The bridges of Salford and Manchester ......... nu 2 Victoria Bridge, sometime in the 1850s

Now there is not much more to say.

 It is the work of C W Clennel sometime in the 1850s.
But there is more.
And for that I am indebted to Alan who quick as a flash, added that

"Haha, I beg to differ Andrew, there is much to say, for instance the first mention of the bridge over the river Irwell was in the Lancashire Inquisitions of 1226. 

In 1368 Thomas Bothe a wealthy Yeoman of Barton on Irwell bequeathed £30 in his will to the Bridge on which he had previously built a chapel.where prayers were to be said for the soul of the founder.In 1505, the Chapel was converted to a prison.

On September 25th 1642 was the Battle of Salford Bridge between the Parliamentary forces and the Royalists. 

On July 1776 the bridge was widened by taking down the Dungeon and extending its piers and arches. 

On July 2nd 1838 the first stone on the Salford side of Victoria Bridge was laid by Mr Elkanah Armitage, the Borough Reeve of Salford and on July the 2nd the first stone on the Salford side was laid by Mr J Brown, Borough Reeve of Manchester.

On October 16th, the central arches were washed away.

On January 7th 1839 the arches of Victoria bridge were once again destroyed in a Gale. There were to be many more great floods, but the bridge appears to have escaped further damage, here ends my little hisory of Victoria Bridge...... "

And I think pretty much does justice to the old bridge.  Thank you Alan

Location; Salford

Picture, Victoria Bridge, C W Clennell, m77145 courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

The bridges of Salford and Manchester ....... nu 1 Blackfriars Bridge sometime in the 1850s

Now of course it does really depend on which way you cross the bridge.

But I am not a pedant.

And I am not inclined to add anything more, save to say it is another by the artist Mr C W Clennell who strolled into Salford from Manchester sometime in the 1850s and this was the result.

So far I have come across four of paintings featuring Salford.

And that is al I am going to say.

Location; Salford

Picture, Blackfriars Bridge, C W Clennell, , m77146 courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

Greengate as you have never seen it ................. sometime in the 1850s

Now there will be no one who remembers this bit of Greengate and I doubt there will be many who have seen this painting.

It is the work of C W Clennell who spent sometime in the twin cities during the 1850s when he painted railway stations, public buildings and churches.

There are 81 of his works in the Manchester Local Images Collection and two of these are of Salford along with one of Blackfriars Bridge and Victoria Bridge.*

I rather like them although some have commented on how they portray the darker side of Manchester ...... all gloom, chimney stacks and smoke.**

And certainly the ones quoted by the author deliver just such a grim impression of what another historian said was the “shock city of the Industrial Revolution.”***

But that is not what I see when I look at his Greengate, or for that matter some of the others.

That is not to say that Mr Clennell did root out the dirt and the grime but I haven’t come across a painting or a drawing of his that does.

Now that I know is a hostage to fortune and so I await someone to furnish the evidence of a run down terrace of back to backs or a tall and dark textile mill.

All of which I would welcome, because as it stands there isn’t that much about him.

Unless I have been looking in the wrong place history has been very unkind to Mr C W Clennell.

His father gets a write up in the National Biography and an obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine which ran across two pages, but not C W., who I am guessing was Charles Warren Clennell but that is a guess based on the fact that his grandfather was Charles Warren.**

Nor is that all because some of C W’s painting of Yorkshire were for a long time ascribed to his father.

So I shall I think spend the next few days showcasing his work of Salford and Manchester to rectify the story.

Location; Salford

Picture; Greengate, C W Clennell, 1850s, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

* Manchester Local Images Collection, , http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

** Beyond the Metropolis: The Changing Image of Urban Britain, 1780-1880 Katy Layton-Jones  2016 page 42-43

***The Victorian City, Asa Briggs, 1963

**** Obituary; Luke Clennell, The Gentleman's Magazine 1840, https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kgIVAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA437&lpg=PA437&dq=Charles+Warren+Clennell&source=bl&ots=771gK4Nyr3&sig=YU27VtPZpIwwei3xC4nM4XPKQOw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiv_fzwlIXQAhWHCsAKHWoADvk4ChDoAQgyMAc#v=onepage&q=Charles%20Warren%20Clennell&f=false

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ....... nu 39 New Bailey Street sometime in the 1850s

Now when Mr C W Clennell strolled into Salford from Manchester this was the result.

So far I have come across four of his paintings featuring Salford.

And that is al I am going to say.

Location; Salford




Picture, New Bailey Street, C W Clennell, , m77110 courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass