Walking by the Mersey in 1958 ………

Now, on this I will need help.

I am looking at two pictures of the Mersey sent to me by Dave Kennedy, yesterday evening, who added, “Hi Andrew, with the current situation on the Mersey.  I came across a couple of photos in my dad’s archive, in the background is the old sluice building at Jackson’s Boat. The cut is a lot narrower,  dates from around 1958”.

I have known Dave for years and I remain impressed with his photographs  and those of his Dad’s, many of which are of Chorlton and Stretford.*

The two pictures are a wonderful collection of period detail, from the clothes worn by Dave and his sister, to the scenes of the river and the surrounding land.

Like Dave I wore a balaclava and was made to keep my shoes equally shinny. But of course, it is the river that draws you in, along with the high earth banks, which do seem to have risen in height since 1958.

The banks stretch back into the centuries and were added to by successive generations of farmers because the river has always been unpredictable and prone to flash floods, many of which arrived with little warning.

Our own local historian, Thomas Ellwood writing in the 1880s and drawing on the memories of locals stretching back through the 19th century and beyond described the devastation caused by the rising waters, including the destruction of the first stone weir in the 1840.

These and subsequent stories and pictures have appeared on the blog over the years,  and Dave’s two photographs are a welcome addition.**

I think the first is looking north with the stone aqueduct and Chorltonville in the distance. Today the scene has been altered with the planting of large numbers of trees and bushes, but the aqueduct is still there, although back in 1958 the pumping station has yet to be built.

So, while the 1958 OS shows that aqueduct, the modern building is missing.

And that brings me to the second picture which Dave places “at the old sluice building at Jackson’s Boat”.

Try as I can, I can’t visualize the scene today.  I think we are looking north again, and the chimney stack belongs to the laundry on Crossland Road, with Chorlton falling away into the background, but I am wondering whether we are further west where the river takes a bend.

Back in 1958 the maps shows a sluice gate and a building on the Chorlton side, directly in front of the filter beds.

For those less interested in the semantics of the flood prevention architecture, there are those fascinating scenes of what the meadows on either side of the river liked like 63 years ago …. along with what the well dressed kids wore.

Location; the Mersey, 1958

Picture; the Mersey, 1958, from the collection of Dave Kennedy

*The Photographs of Jack Kennendy, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Photographs%20of%20Jack%20Kennedy

**The River Mersey, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=river+mersey