That rural scene in the heart of Chorlton …….

Of course, the title would not pass the test of accuracy, given that we are actually just over the border into Stretford and the description rural is stretching it a bit.

But you would be forgiven into thinking that with the fields, cows and church spire we could be in the sort of landscape loved by Constable.

And in as much as it will never be built on and there were cows it could be sort of rural, and that was just what I thought when I came across the scene in 1979.

I was standing on the top of the weir built to protect the Duke’s Canal from a flood surge and rebuilt in the 1840s after it’s failed to stem the storm waters. 

Then and now I still enjoy the view, and while the pool in front of the weir can shrink it never quite goes away and after a wet period will fill up.

As for the church spire it is not some medieval church but was built when Stretford cemetery was opened in 1885.

All of that said I like the spot.

And it does have echo of the past, because if you ignore the cemetery to the right and the spire, the view would not look so different to someone standing on the same spot in the 1850s.

Back then.much of this land was meadowland.

Location; looking out from the weir in the bend of the river

Pictures; a lost rural scene, 1979 from the collection of Andrew Simpson