Ghosts in Chorlton .... on Wilbraham Road

Now I have Sonoe Shimizu to thank for this picture of what was once the chemist on the corner of Wilbraham and Albany Roads.

Ghost chemist and future coffee shop, 2025

And the ghost sign announcing “Dispensing Chemist” has been hidden for a very long time.

That said the property has always been a chemist dating back to the beginning of the 20^th century.

Originally the entire row of shops known as Highfield which runs from Albany Road to Keppel Road had been private dwellings fronted by small gardens with access to the houses by a short flight of steps.

And some of the shops including our chemist were still on two levels with the rear of premises raised above the shop floor.

Mr. Flint's chemist shop, circa 1910

Highfield, I suspect had been planned and built as town houses with an eye to attracting residents who wanted to use the new Chorlton Railway Station which offered a quick service to and from central Manchester.

The first conversions in Highfield from residential to business use were in place by 1903, but the chemists were a little later, and by 1909 it is listed as belonging to “Francis B Flint Chemist”.

Shopping at the chemist in 1935

In its time it has been a Co-op Chemist and briefly one of the Everest chain, but as the new window signage indicates it is to become a coffee shop.

And that really is it, other than to thank Sonoe who sent me the images with the message, "Hi Andrew, I live locally in Chorlton and saw this this morning. It’s opposite Morrisons. Thought you might be interested”, which of course I was.

I too had been following the conversion work but never chose to look up and spot the ghost sign.

So there is a lesson for me.

The promise of change, 2025

The signage is a fine example of how shops once advertised their business and I hope they retain it.

And for those puzzled over the term ghost sign, it refers to products,  descriptions of businesses and individuals which longer exist

Location; Wilbraham Road

Pictures; ghost signs on Wilbraham Road, courtesy of Sonoe Shimizu, and in its former glory around 1910 from the Lloyd Collection and in 1935 A.H. Clarke, m18231 respectively, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information, and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass