Last night proved to be an entertaining evening down at the Edge as we watched “Tickle your fancy host a night of exciting turns with something for everyone”.
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| The Edge and a heap of flowers, 2023 |
These included Doolally the comedy singing act who compèred the night with their usual mix of comedy, and topical songs, and in between there was a folk group, a poet and a musician along with a comic and actor.
And in the interval, I reflected on the Edge Theatre, its story and the bigger history of the building it occupies.
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| The Edge on Manchester Road, 2023 |
Over the years we’ve worked with hundreds of fantastic actors and musicians; many are professional, some have learning disabilities, some have experience of homelessness, some are from our local community and all of them are brilliant!
As theatre makers we delight in creating shows which reflect the world that we live in, even if we’ve set them on the moon. They’re honest, relevant and always full of hope.
As a Manchester Cultural Partner we play a vital role in the cultural offer of the city. As leaders in participation we provide a range of exciting opportunities for people to be creative. At The Edge you can Act, Sing, Dance, play the Ukulele, Write, Paint, Draw or just be. Our café is known as one of the most friendly and welcoming in Chorlton!*
For at least eight of those years it is the final destination for the Library sponsored history walks which are part of Chorlton Book Festival.
And at the end of the walk through Chorlton’s past, Jenine, Dom and their team have offered up a much-needed light meal in the Dressing Room Café.
All of which leads me on to the building which was opened in the 1880s and was the Sunday School for the Methodist Church which was built a decade earlier.
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| "Wounded Soldiers of the Wesleyan School Hospital Xmas 1917”, 2013 |
During the Great War the Sunday School was handed over to the Red Cross as a centre for servicemen recovering from wounds, ailments and infections, and was one of three so far identified in Chorlton. The others were the McLaren Baptist Church Sunday School on Edge Lane and a private residence on Wilbraham Road.**
As yet I don’t have any pictures of the nurses, or their patients, but we do have a silver cup, which carries the inscription “Presented to the Wesleyan Church by the Wounded Soldiers of the Wesleyan School Hospital Xmas 1917”, along with a letter sent by a soldier to the children of St Clement’s Sunday School thanking them for the gift of a pillow.
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| Chorlton Operatic Society, 1920 |
Less likely to be lost from memory is the theatre which was built by the Methodists in the upper hall of the Sunday School. From memory I think it dates from the 1950s or possibly two decades earlier and was still there when the Edge opened. But by then it was in a poor state and no longer really fit for purpose.
That said it might have hosted performances by our own Chorlton Operatic Society which was active from 1907 through to the mid 1930s, and offers up that sense of historic continuity which links the Sunday School, a heap of Red Cross Nurses …. and the Edge.
Location; The Edge, Chorlton
Pictures; the Edge, 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, picture of the silver cup, 2013, courtesy of Philip Lloyd and the programe of the Chorlton Operatic Society April 1920, donated anonymously.
*The Edge, https://www.edgetheatre.co.uk/
** Red Cross Hospital, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Red%20Cross%20Hospitals
***Chorlton Operatic Society, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=Chorlton+Operatic+Society
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| Sunshine at the Edge, 2023 |
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