Your invite to a new way of telling the stories of Greater Manchester …. today

 So, today at Chorlton Library  you have the opportunity to roam over the history of Greater Manchester in a new and unique way.

Peter Topping and Andrew Simpson have come up with a different approach to exploring Greater Manchester’s past.

It is The History of Greater Manchester by Tram …. TheStories At the Stops in which the authors take all 99 Metro tram stops on all the eight routes picking out the interesting, the serious and the bizarre as well as the humours events and people at each destination which build to become a comprehensive account of the region’s past.*

At present there are four books in the series with a fifth due out later this year. 

They cover the journey into the centre from the south, crossing the city centre down to Victoria Railway Station and then east out to New Islington.

The fifth will travel from Old Trafford to Altrincham, with further books on Salford, and all the remaining towns on the network.

The talk is part of Chorlton Book Festival is free and begins at 2pm**

Location; Chorlton Library Manchester Road

Pictures; a selection from the Power Point presentation, 2026

*Chorlton Book Festival September 17th - 26th, https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/chorlton-book-festival-2026-4861494/

*A History of Greater Manchester By Tram, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Greater%20Manchester%20by%20Tram 

**Chorlton Book Festival September 17th - 26th, https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/chorlton-book-festival-2026-4861494/

The Balloon Man … and heaps of other stories about Greater Manchester ….. tonight … at Chorlton Library

It’s the story behind the books featuring that bestselling series … The History of Greater Manchester By Tram.

The Stories By the Stops, 2026

So come along and hear the story of how Andrew Simpson and Peter Topping came up with the idea of a collection of books which share the history of Greater Manchester based on the idea that each of the 99 tram stops on the eight routes all have stories which when put together make our collective past.

Chorlton Civic Society Free Public Meeting together with a history talk based around the tram stops books... The perfect antidote to staying in ... Tuesday  July 14th  7.30 till 8.30. Chorlton Library Community Room.

With those masters of history and art, 2026

When the Balloon Man came to Manchester and they named a street after the event, 1785

Stories from synagogues, the Manchester Jewish Museums, 2026

That's All Folks ... come and join us

The tram stop …. a poem ….. and Adlestrop

Yesterday I was at Navigation Road, that tram stop and railway station on the line from Manchester to Altrincham and beyond.

The day was hot and promised to get hotter and apart from my companion I was alone.

And it evoked memories of my childhood and in particular waiting on empty platforms in the middle of summer between trains.  

Back then the railway sleepers were made of wood and after decades of being covered in engine oil and preservatives they gave off a distinctive smell as they cooked in the heat.  

Nothing stirred save the lazy buzz of insects, and the regular tick of the station clock, only interrupted by the vibration from the wires which announced the imminent arrival of a train.

You could never be quite sure whether this would be the regular stopping train or an express whizzing through on its way from the coast to the city, all noise and speed and gone in a minute.

Leaving me and the busy insects to share the peace which descended again on the still empty platform.

I could only have been ten, but the memory has stayed with me only to bubble back up when I re-read the poem Adlestrop by Edward Thomas which was inspired by the moment his train stopped 

“one afternoon

Of heat, the express-train drew up there

Unwontedly. It was late June.

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.

No one left and no one came

On the bare platform. What I saw

Was Adlestrop—only the name”*

And like my moment it was one of stillness punctuated only by my bees and his by the song of a single blackbird.

But back on Navigation Road the tranquillity was replaced by the arrival of a train bound for Chester and the Bury tram.

Now my Wikipedia tells me “Navigation Road station serves the east of Altrincham … It lies on the Mid-Cheshire line and the Altrincham Line of the Manchester Metrolink network. There are two bidirectional platforms: one for heavy rail and one for light rail. A level crossing operates at the southern end of the station.

The station was opened on 20 July 1931, on the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJAR) following the electrification of that line and was referred to as Navigation Road (Altrincham) on early tickets and timetables. 

British Rail electric multiple units between Manchester Piccadilly and Altrincham ceased on 24 December 1991. The former Altrincham-bound (down) platform has since been used for Mid-Cheshire Line trains and the former Manchester-bound (up) platform reopened as a Metrolink stop on 15 June 1992”. **

At which point I could wander off and reflect that along with Altrincham Metro stop, Navigation Road is the only other tram stop to share light and heavy rail use on the former Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway, throwing in a bit of the history of that line.

Or alternatively write about Navigation Road, its own gated level crossing, the Duke’s Canal and the Timperley Brook which The River Restoration Centre describes as “a tributary of Sinderland Brook, located South of Manchester and West of Manchester Airport. It scores very low in all the criteria used to assess its quality, except for one reach, which has been restored".***. 

But I won’t, all of that and more will be in our next book in the series, Greater Manchester By Tram – The Stories At The Stops which will published later in the year under the title, Old Trafford to Altrincham.****

Location; Navigation Road

Pictures; Navigation Road, 2026 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Adlestrop, Edward Thomas, 1914/1915, published 1917

**Navigation Road, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navigation_Road_station

*** The River Restoration Centre, https://www.therrc.co.uk/timperley-brook-project

****A History of Greater Manchester By Tram, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Greater%20Manchester%20by%20Tram 

Another day …. another trip into Manchester’s past

On a changeable day which promised sunshine interrupted by heaps of fierce and unrelenting rain showers members of Chorlton Good Neighbours braved the inclement weather to hear from Andrew Simpson and Peter Topping talk about Manchester’s past.

It was another in the series of voyages through our collective history exploring the changes to Greater Manchester during the last four centuries.

And comes with a unique approach which is  The History of Greater Manchester by Tram …. The Stories At the Stops in which the authors take all 99 Metro tram stops on all the eight routes picking out the interesting, the serious and the bizarre as well as the humours events and people at each destination which build to become a comprehensive account of the region’s past.*

At present there are four books in the series with a fifth due out later this year. 

They cover the journey into the centre from the south, crossing the city centre down to Victoria Railway Station and then east out to New Islington.

The fifth will travel from Old Trafford to Altrincham, with further books on Salford, and all the remaining towns on the network.

And judging by the reception to the talk, the questions that followed and the large sale of all the books I the series the afternoon was a success.

Location; Wilbraham St Ninian’s Church, Egerton Road South, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester M21 0XJ

Picture; on the day with Chorlton Good Neighbours, 2026, from the collection of Peter Topping

*A History of Greater Manchester By Tram, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Greater%20Manchester%20by%20Tram 

A Town Hall ….. the Clock Tower …. and that statue ….. walking Altrincham’s history

When you set out to write about Altrincham’s past it is well to do the research before you visit especially when it is part of our new series of books which tell the story of Greater Manchester by Metro tram.*

Windows and lions, Altrincham Town Hall, 2026

With four already published we set out to Altrincham to include the town in the latest book which records the history of the communities served by the tram link from Old Trafford.  In total there are eight stops which take in Stretford, Sale, Brooklands, Timperley and Navigation Road along with Altrincham and Old Trafford.

And there is indeed a heap of history from the Manchester Art Exhibition of 1857, the Duke’s Canal which cut through the area, to historic pubs, factories and notable people.

So, the research offered up 53 listed buildings in Altrincham and the surrounding areas of Broadheath and Timperley in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, one is listed at Grade II*, and the others are at Grade II.

Eve and the serpent, 1882

But with just a morning for our first visit we headed for the former town hall which my Wikipedia tells me “was designed in the Jacobean style, built in red brick with stone dressings at a cost of £7,500 and officially opened in November 1901”.**

It now serves as a hub for the community making it a popular venue for wedding ceremonies and receptions.

Since 2024 the building has been run and managed by Oyez Arts which also hosts creative workshops and wellbeing sessions, performances and classes.

And this year they have struck a new deal with Trafford Council which offered them a 25-year lease on the Town Hall securing the building as a long-term home for Oyez Arts.***

We wandered in and were given our own personal tour by Libby and Ella which took in the former council chamber, and some of the historic features.  

Peter the artist was of course drawn to the colourful leaded lights and the art exhibition leaving me to explore the historic statues and wall plaques.  

Of these tucked away in a side room was the marble figure of Eve and the Serpent, created in 1882 by John Royal Whittick and bought by public subscription and installed in her own “garden” in Stamford Park.

A picture postcard from about 1900 shows her surrounded by circular beds of flowers.  Like many such pieces of municipal art she could have ended up vandalized and neglected but has found a new home

"To Honour Our Fellow Townsmen", 1902

And in the same way here in the town hall are monuments to those from Altrincham who fought in the wars of the 20th century, including the pretty much overlooked South African War, more popularly known as the Second Boer War.  

It lasted from 1899 till 1902, and has been eclipsed by the Great War.

So many of these monuments have now been lost through casual or wilful amnesia that it is good that this one has survived and in the fulness of time will become a story.

To which there are those who might wish that the statue of the market trader which stands outside might be wished away.  

It was the work of Colin Spofforth and unveiled in 2008 to a mixed reception with the Manchester Evening News reporting that “the £35,000 statue has been slammed as 'absolutely awful' by councillors and neighbours”. With some suggesting that “the £35,000 should be spent on providing replacement public toilets for the old ones underneath the market hall”.***

Water colour of the Clock Tower, 2026

Such is the world of municipal art, and because I can, I will go looking for the public reception to the town’s clock tower when it was erected in 1880.  

But for now I will just share the almost breaking news that the clock which stopped in October of last year will be repaired by Transport for Greater Manchester for £6,000.****

So impressed was Peter with the non-ticking clock he painted it which fits nicely beside this picture postcard of New Stamford Street in the early 20th century.

The Clock Tower, circa 1900

At which point I should dig deep into the street scene but that is for the fifth book in the series The History of Greater Manchester By Tram, Old Trafford to Altrincham, which will be published later this year, is available at £4.99 from Chorlton Bookshop, the shop at Central Ref, St Peter's Square, or from us at  www.pubbooks.co.uk

Location; Altrincham

Pictures; scenes from Altrincham, 2026, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Painting; Altrincham Clock Tower, 2026 from the collection of Peter Topping 

Alty Art, 2026

*A History of Greater Manchester by Tram, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Greater%20Manchester%20by%20Tram

**Altrincham Town Hall, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altrincham_Town_Hall

***Delight as Oyez Arts signs 25-year lease on Altrincham Town Hall, Trafford Council,   March 26, 2026, https://www.trafford.gov.uk/news/2026/delight-oyez-arts-signs-25-year-lease-altrincham-town-hall

***'Grotesque' £35K statue slammed, Manchester Evening News, January 12th, 2013, https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/grotesque-35k-statue-slammed-997105

****Is Altrincham's silent giant about to speak again?, Hannah Richardson, Manchester Evening News, January 26th, 2026, https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/altrinchams-silent-giant-speak-again-33287601

That statue, 2026

Go west …….. and discover Altrincham’s past …. part one

It may not be the most elegant of titles, but it does the business of introducing our new book in the series of the History of Greater Manchester by Tram.*

Lions at the Town Hall, 2026

It marks a departure because the first four books have taken in the city centre and south Manchester, and with this one we head out through Stretford, Sale and Timperley and onto Altrincham.

But like all the others the format is the same ….. take a number of tram stops, discover their stories and together they build into the history of Greater Manchester.  To these we add a collection of Peter’s paintings along with some old and new photographs.

Two pots and assorted lampshades

And the route to Altrincham, via Old Trafford, Stretford, Sale, Brooklands, Timperley and Navigation Road offer up a heap of the past from Manchester’s 1857 Art Exhibition and tales from the Duke’s Canal to the Bravest Little Street.

We started in Altrincham and fell across a local postman who was convinced we should visit Church Street Antiques because in his words the “owners know all there is to know about the town’s past” and given that they have been trading from the shop for three decades it was a promising start.**

But nothing can beat just wandering the streets and taking a chance of going in and exploring the interior of old buildings.

And that led us into the former Altrincham Town Hall and a discussion with Libby and Ella who are part of the team which manage the building for the community and were more than happy to tell us the story of the Town Hall along with the statue of the market trader which was unveiled in the grounds in 2008.

To which Peter went home and produced this fine water colour of Church Street Antiques which must be one from inclusion in the book.

And later we may have more with perhaps one of the clock tower.

Well we shall see.

Bravests Little Street, 2026

Of course, there is much more and along with the Market Hall, and sundry old buildings we had a resident who directed us to Chapel Street for ever remembered as the “Bravest Little Street” for it was here that “from just 60 houses, 161 men volunteered in the Great War [and] 29 were killed”.

All of which promises a heap of stories from just one of the eight tram stops in the book which will be published later this year and is available at £4.99 from Chorlton Bookshop, the shop at Central Ref, St Peter's Square, or from us at  www.pubbooks.co.uk

Next; Peter’s painting of the Clock Tower a bit more Altrincham history.

Location; Altrincham

Pictures; scenes from Altrincham, 2026, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Painting; Water colour of Church Street Antiques, 2026 

*A History of Greater Manchester by Tram; https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2026/03/go-west-and-discover-altrinchams-past.html

**Church Street Antiques, www.churchstreetantiques.com

Taking the tram from Swineopolis and on to ‘the Bravest Little Street in England’ with lots in between

Today I have started on the next book in the series, The History of Greater Manchester By Tram *

So far, we have published four books which cover the route from East Didsbury into Manchester, across the city and out east towards New Islington.

Stretford in 1830

And now it is the turn of the route from Old Trafford to Altrincham which passes through Stretford, Sale, Brooklands, and Timperley, and taking in places like Navigation Road.

Now without being unfair some of the stops along the way might not shake the trees of historical promise but I am ready to be surprised.

That said others like Stretford and Altrincham bubble with stories that tell us much about Greater Manchester’s past.

And so it is with Stretford which was an important stop on the Duke’s Canal which arrived in the 1760s and was to be later eclipsed by the coming of the railway in 1849.

The canal had carried agricultural produce from Altrincham and Stretford into the city and brought night soil back.  By 1849 this amounted to 873 tons of produce from Stretford, which climbed to 1,781 tons in the following year.**

Stretford in 2025

The carts left Stretford just after midnight for the markets and while one family member remained to sell the produce the rest returned with the cart loaded with manure ready to repeat the operation the following day.  

This prompted one observer to describe the place as “the garden of Lancashire.”     

It was also a major centre for the processing of pigs for the Manchester market as well the manufacture of black puddings and had gained the nicknames of Swineopolis and Porkhampton.    

During the 1830s, between 800 and 1,000 pigs were slaughtered each week and sent into the city.     

Most came from Ireland, via Liverpool and were transported into Stretford by barge.  On arrival the pigs were kept in cotes kept by the local landlords.  

The Trafford Arms charged one penny per pig a night and had cotes for 400 pigs.    Not surprisingly in 1834 there were 31 pork butchers in Stretford compared to one in Chorlton and five in Urmston.     

Stretford landscape, 2025

Edwin Muir left the Manchester train at Stretford summed up the place well when he wrote “Fruit, flowers, green market stuff, black puddings, and swine’s flesh in general – these are the pride of village.”    

He was also full of praise for both the black puddings and the local speciality known as the Stretford goose.  This was made from pork stuffed with sage and onions, which he thought “was not a bad substitute for that pleasant bird.”***    

In Stretford in 1826 there were 302 looms providing employment for 780 workers supporting 151 families,   and as late as the 1840s there were still seven.****

It was also home to John Rylands that great 19th century  industrialist who had global business interests as well as being remembered as a prime mover in the construction of the Ship Canal.  

The Essoldo, 1961

More recently there will be many with fond memories of the grand Essoldo Cinema and the Stretford Pageants with the popular Rose Queen procession.

At the other end of the tram route Altrincham can also boast heaps of history.

In Chapel Street for instance there was a row of old Georgian terraced lodging houses which were home to some 400 Irish, English, Welsh and Italian lodgers.

From this tight-knit community of just sixty houses, 161 men volunteered for the First World War.

Altrincham, undated

They fought in all the campaigns of the war, with twenty-nine men killed in action and twenty dying from injuries soon after the war; more men were lost in action from Chapel Street than any other street in England.

As a result King George V called Chapel Street "the Bravest Little Street in England”.

To this can be added its long history going back to the Middle Ages, the presence of the Linotype Company "which built 185 houses for its employees and provided two football grounds, four tennis courts, two bowling greens, a cricket ground, a playground for children and allotments”.*****

Altrincham Shaver and Repair Centre, 2015

But my favourite is the Altrincham Shaver and Repair Centre, and here amongst other things you can get your Kenwood Mixer repaired and I guess much else.

Once upon a time shops like these were common, for who would want to go out and buy a new electrical product when it was possible to get that expensive and cherished item repaired?

And the chap in his brown overalls could pretty much be guaranteed to mend anything as long as the parts were available.

The one near us as I was growing up was magic.

Every corner of the shop was piled high with electrical goods and there was that dusty, musty smell which greeted you as you went through the door.

You offered up the broken thing, Mr Anson would scrutinise it, mumble a bit and if it was do able would retreat to the back room and work a bit of that magic.

Alternatively if parts were needed it was left in that back room until it was fixed at a fraction of what it would cost to buy new.

Altrincham, 1830

And that was how it was done.  

Things were repaired when they broke and while they might not have looked as elegant at least they worked.

These are shedloads more stories will appear in our book 5.

In the meantime the first four books will take you on a journey out of south Manchester, into the city centre and on to Victoria Railway Station in one direction and east via Piccadilly Gardens, Piccadilly Railway Station to terminate at New Islington.  

The books are available at £4.99 from Chorlton Bookshop, the shop at Central Ref, St Peter's Square, or from us at www.pubbooks.co.uk

Location. Stretford, Altrincham

Pictures;  Stretford & Altrincham1830,  Hennet’s map of Lancashirecourtesy of Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/ Stretford on a March Day, 2025,  the Essoldo in 1961, m09199, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, https://digitalarchives.co.uk/ https://digitalarchives.co.uk/ Altrincham, undated, Allan Brown,  Altrincham Shaver and Repair Centre, Church Street, and Linotype Works, Altrincham, 2015, from the collection of Andy Robertson 

Linotype Works, 2015

*The History of Greater Manchester By Tram,  https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Greater%20Manchester%20by%20Tram

Leech, Sir Bosdin, Old Stretford, Privately Printed 1910

**Scola, Roger,  Scola, Roger, Feeding the Victorian City, Manchester University, Manchester,  1992

***Muir, Edwin, Lancashire Sketches, Simpkin Marshall, London & Manchester, 1869 

****Leech, Sir Bosdin, Old Stretford, Privately Printed 1910

*****The Lynotype Estate, https://www.visitmanchester.com/things-to-see-and-do/the-linotype-estate-p252931  

The Milk Maid …. a train station ….. and the place that changed its name and changed it back again ….. Manchester stories ….

There are plenty of ways of telling the story of Greater Manchester’s history but no one has done it by using the tram network, and yet with eight tram routes and 99 stops it is the perfect way to do so.

The Milk Maid, from 1906

Each route and each stop have a heap of stories so find those stories, add a few more from the surrounding areas and very quickly they will by instalment build into a rich account of how we lived set against the big and small events.

Small events like visiting the Milk Maid bar in Piccadilly Plaza in the 1970s and gazing out at the historic Gardens which was once the site of a hospital and before that a place of punishment.  Or taking the tram to New Islington via a railway station and discovering its textile and canal past while pondering on how it changed its name and changed it back again.

All of which and more are contained in our new book, Piccadilly Gardens to New Islington.

It is the fourth in the series, The History of Greater Manchester By Tram and includes memorials, the old BBC building, with a look at the new Mayfield Gardens and that nightmare for motorists which is Stoney Brew.*

There is the big stuff like the Manchester Blitz, but also stories about the Doll’s Hospital and Sundays on a deckchair in Piccadilly Gardens.

And having read book four you can collect the first three, which take you on a journey out of south Manchester, into the city centre and on to Victoria Railway Station.  

In between there will be stops in rural Chorlton, industrial Cornbrook, the elegant St Peter's Square and those bold new civic enterprises from Manchester Town Hall to Exchange Square.

The books are available at £4.99 from Chorlton Bookshop, the shop at Central Ref, St Peter's Square, or from us at www.pubbooks.co.uk

Location; Piccadilly Gardens, the Railway Station and New Islington

Pictures;  Out of Manchester Piccadilly, bound for Vrewe, 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, The Milk Maid, from a 1906 picture postcard from Tuck and Son, courtesy of Tuckdb, http://tuckdb.org/about

Out of Manchester Piccadilly bound for Crewe, 1979

*A new book on the History Of Greater Manchester By Tram, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Greater%20Manchester%20by%20Tram

When history is just a series of adventures

Now I do take history seriously, both in the research and in the writing but as someone once said “always have a bit of fun everyday”

Sir Robert Peel and friends, 2016

And today in the company of Peter Topping I am off on some historical adventures, collecting the pictures to support  our new tram book.

This will be the fourth in the series, The History of Greater Manchester By Tram.  It is a unique, perhaps quirky way to tell the history of Greater Manchester by using all 99 stops on the eight routes of the tram network.*

The Milk Maid, 1906

I write about the history of each of the stops and the surrounding area, and Peter produces a collection of original paintings of significant places and buildings.

And together they make up a history or the region.

So today we are off to Piccadilly Gardens, the Railway Station and New Islington, pausing to make the pictures which fit the stories.

They include the memorials, the old BBC building, with a look at the new Mayfield Gardens and that nightmare for motorists which is Stoney Brew.

We will even take the train from the Railway Station to the first stop on any of the lines, just to come back and check just how much the skyline behind Piccadilly has changed since I regularly made the journey half a century ago. 

And for those in the know I want to find the exact location of the Milk Maid on Parker Street while Peter wants to stand where students once painted a trail of footsteps from Queen Victoria’s statute to the site of the public lavatories..

So silly adventures in a good cause.

The books are available at £4.99 from Chorlton Bookshop, the shop at Central Ref, St Peter's Square, or from us at  www.pubbooks.co.uk

Location; Piccadilly Gardens, the Railway Station and New Islington

Pictures; Sir Robert Peel and friends, Piccadilly, 2016, and The Milk Maid, from a 1906 picture postcard from Tuck and Son, courtesy of Tuckdb, http://tuckdb.org/about 

*A new book on the History Of Greater Manchester By Tram, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Greater%20Manchester%20by%20Tram

Serendipity on Store Street …… a story over three centuries

I say serendipity which according to the dictionary is “the fact of finding interesting or valuable things by chance” and it was a bit out of the blue that someone  asked today about Store Street just days after I had written about the place.

Living off Store Street, 1904

Store Street and Fairbairn’s Buildings, 1849

More so because it also features in the new book The History of Greater Manchester By Tram, Piccadilly Gardens to New Islington.*

The request related to the height of buildings along the last stretch where it joins Great Ancoats Street.

And this was in some ways slim pickings.  

The main building after Junction Street was the Vulcan Iron Foundry which was doing the business of bashing metal from 1849, and while the building was still there in 1894, it was disused but later repurposed as an Iron and Steel warehouse.

And most of it still serves a place where metal is worked.

Opposite in 1849 was an open space which over the centuries became a timber yard, a scrap metal business and in the early 2000s a collection of undistinguished red brick workshops, before being swept away in 2019 for a tall development.

Now, as unpromising as the first search seemed to pan out, this was one of those fascinating places which mirrored the swift development of this bit of the city.

The arrival of the Ashton Canal and its neighbour the Rochdale Canal in the 1790s followed by the railway in 1842  turned the area into a thriving industrial and residential area which in turn takes us back to the Vulcan Iron Works and directly behind the Shooter’s Brook Iron Works. 

And it is this later foundry which has drawn me in, because in 1851 it was owned by a William Fairbairn who had a portfolio of properties known as Fairbairn’s Buildings.

Store Street and Fairbairn’s Buildings, 2025

They were off Store Street along a tiny alley facing the side of the Vulcan Foundry.

There were five in all and commanded rents ranging from six shillings and eight pence to two shillings and 9 pence with a charge of just over a shilling for one of the cellars. Not that they got into the street directory but we know who lived in them, through the Rate Books.

That said the resident in 1851 are proving elusively difficult to find on the census record.

Leaving just the site of where they lived which is still there off Store Street and runs up the side of Stockton’s Furniture Store and a car park.

For those who want to walk the walk Fairbairn’s Buildings took up perhaps half that car park.

As for William Fairbarin he is recorded in the street directories and census records as an engineer and lived at “6 Polygon beyond Ardwick Green” in the then fashionable and well healed area, home to merchants, manufacturers and cotton spinners.

And now I am not so sure.  This William Fairbarin  was a notable engineer ending up as a baronet, and I think may not have engaged in muky business and property.

The trouble is the only other possible candidate also gave his occupation as an engineer but lived in Fielden Street which was off Oldham Road in that desnley packed part of the city a far cry from the Polygon. 

And that is it.

Other than to say that the image Living off Store Street, in 1904 was Stand Street, now gone, and it was originally Scholes Square, a place of which I have already written about.**

And here I cheated because it was located at the other end of Store Street, but it is a striking image and deserves to be in.

Location; Store Street

Pictures. Stand Street, No's 26 and 28, formerly Scholes Square Passage off Store Street, 1906, m04571.,courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass, Store Street and Fairbairn’s Buildings, from the OS map of Manchester & Salford, 1849, courtesy of Digital Archives Association http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/, and the same spot in 2025, courtesy of Google Maps

*A new book on the History of Greater Manchester by Tram, Piccadilly Gardens to New Islington, Andrew Simpson & Peter Topping available in September Buildings, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Greater%20Manchester%20by%20Tram

**Scholes Square ….. fifty-one of its residents …. and a bit of Manchester’s past, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2025/07/scholes-square-fifty-one-of-its.html

Ghost stories from the Metrolink ……… 1992

 As transport features go the Mosley Street tram stop had a short life, opening in 1992 and closing on May 18th, 2013.

When Mosley Street was a tram stop, 2010

And given that it is now 12 years since it was last used there will be many who will not know of its existence and many more who have forgotten that once Timmy tram stopped there on its way south.

It stood  along side the row of shops and restaurants under Bernard House which my Wikipedia tells me “was the last unidirectional stop on the Metrolink, with a single platform serving southbound passengers travelling towards Altrincham Interchange, Eccles Interchange, MediaCityUK and St Werburgh's Road only”.*

I used it a few times, but it was not my go to stop and then it had gone. 

It always struck me as an afterthought on the network sandwiched between St Peter’s Square and Piccadilly Gardens. Added to which it only went the one way and what I had completely forgotten was that the stop “was designed with a varied height platform, partly full height with ramped lower sections. When a service was worked by two coupled T-68 vehicles, the rear vehicle extended mechanical steps to allow access at the low-platform sections - a feature absent in the newer M5000 vehicles”.*

High Street tram stop, 1990

So, there you are a little bit of our forgotten history.  Not that it was alone, because standing on High Street was another “one directional stop” which linked Market Street and Shudehill stops.

And this one I don’t remember ever using, nor for that matter do I remember that once Market Street was also one single platform, which became two in 1998 and sealed the fate of the High Street stop.

Leaving just Mosley Street as the only city centre single platform which eventually also vanished.  It did not benefit from a major upgrade and its days were numbered.

So returning to Wikipedia, “A review of the stop's future was conducted and found that the stop could cause congestion for trams at the Piccadilly delta junction when additional services are implemented. The report also noted that the tight confines around the stop location meant that rebuilding the platform to the new specifications would impact on pedestrian flows and access to adjacent retail establishments.

With two other Metrolink stops in close proximity (Piccadilly Gardens, 160 metres (520 ft), and Market Street), the expense of a platform upgrade was not considered to be economically or operationally justifiable. The decision was taken in February 2010 to close the stop".

Laying the tracks bringing a tram to Piccadilly and beyond, 1990

And so it went, leaving me to ponder as I pass the ghost of the stop how easy it is for a city landmark to be lost and pretty much forgotten.

I have Tony Goulding to thank for pulling me back to Mosely Street and its tram stop. 

He asked  “HI Andrew, I have just looked at an old Metrolink map (2008) and was reminded that there was originally a stop on Mosley Street. 

I am not sure, but I think it may have only had one (outward) platform. Has it had a mention in one of your tram books?"

The answer was no it was not in our first three tram books but it will appear in the next which takes the tram traveller from Piccadilly Gardens via Piccadilly Railway Station and onto New Islington, Holt Town and the Etihad Stadium.

The books will cover all eight routes and all 99 stops and as their titles indicate are the History of Greater Manchester By Tram, in which Peter Topping and I tell stories of the stops, and Peter paints them, with each book telling a bit of the history of Greater Manchester.**

The books are avaibale at £4.99 from Chorlton Bookshop, the shop at Central Ref, St Peter's Square, or from us at  www.pubbooks.co.uk 

Location; Mosley Street, Market Street & Market Street

Pictures; Mosley Street, David Dixon, 2010, From this image at geograph.org.uk; transferred by User:cnbrb using geograph_org2commons, Mosley Street, Manchester Looking north east to the north end towards Piccadilly Gardens where there will be a Delta junction, November 1990, Dr Neil Clifton / Mosley Street, Manchester  Mosley Street, Manchester Looking north east to the north end towards Piccadilly Gardens where there will be a Delta junction, Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license 2.0, High Street, Manchester, April 1993, From geograph.org.uk; transferred by User:Wikidwitch using geograph_org2commons

* Mosley Street tram stop, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosley_Street_tram_stop

**A new book on the History Of Greater Manchester By Tram, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Greater%20Manchester%20by%20Tram