The lives behind the doors ….. numbers 2-14 St Andrew’s Square

Now, it has become quite popular to take a house and tell its story over time.

St Andrew's Square, 1849

Long before a certain television series did just that with a property in Liverpool, I had done the same for our house in Chorlton, along with the two I grew up in, in south east London, and the home of our Josh and Polly who live in Leicester.

And over the years I have dipped into the history of heaps of houses, including Homer Street and Coronation Square, both of which were in Ancoats and which were developed in the late 1830s.

Back then the area was just beginning to change from what one account described as a place “of fields [where] the waters of the River Medlock which are close by ran pure and sweet and were the home of beautiful trout.” *

Within a generation the fields had been covered with mills, factories, foundries and dye works along with mean terraced housing and the Medlock began its long association with filth and pollution.

The area, 1819

And so to the challenge laid down by Bob and Del Amato to find out about what was there on the site of what is now their business. **

The warehouse of Amato Food Products stands on what was once a row of fourteen terraced houses which faced St Andrew’s Church. 

I can’t be exactly sure when the square was developed, but the church was opened in 1831 but by 1839 the properties show up in the rate books.

Eighteen years earlier according to Johnson’s map of 1819 the area up from the river to the canal was still open land although already it was edged with buildings.

St Andrew's Square, no 2 at the bottom, 2021

But the 14 properties along the southern side of the square were a cut above their neighbours .

The houses consisted of five rooms and they commanded a weekly rent of just over 5 shillings, which is higher than the surrounding streets.

And many of the residents were drawn from the skilled working class, including a railway clerk, a tailor, a dressmaker and a bookkeeper, along with a salesmen, painter and book keeper.

Their origins were as varied as their occupations with a fair few having come from Scotland, Yorkshire and the Lakes, with others from Cheshire as well as Salford.

I could have picked any of the 14 homes but ended choosing no. 2 St Andrew’s Square for no other reason than it was the first in the row as entered the square from St Andrew’s Street.

Today it is the western end of the Amato warehouse, but in 1851 it was home to Mr. and Mrs. Cruickshank, and their five children, Elizabeth, May, Emma William and James.

Mr. Cruickshank was 43 years old, had been born in Manchester and gave his occupation as a Miller.  His wife Hannah was three years younger and was from Salford.  Three of the children were born in Chorlton on Medlock and the youngest in Oldham, and despite the fact that they ranged in age from 20 down to 13, only William who 15 is listed as working.

Looking east along the square, 2021

I doubt that any of them had attended the school at the other end of the square but certainly some of the children from the other houses will have done.  

The school appeared in an earlier blog story but deserves to be revisited.***

What is interesting is that the square does not appear in the street directories until the beginning of this century, by which time our house was occupied by Samuel Boole who was a labourer for Manchester Corporation, his wife Ethel, their five children and Ethel’s mother.  

Like many families of the period, they appear to have moved across the city, and we can track their movement by where their children were born. The eldest of the children was born in Chorlton-on Medlock and the rest in Ancoats.

In time I shall dig deeper into the stories of both the Boole family and the Cruickshank’s, as well  the occupants of the other thirteen houses.

Inside the warehouse, 2021

All of which just leaves me to ponder on what remains may lie below the warehouse.

Location; Ancoats

Pictures; St Andrew’s Square, 2021, courtesy of Angela Wallwork, and St Andrew’s Square in 1849, OS map of Manchester and Salford, 1844-49,  and the area in 1919 from Johnson's map, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

*Commemorative Booklet, St Andrews Church Ancoats, 1831-1931

** Amato Products Ltd, https://amatoproducts.co.uk/

***Looking for the lost ...... one street over time in Ancoats ..... no 4 the school by Homer Street https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/07/looking-for-lost-one-street-over-time_7.html

That Ancoats war memorial ….. and some good news

Just a week ago I wrote about the perilous state of the war memorial in St Andrew’s Square.*

It had been erected in 1921 to commemorate the men from St Andrew’s Church who fought in the Great War.

But the closure of the church in 1958, and its demolition three years later left the stone cross increasingly isolated, and over the next sixty years it was pretty much left alone and forgotten.

A large tree threatened the stability of the cross and in the summer months vegetation all but obscured the war memorial.**

I was unsure of who to contact, given that the church authorities had signed off the former church land a long time ago, and so I contacted the relevant elected Manchester City Councillors.

That same day Cllr Sam Wheeler was in touch asking for more details and today his colleague Cllr Jon-Connor Lyons emailed me with the good news that the area had been cut back, and that the Council officers were looking into who owned the land.

So a good start, with the promise that the men of St Andrew’s Church will no longer be forgotten

Location; St Andrew’s Square, Ancoats,

Picture; the wall memorial St Andrew’s Square, Ancoats, 2021, courtesy of Angela Wallwork, Amato Food Products***

*Neglected and forgotten ……. the men from St Andrew’s in Ancoats, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2021/02/neglected-and-forgotten-men-from-st.html

**Heritage Report, St Andrew’s Church, Lee, Anthony, Report No.SA/2019/12

** Amato Products Ltd, https://amatoproducts.co.uk/ and to order, info@amatoproducts.co.uk

Neglected and forgotten ……. the men from St Andrew’s in Ancoats

I am profoundly saddened at the fate of the war memorial to the 70 men of St Andrew’s

Church in Ancoats, which is in a sorry state.

It was erected in 1921 am along with a tablet which was located inside the church records commemorates the men who fought in the Great War.

The inscription on the cross read, "To the glory of God and in perpetual memory of the Churchmen of this Parish and Congregation who gave their lives in the War, 1914-18, this Cross and the Tablet in the Church are erected by their fellow-churchmen", but the words are now illegible, and as yet I have no idea of the fate of the stone tablet.

The church closed in 1958 and was demolished in 1961, and some where there may be a record of where it went, which I shall go looking for.

As for the cross it is in a perilous state, after sixty years of neglect.  It leans slightly to one side, has lost a bit of the head on its east facing side, and is surrounded by undergrowth and litter.

I can not think that just a few years after that great outpouring of interest in the Great War, which came with a plethora of commemorations, this war memorial stands in such a terrible state, or that its fate is so uncertain.

All of which just leaves me the task of looking for the 70 names on the tablet and trying to bring them out of the shadows.

I have started with an Alfred Pickering who in 1915 was living at 13 Teer Street.  The street is still there off the Ashton New Road , but the houses have long gone.

So far I haven’t been able to locate him for certain on the census return, but I do have this from the National Roll of Honour, which records that he enlisted in 1915 and survived the war.

There are also references to an Alfred Pickering in the Manchester City Battalions Book of Honour, which records that five men with that name were employed by Manchester Corporation Tramways Department, the Co-operative Wholesale Society, Richard Goodiar Ltd of 8 Mosley Street, Charles Macintosh and Co Ltd, and Peter Spencer and Sons.

Not much I know but a start.

Leaving me just to thank Angela Wallwork of Amato Products who took the pictures of the cross on Friday.

Amato Products supply food and other products to restaurants across Greater Manchester and beyond and their warehouse faces on to the site of the demolished church on St Andrew’s Square.

I would also want to thank Anthony Lee, Senior Project Manager (Heritage Management), Salford Archaeology, School of Science, Engineering & Environment, whose Heritage Report on the site of St Andrew's Church prompted the story.****

And that is it while I go looking for the men of St Andrew’s Church …. There are more stories about St Andrew’s Square, and its neighbour Homer Street along with the history of Ancoats.****

But just as I posted the story, Martin H. Prestwich, commented that a tablet commemorating men from the Second World War was removed to the Manchester Miracle Centre, formerly All Souls Church, corner of Every Street and Harding Street, which he writes, is recorded on the "Imperial War Museum website,  https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/15901"

That said this host building looks equally empty and I fear the worst.

But Cllr Sam Wheeler of Manchester City council who is one of the three elected representatives for the area, has seen the story and is looking in to what can be done for the cross.  Which is a fine outcome.

Location; St Andrew’s Square, Ancoats,

Picture; the wall memorial St Andrew’s Square, Ancoats, 2021, courtesy of Angela Wallwork, the National Roll of Honour, and the memorial tablet, 1931, courtesy of  Anthony Lee

* St Andrew’s Church Centenary Commemorative booklet, 1931 Manchester Archives & Local History Library, 283.4273.M341

** Amato Products Ltd, https://amatoproducts.co.uk/ and to order, info@amatoproducts.co.uk

***Heritage Report, St Andrew’s Church, Lee, Anthony, Report No.SA/2019/12

**** Ancoats, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Ancoats

A little bit of Italy arrived on the doorstep today .......

And with it came more than a bit of culinary history and a reminder of Ancoats in the 19th century.

The vegetarian platter

But first the food, which in our case was a vegetarian platter, but there is also a meat option.

The platters cost £20 which includes delivery to the door and can be ordered by clicking on the link.*

 Much of the food is made on site by the company and each of the two platters include “a selection of Veroni artisan charcuterie including the heavenly fennel salami , Napoli dolce , Proscuitto and a spicy spianata, Continental cheeses including goats cheese , mozzarella ball , provolone piccante , Gorgonzola and Spanish manchejo . 

Along with these there are artisan crackers, homemade pesto and hoummus and  grilled artichokes , Calabrian olives , marinaded sun dried tomatoes and roasted peppers . 

They come on a bed of fresh rocket that tends to absorb these oils and so it acts as a delicious flavoursome dressing”.

Nor is that all because there are also “some garlic croistini and mini picos de pan ( Spanish breadsticks, Ines Rosales - this is an amazing Spanish product - garlic and herb flavour cracker style and all individually hand wrapped” . 

And as an option in the vegetarian platter there is  “Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire and smoked applewood cheese, some home made sun dried tomato tapannade and some Italian grilled courgettes”.

The meat platter

The platters are supplied by Amato Products, and many people will remember that at one point they owned  “Buonissimo” the very popular deli on Beech Road in Chorlton.

"The company is a family run foodservice company based in Manchester City Centre. The company was founded 30 years ago by Bob and Deloras Amato. 

It was started with them making and selling fresh pasta to restaurants in and around Manchester. 

They then went on to open the Italian Deli, “Buonissimo” which was based in Chorlton, the customer base grew along with the demand for new products which Bob and Deloras would gladly source. 

Their reputation for supplying fine ingredients became well known to chefs and catering establishments in and around the Manchester area and Amato Products Ltd was established. 

Amato Products Ltd not only supplies specialist Mediterranean and oriental products, but we also cater for all ingredients required for the catering industry. 

The company have 18 vehicles distributing to over 700 customers from our 20,000sq ft warehouse based close to Piccadilly in central Manchester. We supply to customers large and small, all equally important to us, new customers are always welcome. We have a development kitchen on site where we can showcase our products, and also work with our customers to develop their menus, using our quality ingredients.

When the Covid-19 pandemic began we opened a pop-up shop at our premises where we sell lots of our quality products in retail size’s. The shop has been a huge success and it will remain open, we now have lots of regular customers enjoying our products at home. We can also offer home deliveries in some areas”.

At present they are offering the platters to customers across south Manchester,  from Chorlton, Didsbury and Altrincham to Hale, Sale,  Timperly and Wythenshawe and soon to Stockton Heath and Knutsford .

Tomorrow; more on the story of Amato Products and the history of the little bits of Ancoats which is home to the company

Location; Manchester

Pictures; courtesy of Amato Products Ltd, 2021

* Amato Products Ltd,  info@amatoproducts.co.uk

Food parcels from Italy ....... and other places ..... with home thoughts from abroad

Now the box was not strictly speaking a food parcel, more an Italian selection box, and as such should really be described as a hamper.

It was delivered by our old friend Bob Amato last night .

The title on the box translates as Feast of the Holidays and will have been made for the Christmas market.

And that got me thinking about food and food parcels.

Over the years we have had more than our fair share, usually from Italy and containing selections of food which far outstrip anything you can buy here.

And along with theses, our Chris in Canada lightened up a miserable February back in 2015 with a package of “stuff” from Ontario.

And what I like about all these family parcels sent from around the world is that what has been chosen is usually the everyday mix of staple foods, which in turn offers up a fine snap shot of what our relatives eat.

I am too young to remember just what our Canadian family sent over just after the last war when rationing and food shortages resulted in a healthy but meagre diet.

But I do remember one of my uncles bringing back South African butter on his return from a retirement trip which had taken him overland from Cairo to Cape Town in 1960 and a little earlier eating Polish biscuits from the couple who lived upstairs from us.

Even now just the thought of those products takes me right back, as does the first time I encountered that basic sauce made from yogurt, coriander and mint which I was offered in the home of a friend in Ashton-Under-Lyne in the 1970s.

Each of them was in their own way a revelation of the world beyond south east London and later Manchester, and I suppose to today would all be taken for granted.

But not by me, so that just leaves me to say, bring on the food parcels.

Location; pretty much everywhere

Pictures; food parcels, 2013-2018, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

A little bit of Naples in Manchester ........... stories I like

Now what can be better than a pizza party?

And when the pizzas are home made and cooked on a wood burning oven in the garden in front of you it just doesn’t get any better.

Not that this was all fun, in fact there was a serious side to the evening which was to  test out a range of Italian made mozzarella cheese which our old friend Bob Amato who was thinking of marketing them in his business.*

Much of what passes for mozzarella is made in Britain or Denmark and so here was a chance to test out the real stuff.This was an experiment I have to say I was up for.

There were half a dozen of us, including Saro and Carlo who work with Bob, along with me and Tina and an old friend of Bob’s.

Helping Bob with the cooking was his daughter and the rest as they say was an evening of sheer pleasure.

I had thought that we might have a score card with directions on how to mark each one out of ten, but as it turned out the fun and pleasure side took over which is of course how it should be.

I did toy with telling our Saul who makes a mean pizza but as he is in Naples at the moment I rather think he can go and find his own pizza place.

What made the evening just that bit special was the mix of people, Sara is from Spain, and Carlo although he has lived in Darwen for a big chunk of his life is Italian.

And in the course of the evening Tina and Bob discovered that their parents were from the same part of Naples.

Which just left me whose only claim to fame is that I was born in south east London, spent my early years in Peckham before growing up in Eltham, which I am the first to concede is nowhere as romantic as either Spain or Naples.

Not that anyone was bothered about that, instead it was the pizzas which stole the night.

And I have to say my favourite turned out to be a slightly smoked cheese.

So there you have it, ......... a magic evening, some superb food and an experiment well done.





Location; Manchester

Pictures; a pizza evening from the collection of Sara Saro Lavilla

*Amato Food Products, http://amatoproducts.co.uk/