Walking the past ….. the bits I never tell anyone

 I have lost track of the number of history walks I have done over the last 15 years but along with the talks there have been a lot.

The parish graveyard, 1979

It starts with the research and a focus on the lives of people, along with events and buildings which history has forgotten or didn’t even bother with in the first place.

Sutton's Cottage, 1895

People like Sarah Sutton who lived for over half a century in a wattle and daub cottage on Beech Road, Mary Crowther the last woman to do penance in our parish church, or Samuel and Elizabeth Nixon who ran a beer shop for over 50 years.

Each offer up a fascinating insight into our community and were as important as the wealthy and powerful who lived here.

Their stories emerge from a heap of different sources, and include census returns, parish records, the Rate Books and if we are very lucky the odd folk memory.

So it is with Caleb Jordril who lived at Lane End* and who was a prime instigator in the practice of Riding the Stange or as it was known in the south Rough Music.  It was a practice which dates back to the Middle Ages and was common across Europe and involved the public humiliation of those who the community thought had transgressed correct behaviour. 

Inside one of our old cottages, 1930s

These might include “a man was known to beat his wife, or if he allowed himself to be henpecked; if he was unfaithful to her, or she to him, the offending party, if living in the village, was serenaded with a concert of music, consisting of cow's horns, frying-pans, warming-pans, tea-kettles, &c., in fact, any implement with which a loud, harsh, and discordant sound could be produced.   

This hubbub was generally repeated several times, and seldom failed to make a due impression on the culprit.”**

The story of Caleb and Riding the Stange was collected by Thomas Ellwood who wrote 25 articles on the history of Chorlton-cum- Hard in the winter of 18885 and the spring of 1886**.   

Looking into the graveyard, 2023

And once the research has been done and all the bits fitted into the sequence of the walk, there is that necessity in compiling a risk assessment which some will deride but which is essential given that we will be walking the historical walk along narrow Chorlton roads, crossing junctions where cars whizz about and stand in open spaces which were not all designed to accommodate up to 40 people.

That done, on the day there is the all important task of explaining the day, welcoming people and thanking those who have helped with the organization.

And this last consideration is particularly important with next Sunday’s walk which has been commissioned by the Library Service as part of this year’s Chorlton Book Festival.

The walk always ends with a light meal in the Café at the Edge Theatre, and those who have bought tickets need to be checked off.  This year I am indebted to Mathew and Gail who will not only do the last but assist in guiding what can become a long crocodile of participants from the village Green to the Edge.

And finally, it is their task to ensure I keep to time, and on occasion Mathew has had that onerous task of holding up the coloured cards …. green “keep talking”, amber “almost out of time”, and red “stop”.

The Narnia lamppost, 2022

Which I have always found difficult to adhere to, but Mathew remains a tenacious holder of the cards, so we shall see.

The talk is on the history of our parish church, the graveyard and those buried there with tales of strange goings on, celebrations of the lives of some of my favourite people and a peek at the way we lived in the 1850s.

Meet by the Narnia lamp on Chorlton green at 2 pm, Sunday September, 22nd, 2024

All events are bookable through Chorlton Book Festival, https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/chorlton-book-festival-2024-3536319

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; Sutton’s Cottage circa 1892, photograph from the Wesleyan Souvenir Handbook of 1895  and interior of the cottage on Maitland Avenue in the collection of Philip Lloyd, the rest from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Lane End, the junction of Hardy Lane, Sandy Lane, and Barlow Moor Road

** Thomas Ellwwod, The History of Chorlton cum Hardy, Chapter 8 December 12 1885