Mayfield …….. the next instalment

There will still be many for whom Mayfield in Manchester means nothing.*

Abandoned

For others old enough to remember the Railway Station it will be a place of trips out to Stockport, Buxton, Wilmslow and  Crew, although from the 1920s onwards these were confined to the rush hours.

It closed for passenger traffic in 1960 having just reached its 50th birthday.  It briefly had a life as a parcel depot but this finished in 1969 and two years later the mainline tracks were lifted.

After that, there were plans for “something” for Mayfield, but the years went by with it slowly deteriorating, visited only by the curious and those wanting to post pictures from a site few people knew much about.

Transformation

The railway station took its name from the area south of Piccadilly Railway Station, and east of London Road.  It appears on the old maps as Mayfield and was developed in the early 19th century, and came to be dominated by Mayfield Station.

By the end of the last century, the railway station had closed, the densely packed terraced properties along with the mills, dyeworks and foundries had gone and the place was waiting for something to happen.

And that something is now happening, which Andy Robertson has been chronically over the last few months. 

The river

That something will be “A transformational mixed-use city centre regeneration project reviving a former industrial heartland into a modern innovation quarter.  

Mayfield is a 24-acre brownfield site packed with heritage and the River Medlock flowing through its core. The site has an industrial history of innovation spanning back to the 1700’s with previous lives as a parcel depot, relief railway station and textile mill. The site was left derelict for over 30 years before the next phase of its revival began. 

The Mayfield Partnership – comprised of U+I, Manchester City Council, Transport for Greater Manchester and LCR – formed in 2016 with a shared vision to deliver a modern neighbourhood at the heart of Manchester. Overall, the brownfield site will provide over 2.3m sq ft GIA office space facilitating 13,000 new jobs, 1,500 homes, 56,000 sq ft of retail and leisure, a new 300-bed hotel and 13-acres of public realm, including Mayfield Park – the city’s first new park in over 100 years.

The cleared land

Consent for phase one of the scheme was granted in February 2020, which will see the creation of the 6.5-acre park, office buildings, a car park and significant public realm. Construction will begin in Q4 2020, with the first buildings estimated to complete in 2022.

Since day one of the Mayfield Partnership, the site’s heritage assets have been opened up to the city through a curated programme of placemaking-led events and projects. In 2017 GRUB moved in, attracting foodies to the railway arches on Temperance Street. In 2018, Mayfield & Co established a small community of creative independent businesses. In 2019, Broadwick Live took a five-year tenancy, with a brief to deliver a series of worthwhile events.

Mayfield developments

The first major live music events began with an ambitious programme involving The Warehouse Project and some of the biggest names in electronic dance music, all taking centre stage in the historic Depot. From 2019 through to the beginning of 2020, over 300,000 music lovers visited the site, raising the profile of the area within the city and creating an initial socio-economic uplift of £10m in its first year.  

The remaining phases of Mayfield will be developed over the next decade, and are expected to generate in the region of £7bn of socio-economic gain – creating a thriving and exciting neighbourhood for all Mancunians to enjoy”.**

I could go on but by following the link you can see just what bold plans are about to come into being, leaving me just to say that this is the second of Andy’s pictures which will not be the last.

Location; Mayfield, Manchester

Pictures; Mayfield, 2021, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Mayfield, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Mayfield

**Mayfield Manchester, https://www.uandiplc.com/our-places/mayfield  

Victorian Manchester Engine House saved from demolition

 Now here is a good piece of news which comes from a press release today from SAVE Britain's Heritage.*

It is, that the former Linotype Works on the Bridgewater Canal has been listed, halting its proposed demolition. 

It is a place I have written about already, and so it is encouraging that one historic building will not become a pile of rubble.

Strictly speaking it is in Altrincham and not Manchester, listing doesn't always mean it is safe,  and not all developers are unmindful of the past.

So with that out of the way “SAVE is delighted to announce that the Engine House and chimney base of the former Linotype Works in Altrincham has been listed, halting its proposed demolition. 

 Earlier this year owners of the historic Altrincham Linotype Works, Morris Homes, had applied to demolish and rebuild the unlisted canal-side Engine House as part of their wider redevelopment of the site, which is a designated conservation area.

SAVE considers the Engine House and nearby Chimney base to be of high historic significance and suitable for conversion. In response to the threat of demolition, we submitted a listing application to Historic England, and the building has now been granted grade II listed status by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.  The decision means the owners will now have to apply for Listed Building Consent in order to demolish the listed building”. *

For more information and images contact Ben Oakley, Conservation Officer at SAVE Britain's Heritage: ben.oakley@savebritainsheritage.org / 07388 181 181.

Pictures; the Linotype Works, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

* SAVE Britain's Heritage, https://www.savebritainsheritage.org/           

**Warehouses and things …… along the Duke’s Canal ……… no. 2 The Lynotype Works https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/09/warehouses-and-things-along-dukes-canal_30.html

“Doing it where it won’t show” ............ having a laugh in 1930

Now I am the first to admit that humour doesn’t always travel well.

I have sat through many Italian comedy shows which testify to that simple observation.

Nor do I suspect do they travel much better through time.

So here is what Edith thought would bring a smile to Eddie and Bert in Wales in 1930.

Location; the 1930s

Picture; picture postcard, circa 1930 from the collection Ron Stubley

Summer on Beech Road no 1 …. Waiting for customers

 

Location; Beech Road

Picture; Waiting for customers, July 2021, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

 

To lose one bank may be deemed unfortunate …..but three? ……. the sad end to a much used place name

The loss of three banks in a short space of time in the centre of Chorlton is bad news.

It may be that the staff of all three have been redeployed, and some customers will still be close to another branch or will fill the gap through internet banking, but for some employees and some who use the three banks this will be more than an inconvenience. 

But for a historian with the long view in sight, the disappearance of the three banks marks the end of that popular place name for the junction of Barlow Moor Road and Willbraham Road.

For perhaps two decades this spot was known as the Four Banks or Bank Corner.

I can still remember the first time I heard the name used, and it seemed perfect, and far more appropriate than the official planners name of Chorlton Cross, which never caught on.

And the reason why it was so appropriate, was that it described what was there, nothing more and nothing less.

Added to which it arose from people’s experiences, which remain the best way of finding a name for a place.

In the same way for almost a century the corner which included the HSBC Bank was known as Kemp’s Corner, after Harry Kemp’s chemist shop.

And in an age before the mobile phone  people arranged in advance to meet at Kemp’s Corner, a decision which made even more sense as there was a large clock above the door, allowing you to judge how late your friend was.

Earlier in the 19th century the junction of Hardy Lane, and Sandy Lane with Barlow Moor Road, which was originally called Barlow Moor Lane was known as Lane End.

It is a name which appears on old maps, but didn’t stop locals referring to it as Brundrette’s Corner after Mr. Brundrette’s grocery shop which stood nearby.

The loss of the first bank a year ago gave rise to a debate on whether the spot would now be “Three Banks and something else”, but the loss of two more made that discussion redundant.

But something will emerge, and it is as well to remember that before Kemp’s Corner, some people referred to the junction as Bank Square, although at one point there was only the one bank.

I vaguely knew that Santander was going and going in advance of the HSBC, but it was still a surprise when Peter presented his painting from 2019 of the closed bank.

Now the story of the Four Banks has rumbled on in the blog for years, and when that new name arises I shall be back to explore its history.*

And for those curious about who occupied the bank sites, I can reveal that in 1911, the HSBC was Harry Kemp's Chemists, opposite in the former RBS bank was a surgeon whose house was called Sunwick, and the name is still there on the gate post.  Across the road in what is now the Nat West, there was The Manchester & Liverpool District Banking Company, leaving the former Santander, as a grocer's shop.

But for now …. It is just Goodbye.

Location; The Four Banks

Painting; Santander Chorlton © 2019 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures

*The Four Banks, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=four+banks

Of things still to come ………. off to war

I wonder just how many of these leaflets still survive.

The leaflet, 1916

It dates from the time that National Conscription was introduced in 1916.

After the first heady rush to join the Colours in 1914 recruitment had fallen away.

In that first few months two million men had enlisted in the armed forces joining the hundreds of thousands of regulars, reservists and territorials but by early 1915 the numbers enlisting each month had levelled out at around 110,000 which was judged to be not enough to keep pace with the casualties on the battlefields.

As early as August 1914 the height restrictions had been lowered and in the May of the following year the upper age limit was raised from 38 to 40.

A National Registration Identity Card, 1915

It therefore made perfect sense to explore just how many men were out there who were fit for military service and so on July 15th 1915 Parliament passed the National Registration Act which set out the means by which “a register shall be formed of all persons male and female between the ages of fifteen and sixty-five (not being members of His Majesty’s naval forces or of His Majesty’s regular or territorial forces).”*

The registration was undertaken in a similar way to a census with some 29 million forms issued across England and Wales.

It revealed that there were about five million men of military age who were not in the forces and as a means of reinvigorating recruitment the Derby scheme was introduced which offered the opportunity for men to enlist but defer their call up to a later date.

215,000 men enlisted while the scheme was on and another 2,185,000 chose to delay their enlistment and those who were on the deferred list were given a grey or khaki arm band with a red crown.

Detail from the leaflet, 1916

But this still left a large pool of potential recruits who had not shown a willingness to serve, and so in the January of 1916 the Military Service Act was passed introducing conscription.

This required that all men between the ages of 18 to 41 were liable for service in the army unless they were married, widowed with children or in the Royal Navy, a minister of religion or in a reserved occupation.

Later in May 1916 this was extended to married men and two years later the upper age limit was raised to 51.

In the fullness of time the leaflet will join other items from David Harrop's collection at his permanent exhibition in the Remembrance Lodge in Southern Cemetery on Barlow Moor Road in Manchester

Location, 1916

Picture; leaflet, 1916 and Identity card, 1915, from the collection of David Harrop

*National Registration Scheme, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=national+registration+scheme

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ........... nu 23 Chapel Street at the Old Ship

Now I can’t yet be sure of the date but I do know exactly where we are on Chapel Street and the clue is the Old Ship Inn at number 17 Chapel Street.

And that places us on the stretch of road running up to Victoria Bridge.

The Old Ship is there by 1849 and was still there in 1911 and with a bit of digging I should be able to discover when it was swept away.

For those unfamiliar with the new Salford, the pub stands roughly on the site of the Premier Inn and what is now the entrance to the car park will have once been Hatton’s Court a long thin alley which led down to a tannery past a row of houses some of which were back to backs.

I am hoping that there will be people who remember the Old Ship or have access to books which offer up something of its history.

In the mean time there is that name James to the right of the pub, and armed with that it should be possible to trawl the directories and locate the business and find a date.

There maybe even be a clue in those newspapers.

And as ever my friend Alan came up with the following, the picture dates from 1870, and "the Old Ship was the tall building in the first picture and licensees can be traced back to the 1760's. 

The Hatton family kept the ship for about 30 years from 1807 and they gave their name to the court at the side of the pub.  

It was rebuilt in 1900, destroyed during the Christmas Blitz of 1940 and a new pub was built on the site in the mid 1950'at the end of 1999 it was demolished. 

In the book Salford Pubs, there is this : "Across Hattons court from the Old Ship, there was a very old, timber framed building with lath and plaster walls, it was divided into five shops and these had a variety of tenants during the 19th century, in the 1840's the shop next to Hattons Court was occupied by a butcher and by 1850 it was a beerhouse called the Fishermens Hut. 

The first recorded licensees were Mary and then Elizabeth Copley, who was there until about 1863. A horse dealer called Thomas Wood took over a few years later and he was still there in the 1880's. 

The last licensee was Thomas Baxter and the Fishermens Hut along with the adjoining shops was pulled down in 1894...'"

Which pretty much nails the story! .

 Location; Salford

Additional research; Alan Jennings

Picture; Chapel Street, date unknown, A Brother, M77249, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

Looking for a bargain ...... Ashton Market ...... 1980

I have to say I can no longer remember just what the stall owner was selling or what he had said to make the lady laugh.

I do know that the photograph was taken in the summer of 1980 when I had wandered back to Ashton where I had once lived.

Like all markets there was a lot going on.

Location; Ashton Market

Picture; Market day, 1980, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Buying a pair of shoes and a canary in Beresford Square

I have always liked the market at Woolwich.

It is that mix of noise, colourful attractions, and the easy banter of the stall holders and of course the promise of a bargain.

In the late 1960s I swapped the stalls of Beresford Square for Grey Mare Lane in the shadow of the old colliery and later Ashton’s open and covered in markets.

A century and bit before that I might well have wandered through Salford’s Flat Iron Market where “poverty busied itself”* and everything was on sale from a pair of second hand boots to a used toothbrush.

All of which is a long way from Woolwich, but not quite, because as these images suggest poverty and looking for a bargain were as much a part of the landscape in Woolwich as they were in Beswick, Ancoats or Ashton.

And these pictures along with many other ones of Woolwich can be seen in Woolwich Through Time, by Kristin Bedford. **

Her book was published in 2014 and is a treasure trove of images of a vanished Woolwich.

Along with the market, the ferry and the Arsenal there are in total 180 photographs of what the place was like and how it has changed.

Now this is not the first time I have mentioned the book but this Saturday Ms Bedford will be at Woolwich Library from 1 pm to talk about the book, the pictures and the stories she has unearthed.

For me though it will be those of the market that I like the most.

I remember it as a crowded noisy affair where buses manoeuvred slowly past rows of stalls and Lou’s fruit and veg rubbed shoulders with the man selling prawns and the women doing a nice deal in plastic plates and pictures of the Green Lady.***

Today it is a pale imitation of all of that.  You might still be able to buy a Ib of apples and a cauliflower but the open trays of prawns and the Green Lady are gone.

And along with them much of the Woolwich I remember.

It is an odd observation that the place I knew was closer in many ways to the scenes from Ms Bedford’s book than the bright shinny new Woolwich.

Not that this is any way a criticism of what is now just a reflection on what was and is.
Pictures, courtesy of MS Bedford


*Robert Roberts, The Classic Slum, The Classic Slum, Salford stories from 1900,http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-classic-slum-salford-stories-from.html

** Woolwich Through Time is at Woolwich, Kristina Bedford, 2014

***The Green Lady. The Chinese Girl (often popularly known as The Green Lady) is a 1952 painting by Vladimir Tretchikoff. It became one of the world's most popular paintings when made into prints in the 1950s and 1960s, and is one of the world's best-selling art reproductions of the twentieth century

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ............ nu 20 remembering a bit of Chapel Street

Now I don’t go in for nostalgia and rarely spend a lot of time reflecting on what might have been.

But a long time ago I regularly waited outside the solicitor’s which was housed in that tall glass building beside the Royal Liver Building.

It will have been around the summer of 1973 and I was meeting Kay.

She worked as a temp in the offices and I would make my way over from Grey Mare Lane where were living and after work take in a meal or a film before heading home.

I occasionally passed the place over the next four decades and watched as the building came to the end of its useful life, and was then used as a place to stick posters advertising everything from gigs to bars and restaurants.

And sometime between late 2012 and the middle of 2014  it was demolished along with the smaller property to its left and the impressive  Liver Building which at some point had been painted black.

It took me a few weeks to work out where it had been on my last visit but I found the vacant lot, and not for the first time I reflected on how yet another bit of my past has become an open space, vying with the others which are now car parks or blocks of flats.

And no sooner had I posted the story and Stephen told me that "this was a Securicor building in the mid 80s to early 90s. KRISTINA HARRISON solicitors were next door and did it not become a niche theatre during its black decor days or maybe theatre workshop?

It was Pony Express couriers (subsid of securicor)and securicor cleaning company mid 80s which was run there."

And P.J.Thompsn added, "the smaller property to the left was Slade House. The offices of 'The Society of Lithographic Artists, Designers and Engravers (SLADE) a British trade union representing workers in the printing industry.

Formed in Manchester in 1885.

They helped me get a pay rise in 1978."

Location; Salford Chapel Street

Picture; Chapel Street, no date, m77263, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

Tales from a camera ……. mistakes and successes

Now like almost everything I have done over the fifty years as an adult I am best described as an amateur.

The lamppost at the edge of the Pier, 2021

When it comes to writing about the past, the best description is “a jobbing historian” and with photography I have always subscribed to that simple rule of thumb which is spot the opportunity and snap away.

Not for me the carefully composed study taken over an expanse of time which is for the professionals.

All washed out, 2021

Most of the time it works well, but during my smelly photography days, I never had the patience to do test runs of the paper, and was known to guess at developing times, all of which made the end results a bit hit and miss.

Digital works better, but I never underestimate my ability to do something silly, and so it was on Sunday as we happened across Bangor Pier.

And while Tina was parking up, unpacking the boot, I was off happily snapping away, pleased with the scenes I was recording.

But alas that simple maxim of checking everything on the camera was a simple task too far.

So having somehow managed to fiddle with the mode dial, I ended up with a series of images which look washed out.  

And even I can’t be bothered to fiddle with them to produce something artistic.

Happily I noticed my mistake and corrected it before we left the pier, making the rest of the trip from Bangor and onto Menai and Beaumaris more successful.

So that is it.

The landmark, Menai, 2021

Less another history tale of Bangor Pier,* and more a silly story which I suspect only my pals in the Facebook site, All Things Photographic** will appreciate …….. although I suspect some of them will gently tut, and murmur “plonker”.

Location; Bangor

Pictures; Bangor Pier, 2021, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Adventures into the West … a pier… some Anglesey glass and two nice people, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2021/07/adventures-into-west-pier-some-anglesey.html

**All Things Photographic, https://www.facebook.com/groups/331565394411795

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 16 ......... not so much lost but waiting for something new

Now I seem to be drawn back to Greengate and have decided to feature this one from Andy Robertson who over the years has been recording the changes to the twin cities and so here is his take on Greengate.

I asked him to wander down and take a few photographs of the place.

And this is the one he began, taken in 2016, with which he tells me was made more difficult by the absence of some old familiar landmarks and the equal absence of street signs.

So there you have it .......... and when he wanders back I bet it will all have changed again.

Location; Salford

Picture; Greengate 2016 from the collection of Andy Robertson

The Temple of Youth: Jimmy Butterworth & Clubland ... one to read ... from Bob Dodson

‘Jimmy Butterworth was a legend… This amazing book is the first complete biography…The detailed research is brilliant and throughout the book there is excellent historical/social comment … insightful and very interesting.’ ....Rev Steven Wild, Methodist Recorder, Sept. 2020

‘It is very well researched … It reflects on a time and approach that we may never be able to replicate.’  Peter Stevenson Reform Oct. 2020

‘This book is a magnificent read. It should be in every Methodist minister’s study and on every youth worker’s bookshelf.’    Rev. Norman Grigg (Minister at Walworth 1994-2010) 

‘…a compelling, moving, and honest account of an engaging personality and his lifelong dedication to the service of youth. The personal reminiscences and the wealth of photographs make this a beautifully illustrated book, as well as a lively narrative.’ Martin Wellings Wesley and Methodist Studies, 2021 vol. 13-2

The Temple of Youth tells the fascinating life story of one of Methodism’s most acclaimed and controversial figures. He was born in 1897 to a life of poverty and hardship like so many of his generation – working from age 12 in Oswaldtwistle textile mills, and leaving only to serve on the Somme and at Arras with the Lancashire Fusiliers. On his return from France in 1919, and against the odds for someone mostly self-educated, he won admission to Didsbury Theological College in Manchester, and whilst there established a thriving youth project at Beech Road, Chorlton.

Following graduation he was posted as a probationary minister to a failing church in a neglected and deprived area of South London. There he strove to raise the funds and support to build Clubland, a church youth club like no other, remaining as its charismatic head for over half a century, contrary to orthodox Methodist procedure. The Club transformed the life chances of thousands of  boys and girls and young adults who, like him, had  been dealt a poor and unequal start in life. Sir Michael Caine, who was himself a teenage member of Clubland, said of him:  “I owe my personality, my life, and my career to this man. The most important person I ever met.”  

Whilst his life’s work was in London, Jimmy Butterworth never forgot his Lancashire roots. He returned frequently, preaching to packed congregations at Green Haworth and in Accrington, where he is still remembered and revered. Stanhill Methodist Heritage Church (Oswaldtwistle) is holding a commemorative service, exhibition, and book launch on Sunday 26th September, 2021. All welcome.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Authors: John Butterworth and Jenny Waine    JB Club Press, 2019

Format: Hardback; 416 pages; 120 photographs    ISBN: 978-1-5272-5017-8     

Price 20.00 (including post & package)   

For information or to order online,  go to  www.jb-clubland.co.uk or email: press@jb-clubland.co.uk

or with cheque to JB Club Press:  61 Black Bull Lane, Preston, PR2 3PY  

Adventures into the West … a pier… some Anglesey glass and two nice people

Now I maintain and I maintain most strongly that the best adventures are those which have the minimum in planning, and are more a spur of the moment “point the car in a general direction” and trust to hope and good weather.

That way every thing is a bonus, and if the first destination is disappointing there is always the next one, just around the corner.

And that is how we rediscovered Bangor Pier, which dates from 1896, was restored and reopened in 1988, and in between has had some moments of high excitement.

All of which are recorded by the Friends of Bangor Pier.*

And two of those friends proved to be fascinating people who shared my love of Italy, and made “unique jewellery from sea glass from the shores of Anglesey”.** 

It was just our luck that it was their turn to be looking after the shop on the pier, specializing in art from North Wales.

The rest as they say was a delightful 20 minutes of conversation, including some purchases of their work, which they carefully wrapped for us while we walked on to the end of the pier, and the nice touch was the lightbulb which came with the lampshade.

And while this was being done, we completed the tour of the pier, explored some of the other shops and of course watched as kids went fishing for crabs, none of which were harmed in the process.

I could write more about the history of the pier but that has been covered by the Friends, and so I will just reflect that the sun shone, the place grew more busy, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, as did we.

But the tide waits for no one, and on a whim we decided to push on over the Menai Bridge into Anglesey and on to Beaumaris, with its stretch of beaches, and of course its castle.

In between there was Dylan’s fish restaurant and some delightful spots to sit and watch the Sunday visitors and residents doing what you do on a sunny day.

But more of them and the history another time.

Location; Bangor,  Menai and beyond

Pictures; Welsh adventures, 2021, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Friends of Bangor Pier, https://bangorpier.org/

**Gany Môr, ganymore846@gmail.com

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 15 ...... less about Greengate and more about the photographer

Now this is another of those pictures of Greengate just down from Gorton Street and we are back at the Flying Dutchman and the entrance to Mallett’s Court.

There is much in the picture which brings out Salford life at the beginning of the 20th century.

The first obvious detail is that of the people drawn like a moth to a flame.

Photography and especially street photography was still a novelty to the majority of people, and so when Mr Coulthurst turned up the curious, the vain and those with time on their hands came forth to stare at the camera.

The picture shows  their clothes, a barrow with what looks like fruit and veg and the predominance of children.

Look closely and one of the young girls has a crutch.  It would be silly and pointless to try and second guess why she is using it, but of course this was before the National Health Service.

Indeed it is worth pointing out that the babe in arms would have almost reached its fiftieth birthday before the principle of free medical care at the point it was needed would have been introduced.

There is much more but instead I want to focus on the photographer.

He was Samuel L Coulhurst and his collection of photographs many of which were taken in the working class areas of the twin cities are a powerful record of how people lived.

Mr Coulhurst was born in Blackley, described himself variously as a “book buyer” and “stationary buyer" and lived in various parts of Manchester and Salford.   He married Annie Higson in June 1900 and he died in Helsby in 1939.

He was  well known during the late 19th century, exhibited at the Royal Photographic Society in 1897 and was a member of the Manchester Amateur Photographic Society which under took the first photographic survey of Manchester and Salford between 1892-1901.

In 1901 232 platinotype of their prints were handed to the Manchester and Salford Reference Libraries.*

A third copy was retained by the Society but over the years a number have gone missing.
Some appeared in a book published in 1995.**

The photographs are mounted on sheets of card, either singly or groups of 2 or 4 photographs per sheet. Manuscript details are written in ink beneath each image giving a brief description, a number and the photographer’s name. ***

Pictures; Greengate Old Houses (opposite Bulls Head), Salford,  Samuel L Coulthurst, 1900, m08784, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*Manchester Local Image Collection, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php

**The Samuel L Coulthurst Photographs: Victorian Salford and Manchester, 1995, Friends of Salford Museum’s Association

***National Archives, http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/records.aspx?cat=124-2373&cid=0#0

Boer War Veterans ........ another story from Tony Goulding

Sometimes the inspiration for a new story comes straight “out of left field”. 

Newspaper cutting

I came across this old newspaper cutting a few days ago, completely by chance, whilst sorting through donations at Oxfam’s shop on Wilbraham Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy. I immediately saw its potential as a source for a future story.

 Unfortunately, the clipping does not reveal the newspaper’s name, meaning I can’t acknowledge it. Neither is the exact date of the event recorded, however the ages of the old soldiers combined with the fact that the Boer War ended in 1902 hinted at 1960 being the approximate year. Further investigation initiated by the wedding photograph at the bottom of the page narrowed the time down to the September quarter of 1959.  Both the old soldiers’ event and the wedding having taken place in Altrincham, Cheshire suggests and the reverse of the cutting featuring an article on the clocks of Altrincham composed by a “Guardian” reporter and photographer confirms that the cutting must have been taken from an issue of “The Altrincham Guardian” during the late summer of 1959.

 Some difficulty arose when researching the life stories of some of these old soldiers. The newspaper managed to record Harry’s name wrong! He served as Henry William George Cropps (not Croops!). When born, on the 29th April 1882 in Camberwell, in the Surrey part of London, his birth surname appears to have been “Crapp” which he, unsurprisingly, seems to have avoided using during his lifetime, although the record of his death in the December quarter of 1970 confirms it as his true name.

Henry William (Harry) served in the Boer war as a private in the 104 Derbyshire Company 4th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry. He was slightly wounded on 2nd February, 1902 in action Nr. Fraserburgh as a British force were attempt to relieve the town under siege by the Boers. Returning to civilian life he married Mary Ethel (née Haywood) in the Ashton-under-Lyne registration district during the June quarter of 1907. The couple’s first child Violet Amy was born on the 9th October, 1907. At this time Harry was employed as an engineer polisher/grinder and lived, as recorded in the 1911 census at 11, Sandiway Road, Broadheath, Altrincham, Cheshire.

On the outbreak of the First World War, Harry enlisted on 9th October, 1914, joining the Labour Corps. (1) He served throughout the war until he was discharged sick on the 7th March, 1919. In respect of this he was issued with a Silver War Badge which was granted to service personnel honourably discharged due to wounds or sickness. 

A silver War Badge

A silver War Badge

Shortly after his demobilisation his wife gave birth to a son Albert T. on the 20th April, 1919. He remained in the Broadheath area of Altrincham, moving after 20 years on Sandiway Road to 9, Norman Road about 1930. 

In 1939, for the third time in his life Harry answered a call to serve his country in wartime, the National Register taken in September records that he was a full-time A.R.P. Warden.

He died in his 89th year in the December quarter of 1970.

Charles Henry Rolfe, in contrast to his fellow veteran above, had a much more nomadic life, necessitated by the fact that from a very early age he spent most of it in uniform in service to his country. He was born in Kamptee Nr. Nagpur in the Central Provinces of India on the 14th October, 1887 where his father, also Charles, was serving as Sgt. Major in the 2nd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment.

British Army H.Q. - Kamptee 1894

British Army H.Q. - Kamptee 1894

His father died on the 19th January, 1888 caused, a little curiously, by a gunshot wound to his neck. His mother, Elizabeth Frances (née Crawford) remarried in St. Matthias Church, Vepery, Madras on Valentine’s Day, 1889 Albert Edward Ridell, a lieutenant and quartermaster in the same battalion as his late husband. Charles Henry’s new step-father was a recent widower himself who had been left with 5 young children all under 10-years-old. 

Harry’s step-siblings were soon added to by two half-brothers Victor Alexander, born in Kamptee, India on the 15th November, 1889 and Arthur Leopold who was born on the 19th February, 1891 after his father had been posted home to Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire. A half-sister followed on the 1st September, 1893 but by this time the Riddells were back in India at Dagshai although the baptismal register shows Albert Edward then serving with the Derbyshire Regiment. 

It is possible that some of the children remained in England. In support of this is the fact that the 1901 census has one child, George Thirsk, recorded as an adopted son of Nugent Foster Taylor, a painter at the Royal Arsenal, and his wife Priscilla (née Kemp) (2) living at 17, Walmer Road, Plumstead, Woolwich, London.

The 1901 census also shows Albert Edward Riddell recorded as retired from the army and having returned to England living at 33, Fernholme Road, Camberwell, London with his wife and four of his children. His step-son was not one of them, however, as, by the time this census was taken on the Sunday the 31st March, Charles Henry Rolfe had been in the British Army for three months. He had joined at Woolwich on the 4th January, 1901 as a boy soldier after lying about his age (he was then not yet 3 months passed his 13th birthday). He signed on for twelve years in the same Middlesex Regiment as his father and step-father in which his eldest step-brother, also Albert Edward Riddell was already serving.

 Young Charles remained in England for the initial 15 months of his army career but then his “globetrotting” began. On the 11th March, 1902 he was posted to the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean to guard Boer Prisoners of War. (3) He remained in this post for 6 months before being sent to South Africa where he stayed for another four years. From South Africa he was sent to China (Hong Kong) (4) on the 4th October, 1906 for just over two years. A similar two year posting to Singapore ending on the 29th November, 1910 brought his travels to an end. After close to a decade away his final two years one month in the army were based on home soil. 

 Leaving the Army, though, just meant that Charles Henry swapped uniforms as he joined the police force initially the Salford City Police into which he again followed his eldest step-brother Albert Edward. After two years he transferred, on the 3rd March, 1915, to the Manchester City Force which one of his sons, Charles Kenneth, was also to join on 10th August, 1938, keeping up the family connection.

In the June quarter of 1915, shortly after his move to the Manchester Police, Charles Henry Rolfe wed Ethel Parker.  Ethel was the only daughter of Robert William Parker a former marine pilot of Boston, Lincolnshire who had retired from the sea to keep a shop and off license with his wife Clara Maria at 370-372 Liverpool Street, Pendleton, Salford, Lancashire.

 Charles Kenneth who was to follow his father’s footsteps into the Manchester Police was the couple’s first child born in Ardwick, Manchester on the 15th March, 1916. On the 22nd April, 1918, Ethel gave birth to her second child; a girl Freda Vera Lindsay. Two further children were born to the couple, a second daughter, Brenda Beatrice, in the June quarter of 1920 and another son, Arthur Gerald in the June quarter of 1927 by which time Charles Henry had been moved from the Ardwick area to North Manchester. Tragically both these latter two offspring died in their infancy.

  The 1939 Register recorded Charles Henry Rolfe as a Police Constable Reserve living at 37, Alfred Street, Bury, Lancashire with his wife and soon to married daughter, Freda. (5) His son, Charles Kenneth, was by then working as a police constable in Urmston, Lancashire.

 After a long and eventful life full of service to his country, Charles Henry passed away aged 92 in Manchester during the March quarter of 1980.

Pictures, Newspaper cutting in collection of Tony Goulding. Silver War Badge in Public Domain - By Europeana staff photographer - http://www.europeana1914-1918.eu/en/contributions/17174, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40943705 British Army H.Q. 1894, By Vmmrdes - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67219523

Notes:-

1) It is indicative of the huge numbers of men enlisting in the early months of World War 1 that on the 28th May, 1915 the Nantwich Guardian published a list, compiled by the honorary secretary of the Cheshire County Bowling Association, of no less than 510 of the counties bowlers by then serving in the armed forces. Henry Cropps was included in this list as a bowler for the Navigation Hotel, Broadheath, Altrincham.

2) This couple were married in Newry, Northern Ireland in 1878. That same year Edith Anne the Riddells’ first child was born also in Newry. It is likely that the two couples were at least acquainted at that time. This may well have been a consideration in leaving the young George Thirsk with the then still childless Taylors.

3) At its peak the number of Boer prisoners reached 6,000.

4) During his time in Hong Kong, Charles carried out Ambulance Drill training and qualified in swimming.

5) Freda Vera Lindsay Rolfe married a Manchester fireman, Walter Henry Le Vesconte in Christ Church, Manchester on the 18th November, 1939. The couple had a daughter, Denise in 1942, and the family emigrated to Australia after the war on the 9th June, 1949.

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 14 ...... back with Mallett’s Court, Mrs Parton and the Flying Dutchman

Now I have to say that this bit of Mallet’s Court is all I have in the picture collection.

Mallet's Court & the pub, circa 1900

And will probably be the only photograph to record its existence.

It was off Greengate just four doors up from Gorton Street, contained just three houses and was listed as unoccupied in 1910 and had gone in a redevelopment just three years later.

All of which begs the question of why I should have gone looking for it and to to which the answer as ever is because it was there.

In 1891 there were just the two families living in this narrow alley and they were Mr and Mrs Baxter and Mr and Mrs Driver.

James and Mary Baxter shared a two roomed property with their three daughters, and the Driver’s managed to squeeze themselves, two children and a lodger into their three rooms.

This was hardly luxury living but neither family I suspect scored high on the income level.  Mr Baxter worked as a carder in a cotton mill and Mr Driver described himself as a “hawker”, Margaret his wife as “a fancy box hawker” and their lodger was “gardener.”

And while Mallet’s Court was one of those dark alleyways where the sun failed to brighten its gloom or a gentle wind lift the staleness of the place it was wider than its neighbour which was Prestons Court which despite its few houses was really a narrow passage linking Greengate with Dawson Street and a brewery.

Mallett's Court, 1849

So Mallets’ Court was not the sort of place which many would want linger in or indeed knew much about unless of course you used the Flying Dutchman which was on the corner which dates from the 1850s and lasted into the 20th century.

From 1891 it was run by Lucy Parton who took over the place from her husband John A Parton.  The couple had married in 1865 and as ever there is a little mystery.

Mr Parton is listed at the Flying Dutchman in 1886, but five years later there is another licesnsee who in turn has been replaced by Mrs Parton by 1895.

In time I will find out more about them.  I know that he was born in Manchester in 1842 and was an iron dealer while she was born in Bollington four years later and started work as a servant.

The wedding marks, 1865

So far apart from a few entries on official documents their lives have remained in the shadows and the picture of the pub featuring the name of Mrs Parton is about all we have.

May 8 1865

Although I did find their marriage certificate which reveals that he was living in Pollard Street in Ancoats and was a bayonet maker and she was in Mile Platting.

And of course it is the detail that is the most fascinating because both of them were illiterate along with one of the witnesses, was recorded as leaving their “mark” on the certificate.

Not that this was unusual even in the 1860s but raises questions about how they managed the pub accounts.
And it leads me off into a search of Mr Parton’s father who described himself as a “cattle dealer,” Mr
Whitson, Lucy father who was a beer retailer and the intriguing thought of where the couple met.

But that is for another time.

Location; Salford, Manchester, Bollington.

Pictures; the Flying Dutchman from a picture postcard in the collection of Mrs Bishop, Greengate and Mallet’s Court, 1842 from the OS map of Manchester & Salford, 1842-49, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/ and part of the marriage certificate, 1865, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*Mallet's Court, Enu10 56-57, Greengate, Salford, 1891

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 12 .......... Barn Street

Barn Street is so totally lost and forgotten that I have yet to find it on any street directory.

Nu 38-42 Greengate circa 1895

Now I know it existed because Val’s mother was born at number 14 Barn Street in 1904 and there is also a reference in a Salford Council report from 1910 indicating that four of the houses opposite were unfit for human habitation along with several others in the street.

But at first I could not locate it on either the 1849 nor the 1894 OS maps for the area which I suppose means that it was too small, too insignificant and its residents too poor to warrant its name being recorded.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the family lived off Greengate.  Val’s grandmother was born on East Philip Street, and later after she had married Mr Mitchell they were on Collier Street moving to Frederick Street by 1911.

So I reckoned it was reasonable to suppose that Barn Street was somewhere off Greengate.

Barn Street in 1849

But it turns out it was just a little to the north of St Stephen's Church located off Brewery Street running parallel with Rosamond Street.

The discovery came as it always does from a bit of painstaking research which involved trawling through all 30 of the census returns for Greengate in 1901.

And there at number 27 in the list of streets was ours, and armed with the key streets around Barn Street it was possible to find it on the OS map for 1849.

Later I will go make and get a sense of what the residents were like, but for now I will  just leave you with a picture of  another part of Greengate which is the row of houses just beyond Gorton Street along with the map of Barn Street.

And for those with an interest in that other place over the river, there were four Barn Streets listed in 1903, stretching from Openshaw in the east, to Moss Side in the south, and Moston and Blackley.

Location; somewhere in Salford

Picture; number 38-42 Greengate, circa 1895 from a picture postcard, in the collection of Mrs Bishop and detail of the area in 1849 from the OS for Manchester & Salford, 1842-49, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

The lost Eltham & Woolwich pictures ...... no.2 Well Hall Odeon

A short series on the pictures of Eltham and Woolwich in 1979.

For four decades the pictures I took of Eltham and Woolwich in the mid ‘70’s sat undisturbed in our cellar.

But all good things eventually come to light.

They were colour slides which have been transferred electronically.

The quality of the original lighting and the sharpness is sometimes iffy, but they are a record of a lost Eltham and Woolwich.

Location; Eltham

Picture; Eltham, circa 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 11 Collier Street

Now Collier Street will mean many things to many people.

Collier Street, 2015

For those with a preference for music there is the Blueprint Studios directly opposite on Queen Street and for those who fancy a drink as well as their music there is the Eagle half way up Collier Street.

For others it will be the old baths on the corner with Rolla Street where I am told Mark Addy learnt to swim and which were opened by the same company that built the Leaf Street baths in Hulme and others across Manchester.

But sadly there is no one left who can tell me about learning to swim in its pool or even of a Saturday morning splash about with friends and family because the  baths closed  in 1880 after just 25 years of serving the community.

The Eagle Inn, 2011

So you might be forgiven for thinking that Collier Street has abandoned its history, but not so.

My old friend Val got in touch to tell me that her grandparents lived  in “Artisans Dwellings on Collier Street. 

I have now looked up the place and an interesting tale emerges. They were built by the Artizans Company mainly they built in London.

The man who started it started out working as a scarecrow! The company went bust at one point because of embezzlement by the Company secretary and others. 

His name very Dickensian was Swindlehurst.”

The company had begun in 1867 with high intentions of building for profit good quality low rise properties for working people.  This put them slightly at odds with other companies also building for the poor who had gone down the model of multi story blocks of flats.

Most of their properties were as Val said in London, but they seem to have built here on Collier Street running up from Queen Street as far as Rolla Street.

I can’t exactly date them yet, but they are listed in the 1901 census and while they don’t appear in earlier lists there were people on the site in 1891.

Of course these may be earlier buildings which predate Artisans Buildings but there are a row of properties on the 1895 OS map which do seem to conform to what I think they would be like.

Collier Street, 1895

According to the 1901 census Artisan S Buildings consisted of 68 properties in which lived 276 people.*

Their occupations ranged across the sort of\semi and and unskilled jobs that this bit of Salford had to offer.

So far no picture of the buildings has come to light but Elaine Craven remembers “we left the Greengate area in 1959/1960 I don't know when the Artisans were pulled down, but they were a red brick and cream brick if I remember rightly, it had a big courtyard with a gate which was always locked, and I think they were three high, could be wrong, and they looked good. 

All the kids played in the dwellings, but I don't remember how many kids lived there."***

And that just leaves me with the story behind nu 19 Collier Street in 1911 which was home to Mr and Mrs Stone who lived in the last house on the corner of Collier Street and Rolla Street, which was a pub and here in just five rooms lived the Stone’s and their nine children.**

Pictures; looking down Collier Street towards Queen Street, 2015 from the collection of Andy Robertson, and detail of the area in 1894 from the OS map of South Lancashire, 1894, courtesy of Digital Archives Association,  http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Painting; the Eagle Inn, Salford © 2011 Peter Topping

Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

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

*Enu 14 10- 19, Greengate Salford, Lancashire, 1901

**Enu 131, Salford, Lancashire, 1911

***Elaine Craven, 2016

Lost and forgotten Salford streets nu 9 ......... Mallett's Court and Greengate

Greengate, numbers 34-42, circa 1895

You won’t find Mallet’s Court nor for that matter the beer shop of Mrs Lucy Parton which occupied numbers 34 & 36 Greengate, or the home of Mr James Finn shopkeeper.

They were all there on this bit of Greengate in 1895.  Mrs Parton’s beer shop is there on the immediate right of the picture announced by the sign of the Flying Dutchman.

But already the row of houses next door are marked, for there is a sign announcing that they are to be sold, and just a few years later the site is empty and later still has become a garage for the Daimler Motor Company.

The Flying Scotsman, circa 1895

Mrs Parton however hung into 1909 but she too had vanished two years later and the pub was now a boarding house.

Now in time I will go looking for Mrs Parton along with Mr Finn and the other inhabitants both of this bit of Greengate and Mallet Court which led off to seven back to back properties.

And for those wanting to know exactly where we are on Greengate, had you stepped just one more down from the beer shop you would have been standing on the corner of Greengate and Gorton Street.

All a bit more helpful than the caption on the picture postcard which just said “Old Houses, Greengate Salford.”

Which just leaves me to ask if any one is passing this bit of Greengate to snap the corner with Gorton Street and send me the results.

Other than that I will offer up the detail of the area from Goad's Fire Insurance maps which show Gorton Street, Greengate and Mallet's Court.

Greengate, circa 1900

At the time no doubt Mrs Parton was still offering up beer to her customers.

And here I must give a thankyou to Alan Jennings who corrected me on the original story where I called her pub the Flying Scotsman.

In my defence I couldn't read the name, and the directories only list the place as a "beer shop" so I was pleased that Alan came in with, "Hi Andrew, not trying to be picky, but the pub was called the Flying Dutchman, not Flying Scotsman. 

It was named after the 1849 Derby winner, it closed in 1906 when Cornbrook brewery were awarded compensation for the licence.

In 1850 it was a whip makers shop, 2 years later it was the Flying Dutchman, tenanted by Henry Smith, later licensees included William Boswell in the 1860s, Sarah Hindle in the 1870s and Paul Parton in early 1900s. 

The brewery installed Thomas Carney in July 1905, 8 months later the police reported that the pub was still being used by thieves and other bad characters and so it was referred for compensation. Carney was at the Waterloo hotel before that."

Now that is not picky just a sound piece of historical correction and has set me off looking for the story of the Cornbrook brewery.

Please keep them coming Alan.

Location; Salford






Picture;“Old Houses, Greengate Salford, circa 1895, from the collection of Mrs Bishop and map from Goad's Fire Insurance Maps, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/