It started with a conversation with my friend Barbarella about the lost shops of Didsbury, and in particular, the stretch from M&S to the Santander Bank.
I casually mentioned the photo shop close to the bank and then doubt set in as to whether it had been there back in the 1970s, when I waited for a bus, or indeed if it was still there a few decades later.
Now, I know there is one there today, but thought it might have moved from where I remembered it.
So as you do I checked out the site on street google and while there is a photo shop, there is no bus stop, and there hangs my dilemma, because for years I stood at that bus stop and would often give up on the bus and go in and buy some film.
These were the decades when I still used smelly film, developing them and printing them at home, along with a sideline in colour slides, which with trial and error led me to prefer Agfar film.
But as so often happens the absence of that bus stop led me to question my memory.
And then Barbarella restored my memory with “Now it’s opposite the Coop and the next one just passed Saints and Scholars”, which was confirmed almost immediately afterwards when I came across another picture from 1967.
There was the bus stop, and more importantly there was the camera shop, complete with Agfa sign.
I did then go looking at the bus routes on the destination board, which even I thought points to me really needing to get out more, but if you want to give the full flavor of Didsbury in the 1960s, you must dig deep.
That said my guide to bus routes for 1969, shows that none of the three services were running by then, which make me wonder if there was a second bus stop with more services and which of the three went into town, and which headed towards Barlow Moor.
Someone will know, and they may also be prompted to share their memories, sparked perhaps by the picture of Wilmslow Road in 1969.
We shall see.
Location; Didsbury
Picture; Wilmslow Road, 1967, "Courtesy of Manchester Archives+ Town Hall Photographers' Collection", https://www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterarchiveplus/albums/72157684413651581?fbclid=IwAR35NR9v6lzJfkiSsHgHdQyL2CCuQUHuCuVr8xnd403q534MNgY5g1nAZfY
Now, I know there is one there today, but thought it might have moved from where I remembered it.
So as you do I checked out the site on street google and while there is a photo shop, there is no bus stop, and there hangs my dilemma, because for years I stood at that bus stop and would often give up on the bus and go in and buy some film.
These were the decades when I still used smelly film, developing them and printing them at home, along with a sideline in colour slides, which with trial and error led me to prefer Agfar film.
But as so often happens the absence of that bus stop led me to question my memory.
There was the bus stop, and more importantly there was the camera shop, complete with Agfa sign.
I did then go looking at the bus routes on the destination board, which even I thought points to me really needing to get out more, but if you want to give the full flavor of Didsbury in the 1960s, you must dig deep.
Someone will know, and they may also be prompted to share their memories, sparked perhaps by the picture of Wilmslow Road in 1969.
We shall see.
Location; Didsbury
Picture; Wilmslow Road, 1967, "Courtesy of Manchester Archives+ Town Hall Photographers' Collection", https://www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterarchiveplus/albums/72157684413651581?fbclid=IwAR35NR9v6lzJfkiSsHgHdQyL2CCuQUHuCuVr8xnd403q534MNgY5g1nAZfY
The bus stop was moved around the time Peacocks funeral services and Griffiths DIY closed and we got Boots and M &S. Due to Delivery trucks and a Bus Stop don't go well together. hi
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures it's surprising how you forget how things used to be
ReplyDeleteThose buses all went along Wilmslow Road into Manchester. 31 from Bramhall others from Gatley. No 16 turned into Barlow Moor Road
ReplyDelete16 went from Stockport to ??Chorlton via Barlow Moor Rd. 31 as said was a service from Bramhall to town (I think).
ReplyDelete