The shop ……the poster and heaps of vintage treasure …… the continuing story of 477 Barlow Moor Road … Part 1

 Now I have always been fascinated by 477 Barlow Moor Road.

It’s the one sandwiched between Malton Avenue and the old Co-op, and depending on how long you have lived in Chorlton, you will remember it as a DIY store, a furniture emporium, a doctor’s surgery and long before that a private home.

To which I can add that the furniture emporium styled themselves “antique dealer”, in 1954 Mr. Crosdale specialized in “stage and studio furniture” and very briefly it was one of those discount places where almost everything was sold for a £.

Along with a memory from Andrea Morgan that it may also have been a solicitor's office in the 1980s, which she remembers because "I went for an interview for a secretarial job around 1981, I think it was called Cohens", and she got offered the job.

But more of its long history tomorrow.

For now, it is the “Department”, trading in “Vintage, Mid Century Retro, Contemporary Furniture” with some pretty interesting posters as well as art and other “Homeware” accessories.

It is a place as their Facebook page says which sells “an interesting and eclectic mix of mid-century furniture, art, decorative accessories and clothing and lots more!”*

It opened on Saturday May 14th and was busy all day, with those curious to see what was on offer, to those wanting to furnish their home with something a tad stylish but different.

And there was even that the chap looking for a copy of the poster “mes Funerailles a Berlin” which had hung in his bed sit in Longsight and reminded him of a magical night at the cinema watching Michael Cain.

So, for many this will be a shop to visit, not least because it keeps the continuity of 477 Barlow Moor Road as a place of interesting and varied history.

Location; Barlow Moor Road

Pictures; the shop, 2022, courtesy of Stephen Hale and Heather Linnitt

*Department Manchester, https://www.facebook.com/Department-Manchester-104044198925948