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  

Victorian Manchester Engine House saved from demolition

 Now here is a good piece of news which comes from a press release today from SAVE Britain's Heritage.*

It is, that the former Linotype Works on the Bridgewater Canal has been listed, halting its proposed demolition. 

It is a place I have written about already, and so it is encouraging that one historic building will not become a pile of rubble.

Strictly speaking it is in Altrincham and not Manchester, listing doesn't always mean it is safe,  and not all developers are unmindful of the past.

So with that out of the way “SAVE is delighted to announce that the Engine House and chimney base of the former Linotype Works in Altrincham has been listed, halting its proposed demolition. 

 Earlier this year owners of the historic Altrincham Linotype Works, Morris Homes, had applied to demolish and rebuild the unlisted canal-side Engine House as part of their wider redevelopment of the site, which is a designated conservation area.

SAVE considers the Engine House and nearby Chimney base to be of high historic significance and suitable for conversion. In response to the threat of demolition, we submitted a listing application to Historic England, and the building has now been granted grade II listed status by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.  The decision means the owners will now have to apply for Listed Building Consent in order to demolish the listed building”. *

For more information and images contact Ben Oakley, Conservation Officer at SAVE Britain's Heritage: ben.oakley@savebritainsheritage.org / 07388 181 181.

Pictures; the Linotype Works, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

* SAVE Britain's Heritage, https://www.savebritainsheritage.org/           

**Warehouses and things …… along the Duke’s Canal ……… no. 2 The Lynotype Works https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/09/warehouses-and-things-along-dukes-canal_30.html

On discovering the Sinderland Brook ……

Perhaps, it’s because most of us live in urban settings that makes rivers, streams, and brooks so fascinating.

Great stretches of some of our most interesting rivers have long ago gone underground, briefly to appear into daylight before disappearing once more, leaving their course unknown to most of us.

And even out in the suburbs and the countryside the most humble of water courses can suddenly be lost or have undergone a degree of rationalization, turning them from twisty, turny, lazy streams which wind through natural surroundings into uniformly straight lines surrounded by flat cultivated land, or worse still made to flow through steep channels where the backs rise like cliffs on either side.

Of course, I understand why in the interests of flood prevention this should be the case, but some of their magic has been taken away.

All of which brings me to the Sinderland Brook, which I first came across when Andy sent over a couple of pictures of the water course at Timperley, and which according to one source is “an important waterway and wildlife corridor …[extending] through heart of Trafford from Smiths Field to join the Red Brook in Partington”.*

And it does feature on a number of rambling and natural heritage sites, along with seasonal alerts about flooding.

But what really caught my eye was a report posted fifteen years ago, which describes plans to restore 1.8 km of the book and its floodplain which had been channelized in the late 1960s by the water Authority.**

At which point I have no intention of stealing the details from the report, which you can find by following the link.

I have yet to find out whether Andy’s stretch was included, but his pictures offer up conflicting interpretations.

And that is it.

Location; the Sinderland Brook, as it goes under the canal Timperley/Altrincham, 

Pictures; the Sinderland Brook, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Sinderland Brook, Heritage Trees, https://www.cityoftrees.org.uk/sites/default/files/AT_Sinderland%20Brook.pdf

**Sinderland Brook, https://www.therrc.co.uk/case_studies/sinderland%20brook%20issue%2020.pdf

Warehouses and things …… along the Duke’s Canal ……… no. 4 … a pressure gauge, the Prussian family, and the Great War

Now when Andy sent over a second collection of pictures of the warehouses, factories and other “things” he encountered along the Bridgewater Canal, I was quite taken by this one.

And I suppose  I was minded to reflect on the contrast between the old and the new, but when Andy also rooted out a picture of the original building from the beginning of the last century I was drawn into the story of Schaffer and Budenberg, who relocated from Manchester to Woodfield Road by the canal in 1914.*

The company originated in Prussia, and was renowned for making high quality pressure gauges, thermometers, valves and manifolds. 

The company was founded in 1849 by B. Schäffer and his brother-in-law C.F. Budenberg, and six years later the firm opened a sales office at St. Mary's Gate in Manchester, and another Glasgow and in 1876 began assembling pressure gauges and other instruments in Manchester.

By 1896 they had moved into a larger factory on Whitworth Street under the direction Fred Budenberg.

“In the decades running up to the First World War and the race for naval superiority, products had to be made in Britain if the company wanted to sell to the British Admiralty. 

To cement this the company was registered as British in 1902, even though it was still almost completely owned and controlled from Germany”.**

And then ….. came the Great War, which resulted in the Government taking over the company, although Fred Budenberg, who had been born in Britain and whose two sons were in the British armed forces in France was directed to continue running the business until the duration of the war.

In 1917 he  bought the company back, with the proviso that all Board Directors were British born, and so the Budenberg Gauge Company Ltd. was formed and shares were held by a Public Trustee. 

Location; Altrincham

Pictures; the Budenberg Building, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and the Schaffer and Budenberg, Woodfield Road, circa 1914, TL3327, Trafford Life Times, courtesy of Trafford Local Studies Centre, https://www.artuk.org/visit/venues/trafford-local-studies-centre-6551

*Schaffer and Budenberg, Grace's Guide to British industrial history, https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Schaffer_and_Budenberg

** Budenberg Gauge Company, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budenberg_Gauge_Company

Warehouses and things …… along the Duke’s Canal ……… no. 3 the mystery

This is another of those industrial buildings Andy stumbled across on his walk along the Bridgewater Canal.

And like the others, I thought it was promising.

Despite it’s modern roof and squat appearance, it had all the signs of being a canal warehouse with age.

The original arched entrance and loading hatch were still there, although sometime in the past they had been bricked up.

It shows up on the 1907 OS map of Cheshire as “Canal Storage”, and there looks to be a building on the same spot in 1875, but beyond that I am at present stumped.

I have nor earlier maps of Cheshire, and my canal maps dating from the 1830s are not detailed enough to show individual warehouses.

So for now it’s a mystery.  It might date back to the construction of the canal or soon afterwards.

But someone will know, so I shall just wait and see.

And for those interested to look it up, it is in a builder's yard behind the Old Packet House on Navigation Road.

The post script.

I said someone would no and sure enough research has been done.  John Anthony located other warehouses close by, commenting "here had been fairly extensive canal wharves, mainly for coal, but also in close proximity to a brass foundry and a sawmill. To the north was the LNWR goods yard at Broadheath station, a farm and a school. It is possible these two canal stores had been used for non-coal products and materials, for example, raw cotton and finished goods that needed protection from the elements (and undesirables), and transhipment to / from local forms of transport".

While Derek Watts, turned up the 1835 tithe map which shows our warehouse.

So a job well done, and a thnak you

Location; Altrincham

Picture; that warehouse, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and detail from the 1907 OS map of Cheshire, courtesy of Digital Archives http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/ 

Warehouses and things …… along the Duke’s Canal ……… no. 2 The Lynotype Works

Now, I tried understanding the details of linotype and it has defeated me. 

But I know it “became one of the mainstay methods to set type, especially small-size body text, for newspapers, magazines, and posters from the late 19th century to the 1970s and 1980s”. and that’s good enough for me.*

I don’t suppose it would ever have jumped up and drew me, if it hadn’t been for Andy’s two pictures of the Lynotype Works beside the Bridgwater Canal in Altrincham.

The works were built in 1897, when the Lynotype Company  having outgrown their existing factory in Hulme Street off Oxford Road, “purchased land at Broadheath, Altrincham for a new factory, which was formally opened by Lady Kelvin in 1899”.**

All of which was fascinating enough, but the trawl of references led in turn led to an article by my old Facebook chum, Steve Marland about the company’s move into property development  in the form of an estate for its workers.

Between 1897-1901, “Linotype Company 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”.***

And there I shall resist from lifting more of Steve’s research and just direct you to the link to the article, leaving me just to add that the estate still exists although the properties are now in private ownership, and if you want to know where, just read the piece.

Location; Altrincham

Pictures; The Lynotype Works, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Lynotype machine, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linotype_machine

**Lynotype Company, Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History, https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Linotype_Co

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

Warehouses and things …… along the Duke’s Canal ……… no.1 ..... Altrincham

Now I have long been fascinated by the canal warehouse.

It was in its time a revolutionary design which allowed goods to be shipped through the warehouse from either the canal side to the roadside or from road to canal.

And was later copied by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway for their warehouses.

Over the years I have wandered around the ones in Manchester, from the Dale Street Basin down to Castlefield.

But never quite made it to Altrincham, where Andy found this one, commenting “I stumbled across this by accident. It is a canal warehouse opposite the coal wharf in Broadheath, Altltrincham. It has an opening for a branch of the Bridgewater Canal. It was built in 1833 and is listed. I am hoping I can get a photo of it facing the canal”.

It looks very forlorn, is dwarfed by its modern neighbours and is waiting for a friend to give it a new purpose.

From the canal side you can see the large arched entrance which allowed goods to be taken directly into the building to be unloaded, while on the road side there are the characteristic loop holes used to load and unload material.

Some of those in town have made imaginative use of those arches and loop holes by adding glass and making them a feature.

I hope something equally imaginative happens to this one.

Leaving me just to mention Mr. Bradshaw’s superb collection of canal maps which were made in the 1830s, before he sought fame and wealth with his railway guides, and Joseph Priestly’s  wonderful “Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways Throughout Great Britain” which he published in 1831.

And Mr. Priestly’s book is a veritable goldmine of facts about the canal network, mixing the history of each waterway with a description of the routes and the tonnage charges.

So for the Bridgewater the account includes, that “The primary object of ‘The Father of British Inland Navigation’, as the Buke of Bridgewater has been justly styled , was to open his valuable collieries at Worsley, and to supply the town of Manchester with coal, at a much cheaper rate than could be done by the imperfect navigation of the Mersey and Irwell. 

The original  line to Hempstone takes a south-westerly course from Longford Bridge, crossing the Mersey by aqueduct; by the town of Altrincham  and Dunham Massey."*

Sadly, the account doesn’t mention individual warehouses .. but I suppose that would be asking too much.

Still someone will know more about Andy’s warehouse, and in the fullness of time offer up the story.

For now, that is it, other than to say this is the first of an occasional series on the warehouses and things, along the Duke’s Canal.

Location; Altrincham

Pictures; http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/ 

*“Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways Throughout Great Britain”, Joseph Priestly, 1831

Altrincham then and now ……………..

Now yesterday I posted a picture of the Station Approach and New Stamford Street in Altrincham at the turn of the last century and bewailed the fact that I couldn’t find any of the photographs I had taken of the same place a few years ago.*

And quick as a flash George Cieslik came up with an even better one of the roads sometime around 1900, but alas nobody has sent over a modern image.

But all that is now put right because that tenacious photographer Andy Robertson, he of countless photographic projects dropped some off he taken in 2015, commenting” the best I could come up with, February 2015.

Well he needn’t have apologized because they were just what I wanted.

So here from George and Andy are two images of the place separated by perhaps a hundred years.

Location; Altrincham




Pictures; Station Approach and New Stamford Street in Altrincham, circa 1900 courtesy of George Cieslik, and in 2015 from the collection of Andy Robertson



*At Altrincham ......... looking for pictures, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2019/09/at-altrincham-looking-for-pictures.html

At Altrincham ......... looking for pictures

Now, I can’t find any of the pictures I have taken over the years of Altrincham, and in particular Stamford New Road with its clock tower and transport hub.

And that is a shame because I rather wanted to compare the modern scene with this one from sometime at the beginning of the last century.

But I can’t, but I am sure someone will have a picture of the spot today, and thoughts on a date for our rather fuzzy one from the collection of Allan Brown.

And a better one from George Cieslik‎, who has more in his collection which will in time make their onto the blog

Location; Altrincham



Picture; Station and Stamford New Road, Altrincham, date unknown, from the collection of Allan Brown and Stamford New Road, courtesy of  George Cieslik‎

The cabinet maker, a restaurant called Tre Ciccio and a story of Altrincham

Now I like the way that stories have a habit of bouncing back, which is what happened to the one about an  Altrincham ghost sign.*

At the time, the picture of the brick warehouse with the name G.W. BONSON picked out at the top of the building was just an interesting example of a ghost sign, which is a record of a business long gone.

In this case, it refers to G.W. BONSON who after setting up a carpet beating business at the age of 23 in 1881, moved into this fine brick building in 1894, and started trading as a cabinet maker, upholsterer and furniture outlet.

At the time, that was pretty much it, and while I promised myself I would go looking for more on Mr Bonson I never did.

And then by chance a friend took us on a mystery trip to a new restaurant.

We had no idea where we were going or what to expect, but as we walked up Moss Lane into the heart of Altrincham, there was Mr Bonson’s warehouse, complete with the ghost sign and below it picked out in black the name Tre Ciccio!**

I have to say eating pizza in the former warehouse gave me  a sense of continuity with the past, and that becomes the rest of the story which began when two friends“started one magical summer’s evening meal in the Campania region of Italy, and ended by becoming the masterminds behind who we are today.

Invited to the extremely popular La Terrazza in restaurant in Calvanico by the lovely Scafuri family, we experienced an evening like we never have before.

From owner Michele managing his hungry guests from his scrap of paper and pen, to the mouth watering authentic Neapolitan pizzas, roast chicken diavola, Cacciatore and freshly picked porcini mushrooms that we devoured, we were left craving much, much more!”.

More than that it set them off with the idea that these simple Italian dishes could work here, and the success of the restaurant Tre Ciccio! proved them right.

We were there last night, on a cold Thursday evening and the place was full.

At which point I could write in detail about my pizza, the starters, or Tina’s roast chicken, but I am no food writer, just a jobbing historian, so instead I shall let the pictures do the business and recommend the place.

And as historian I was intrigued at how the shop had been converted into the waiting area where you can watch the pizza’s being made before gently being slid into the giant wood burning pizza oven.

The old wooden ceiling and some of the original features have been retained, while in contrast the restaurant which was the workshop, has a contemporary feel with a roof which can be pulled back on those rare days when the sun shines and you could be under a Neapolitan sky, consuming San Marzano tomatoes, Amalfi lemons & buffalo mozzarella direct from the south of Italy.

And that is about the extent of my food writing, so instead I suggest you step into Mr Bonson’s warehouse and enjoy a night at Tre Ciccio!

Location;   Tre Ciccio! Altrincham

Pictures; Mr Bonson’s warehouse, 2016, from the collection of Andy Robertson, remaining images courtesy of Tre Ciccio, 2018

*Finding a ghost sign in Altrincham, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2015/02/finding-ghost-sign-in-altrincham_19.html

** Tre Ciccio!   https://www.treciccio.co.uk/

A reminder of that time when we mended things ........ down on Church Street in Altrincham

Now given that I have the maps and directories for Altrincham in time I should be able to make a good stab at finding out about this building.

It sits beside another oldish building and one that might be relatively new.

Of course the research will do the bit but in the meantime I couldn’t resist posting these two pictures from Andy Robertson’s Altrincham collection.

We are on Church Street not far from the station and number 18 fascinates me.

It looks to be one of those properties that has been overlooked by developers and council planners and you wonder how it has survived.

But that is not all, what is equally intriguing is the business that operates from inside, because this 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 doable 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.

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.

So I am pleased that Andy turned up this place and reminded me of how things used to be done.

Picture; Church Street, Altrincham, 2015, from the collection of Andy Robertson 

Finding a ghost sign in Altrincham

Now I rather think there is no end to which Andy Robertson will go to record the history of our buildings.

Armed with his camera in one hand and his newly acquired concessionary travel pass in the other I have every confidence that his journies will take him to the far edges of Greater Manchester.

And long may they do so because he has been building up a wonderful record of the often swift changes into the twin cities and the neighbouring townships.

Earlier in the month he ventured out to Altrincham and here is the first in that series.

And where better to begin than with a ghost sign on Moss Lane.
It belonged to G.W. Bonson and at present I know nothing about them, but it is a fine example of its type.

What’s more you get a nice piece of industrial archaeology because at some stage the lower set of windows were bricked up and it would be interesting to know why.

That said there will be someone who know Altrincham well and may well be familiar with the building and its history.

For now I shall just add it to the growing collection of ghost signs and decide which of Andy’ Altrincham pictures to do next.

Picture; on Moss Lane, 2015, from the collection of Andy Robertson