Bradford Power Station, east Manchester in 1976

I have to say I have fond memories of east Manchester.

We lived there for just a year from 1973 to’74 in one of the flats which had once housed the families of fireman.

Our back windows looked out on the old yard which had  held the ambulance and fire engines at the rear of the Mill Street Police station.

From the front windows we could gaze over the stalls of the market to the newly built flats which at night resembled nothing less than an ocean liner all lit up on the night sky.

When we arrived they had yet to demolish the pit head structures of Bradford Colliery and our Sunday afternoon walks came up against engineering factories, steel works and Clayton Aniline.

And when we left we just exchanged a flat off Grey Mare Lane for a house in Ashton and continued to daily pass through the area for another few years.

But by 1976 I was back in south Manchester living in Chorlton and it would be a decade before I went back.  

In the meantime much of that industrial landscape vanished, and now even our block of flats is no more.

So I was pleased when Eileen gave me permission to reproduce these images of the Bradford we knew.  They speak for themselves.

And the correction from Neil Simpson, "I'm sure you know, but the official name of the power station in Bradford was Stuart Street Power Station, built originally by Manchester Corporation and fed slack coal by underground conveyor from the adjacent Bradford Colliery".*

None of which I did, so thanks Neil.

 

To which Philip Gregson added "My Dad's place of work, plus my Uncle Alex. The place where he was definitely happiest, work-wise. Many a happy Christmas party in the staff canteen. Had a few walks round the plant, unofficially of course. 

Taken to see most of the plant, the conveyor from the adjacent pit, the coal crushers, turbine generators etc. 

It was a dominant feature next to Philips Park of course, and in spite of its familiarity, still scared me with its overhead transmission cables crackling in the rain, as electricity tracked across the ceramic insulators. We used to run underneath out of fear. 

I did an article on the station on Manchester History. 

When my Dad passed we drove him to the Station and around the Velodrome (with permission) paused in Stuart St by the main gates. Later scattered some of his ashes in the grounds and in Philips Park formal gardens where he and Mum would visit especially on Tulip Sunday. Happy Days, such beautifully maintained gardens at one time".

And with the comment came this picture of a party at the Power Station to which Philip adds, "I'm RHS, looking left kneeling on chair".

Location, Bradford, Manchester

Pictures;  Bradford Power Station, 1976, courtesy of Eileen Blake, and party at the Power Station, circa 1ate 1950s from the collection of  Philip Gregson

*Stuart Street Power Station, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Street_Power_Station

Annie Morris, Ram Alley and more stories of Eltham in the 19th century

Annie and her son William in 1877

I  am back with Annie Morris whose life in Eltham pretty much covered the period when the place shifted from a rural backwater to a suburb of London.

She was born Annie Rice Foster in Pound Place in 1848 and her grandfather and father were blacksmiths on the High Street.

She would have known and gone to school with many children whose parents still made a living from the land, either as farmers, agricultural labourers or trades associated with the rural economy.

Her husband John was a carpenter and joiner, and his father variously described himself as a labourer, groom, gamekeeper and gardener.

John had been born in Yorkshire and his father was from Wales, and during the years before 1851 the family moved back to Wales before settling in Eltham which rather contradicts that old school’s history idea that people seldom travelled.

Judging by the census records the lanes of Eltham would have been full of different accents.  Annie’s grandfather had been born in the North West, her father in law in Wales and her mother in law in Yorkshire.

And looking at the at the servants employed in the grand houses around Eltham they also were drawn from across the country which shouldn’t surprise us given that few of these wealthy families would choose to employ local girls.

In the same way Annie and John moved around a bit, having started their married life in Plumstead in 1875, they were back in Eltham by 1880 and lived in a succession of cottages.

Ram Alley in 1909

Of these I am drawn to their time in Ram Alley which consisted of four cottages by the High Street.

Now I doubt that these properties were ever that wonderful to live in.

Three of the four had just two rooms while the fourth consisted of three. In 1895 they were all condemned as unfit to live in but in the way of these things they were not demolished for another forty-three years.

Annie and John were there in Ram Alley by 1891 bringing up six children in just two rooms.

And it is easy to brush over that simple fact but eight people is difficult enough especially given that the four boys ranged in age from sixteen down to four and there was a daughter under two.

That said Court Yard where they were living a decade later was only marginally less of a squeeze for while it had five rooms there were still eight of them and young Mabel was now 11.

But such was the lot of many working class families in both rural and urban areas and throughout the 19th century commentators reported on the ingenious ways families coped with such overcrowding, ranging from the simple blanket hung across the upstairs room to sharing out children with neighbours or grandparents.

I suppose there was always that simple observation that soon enough the children would move on.  By 1911 Annie and John were sharing Court Yard with just two of their children while up at Ram Alley, three of the four properties were occupied by just one person and the fourth with its three rooms was the home of George Meakin and his lodger Elizabeth Lumley.

Detail of Annie and William

Annie was to record her memories of growing up in Eltham to a local newspaper in 1931 and in the fullness of time I will revisit the stories she had to tell.

But I shall close with another look at the photograph of Annie as a proud mother in 1877.

She is sitting with her eldest son William and the picture was taken in Woolwich.

Now this must have amounted to quite a financial outlay for a working family and I rather think there will not be that many from this period or from their class.

And it is the detail that draws you in.

William is dressed in his finest baby wear but it is Annie who makes the lasting impression with that carefully prepared hair and the striking dress.

She would have been 29.

Location; Eltham, London


Pictures; Annie Morris with her eldest son William courtesy of Jean Gammons, and Ram Alley from The story of Royal Eltham, R.R.C. Gregory, 1909 and published on The story of Royal Eltham, by Roy Ayers, http://www.gregory.elthamhistory.org.uk/bookpages/i001.htm

101 ways to use a Chorlton telephone box ….. the political one

Now, over the years I mused on the different ways disused telephone kiosks have been turned into something different.

My favourite is the mini library, although the equally small museum nearly beat it to the finishing line.*

Less popular on my list is their use as a place for business cards advertising everything from taxis to certain services, while there will be a few who have used them as lavatories.

And now emboldened by their decommission some are used as billboards, which takes me to this one on Wilton Road to which was added recently a comment on the war in Ukraine.

Location; Wilton Road, Chorlton

Picture; the Political telephone box, 2022, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Telephone Kiosks,https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Telephone%20Kiosks

On Court Yard with Annie Morris

I never tire of looking at this picture which takes me back to an Eltham I never knew.

We are standing on Court Road at the beginning of the last century and it comes from the collection published in Eltham Through Time by Kristina Bedford*

To our left in more recent times was the Grove Market, ahead of us the old Congregational Church and to the right a row of houses and shops which were already old by the time our photograph was taken.

Judging by the leaves on the trees we are in spring but never completely trust an postcard because companies were not averse to the odd “touching up” to enhance the image.

That said I have always been drawn to this bit of Eltham and not because of the palace and the posh buildings associated with it but because of that row in to our right.

I have written about walking past the properties already.**

And it was here that Annie Morris who lived when our photographer pitched up on Court Yard.***

In her time she had lived at  numbers 17 and 25 Court Yard and before that in Ram Alley behind the High Street.

She was born in 1848 at 4 Pound Place, and almost her whole life was spent in here Eltham.

She was a cook and may have worked for Captain North at Avery Hill and through her life we have a snap shot of what Eltham had been and what it was becoming.

Her grandfather had set up a farrier’s business in Eltham in 1803 on what is now the Library, and “attended the old Parish Church in his leather apron.”

All of which takes me back to Court Yard and that picture from Ms Bedford's book

Location; Eltham

Picture; courtesy of Kristina Bedford from Eltham Through Time

*Eltham Through Time, Kristina Bedford, 2013, http://www.amberleybooks.com/shop/article_9781445616001/Eltham-Through-Time%3CBR%3E%3CI%3EKristina-Bedford%3C_I%3E.html?sessid=QEZApJq34zSjKNVdmAQp3W3Qy2Osaq7D26IZyhCFhC916IZiIOjjz615AwKjvvXM&shop_param=cid%3D1%26aid%3D9781445616001%26

**Walking along Court Yard in the June of 1841, looking for John Martin and Hannah Simmons, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/walking-along-court-yard-in-june-of.html

***Annie Morris, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Annie%20Morris 

Ms Bedford also has an interesting web site, Ancestral Deeds, http://www.ancestraldeeds.co.uk/

An unfamiliar view of Court Yard around 1900

Now I have written about Court Yard several times and in particular about Annie Morris who lived there at the turn of the last century.

Court Yard circa 1900

And here is Court Yard from the pen of   Mr Llwyd Roberts who was living in Eltham in the early 1930s.

Many of his drawings appeared in the Kentish Times in 1930 and were reprinted in Old Eltham sixty-six years later.

He was a fine artist and draughtsman and some at least of the pictures will have been drawn from first hand knowledge others like this one were probably drawn from picture postcards and photographs taken at the turn of the last century.

Picture; Court Yard, Llwyd Roberts, circa 1929-30, from Old Eltham, 1966, courtesy of Margaret Copeland Gain

*Court Yard, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/so-what-fate-for-crown-on-court-yard.html

**Annie Morris, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Annie%20Morris

***Llwyd Roberts, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Llwyd%20Roberts

A little bit of our railway history …….. rescued from the skip

I am looking at a collection of railway history, dating from 1854 through to 1893, which were destined for a skip.

Happily, they were rescued, and for that we have Steve Casson’s dad to thank.

Despite not quite knowing what to do with them he knew they deserved more than being thrown out.

There are twenty of them in all and they consist of the plans for building schemes along the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, and given that they were found in Manchester Victoria Railway Station, the plans relate to Manchester, Lancashire, and Derbyshire.

All but one was handwritten, and they specify the materials to be used, the methods of construction and the time allotted for the work.

All of which offers up a fascinating glimpse of how one railway company went about improving its track, viaducts, and buildings.

So in the May of 1862 the company set about replacing a timber viaduct over the River Roach, with a brick one, while five years later work was about to commence on for “the necessary excavation and filling in, the Diversion of the River Irwell and the arching over of the River Irwell and Trough Syke Brook with the building of a hut in front of the present arch over the Irwell”.

In some cases, the company was responding to other civil engineering projects being undertaken by canal companies and local authorities which necessitated alterations to the railway’s buildings.

And then there are the intriguing constructions, like “the erection of four cottages at Bacup in the County of Lancaster”, in the June of 1870.  I would like to think that they were homes for railway workers, and with a bit of detective work it might be possible to find them.

Which in turn raises the interesting question of whether some of these “works” are still there to day.

Of these the two that fascinate me are “the Works required in Building a Bridge under York Street and Widening the Viaduct at Victoria Station”, in 1854 and for covering stairs at Ducie Bridge two years later.

Now someone may well beat me down there to see if there is any evidence for the two projects.

In the same way, there will be someone who knows the Starkie Bridge at Padiham, near Burnley, which was the focus of a critical letter written by Thomas Chaffer on December 4th 1872, which was a “Report on the alterations made by the engineers of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Co., in the construction of the Starkie Bridge at Padiham, Burnley”.

He was the Bridgemaster and highlighted what he felt were the failings in the construction, concluding, it “is a style of work that I should not entertain without a seven years guarantee or even more time, so I think there is considerable risk in the stability of such a construction in an Arch of the Span, and without the guarantee of the Railway Company for upholding the same, I would not entertain its construction at all”.

That said, someone responded in the margin with comments, finishing  with the rebuttal “no guarantee can be given”.

And that is it, other than to say a big thank you to Steven Casson, and the promise that in quieter times I will approach the Science and Industry Museum at Castlefield and the Archives at Central Ref to see if either would like to accept them.

In the meantime I shall pour over each one for other hidden gems.

Location, Manchester, Lancashire, Derbyshire

Pictures; from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway archive, 1854-1893, donated by Steve Casson, and Victoria Railway Station, 1855 C.W. Clennell, m63270 courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

The Iron School Room …… a nod to the Manchester Exposition ……. and a lost bit of Whalley Range

 I am looking at a book from 1907, celebrating 50 years of the Chorlton Road Sunday School and I am as fascinated by it as is my neighbour who lent it to me yesterday. *

The Iron Room 1857

Now I don’t know his name, but in the fulness of time he will get back to me, because he is a fan of the blog and then I can include him in the story which is just as it should be.

Front piece, 1908

There will be some who seeing the title of the book will quickly move on, either because of a lack of interest in all things Sunday School, or they are unfamiliar with  Chorlton Road.

And that would be a mistake, because there is a lot here that says much about this bit of south Manchester, and the people who lived here when this stretch of land was still quite rural.

The book is of its time and can be dense in places and is full of religious references, but put that aside, here is a detailed account of a Sunday School and its church from 1857 through to 1907.

Some will still be remember the church which stood a little off Chorlton Road and down Ayres Road, bits of it were still there in 2013 but it has now gone.

As has its Sunday School which the book describes as “the Iron School Room” and has its own claim to fame.  

For 142 days it was the refreshment room for the Manchester Art Exhibition of 1857.

My Wikipedia tells me that “The Art Treasures of Great Britain was an exhibition of fine art held in Manchester, England, from 5 May to 17 October 1857.

It remains the largest art exhibition to be held in the UK, possibly in the world, with over 16,000 works on display. 

It attracted over 1.3 million visitors in the 142 days it was open, about four times the population of Manchester at that time, many of whom visited on organised railway excursions. 

Its selection and display of artworks had a formative influence on the public art collections that were then being established in the UK, such as the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The Iron School, 1857

After the exhibition ended, the exhibited works were returned to their owners, and the temporary building and its contents were auctioned. Glass display cases were bought by the new museums under construction in South Kensington. The building was entirely demolished by November 1858. 

Having cost over £37,000 in all, the materials comprising the building sold for little more than £7,000; internal fittings and decorations that cost £18,581 sold for £2,836.”.**

Which leads me neatly to the Iron School Room which was purchased by the Congregational Church for "the sum of £600, and in the month of October was promptly removed to the site awaiting its reception”. ***

The building was later replaced by a stone one, and I think in the fullness of time I will return to write about this later building.

But for now, I shall just reflect on what the book says about the surrounding area which included Brook’s Bar in the year the “Iron Room” appeared.  

The spot “was more than semi-rural [with] nearly the whole of the west side was open country, pastures, corn, and meadow land, almost as far as the eye could reach, interspersed with clumps and rows of tall trees. 

 

The area, 1854

One remembers that opposite the iron edifice itself there flourished a cabbage field, where in the red and green sorts  grew in abundance.  

Moss Lane was a winding way flanked on the south with high turfy banks and lofty poplars, and in its course trended by Flint’s farm, a white secluded homestead nestling on the spot, approximately where Alexandra Road now commences.

The new Sunday School, 1907

Behind, westwards was Whalley Range somewhat pristine, and the fashionable quarter of the city’s merchant princes.  Attached to ‘Banker Brooks’ house was a considerable park where in antlered deer disported themselves.

Brook’s Bar or Bars, for there were two gates, one barring Chorlton Road and another Upper Chorlton Road, swung in a very different neighbourhood from what we find today.  

Where now stands the hotel [the Whalley Hotel] there formally rested, embosomed among trees, a white gabled farm.  The building now used as ‘Tram Office’ was then the toll house, the keeper thereof being a Mrs. Dennerley, a personage who combined the office of toll keeper with vendor of snuff and tobacco”.****

All that was left in 2013

There is more but for now that is it.

Pictures; The Iron School Room and front piece from Chorlton Road Sunday School , 1908 the Chorlton Road Congregational Church in 2013  from the collection of Andy Robertson, and the area in 1854 from the OS for Lancashire, 1854, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/

* Chorlton Road Sunday School, Manchester, Burgess, W.V., BA, 1908

**Art Treasures Exhibition, Manchester 1857, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Treasures_Exhibition,_Manchester_1857

***ibid, Chorlton Road Sunday School, page 16

****, Chorlton Road Sunday School, page 20-21

When the present becomes the past ...........

Now I am not a great fan of those revamped pubs which have been altered and themed.

This usually means just placing a few old photographs on the wall which may or may not be connected to the pub and adding the odd bit of period “stuff” ranging from an early 20th century sewing machine, scrubbing board or rusty enamelled sign for a long gone product.

But then Andy came up with this which he found in “in the Erskine Arms, Conwy”, and knew there was a story.

I remember Craven A cigarettes, and assumed they had gone the way of other brands like Senior Service, Consulate and Woodbines .

But according to my Wikipedia, not so.*

"Craven A is a British brand of cigarette, currently manufactured by British American Tobacco under some of its subsidiaries.  

The cigarette brand is named after the third Earl of Craven.

After the end of World War I, the cigarette market resumed its normal competitive spirit with the Carreras Tobacco Company once more well to the fore. Bernhard Baron, a director of Carreras, knew that to compete successfully his product had to be better than his competitors' and in 1921 Carreras launched Craven A, a brand that became a household name in over 120 countries with the slogan "Will Not Affect Your Throat". 

It was the first machine-made cork-tipped cigarette."*

There is more, but mindful that you don’t lift other people’s research I will just leave you to follow the link.

Not that I think our cigarette dispenser is now in use, leaving me to assume its role is purely decorative.

And reminds me that there is anecdotal evidence that some doctors placed cigarette machines in their waiting rooms in the 1930s, while no newsagents worth their News of The World would forgo placing similar machines outside their shops.

Leaving me just to reflect that I think I will do a bit more research on famous brands which have now faded from the scene.  

After all I grew up in a house where mother smoked and often chose new brands like Guards, and those menthol flavoured Consulate which fascinated me.

And in the case of Consulate lasted into this century.

Happily, I never took up smoking and was very happy when the habit was banned from public spaces, but that is another story.

But I still like catching sight of those old machines which somehow survive in the odd places.

Location; Erskine Arms, Conwy

Picture; Craven A in Conwy, 2022, from the collection of Andy Robertson, the forgotten machine in Deal, 2016, courtesy of Liz and Colin Fitzpatrick

*Craven A, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craven_A

Eltham from the pen of Llwyd Roberts ....... nu 6 the White Hart 1930

Now I am a great fan of the work of Mr Llwyd Roberts.

He was during the 1930s our artist in residence and during that time produced a heap of line drawings of Eltham and the surrounding area.

Some were reproduced from old photographs while others  were as he saw them at the time.

This is the old White Hart which according to Mr Roberts "the White Hart, picturesque with its weatherboard and partly pantiled roof, was the last(first) house in the High Street on the western side."

Picture; the White Hart, 1930, Llwyd Roberts

The Coronation …. the souvenir ….. and Mr. Stephenson at the Barton Arcade

Now I know the forthcoming Jubilee celebrations will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the story of the coronation 70 years ago remains a fascinating piece of history, not just because of the obvious connection with the throne but because of the huge number of memories and memorabilia that it generated.

Coronation Mug, 2022

So, to the Coronation mug which was given to my friend Ann who lived in Chorlton, and to one of those twisty stories that led back to a Mr. Stephenson and the Barton Arcade.

Ann sent these pictures over and wondered if all children had received a coronation mug.  

She assumed that across the country that was the case, but Howard, her husband who comes from London was never given one.  

He may have been unlucky or his school may have ran out on the day, but at least Ann’s is intact and sits on a shelf in their home in France.

I have to confess I have been meaning to explore the “missing mugs” for a while, but what reignited my interest was the name of the supplier who who was H.G. Stephenson of Manchester.

H.G. Stephenson, 2022

And as you do I idly went looking for the company with no real expectation that after 70 years they would still be in business, but they are, and my Wikipedia tells me “H.G. Stephenson Ltd are an independent distributor of crockery, glassware, cutlery and other tableware, based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England.

More commonly known as 'Stephensons', the company is owned and run by the fifth generation of the family. Henry George Stephenson established Stephensons in 1860 when he rented a stall in Salford flat iron markets before moving into the newly built Barton Arcade. 

The company moved to Kennerley Works in Stockport in 1967 after 99 years in Manchester”.*

Now, never being one to steal other people’s research if you want more on their story, just follow the link

Leaving me just to say that the company is currently advertising their Jubilee products with the warning that to avoid disappointment they should be ordered before the forthcoming Bank Holiday.**

Barton Arcade, 2012

So, a nice piece of continuity and one that led me back to Barton Arcade, that wonderful Victorian version of the Arndale Centre, which with its mix of glass and iron remains a favourite with many people.

Shopping for the Jubilee, 1977

In the course of time I will go looking for just where they were located in Barton Arcade but I know that in 1911 they were at 24/26 St Ann’s Street opposite the church.

All of which is enough for now.

Other than to reflect that what ever you may think of the monarchy, the Coronation or the Jubilee they remain a rich source of history, from the memories of those who watched or participated to the shedload of objects and pictures that have survived.

As for Howard, he may be consoled if others write in to say they also missed out.

And my old friend Alan did just that with this smashing account of his Coronation souvenir.

"Fascinating, so interesting and takes me right back to my childhood, I was in Hope Hospital, Salford suffering with T.B. 

Our family Doctor had been made Mayor of Salford, Doctor Schlosberg, whose surgery was in Greengate he visited me in hospital and presented me, not with a mug, but instead a Coronation Glass, 

Alan's Coronation Glass, 2022

It was the most brilliant Blue with a Gold rim and filled with chocolates, I was 6 years old, 

It has been with me through at least 8 house moves, It is faded now, a bit like me, but I still have it, 

Thank you for bringing back a lovely memory." 

Other memories gratefully accepted.

Location; Manchester, but not London

Pictures; a Coronation mug, 2022, courtesy of Ann Love, Barton Arcade from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the 1977 Silver Jubilee Shopping bag courtesy of Sarah Champion's mum, and the Coronation Glass, from the collection of Alan Jennings

* H. G. Stephenson [Stephensons], https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Stephenson

**STEPHENS150NS, https://www.stephensons.com/

Eltham from the pen of Llwyd Roberts ....... nu 5

Now I am a great fan of the work of Mr Llwyd Roberts.

He was during the 1930s our artist in residence and during that time produced a heap of line drawings of Eltham and the surrounding area.

Some were reproduced from old photographs while others  were as he saw them at the time.

This is the old Rising Sun which according to Mr Roberts "this old building stood for two centuries on the  site now occupied by the L.E.B. showrooms.  When it was demolished the Rising Sun rose again to the east, on its present site."


Picture; The Rising Sun, 1930, Llwyd Roberts

The Alternative Chorlton tourist attractions ……. No. 3 Manchester Road

The message, the windows and reflections on leaving your mark.

So I doubt this bit of Manchester Road will get into the travel books, or feature in Chorlton Arts Festival, but it is a bit of how we live.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; Manchester Road, 2022, from the collection of Andrew Simpson 

Eltham from the pen of Llwyd Roberts ....... nu 4 the Tudor Barn Farm Offices 1930

Now I am a great fan of the work of Mr Llwyd Roberts.

He was during the 1930s our artist in residence and during that time produced a heap of line drawings of Eltham and the surrounding area.

Some were reproduced from old photographs while others  were as he saw them at the time.

This is old Brewery which  which dates from 1928 in a building which according to Mr Roberts "three farm buildings, connected with Well Hall, were built in 1586 - two years before the Armada. The building on the left, the Tudor Barn, was restored in the 1930s."


Picture; Tudor Barn Farm Offices, 1930, Llwyd Roberts

The Alternative Chorlton tourist attractions ……. No. 2 Manchester Road

 Celebrating those bits of Chorlton which usually just get ignored.

The adverts.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; Manchester Road, 2022, from the collection of Andrew Simpson 

On the wireless today .... with an abolitionist and the "strongest woman in the world"

 An afternoon with the wireless …… discovering lots more about an abolitionist and the “strongest woman in the world”

Olaudah Equiano, 1789

Now here is a piece of back-to-back history, courtesy of Radio 4 this afternoon.

It begins with the story of Olaudah Equiano, at 4 pm and rolls on half an hour later with Joan Rhodes, strongest woman in the world.

Most people will have heard of Olaudah Equiano, who according to my Wikipedia, was “known for most of his life as Gustavus Vassa (/ˈvæsə/), and was a writer and abolitionist from, according to his memoir, the Eboe (Igbo) region of the Kingdom of Benin (today southern Nigeria). Enslaved as a child in Africa, he was taken to the Caribbean and sold as a slave to a Royal Navy officer. He was sold twice more but purchased his freedom in 1766”.*

But I suspect Joan Rhodes will be less familiar.  

She was born in London and performed as “a wrestler, stuntwoman and strongwoman”.   

She grew up in poverty  and along with her “her siblings were deserted by their parents. Following unhappy spells in the workhouse and with an aunt, she left home at 14.  

After sleeping rough in Brewer Street, Soho, she joined a travelling fair, where she got the idea for her act after seeing a professional strongman at work”.**

And the rest as they say is the story on the wireless.  Starting with Olaudah Equiano, Radio 4,*** at 4 this afternoon and followed by Joan Rhodes, strongest woman in the world, Great Lives Radio 4 at 4.30pm.**** 

Location; Radio 4

Picture; Français : Olaudah Equiano, autrement dit "Gustavus Vassa", par Daniel Orme, after W. Denton, Londres 1789, National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG D8546

*Olaudah Equiano, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaudah_Equiano

**Joan Rhodes, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Rhodes

***Olaudah Equiano, Radio 4, today at 4pm, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017kj4

****Joan Rhodes, strongest woman in the world, Great Lives Radio 4 at 4.30pm,https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017kgp   

Somewhere in Greece, sometime in the 1980s ............. a lesson in dating and describing holiday snaps

Now here is an objective lesson for all historians and anyone who wants to remember events people and places.

We are in Greece, sometime in the 1980s, but exactly where and when is now pretty much lost forever.

Like most people old summer holidays fade and merge into that mix of fond memories and the odd disaster.

Now for most of the time the unknown picture is just that not very important, but when it is a family member or a place with some personal significance, it does matter.

So there you have it, always write something on the back.

Picture; Greece in the 1980s, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Catching the tram to Southern Cemetery ………….

An occasional series celebrating the old Manchester Corporation trams……. and by extension all Corporation trams everywhere.

I don’t have a date, for when car 978 trundled past on its way past Southern Cemetery, but I am guessing it will sometime during the 1920s and 1939.

Someone with far more knowledge than me, will be able to date the car in the corner.

That said I know that route 45 from Piccadilly to Southern Cemetery was converted to motor buses in February 1939.

All  of which means, that sadly there can be few people who could describe that journey.

Location; Chorlton

Picture; car 978 route 45, sometime before 1939 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Doing history the right way ......

 This is a bit of history, circa 1984 belonging to Sarah's mum. 

And here is the thing, we know what it is, roughly when it was used and where it was bought and by extension it offers up a bit of our retail history.  

Unlike some Chorlton sites which post pictures with no date, no reference or attributed source which makes them pretty useless as a piece of history.

We can't verify the image, use it to draw conclusions, or ask the owner anything about it.

So when these phantom images appear they are as useful as a discarded piece of orange peel.

Not that I am trying to trash the desire to share memories and old photographs but just a suggestion we need more.

Location; Chorlton

Picture; Safeway and Hanbury bags, from the collection of Sarah Champion's mum

The Alternative Chorlton tourist attractions ……. No. 1 Manchester Road

Celebrating those bits of Chorlton which usually just get ignored.

To which I think some will mutter “so they should” given that one is a grimy telephone box and discarded beer bottle, while the other is someone’s windows.

But where would the fun be if all that was ever recorded focused on picture postcard scenes of where we live?

And they are or soon will be a bit of history which of course is the driving force of the blog.

So, soon most telephone kiosks will be just a bit the past when no one had their own personal communicator and we all had to use a telephone located in a box in prominent places.

Added to which this model never attained the same iconic status as the old red ones which remain a trademark of all things British, along with the post box, and the bowler hat. 

And that despite what was a more modern look and the advantage that all that glass made it easier to detect Vinny the Vandal going about his destructive activity.

As for the windows, their displays will change over time.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; Manchester Road, 2022, from the collection of Andrew Simpson 

Eltham from the pen of Llwyd Roberts ....... nu 3 the old Brewery 1929

Now I am a great fan of the work of Mr Llwyd Roberts.

He was during the 1930s our artist in residence and during that time produced a heap of line drawings of Eltham and the surrounding area.

Some were reproduced from old photographs while others  were as he saw them at the time.

This is old Brewery which  which dates from 1928 in a building which according to Mr Roberts "originally a brewery, the upper floor of this building was later converted into the Baptist Meeting Room.  The brewery stood at the entrance of Jubilee Cottages, and the building was pulled down in 1928."


Picture; old brewery drawn 1929, Llwyd Roberts

After the tourists leave ………..

Now the thing about the end of a holiday is just that. 

Most of us return with little thought to the resort we left other than fond memories, a tan, and a souvenir fridge thing.

Not so those who service the tourists, for them life goes on, with new holiday makers, fresh souvenirs and postcards to sell.  

Except if your holiday coincides with the end of the season, because then the sense that it is all running down is all too evident.

It starts with the lack of tourists, and the absence of hire cars, and that knowledge you will not have to be first down to the beech to nab the best sunbeds and umbrellas.

Already some restaurants faced with few customers have shut up shop, and begun shifting out the tables, chairs, and kitchen equipment.

Others are debating just when would be best to call it a day. 

And so, it is with the Sunset Bar beside the beach.  

Last time we were here in August two years ago the bar was heaving.  

This year in late Sept it is still doing well but the signs are there with fewer sun worshippers on the beach and so fewer retreating from the heat to the bar.

 They will close this week ahead of the official close of season. 

But unlike others, Maria, her dad, and brothers will not take the long ferry trip to Athens or somewhere else on the mainland to be reunited with the family.  

They live above the resort in a fine house.  And during the next month will begin harvesting the crop from their 90 olive trees from produce a fine organic product.

They also own long thin strips of land which run up from the road beside the beech.

On these they grow the tomatoes, onions, aubergines, cucumbers, and courgettes which are the ingredients for the dishes they serve up in the bar.

They even proudly include on the menu, chips made from “our own organic potatoes”.

This year they not only will finish a few weeks earlier but also started later, guessing that the tourists would not be as great as they had been in 2019.

This had been a bumper year, followed by the year of the covid lockdown.

So by early November the beech strip of restaurants, bars and the solitary supermarket will have closed up, the holiday apartments will stand empty and apart from the occasional car taking a short cut along the sea road, the place will be quiet till the spring.

Location; Lourdas, Kefalonia

Pictures; lunchtime, Sunset Bar, from the collection of Andrew Simpson,  sunset over Lourdas , and the apéritif , Argostoli, Balzano, 2021