Stories yet to be told …….the war monument

Yesterday I came across three metal plaques, which contain the names of 324 servicemen of the Great War.

The location of the plaques is as yet unknown to me, and at present I have only the date they were photographed which was 1962.

A search of just three of the names has revealed two brothers from Harpurhey and another from Cheetham, which I guess might place the plaques from the north of the city.

The task will be to search a representative group to begin with to get a better idea of where they came from.

But as you do I choose two of the men at random.  

The first was Plato Postlethwaite, who was born in 1898 served with Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire) Regiment and was killed in action on January 1st, 1918.  

According to the records he served as Alan Ward, had been born in Manchester, and in 1911 was living with his parents and four siblings in four roomed house in Harpurhey.

The second soldier was Abel Pennington who in 1911 was living with his widowed mother and two brothers in Cheetham.  He was from the Manchester Regiment and died a year earlier on June 6th, 1917.

In time I will go looking for more of those on the three plaques and try to track down where they might now be held.

Pictures; war memorial, 1962, 1962-3672.2, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

Looking for the story on Rochdale Road ……. travels with Andy Robertson in Blackley

Now, there is a story here, I just haven’t found it, which may seem a cheap and pointless post, but there you are, I couldn’t resist posting this image.

We are on Rochdale Road and the picture comes from a collection Andy took on Friday in Blackley.

There will be someone who has chapter and verse on the property, and in time I will go looking for it in the historic record.

I know we are on the corner of Rochdale Road, and Blackley Park Road and in 1911 it was occupied Mrs. Martha Shepherd, who was 70 years old, and widow, who shared the house with her two sons, a niece and her grandson.

The Shepherd’s  had been there from 1885, and given that there is no record of the house before that date I think they may have been the first residents.

Sadly, there are no picture of the house, which had eight rooms, but the surviving properties may offer up a clue as to what it looked like.

But for those that want to delve deeper, there are a series of pictures of the old Blackley Library, which was built in 1901, and occupied the rest of the plot on the corner of Rochdale Road, and Blackley Park Road.

It was only demolished in 19169, and Central Ref holds the Visitors Book.  I rather like the idea that the Shepherds may well have used the library.

And while I know I have no evidence; it does seem logical.

All of which just leaves me to say that in time I will find out more.  I know the Shepherd’s were married in 1868 and that Martha’s father ran the Blue Pits Inn, on Manchester Road in Castleton.

Her husband Joseph was a surveyor and her son Harry enlisted in 1915, was posted to the Mounted Military Police and survived the war.

So, plenty more to find out about the house which is now marked just by those gate posts with the intriguing name of Mile House.

Or that was what I thought, but just before I posted the story, Andy came up with a picture of the Blue Pits Inn.

I don't know if this is the original building in which Martha grew up.

But it's close.

And just to show that the blog is a collaborative effort, just a few hours after the story was posted, Nick Rushton got in touch with an image which we both think must be Mile House.

It comes from Manchester's Local Image Collection, and was one of a series taken by L. Kaye in 1958 which includes the Library and this house.

And looking at the location and the size of the property from the census return I rather think this it.

So, as well as thanking Andy who took the original images and kicked off the story we now have to thank Nick as well.

Location; Blackley

Pictures; Mile House and surviving houses,along with the Blue Pits Inn,  2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and in 1958, L. Kaye,m41704, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass