The road sign ……. a missing street …….. and a walk through Gorton

This is all that might be left of Beasley Street.

The sign, 1963

It was salvaged by Jack Beasley in 1963 and there is the obvious link.

His daughter Kirsty always thought it came from Hulme but a search of the records has so far revealed no street with that name in the area, or in Chorlton-on-Medlock for which there is a picture of the young Jack.

Beasley Street, Gorton, 1952

And of course history is messy, and doesn’t always want to work the way you wish.

The best so far is Beasley Street in Gorton, which was off Taylor Street which in turn ran down from Gorton Lane and was later renamed Bannock Street.  

It has long since gone and is under Gorton Parks Nursing Home.

In 1911 it consisted of a mix of 3 and four roomed  properties  whose occupants did a variety of skilled and unskilled jobs, ranging from labourers, to those working in the nearby locomotive works.  

Added to these there was a “Peddlar”, “a coal carter”, and “coal heaver”, along with a  “Rubber mixer”.

The three surviving photographs in the City’s Image Collection of the street from the 1960s, show houses which fit the part.*

Beasley Street, Gorton, 1959

But here the messy element re-enters the story, because the pictures are dated 1959, 1964, and 1965 which run counter to the date recorded by Jack Beasley.

Of course, the dates in the image collection may be wrong, or we are up against that inconvenient conclusion that our Beasley Street was not after all in Gorton.

Clinging just for a minute to the Gorton connection it may be that the later dated pictures are of houses that survived the first clearance.

Beasley Street, Gorton, 1964

So, I am left pondering whether the minutes for Manchester City Council for the early 60s will reveal anything on the  planned demolition of Gorton houses or someone will come up with memories of a Beasley Street in Hulme, which may have been built post 1939 and went less than 30 years later.

We shall see.

But like all good detective stories I shall close with the comment written by Jack on the reverse of the sign.

It has faded over the years but offers the date and the clue that it was taken from a building.

And for those with a literary interest there is the poem "Beasley Street", by John Cooper Clarke, which according to the poet was inspired by Camp Street in Lower Broughton.

So there you are, another twisty  bit which makes history all the more messy.

And as ever John Anthony Hewitt came up with that bit or research that seems to finish the job

"The road sign was taken from the building shown in the 1959 photo, which is the same shapes as the salvaged one. Jack's message says 'Taken from the [old?] building to be demolished, 6 July 1963' is consistent with that photo. 

Whereas both road signs attached to the wall of the building in the 1964 photo are the same, more modern design. That old building in the 1959 photo makes the old map look wrong, but look again at that building, it appears to have a few tales to tell. 

The shed along Beasley Street was a later addition, built on the remains of a demolished house. The adjoining wall on Taylor Street is also a remnant of a demolished house. The large entrance appears to be either a much altered terraced house or a later build several decades earlier judging by the grime".

Location; Beasley Street, somewhere

Jack's clue, 1963

Pictures; the Beasley Street Road sign and Jacks comment on the reverse, 1963, courtesy of Kirsty, Beasley Street Gorton, 1952, Manchester & Salford OS, and Beasley Street, Gorton, 1959, G. Gray, m26713  1964, T. Brooks, m22875, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass *

Sources; Census Return for Beasley Street, Enu 87, 292, Ardwick, South Manchester, Lancashire, 1911, Manchester & Salford Street Directory, 1911, and the 1939 Register