer when the dense vegetation makes it a place where you can feel quite alone.
Originally the road had been constructed to give access to the sewage plant which was built and enlarged from the 1870s.
Before that the area which we now call the Meadows, and which was part of the flood plain for the Mersey had been farmed as meadowland, which is a type of farming dating back to the 17th century and involves careful flooding of the land at intervals, for the production of early grass to feed the cattle.
In the 1930s, bits were used for tipping rubbish and more recently it has become part of the Mersey Valley, whose wardens dramatically altered the landscape with whole planting of trees.
So, this picture is a revelation of how it once looked. The caption says, “Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Brookburn Road, Withington Sewage Works, Boy Scouts Hut, Entrance to Manchester Corporation (Rivers' Dept), Withington Sewage Works from Brookburn Road, Boy Scouts Hut in middle distance”.
Leaving me just to say, ......... step forward those who remember it as such.
Location; Chorlton
Picture; Entrance to Manchester Corporation (Rivers' Dept), Withington Sewage Works from Brookburn Road, Boy Scouts Hut in middle distance, 1958, R.E. Stanley, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
I have walked it countless times over the years, but only always remember it as a tree lined route into the heart of the meadows.
As such on a wet February day with the light fading fast it can be a magical place, which is no less so in high summer when the dense vegetation makes it a place where you can feel quite alone.
Originally the road had been constructed to give access to the sewage plant which was built and enlarged from the 1870s.
In the 1930s, bits were used for tipping rubbish and more recently it has become part of the Mersey Valley, whose wardens dramatically altered the landscape with whole planting of trees.
So, this picture is a revelation of how it once looked. The caption says, “Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Brookburn Road, Withington Sewage Works, Boy Scouts Hut, Entrance to Manchester Corporation (Rivers' Dept), Withington Sewage Works from Brookburn Road, Boy Scouts Hut in middle distance”.
Leaving me just to say, ......... step forward those who remember it as such.
Location; Chorlton
Picture; Entrance to Manchester Corporation (Rivers' Dept), Withington Sewage Works from Brookburn Road, Boy Scouts Hut in middle distance, 1958, R.E. Stanley, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
Wow, what a find. Thank you for posting these photos. They are just as I remember them, completely open and no trees as there are now. I went looking for the site in 2001 and it was so overgrown even then.
ReplyDeleteThose huts were the home of the 2nd Chorlton Scouts and Cubs. I went there from being very young (about 8 - 1962) until about 14.
The hut by the road was the leader's hut. It was a real cosy place and the Skipper's name was Alan (I can't recall his surname at the moment). The cub leader was Bill Belcher who lived on Albermarle Road.
The hut had two canoes hung in the ceiling and we used them in a little brook in the field off to the left of the photo.
The long hut to the right was the games and store room for camping equipment.
Tony O'Brien
Thank you Tony.
DeleteI used to go to Cubs there with a few friends from St Johns, in c1966. It was run by a guy called Stu aided by his girlfriend Yvette from the Guides. All we did was play stuff like British Bulldog, always at risk of losing an eye on the rows of coathooks lining the walls of the long shed! A few years later we found one one of the canoes abandoned in the adjacent brook, hauled it out of the deep channel and sailed it on a large ditch on the meadows to the right.
ReplyDeleteWonderful memories
DeleteThank you Andrew! So that's the beginning of the 'cobbled road' down to the now carpark at the beginning of the woods? Lovely to read memories of the Scouts and Cubs using those buildings. I'm always amazed at how quickly landscapes change.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you
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