Head of Alexander ..... A History of the World in 100 Objects ......Empire Builders ... today on the wireless

Now here is a chance to listen to a repeat of that excellent series, A History of the World in 100 Objects Empire Builders (300 BC - AD 10) Episode 1 of 5*

It is  the second part of Neil MacGregor's global history told through objects from the British Museum. 

"This week Neil is exploring the lives and methods of powerful rulers around the world 2000 years ago, asking what enduring qualities are needed for the perfect projection of power.

Neil begins by telling the story of Alexander the Great through a small silver coin, one that was made years after his death but that portrays an idealised image of the great leader as a vigorous young man. 

Neil then considers how the great Indian ruler Ashoka turned his back on violence and plunder to promote the ethical codes inspired by Buddhism. 

Neil tells the life story of Ashoka through a remaining fragment of one of his great pillar edicts and considers his legacy in the Indian sub-continent today. 

The third object in today's omnibus is one of the best known in the British Museum, the Rosetta Stone. Neil takes us to the Egypt of Ptolemy V and describes the astonishing contest that led to the most famous bits of deciphering in history - the cracking of the hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone. 

An exquisite lacquer wine cup takes Neil to Han Dynasty China in the fourth programme and the omnibus concludes with the 2000 year old head of one of the world's most notorious rulers - Caesar Augustus.

Contributors include the economist Amartya Sen, the politician Boris Johnson, political commentator Andrew Marr and the writer Ahdaf Soueif.

Producers: Anthony Denselow and Paul Kobrak".

Pictures; Silver coin, 305-281 BC, Lampsakos (modern Turkey) , and the emperor Augustus, Rome, 2008, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Head of Alexander; https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sbryz

In St Peter's Square in the summer of 1905

This much I know.  This is St Peters Square in Stockport sometime around the summer of 1905.

In the distance lurking just to the left of the horse drawn tram is “the bronze statue of Richard Cobden who was the MP for Stockport from 1841-47. 

It stands on a pedestal of Aberdeen granite and was unveiled on Saturday November 27th 1883 by Miss Cobden, daughter of the statesmen.”*

And that is about the extent of my knowledge.

I know that in the square there was also the New Theatre and Opera House which was erected in 1888 and could seat 2,220 people and that the Grand Theatre of Varieties was opened in September 1901.

But which of the two is featured to the right of the picture I am hoping someone will tell me.

That said I doubt that there is anyone who will recognise the place as it was then, but gain I bet there some vivid memories of its transformation.

*Kelly’s Directory of Cheshire, 1902

Picture; St Peter’s Square, Stockport from the series Town & City, by Tuck & Sons, 1905 courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/ 

The Knitting years .... number 11 ..........changing fashions

The new series on the history of what we wore, Knitting Patterns, 1930-1970

And over the next few days I am being indulgent and wandering over the decades with patterns that reflect changing fashions ...... or not.


Location; pretty much everywhere

Picture; knitting patterns, 1930-1970 from the collection of Jillian Goldsmith

In celebration of A. Harold Clarke …….. photographer of Chorlton

This is a picture postcard of the old chapel which predated the parish church on the green, and was taken from an original print which appeared in John Booker’s account of the chapels of Didsbury and Chorlton, published in 1857.*

But for once the story is not about the picture postcard but A. Harold Clarke who produced the card along with many others during the 1920s and 30s.

He is someone who I have written about on several occasions on the blog and who was also the subject of a biography by his grandson Tony Goulding.**

Mr. Clarke’s pictures of Chorlton pop up all the time and remain a wonderful insight into what the township was like in the decades after the Great War.

The real prize of course would be to find the catalogue of all Mr. Clarke’s postcards.

In the meantime I will just point out that someone got the date wrong for when the chapel was demolished, which was not 1760 but 1799.

But we can't blame Mr. Clarke for that.

Location; Chorlton-cum-Hardy

Picture; Former Parish Church, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, 16th century, A.H.C, 662, from the collection of Tony Goulding, donated by Linda Rigby

*A History of the Ancient Chapels of  Didsbury and Chorlton, The Rev, John Booker, 1857

** Harold Clarke, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=harold+clarke

Those celebrity pictures from the 1900s

I am back with those celebrity picture cards from the first decade of the last century.

They covered everybody from actors and music hall stars to the up and coming young stage personalities.

Many of them were household names but have now slid into obscurity but with a bit of research something of their lives and careers are there to see again.

A few continued their careers into films but most settled back into the shadows.

Maude Darrell was born in 1883 and died aged 27 in 1910.

I rather think she would have been 25 when she posed for the photograph which manages to capture something special of this young woman.

The same is also true of the picture by Lizzie Caswall Smith of Miss Fyfe Alexander.

Now I have yet to find out anything about the actress but I do know that Lizzie Caswall Smith had her own studios on Oxford Street, twice exhibited at the Royal Photographic Society and produced some outstanding portraits of notable Edwardian's.

Now that makes her an interesting person to find out more about.

Pictures; from the series CELEBRITIES OF THE STAGE, by Tuck and Sons, 1902-5, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/

Hilda Hanbury, the unknown four and postcards from Celebrities of the stage 1902-3

The troupe from the Toreador, 1903

It is odd just where the search for a story will take you.

I have been crawling over the collection of old picture postcards marketed by Tuck and Sons.*

In the past it has been the photographs of our cities, towns and villages that have drawn me in.

Hilda Hanbury aged 26

But today I came across a collection devoted to the music hall artists and actors from the back end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries.

Most have long since faded into the shadows and have left little trace.

So despite my efforts I have yet to discover anything about the four from the “Toreador” who were on a picture card sent to Miss M Pinnock in Whitby in 1904.

There will of course be someone out there who is an expert on the troupe and will be in touch but at present they are a mystery.

Not so  Hilda Hanbury.  She has left a trail I can follow.

Her  sister was Lilly Hanbury a popular actress who made her debut in musicals but went on to perform Ibsen and Shakespeare before dying at just 34 in child birth in 1908.

Hilda was also an actress but had married a man of independent means in 1905 and settled down to a comfortable life in Mayfair in a 16 roomed property looked after by nine servants.  Her son became a theatre agent and her grand children and great grandchildren also went on the stage and into films.**

Hilda in 1902

Now I could have continued the story with a quick look at some of those actors, but they are well known enough to be easily found.

Instead I am off searching for Suzanne Sheldon, Constance Collier and Gertrude Elliot, and there is no knowing what I might turn up or how that will lead me off into stories on the theatre and music halls of late 19th and early 20th centuries.

We shall see.

Pictures; “From the Toreador” part of the set Celebrities of the stage, 1903, and Hilda Hanbury, Celebrities of the stage, actress, 1902, issued by Tuck & Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/

*Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/

**The Fox family

The Knitting years .... number 10 ..........changing fashions

The new series on the history of what we wore, Knitting Patterns, 1930-1970

And over the next few days I am being indulgent and wandering over the decades with patterns that reflect changing fashions ...... or not.


Location; pretty much everywhere

Picture; knitting patterns, 1930-1970 from the collection of Jillian Goldsmith

Beware a challenge ...... the story behind the Fatal Wedding

I am on a quest to find the most boring picture post card ever seen, bought, or sent.

I can’t claim this was an original idea.  It came from my friend Jean who laid down the challenge.

“In the 70's when I was working in the National Postal Museum we did an exhibition of postcards.

As part of this, we did a small display which we called "Boring Postcards."

One I recall was the public lavatories at Huddersfield which to add to the gloom was not even in colour.

But it proved to be the most-looked at part of the Exhibition! “

So off I began with the collection of Tuck and Sons and the site, Tuck DB which offers 133,745 postcards, 29,023 sets and 309,326 uploaded pictures.*

Now this is a site I have plundered over the last year because of the sheer number and variety of images covering the late 19th and a big chunk of the 20th century and it has given up plenty of fascinating stories.**

And sure enough with just a little effort I came across this card from the series The Fatal Wedding from the Princess’s Theatre, London.

I thought I had struck gold and while it does not rival the public lavatories at Huddersfield it seemed a close contender.

But then as you do I went in search of Mr Bert Coote’s big production of the Fatal Wedding and discovered a story.

The Fatal Wedding was written by Theodore Kremer who was born around 1871 and died in 1923.  He wrote a number of melodramas including The Slaves of the Orient, The Great Automobile Mystery and Bertha the Sewing Machine Girl which focused on a sweatshop worker who is victimised by her father’s murderer.***

The Fatal Wedding falls into the same category mixing drama, danger and forbidden love.  In this case Cora Williams destroys the happy marriage of Howard and Mabel Wilson and drives them to divorce. Howard gets custody of their children Jessie and Frankie but Mabel winds up abducting them.

Five years later Cora discovers Mabel living in poverty with the children. She tries to poison Mabel and frame Jessie on a charge of theft but is unsuccessful. Howard and Mabel eventually reconcile and live with their children.****

It was first staged in New York in 1902, before going to London and went on to tour Australia where in 1911 it became a film under the same name.  Like its stage predecessor it proved very popular but sadly is one of those lost films.

Nor is that quite all. For the Princess’s Theatre, London also has a history.

It was on Oxford Street and opened in 1828 as the Queen’s Bazaar before adopting the name the Princess’s Theatre in 1836.

Over the next seventy years it specialized in operas, light entertainment and pantomimes and for a while staged Shakespeare productions by Charles Kean before concentrating on melodramas.

And it was our play, the Fatal Wedding which was the last ever to be acted out on its stage.
In 1902 it closed and became a warehouse before being demolished and replaced by a Woolworth store and has since been home to a number of big retail chains.

All of which leaves me to concede defeat with the most boring postcard, so I leave it open to suggestions and retire from the competition leaving Jean at present the winner.








Picture; from the series, “The Fatal Weeding from the Princess’s Theatre, London, Tuck & Sons Ltd, 1902, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/



*Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/

**Raphael Tuck and Sons Ltd, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Raphael%20Tuck%20and%20Sons%20Ltd

*** Daniel S. Burt, The Chronology of American Literature: America's Literary Achievements from the Colonial Era to Modern Times, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004 p314 quoted in Theodore Kremer, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Kremer

**** The Fatal Wedding, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fatal_Wedding

Harriet Tubman .... American abolitionist and political activist ... on the wireless today

Now this is one I both enjoyed and advanced my knowledge.

It comes in a series which also includes a look at Neanderthals, and The History of Football.

Leaving me just to quote the sleeve notes.

"We are heading down to the Underground Railroad to discover the incredible life of American hero and abolitionist Harriet Tubman. 

From a torturous childhood to surgery without anaesthetic, get ready to understand true bravery as we uncover the events which made Harriet Tubman a phenomenal force for change. 

Greg Jenner is joined by comedian, actor and writer Desiree Burch and historian Dr Michell Chresfield from the University of Birmingham. It’s history for people who don’t like history!

This episode was produced by Dan Morelle, scripted by Greg Jenner and researched by Emma Nagouse".

Location; Radio 4

Picture; Harriet Tubman, 1868 and 1869, Benjamin F. Powelson, Auburn, NY, this is in the public domain because it was published in the U.S. before 1925, and 1895, Horatio Seymour Squyer, 1848 December 18th 1905, National Portrait Gallery 

*Your Dead To Me, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07n8pqw

Looking for F. Garner ………. winner of the 1925 Winter Bogey ……. at Chorlton Golf Club

Now, here is a little bit of history which has yet to come out of the shadows.

Yesterday my old friend David Harrop took possession of a box of old silverware, and there at the bottom was this.

It is silver plated and offers up a story.

That said the story is stubbornly unwilling to be written.

A preliminary search has drawn a blank on F. Garner, although I have begun to make enquiries at the Golf Club.

And when things settle I will try the local newspaper collections at the Ref to see if there is a reference to the competition, and F. Garner, and perhaps we will strike lucky with a photograph.

Until then, we just have the prize, leaving me to thank David for sharing it with us.

Location; Chorlton-cum-Hardy

Picture; F. Garner’s prize, 1925, from the collection of David Harrop

News from that South African War, circa 1901

The Boer War which lasted from 1899 to 1902 has largely been eclipsed by the Great War.

It sits tucked away with all those smaller colonial campaigns the British army fought across the world after the Crimean War and before the two great world wars of the 20th century.

And yet in its time it was a major event, dividing world opinion, raising in particular questions about the treatment of civilians and accounting for around 75,000 deaths of which between 20,000 and 28,000 were Boer civilians.

And the postcard manufactures were not slow about getting involved.

Raphael Tuck & Sons produced a range of cards covering all aspects of the war from photographs of British soldiers, the Boer commanders and a series of humorous ones.

This comes from a collection of six by the artist L Thackery which alternated between jingoism and a more sober reflection on experiences of British servicemen.

And of course there is a direct connection with Manchester.

In St Ann's Square we have the memorial to the men who took part.







Picture, Memorial St Ann's Square, 2014, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and With the flag to Pretoria, from the series, The Boer War, issued by Tuck & Sons, circa 1901, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/

The Knitting years .... number 9 ..........changing fashions

The new series on the history of what we wore, Knitting Patterns, 1930-1970

And over the next few days I am being indulgent and wandering over the decades with patterns that reflect changing fashions ...... or not.

Location; pretty much everywhere

Picture; knitting patterns, 1930-1970 from the collection of Jillian Goldsmith

Africa United in Manchester .... on the wireless today

Now here is one to listen to.

"Shortly after the end of World War II, a conference was held in Manchester which helped redefine racial equality, identity, and notions of independence within British colonies around the world.

At the time, soldiers were still being de-mobbed, Prisoners of War were returning from the Far East and a new Labour Government was promising to rebuild Britain. But in October 1945, 200 delegates from across Africa, the Caribbean, the United States and Britain came together in the modest surroundings of Chorlton-On-Medlock Town Hall on Grosvenor Street, just south of Manchester city centre.

A week of debates included how African and Caribbean nations could best achieve independence from their colonial masters, what was to be done about enforced child labour and poor wages on the sugar-cane plantations in the Caribbean, and how to deal with the rising mixed race population in Cardiff.

Taking part were some of the most influential black thinkers of the time, including W E B Du Bois, affectionately known as the father of Pan-Africanism and among the delegates were three men who would go onto lead their respective countries to independence - Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana), Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya) and Hastings Banda (Malawi).

'Reading the transcripts of the debates, it’s clear that it was a galvanising event', says Rosemary Laryea. 'There are huge similarities between the demands of the delegates in 1945 and the rallying cries of the current global Black Lives Matter movement.'

Presenter: Rosemary Laryea

Producers: Rosemary Laryea and David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4"

Location; Chorlton on Medlock

Picture; Chorlton on Medlock Town Hall, 1972, m52112, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*Africa United in Manchester, Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000ptb5

Forgotten Chorlton ................. nu 2 on Edge Lane sometime in the early 20th century

Now what do you say about a picture of Edge Lane sometime in the early 20th century?

I suppose the obvious one is the lack of traffic, the curiosity shown by passers by at what the photographer was doing and just maybe the woman on the bike.

What always fascinates me is the way that in a few short years people became so familiar with pictures and cameras that the appearance of a commercial photographer would not create a stir.

But back when this one was taken pretty much everyone on the lane stopped to stare.

All except the woman on the bike who perhaps had seen it all before or was on an important errand which could not be interrupted by idle curiosity.

I would love to know which it was but that will never happen so instead I shall just thank Mark Fynn who gave me permission to reproduce the image from his excellent site.*

Location; Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester

Picture; Edge Lane circa 1900s, courtesy of Mark Fynn

*Mark Fynn, http://www.markfynn.com

“I am often drawn to the Quays” ………..

We will all have our own favourite  picture of the Quays, and most of mine fall into that category of “water and iconic buildings”.

And Andy Robertson has taken his fair share of such pictures, after all he readily admits that “as you may know by now I am often drawn to the Quays”.*

Nor is it just the Quays.  Over the years, he has roamed across Greater Manchester, photographing what he encounters and in the process has inspired over 600 stories on the blog.*

They range from parks, and fine houses, to interesting city landscapes. 

But he is also a keen observer of the grimy and unromantic side of places, which leads him to photograph derelict buildings and abandoned industrial sites.

And having started he turns them into projects, returning regularly to record their transformation.

It starts with that old building, moves on to show its demolition, and then bit by bit offers up the story of how after the site has been cleared, the builders break the ground and begin the construction of something new.

All of which makes these projects a unique record of how the twin cities, and indeed Greater Manchester have changed over the last three decades.

And so back to the Quays, which is one of those places which continues to develop, and staring with an acknowledgement of water and iconic buildings I have included two panoramas, along with the grimy one, which includes one half finished structure, a tower block which looks to be going through refurbishment and an unpromising piece of open land.

Just what the same view will look like in six months’ time is anyone’s guess, but I am confident Andy will have been back to see.

So, in the meantime I shall finish with another “water and iconic building”.

Location the Quays

Pictures; the Quays, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Andy Robertson, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Andy%20Robertson

Retail in a time of lockdown ……………….

Beech Road in November.

Location; Chorlton

Picture; Nood, 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

The Knitting years .... number 8 .........."changing fashions"

The new series on the history of what we wore, Knitting Patterns, 1930-1970

And over the next few days I am being indulgent and wandering over the decades with patterns that reflect changing fashions ...... or not.

Location; pretty much everywhere

Picture; knitting patterns, 1930-1970 from the collection of Jillian Goldsmith

Chorlton does Black Friday …….

Shopping locally. 

Location; Barlow Moor Road

Picture; Brushes and bowls, DIY & Household, 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

In Sale with …. the war memorial ….. a place in Yorkshire and the Battle of El Alamein

I have long since stopped being surprised at just where a story can take you.

This one began with a request from Chris in Yorkshire who was trying to track the identity of a young man who died during the last world war.

The only clue was the name of the young man’s father and a suggestion that there was a connection with Whalley House in Whalley Range.

By one of those convoluted twists, he had got hold of my name, and together we set off to uncover what we could.

At this stage Chris had no idea which of the three services the young man had served in, or the theatre of war, only that his death might have been in 1943.

The father’s name was Samuel Holmes who had left Bradford to set up a business in Manchester, sometime around 1925.

And after a few disappointing false trails I found him living on Washway Road in Sale, with his wife, and son in 1939.  He described himself as a Cotton Piece Goods Merchant and Shipper, which fitted with what Chris already knew.

But the real find of course was the name of Mr. Holmes’s son, who was Cyril, born in 1919, and armed with his identity it was possible to trawl the war records, which offered four possible candidates.

As so often happens, each seemed promising but also contained details which appeared to rule them out.

In one case there was no match with Samuel and his wife Elsie, and in another two, the date of death was wrong, leaving the last which placed him at El Alamein in 1942.  This was a year earlier and uncomfortably offered Manchester not Yorkshire as the place of birth.

But this last one remained a possibility if only because this Cyril Holmes had joined the East Yorkshire Regiment which given the family links with the county made it the best of the four.

And it was at this point that Chris following up the leads with Sale researched the Sale War Memorial which he writes confirmed that “There  is a Cyril H Holmes, who died  on June 15th, 1942 in Egypt.  And that on the Commonwealth Grave commission  website, they have Cyril Hardy Holmes, born in 1919 son of Sam and Elsie Holmes of Sale Cheshire, who  died on June 15th in 1942 at El Alamein, Ser.no.3656103,  of Duke of Yorks. East Yorkshire  Regiment.

I have checked my Lodge minute books and his death was noted in September 1943 after the summer break. With his Father being a Country member, it might be that the news took so long to be known”.

There will be more to find out, but for now that is it, other than to reflect that together Chris and I have added something more to the simple record on the war memorial in Sale.

Location, Yorkshire, Sale, Egypt

Picture; Sale War Memorial, 1925, TP 10912& November 12th, 2014, TP 10779, courtesy of Trafford Local Studies Centre, https://www.trafford.gov.uk/residents/leisure-and-lifestyle/libraries/Local-Studies/Trafford-Local-Studies.aspx

A canopy ….. a new business ……. and a little bit of historical continuity

I was slow to clock the latest developments to the transformation of 93 Beech Road, from bakery and confectioner to the Dough House.

Actually to be more accurate I have watched the work being done over the last few months but was going to wait till it opened, but then I became more and more intrigued by the wooden beams which will support a roof canopy.

And that led me back the City Councils’ planning portal which offers up chapter and verse on the plans to redevelop the frontage to 93 and 95 Beech Road.*

Ever since I came to Chorlton in the 1970s this was Richardson’s the Bakers which opened in 1947, and until its closure was one of the oldest businesses in Chorlton, if not the oldest.

That title has now passed to Ken Foster and his cycle shop on Barlow Moor Road.

But the Dough House will offer up a continuity in that it will be baking its pizzas on site, and will continue a bakery tradition which goes back to the beginning of the 20th century, when Mr. John Hill turned out bread and cakes from nu. 93.

There is more but I think I will wait till the business opens.

Location; Chorlton

Picture; 93 Beech Road, 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

* Manchester City Council Planning Portal, 124700/FO/2019, https://pa.manchester.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=PX6ZGPBCHXH00

The one which will stay a mystery …………..

 Sometimes you have to accept that a story has run its course with no resolution.

Not that I expected to find out the identity of a certain Hampson whose gravestone was deposited in Walkden Gardens a long time ago.

It was part of a pile of memorial inscriptions which were taken from the old Brooklands cemetery and dumped in the park, later to be recycled ad edging and kerb stones.

I doubt I would have ever come across them and certainly not set off on the search for the identity of Hampson if Andy Robertson had taken a walk through the park.

And having set off through Walkden Gardens he photographed some of the lost stone inscriptions.

Most of them record the names of stone masons, who left their names on the small edging stones which formed the border of the grave plots.

But one inscription was much larger, leaving Andy to speculate that this was actually part of a gravestone, belonging someone called Hampson, who was buried in the old Brooklands cemetery.

Of course a walk around the cemetery would not reveal anything given that the Hampson gravestone was no longer where it had been so reverently placed, which led me to seek the help of Trafford Local Studies Centre and in particular Sonia Llewellyn the Local Studies Advisor, 

Sonia replied to my request with “We do hold a CD ROM listing memorial inscriptions in the old part of the cemetery, which was compiled by the Ashton and Sale History Society. 

If there is anyone I can look up for you, just let me know”.

And I did ask, and kindly Sonia sent over the results which offered up twenty headstones, recording the deaths and internment of 61 people.  

Not all were Hampsons, but those that weren’t, rested with Hampson’s.

The burials span the period from 1872 through to 1978, with the youngest an infant and the oldest aged 84, and contain a mix of “memorial language” from the conventional “departed this life” to the touching  “who sweetly fell asleep in Jesus”, and the intriguing reference to a Edward Hampson of Manchester, "late of Moscow”.

But sadly, I am no nearer identifying the memorial stone found by Andy, other than that it appears to have no other names or details, which raises the possibility that it belongs to none of the above.

Leaving me just to thank Sonia, and Andy.

Location; Walkden Gardens

Pictures; Walkden Gardens, 2020 from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Trafford Local Studies Centre, https://www.trafford.gov.uk/residents/leisure-and-lifestyle/libraries/Local-Studies/Trafford-Local-Studies.aspx

Fire Courts ….. property disagreements and a novel way to solve a legal backlog

One to listen to with echoes of today, on the wireless.  

The Long View Radio 4.

"Although not dominating the COVID headlines the backlog of legal cases in the UK is taking a heavy toll on everyone from the people involved who are seeking resolution to the legal profession itself. 

That's the story today, but it was also the story back in 1666 when after a year of plague and then the Great Fire of London, our capital city was crippled by a legal backlog which made economic recovery and the rebuilding that it required all but impossible. 

The challenge then was to deal with all the cases to do with Landlords and Leaseholders who had lost everything in the fire and so couldn't afford to begin the rebuilding process.

Jonathan is joined by the historian Professor Jay Tidmarsh who will tell the story of the Fire Courts and Fire Judges, set up to deal with the backlog as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

What they did, how the courts operated and just how much work they got through in less than a decade might provide some ideas for today's legal practitioners. 

To compare the history with the present Jonathan also hears from the Chair of the Bar Council Amanda Pinto and Sir Ernest Ryder a Lord Justice of Appeal, master of Pembroke College, Oxford and a law reformer.

That's the Long View of Legal Backlogs".

Producer: Tom Alban

Location; London

Pictures;  The Great Fire of London, 1675, Museum of London, The Great Fire of London, with Ludgate and Old St. Paul's, circa 1670, Yale Centre for British Arts

*The Long View of Legal Backlog, https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000pmw2

Where shall we put these old time cookery books, are they ‘Fiction’ or ‘Humour?’” a picture postcard from 1944

I have just stumbled across a collection of over 60 picture postcards issued during the last world war.

They are a wonderful reminder of how people just got on with life and cover everything from food shortages, the blitz, and the impact of service life on men and women who had been yanked out of their civilian lives and  a few focus on how children adapted to the war.

All were meant to be humorous although having said that some have travelled better than others.

And so over the next few weeks I shall be dipping into the selection starting with this one which was a wry comment on rationing.

Picture; “Where shall we put these old time cookery books, are they ‘Fiction’ or ‘Humour,’” issued by Tuck and Sons from the series All my own work, circa 1944, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/

Adventures with a book ……….. 86 Palatine Road

Now, I doubt when Peter set off to deliver a copy of our book to an address on Palatine Road he was quite prepared for what he discovered.

The book is our Manchester - city centre pubs book, containing the history of 78 iconic city centre public houses, divided in to fifteen walks it tells the stories of each of the 78, with descriptions of where they are situated, along with some fine photographs and original paintings by Peter.*

So, armed with the book, and the address, he arrived at the property and immediately clocked the blue plaque, which records that it was here that Factory Records was founded in 1978.

And that for many of us, is in itself a discovery.  

Factory Records was the Manchester-based independent record label established by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, and featured several important acts, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside, and (briefly) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and James. 

Factory also ran The Haçienda nightclub, in partnership with New Order.

And its offices were at 86 Palatine Road, in Erasmus' home on the first floor.

All of which is easy to research, and so having talked to Peter who was inspired “to do”, one of his paintings of the house as well as the plaque, I went looking for its history.

This too was an easy enough task, involving tracking back through a series of historical records, staring with looking for the name of a resident.

This turned out to be a Thomas A Collier who was living there in 1911 with his wife Isabel and two servants.  The Collier's  had been married for 31 years, had two children and had moved into the house in 1893.

With a name it was possible to search the Rate Books and discover that the Collier’s had bought the house from a William A. Arnold, who in turn had purchased it from Mr. John Daniel Robinson.

The earliest entry in the Rate Books was 1885, which pretty much gives us the date it was built.

In time I will go back and see what I can find about Mr. Arnold and Mr. Robinson, but for now I shall close with Mr. and Mrs. Collier who provided the key to the research.

In 1911 he described himself as a clerk in a drapery warehouse and was the only one of his immediate neighbours who was in paid employment.  The others listed themselves as employers.

He and Isabel were from Whitby, his children had left home, and the two of them rattled around in the 12 roomed property, looked after by Susan Davies who was the cook and Lilly Talbot the housemaid.

So that is it, other than to offer up an outrageous advert and announce you  can order the book, along with our Chorlton and Didsbury pub books,  at www.pubbooks.co.uk or the old fashioned way on 07521 557888 or from Chorlton Bookshop

Location; Withington

Pictures; 86 Palatine Road and the blue plaque, 2020, © Peter Topping, 

Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

Facebook: Paintings from Pictures https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures

*Manchester Pubs The Stories Behind the Doors City Centre,Peter Topping & Andrew Simpson, 2016

Random Castlefield ………. past glories

I have no idea if this streetlamp still works, but it’s a bit of that Castlefield which has been sidelined by modern development.

Not that I have anything against the new developments that have added to the area over the last thirty years.

Although the historian in me, misses some of the old interesting and historic buildings that have gone.

Like those along Southern Street.

The "gas lamp", Andy told me  "is on Bridgewater Street near its junction with Collier Street, almost opposite the old police station".

And thinking about it I have passed it countless times but never really noticed it, and certainly never thought of of photographing it.

So, a thank you to Andy.

Location; Castlefield

Picture; streetlamp, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

Discovering the secrets of one Didsbury house ………….. it’s all in the wallpaper

It’s not the most scientific way to research the tastes of 1930 Didsbury residents, but it’s fun.

So here under the layers of more recent decorative styles are the wall paper choices of one family back just under 90 years ago.

They come from my friend Barbarella who came across these clues to what one of the previous owners of the house thought were the cutting edge of design.

To be fair the examples showing 19th century figures set against a rural landscape may have been for a children’s bedroom, and may originally been taken from nursery stories.

And here I remember having once asked and got an entire room decorated with Dan Dare wall paper when I was seven.  

With more research I might be able to actually locate and date the different wall papers.

A quick search suggested that similar “vintage period” wall papers from the 1930s go for between £17 and £44 a roll. Now there’s a thought.

Location; Didsbury

Pictures; wallpapers from a Didsbury house, 2020, from the collection of Barbarella Bonvento