The city’s skyline continues to be transformed, with what were once the tallest buildings we had overtaken by those that climb to the clouds.
Location; Knott Mill
Picture; April skyline, 2022, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
The city’s skyline continues to be transformed, with what were once the tallest buildings we had overtaken by those that climb to the clouds.
Location; Knott Mill
Picture; April skyline, 2022, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
Last night opened the 20th Chorlton Arts Festival, and on hand was a Lord, an MP, a former National Poet of Scotland a heap of artists, writers and Chorlton residents.
Since then the festival has welcomed hundreds of artists,
musicians, and writers who have performed in a varied set of venues, and encompassed
the famous, not so famous and lots of local talent.
So it was fitting that Lord Bradley of Withington who was
one of the first patrons, was there last night, along with the present MP, Jeff Smith and
Jackie Kay who was the National Poet of Scotland from 2016 till 2021, and lives
locally.
But above all the night was about all of us who will at some
point over the next month, dip into an “Arts” event or try to pack in as many
as is possible.
You can access the full programme of events online, or pick up a paper copy from Chorlton Library, as well as a host of shops, bars and restaurants.
And looking at the list of things to watch, listen to and participate in, it has to be the best festival yet.
At which point the very observant will spot the error in one of the photographs, and no it wasn't deliberate, I wish it had been ...... which confirms that simple truth that I ain't no artist.
Location; Chorlton
Rome, 2007 |
Florence, 2010 |
The Trevi Fountain, Rome, 2007 |
Now I am looking forward to listening to this edition of In Our Time.
The Martyrdom of Saint Blandina, 1886 |
*Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the accounts by Eusebius of Caesarea (c260-339 AD) and others of the killings of Christians in the first three centuries after the crucifixion of Jesus. Eusebius was writing in a time of peace, after The Great Persecution that had started with Emperor Diocletian in 303 AD and lasted around eight years.
Many died under Diocletian, and their names are not preserved, but those whose deaths are told by Eusebius became especially celebrated and their stories became influential.
Through his writings, Eusebius shaped perceptions of what it meant to be a martyr in those years, and what it meant to be a Christian.
With, Candida Moss, Edward Cadbury Professor of Theology at the University of Birmingham, Kate Cooper, Professor of History at Royal Holloway, University of London, James Corke-Webster, Senior Lecturer in Classics, History and Liberal Arts at King’s College London
Producer: Simon Tillotson"*
Picture; The Martyrdom of Saint Blandina (1886) at the Church of Saint-Blandine de Lyon, France, Author Delfin Le Dauphin, Licensing, I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: w:en:Creative Commons. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
*Early Christian Martyrdom, In Our Time, Radio 4, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blandina
An occasional series featuring pictures from a walk through the City.
Picture; Texting in the Square, St Peter's Square, Manchester, 2022, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
Now it’s twenty years ago almost to the day when a teacher, a city councillor, and a vicar sat down with a bottle of wine and explored the possibilities of an annual festival of the arts here in Chorlton.
All of which brings me to the programme, which is available online and in shops, bars, restaurants and Chorlton Library.
This year the organizers have excelled themselves with the breath and variety of what is on offer, with the added bonus of a short history of the festival over the last twenty years.
And the emphasis remains one of show casing local talent with a few old favourites.
To these can be added the patrons, which include Lip Service, Jackie Kay, who was the National Poet of Scotland, Badly Drawn Boy, the comedian Jason Manford and Stephen Raw “the artist from London who told all his friends he would be back in just six months, and over 40 years later is still in Chorlton”.
Location; Chorlton
Pictures; from the Programme of the 20th Jubilee Festival of the Chorlton Arts Festival
*Chorlton Arts Festival, https://chorltonartsfestival.org/
Now if you missed walking Chorlton’s past in sound today you can still capture the moment.
David Govier and colleague, 2022 |
Those memories are part of a wider collection from the Manchester Studies Oral History Collection which are now located at Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre.***
The walk begins at the old village green, goes up Beech Road to the Rec and then back down Crossland Road, mixing the memories from a century and a bit ago with images from the period.
Chorlton Green, 1979 |
Hayley embellished these interviews with field recordings and environmental archival recordings from the BBC Sound Effects Library to bring these interviews to life – from the smithy on Beech Road to skating on the meadows and singing Christmas carols on the green.
Chorlton Green, circa 1900 |
You don’t need to download any software to go on the walk – any browser on your phone will open it up and play content based on your location.
There is a suggested route for the sound walk (A to B); however, feel free to explore as you wish. We advise using headphones and walking at a gentle and leisurely pace, listening to the audio in each section, and moving on to the next section when the audio stops.
To go on the tour remotely, go to the Chorlton sound walk, click Open, click Go when it’s loaded, click on the icon of the person at the bottom left, and then drag and drop the icon that appears at point A on the map into whichever blue area you would like to go. The clip will start to play over an image and a bit of text about the recording*.
The full-length interviews are available at Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre".
Beech Road, circa 1900 |
Location; Old Chorlton
Pictures; David Govier and colleagues on the Green, the Green in 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson and the Green and Beech Road, circa 1900 from the Lloyd Collection.
*Hayley Suviste, www.hayleysuviste.co.uk
** Manchester Studies Oral History Collection, https://northwestsoundheritage.org/2019/10/14/the-manchester-studies-oral-history-collection/
*** Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre, https://www.tameside.gov.uk/LibrariesandLeisure/LocalStudiesandArchives/Local-Studies-and-Archives-Centre
****Chorlton Oral History Sound Walk, https://sonicmaps.xyz/player/?p=772
Now, a fascinating collection of photographs of Eltham fell through the letter box today, and what a journey it has had to arrive here in Manchester.
Cover of Village Eltham, undated |
Not only do we share Eltham but we both went to Crown Woods and she knew one of my great aunt’s sons who was well known locally in her part of Ontario.
We found each other via social media and despite its detractors Face Book and those other platforms can be a positive force in making new contacts, as well as allowing people to share their writing, and photographs with a wider world.
And make no mistake the writing and pictures which appear can be as excellent as anything produced by a professional.
All of which leads me back to the book which consists of 36 photographs from the early 20th century.
Some will be familiar, but many are new to me, and I suspect will be to others. Most were I think produced by commercial photographers who will have sold some to residents as well as picture post card companies.
Often the photographer would have walked down particular streets and captured a selection of the houses, only to go back and offer up a copy to the occupants of each house.
This collection goes under the title of Village Eltham and were compiled by Gus White, Ian Murdock and Paula Richardson in 1984 and published by G & Pi Publications Eltham.*
I went looking for the company so that I could get permission to reproduce some of the images, but so far I haven’t been successful.
But then I guess someone in Eltham will know the three individuals or were involved with the publisher and if I am lucky will help me get in touch with them.
Until then mindful of copyright I shall just reproduce one image which ticks lots of boxes.
The carousel and the hutments, undated |
The Eltham hutments on the slopes of Shooters Hill were built during the First World War for the Woolwich Arsenal workers and removed in the 1930s”.
Few people will now know of the temporary accommodation which was built along with an estate of houses which became known as the Progress Estate.
And here the story takes a personal turn because we lived in one of those houses and all of us have fond memories of the place where we grew up and owned for 3 decades.
Added to this one of the huts featured in my book on Manchester and the Great War, and the story of George Davison from Manchester who in the March of 1918 made his will shortly before embarking for the Western Front.*
It was witnessed by H M Drinkhall and V L Dade and was hand written in a single sheet of note paper and is simple and the point. “This is the last will and testament of me George Gurnel Davison of Birch Vale Cottage, Roomily, Cheshire.
I give devise and bequeath to my dear wife Mary Ellen all my property whatsoever and wheresoever and I appoint her sole Executor of this my will.”
The will, 1918 |
In one of his letters to his wife he had mentioned the Drinkhall family and how they were looking forward to her coming back to stay.
And that set me off looking for them, and in that I was helped by my friend Tricia, who located them to one of the hutments on what is now the site of the old Well Hall Odeon, which is just a few minutes’ walk from our old house.
So having made that connection between me, our house, H Drinkhall and a Manchester soldier I will close with that “horse drawn carousel” which was exactly like one I encountered on a Greek island in 1994, and another a decade later in a small remote Italian village.
Both were operated by muscle power, and both were owned by a family of iterant travellers who pitched up for a few nights in a small village offering entertainment to the local children before moving on.
All of which just leaves me to make an appeal for anyone who knows or knew the three authors, so that I can share more of the images.Location; Eltham
Pictures, cover and horse drawn carousel from Village Eltham, Will, 1918, of George Davison, from the collection of David Harrop
*Eltham Village, Gus White, Ian Murdock and Paula Richardson in 1984 and published by G & Pi Publications Eltham
**A will ……. the Eltham Hutments and a soldier of the Great War, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-will-eltham-hutments-and-soldier-of.html
North West Sound Heritage has commissioned me to create a sound walk around Chorlton Green and Beech Road, using interviews from The Manchester Studies Unit’s extensive oral history project from the 1970s.
Doing nothing outside the Lych Gate on the Green, 1907 |
I have arranged these interview clips onto an interactive map of Chorlton Green and Beech Road.
As you walk around the area, interviews will play based on your location – so as you explore the Beech Road area, you will uncover stories about the exact street you are on.
I have embellished these interviews with field recordings and environmental archival recordings from the BBC Sound Effects Library to bring these interviews to life – from the smithy on Beech Road to skating on the meadows and singing Christmas carols on the green.
On Tuesday 26th April, North West Sound Archive will be set up on the Chorlton Green from 3-5.30 pm to assist people in setting the walk on their mobile devices and gathering thoughts and feedback from those who have tested out the sound walk.
The sound walk along the Green and Beech Road |
You can access the walk here, either on the web browser of your mobile’s web browser (if doing the sound walk in person) or on your computer’s web browser (if exploring the sound walk virtually).
You don’t need to download any software to go on the walk – any browser on your phone will open it up and play content based on your location.
There is a suggested route for the sound walk (A to B); however, feel free to explore as you wish. We advise using headphones and walking at a gentle and leisurely pace, listening to the audio in each section, and moving on to the next section when the audio stops.
Looking south from the green, 1907 |
To go on the tour remotely, go to the Chorlton sound walk, click Open, click Go when it’s loaded, click on the icon of the person at the bottom left, and then drag and drop the icon that appears at point A on the map into whichever blue area you would like to go. The clip will start to play over an image and a bit of text about the recording.
The full-length interviews are available at Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre.
Find out more about the Manchester Studies Oral History Collection.
You can find out more about my sound artwork here: www.hayleysuviste.co.uk.
Location; Chorlton Green
Picture; The Lych Gate, circa 1907, from the Lloyd Collection
Now I remain fascinated by those odd bits of our old technology, and so is my friend Barbarella who came across this box.
And I think it is a Lucy box, which according to I Spy Lucy Boxes, "is a name applied to boxes, about 3 feet high, about 2 feet wide and about 18 inches deep, which are to be found on pavements throughout the city.*
Such boxes were originally used in connection with the tram network and then with the trolley bus network; and as part of the general electricity supply network; and for telephone purposes……..The name 'Lucy box' was applied to these boxes because the great majority of them, in the early days at least, were made by the Lucy Foundry in Oxford.**
The equipment in them was used to isolate a section of the tram or trolley bus route - that is, to stop electricity running through that section.
It could also be used to make the route solid, that is, you could make the electric current bypass the isolating components in the box; this would enable you to work on the box while the trams or trolleys continued running”.
Of course I might have got this terribly wrong, but then someone will tell me, which is the joy of the blog.
Location; Cheadle
Pictures, what Barbarella saw, 2022, from the collection of Barbarella Bonvento*I Spy Lucy Boxes, http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/articles/lucy/lucyboxes.htm
**W. Lucy & Co., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Lucy_%26_Co.
North West Sound Heritage has commissioned me to create a sound walk around Chorlton Green and Beech Road, using interviews from The Manchester Studies Unit’s extensive oral history project from the 1970s.
Doing nothing outside the Lych Gate on the Green, 1907 |
I have arranged these interview clips onto an interactive map of Chorlton Green and Beech Road.
As you walk around the area, interviews will play based on your location – so as you explore the Beech Road area, you will uncover stories about the exact street you are on.
I have embellished these interviews with field recordings and environmental archival recordings from the BBC Sound Effects Library to bring these interviews to life – from the smithy on Beech Road to skating on the meadows and singing Christmas carols on the green.
On Tuesday 26th April, North West Sound Archive will be set up on the Chorlton Green from 3-5.30 pm to assist people in setting the walk on their mobile devices and gathering thoughts and feedback from those who have tested out the sound walk.
The sound walk along the Green and Beech Road |
You can access the walk here, either on the web browser of your mobile’s web browser (if doing the sound walk in person) or on your computer’s web browser (if exploring the sound walk virtually).
You don’t need to download any software to go on the walk – any browser on your phone will open it up and play content based on your location.
There is a suggested route for the sound walk (A to B); however, feel free to explore as you wish. We advise using headphones and walking at a gentle and leisurely pace, listening to the audio in each section, and moving on to the next section when the audio stops.
Looking south from the green, 1907 |
To go on the tour remotely, go to the Chorlton sound walk, click Open, click Go when it’s loaded, click on the icon of the person at the bottom left, and then drag and drop the icon that appears at point A on the map into whichever blue area you would like to go. The clip will start to play over an image and a bit of text about the recording.
The full-length interviews are available at Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre.
Find out more about the Manchester Studies Oral History Collection.
You can find out more about my sound artwork here: www.hayleysuviste.co.uk.
Location; Chorlton Green
Picture; The Lych Gate, circa 1907, from the Lloyd Collection
An occasional series featuring pictures from a walk through the City
Location; Manchester
Picture; Tall buildings and stairs, Circle Square, Manchester, 2022, from the collection of Andrew Simpson