Walk the history of Chorlton Park ……… on June 24th at 2pm

 I maintain and I maintain most strongly that all parks should have their story recorded for all to know.

The mystery of the park, 2020

And so, on June 24th at the invitation of the Friends ofChorlton Park we will be taking a gentle stroll through its history.*

The ramble will start at Brookfield House that white building at the Nell Lane entrance and during the hour from 2pm we will explore the park’s past.

Looking at the park from the air, and clocking historic features, 2023

Now there will be plenty who remember the paddling pool, and the pets’ corner, but few who now know that beside the paddling pool there was a large open air swimming bath, a band stand with a covered seating area, and that during the last world war the park had its own air raid shelters.

Added to that the historic records suggest there was a racecourse and an observatory, which fit nicely with stories of Brookfield House, which dates back into the 18th century, and was once home to the son of Francis Deakin who had been brutally murdered in a beer house on Manchester Road in 1847.

Brookfield Park and the fields, 1853

And if you had strolled along Barlow Moor Road back in the 1840s, and looked out across what is now the park you might have been able to make out the ponds close to Brookfield House and perhaps even had conversations with the agricultural labourers working on the fields which had names like Pit Croft, Long Croft, Great Field, and Scaffold Field.

I doubt we will ever know the names of those farm workers, but I do know that the fields were owned by William Jackson, and that just across Nell Lane was Henry Jackson who lived in Hough End Hall and farmed 250 acres stretching back from the Hall across Withington.

All of which places the park and its surroundings in an agricultural context where tenant farmers, and market gardeners grew crops to supply the Manchester markets in the 1840s and 50s.

Brookfield House, circa 1900

Their lives will feature during our walk, along with that of John Stanway who lived in Brookfield House in the June of 1841 and was an accountant. He may also have been the same Mr. Stanway who was found not guilty of “Conspiracy to defraud” along with a William Jackson and a William Froggall in the December of that year.

And not to be shortchanged there will be plenty about the paddling pool, pets’ corner, the large open air swimming bath, the band stand with its covered seating area, and those air raid shelters, along with that racecourse and observatory.

Leaving me just to thank the Friends of Chorlton Park and to suggest the following reading material for those who want to know a bit before they arrive.

Paddling in the pool, circa 1930s

The list includes the stories from the blog** and the chapter in The Quirks of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, 2018, Andrew Simpson and Peter Topping which is available from Chorlton Bookshop or us at  www.pubbooks.co.uk.

So meet us at Brookfield House  that white building at the Nell Lane entrance at 2 pm for a walk through the past which should last ah hour.

 And for those who want more, the Friends of Chorlton Park have made the invitation  as part of Chorlton Open Gardens and  will be fundraising for the charity Freedom from Torture.

Location; Chorlton Park

Pictures; Chorlton Park 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, Chorlton Park 2023, showing historic features, courtesy of Google Maps, Chorlton Park, 1853, ,from the 1853 OS for Lancashire, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk Brookfield House circa 1900, and the paddling pool circa 1930s, from a series of picture postcards produced by Harold Arthur Clarke  from the Lloyd Collection

 *The Friends of Chorlton Park, https://www.facebook.com/groups/CholtonPark

**Chorlton Park, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Chorlton%20Park