One more bit of the jigsaw ….. the mysterious secret of the hidden Chorlton fourteen

Some stories just keep giving and the hidden fourteen photographs found in a house in Chorlton just  keeps giving. *

I was first alerted to them by Peter Armistead who has been developing   515-521 Barlow Moor Road and converting the old properties into a range of one to three modern apartments. **

They are mix of images all of which I guess date from the middle decades of the last century and were in a discarded box at 515-521 Barlow Moor Road.

They are a mix, ranging from images of smart cars, and equally smart “young people” on holiday to a group of men in uniform and the Grand Hotel Oceanic. 

If there is a connection between all fourteen it is hard to discern what that might be, but cars and holidays seem crop up in a few of them.  

The quality varies and while some are fuzzy and indistinct others are sharp and look to have been taken by a professional or at least on a good camera.

That consistent theme of smart cars and equally smart “young people” dating to the early 1960s might tell us something and they were clearly special to someone having been left in a finely decorated box.

That could have been the end of the journey in telling their story, because there is no apparent connection to Chorlton.

So, am I staring at a collection of once special images which were just abandoned perhaps in a moment of forgetfulness or on the death of the owner?

Not so because the box was not found in a random part of the house gathering dust but deliberately concealed inside a wall cavity which had then been plastered over.

And that takes the mystery to a new level because the simple act of concealment raises so many fascinating questions.

Why were they hidden and not thrown away?  What made them so special that they had to be disposed of in that secret way?

Now throughout time and across various cultures “things” have purposefully been hidden away in walls, under floorboards, and at the threshold of houses under the sill.

They range from coins and tokens to iron objects, as well as bottles, shoes, boots and even small animals. 

All seem to relate to the belief that the “thing” will ward off curses, bad luck and other malevolent forces or alternatively bring wealth and good fortune.

At which point I make no claim that our “random 14” pictures were part of some half understood primitive ritual but buried away they were with the intent that they would never see the light again.

I doubt that we will ever know that last part of the story, but Mr. Armistead may display some of the restored pictures in the public parts of the complex.

And I like that idea of letting the lost photographs come out into the light and take their place in the continuing life of No. 515-521 Barlow Moor Road.

Location; No. 515-521 Barlow Moor Road

Pictures, Fourteen random pictures in search of a story

*No. 515-521 Barlow Moor Road,  https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/No.%20515-521%20Barlow%20Moor%20Road

**Armistead Property, https://www.armisteadproperty.co.uk/