When Manchester embraced Mr. Shakespeare …….

It might seem a daft title, but it perfectly sums up the story of how William Shakespeare came to mean so much to Manchester over the last two centuries.

Mr Shakespeare's window

And for those who aren’t fully aware of the connection between the city and the playwright, there is an excellent exhibition at the Central Reference Library which offers up the story.

It runs until May 30th and in the words of Ian Nickson who collated the exhibition it is “the story of how seven personalities transformed Manchester into a global centre of Shakespearean theatre in the Victorian era and reveals present-day evidence of the city’s innovative engagement with the works of Shakespeare.

These seven people operated in diverse fields - business, religion, theatre, architecture, academia, politics - but were united by their appreciation of Shakespeare’s cultural value and, as if imitating the seven bees atop Manchester’s coat of arms, they collaborated to create an urban, libertarian, distinctively Mancunian interpretation of Shakespeare’s works”

They include “local businessman John Knowles who commissioned the Theatre Royal on Peter Street in 1845 and installed a marble statue of Shakespeare above the main entrance, early evidence of a desire to link Manchester with high culture

The actor-manager Charles Calvert who produced spectacular, historically accurate and commercially successful revivals of Shakespeare’s plays which, by appealing to all sections of society, developed into a ‘one-nation Shakespeare’ with global appeal.

Mr. Shakespeare and the Theatre Royal, 2024

In 1875, Calvert’s revival of Henry the Fifth was exported to the United States, prompting two New York impresarios to organise the fastest crossing of the continent by train as a publicity stunt and launching the career of the first global Shakespearean celebrity, George Rignold".

To these can be added Henry Irving who in 1860 came to Manchester and resurrected his career. He had who arrived as a failing actor, and his time in Manchester set him on the road to becoming the Victorian era’s most celebrated tragedian.

But that is where I shall stop because where would the fun be in just reading about the exhibition when you can come along and enjoy if for yourself and discover the other four notable people who in their own different ways brought the Bard to the city and whose influence is still here to uncover?

For more details please contact:

r. Ian Nickson. Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester, ian.nickson-2@manchester.ac.uk

Kattie Kincaid, Project Lead for the Shakespearean Garden,  kattiekincaid@hotmail.com

Location; Manchester Central Library, St Peter's Square, Manchester, M2 5PD

Pictures; the Shakespeare Window, 2025, courtesy of Ian Nickson, and Mr. Shakespeare at the Theatre Royal, 2024, from the collection of Andrew Simpson 

Celebrating all things history ….. today at Central Ref

Today was one of those history days in Manchester when the Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society hosted a heap of organizations and individuals all of whom are engaged in making our city’s past more accessible.*

The Lord Mayor & Liverpool and South West Family History Society, 2026 

There were individuals like David Harrop who is a “Postal and Military Historian", representatives from the Greater Manchester Museum of Transport,  Elizabeth Gaskell House, Northwest Film Archive, Manchester Archives, and plenty more, added to which there were a series of talks from the Manchester & Lancashire Family, and the Lancashire Archives History Society.

And along the way I bumped into some old pals, as well as making new acquaintances and discovering a load of regional new historical societies including the Liverpool and South West Family History Society.

Meeting and swapping history stories, 2026

David Harrop, 2026

So, a good day, made better by the appearance of our own Lord Mayor, Cllr Carmine Grimshaw who made his way round the events much to everyone’s pleasure and resisted the temptation to advertise his book of poems, which is available from the book shop in Central Ref for a donation to the Lord Mayor’s charity.**

Now I say he resisted the temptation, but I couldn’t having heard him recite one at Chorlton Arts Festival last year,

Location; Central Ref

Pictures; the Family History Fair March 26th, 2026 from the collection of Andrew Simpson 

Martin Logan and bus ticket machine, 1900

Selection of ticket machines, 1900-1960s

Elizabeth Gaskell House, 2026

The Lord Mayor sharing stories, 2026

* Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society, mlfhs.uk

**Lord Mayor’s Rattlebag of Poems, Cllr. Carmine Grimshaw, Lord Mayor of Manchester 2025-26

And to ensure I don't short change anyone, here is the full list of attendees, Anglo-Scottish FHA (MLFHS stand), Archives+Belle Vue Circus Clown Artist, Pamela Armstrong, Elizabeth Gaskell House, Family and Community Historical Research Society, David Harrop, Postal and Military Historian, Dean Kirby, Local historian - Angel Meadow and Research, Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, Lancashire Family History and Heraldry Society, Lancashire Records Office, Liverpool & South West Lancs Family History Society, Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society (MLFHS), Manchester Helpdesk (MLFHS), Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Society, Manchester Statistical Society, Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester, North West Film Archive, Oldham & District FHS,  (MLFHS stand), Police Scam Squad, Salford Cemeteries Trust, Swinton & Pendlebury Historical Society, Tameside Local History Centre, Victoria Baths

Let me tell you sad stories of the death of theatres ...... Manchester's Theatre Royal

There will be those who recognise the mangled link to Shakespeare, * and that is all to the good given that this is the story of our own Theatre Royal on Peter’s Street and the statue of the man himself which stands above the entrance.

Closed for business, the Theatre Royal, 2024

It opened in 1845 and can claim to be the oldest surviving theatre in the city.

That said it closed its doors in 1921 and since then has been a cinema, a bingo hall and even a night club.

My 1850 copy of the Stranger’s Guide to Manchester offers up that it could “hold 2,147 people and on the roof, there is a large reservoir capable of holding 20,000 gallons of water in the event of a fire….”**

And it was here sometime in 1970 that I saw the film Woodstock which documented the famous music festival the previous year.

All you ever wanted to know, 2026

I can’t remember too much of what I saw and even less of the theatre.  Nor if I am honest, have I given it much of a glance over the years as I whizz down Peter’s Street.

All of which changed recently after a visit to a new exhibition at Central Ref which explores the links between Shakespeare and the city.  It is simply entitled Shakespeare and Manchester: A Victorian Powerhouse Exhibition and runs through till May 30th.

That said there is nothing simple about the story which encompasses the American actor, Ira Alridge along with “local businessman John Knowles who commissioned the Theatre, actor-manager Charles Calvert and Rosa Grindon who forged a career as the Victorian age’s leading female Shakesperean scholar” and crosses the Atlantic to America.

The Theatre Royal mode, 2026

Of all the bits on display I was drawn to a model of the Theatre Royal which has its own story.  It comes from Derby Museum and dates possibly from the 1960s.

And as someone who spent his summer holidays out of London visiting my grandparents in Derby that museum was a tad special.  A decade earlier I spent heaps of time mesmerized by a giant model railway which took up a large area of the museum.  Alas the Theatre Royal did not arrive in Derby until long after I had stopped visiting, but it was still a sort of connection.

I could say more but then that would spoil a trip to Shakespeare and Manchester: A Victorian Powerhouse Exhibition so I won’t.

Mr. Shakespeare and that model of the Theatre Royal, 2026

Suffice to say there is lots to see.

For more details please contact:

r. Ian Nickson. Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester, ian.nickson-2@manchester.ac.uk

Kattie Kincaid, Project Lead for the Shakespearean Garden,  kattiekincaid@hotmail.com

Location; Manchester Central Library, St Peter's Square, Manchester, M2 5PD

Pictures; Mr. Shakespeare at the Theatre Royal, 2024, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and remaining images from Shakespeare and Manchester: A Victorian Powerhouse Exhibition, 2026, courtesy of Ian Nickson

*let us sit upon the ground, And tell sad stories of the death of kings" , Richard II, Act 3 Scene 2, William Shakespeare 1592

**Duffield, H.G The Strangers Guide to Manchester, 1850

Discovering that Shakespearean Garden in Platt Fields ….. courtesy of the new exhibition Shakespeare and Manchester

 It is a sad confession that despite living in Manchester for 57 years and visiting Platt Fields heaps of time I had never come across the city’s own Shakespearean Garden.

In the Shakespeare Gardens, 2026

The Friends of Platt Fields tell me that “A Shakespearean Garden is a themed garden which contains some or all of the 175 plants mentioned in Shakespeare’s works. 

Most of these gardens are a late 19th / early 20th century interpretation of the formal Elizabethan gardens. 

The aim being to design an historically accurate garden such as Shakespeare would have recognised.

‘Shakey’, as our garden is affectionately known, is a sunken walled garden which is entered via a central ‘staircase’. The formal garden is divided into 4 quadrants, or ‘rooms’, and surrounded by large banked areas and majestic trees.

The garden is often described as the park’s hidden gem nestled in a discreet corner, just a few moments from Wilmslow Road”*

Model of the gardens in the exhibition, 2026

My failure to know it existed is an outstanding piece of ignorance which was only corrected yesterday when Ian Nickson gave me a personal tour of the new exhibition Shakespeare and Manchester which runs until May 30th on the first floor of the Central Reference Library.

The gardens are only part of an extensive exhibition which explores Manchester’s links to the playwright from theatre producers, actors, and scholars to a description of the Theatre Royal. 

Nor is that all because contained in the glass cabinets are the stories of how it was here in Manchester that new safety designs for theatres were conceived and put into practice along with a pioneering method of photography both of which went global.

I could say lots more, but its all there on the first floor of Central Ref and is an introduction to Ian’s book on the same subject which is due out in September.

Mr. Shakespeare at the Theatre Royal, 2024

Which just leaves me to add that in Ian’s own words “one aim of this exhibition is to raise awareness of the benefits to mental and physical health conferred by the Shakespearean Garden and to obtain funding for a full-time gardener who can secure the future of the garden for the benefit of the citizens of Manchester”.

Shakespeare and Manchester: A Victorian Powerhouse Exhibition Manchester Central Library First Floor Display Cases February 12th, 2026 - May 30th 2026.

For more details please contact:

r. Ian Nickson. Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester, ian.nickson-2@manchester.ac.uk

Kattie Kincaid, Project Lead for the Shakespearean Garden,  kattiekincaid@hotmail.com

The Shakespeare window, 2026 

Location; Manchester Central Library, St Peter's Square, Manchester, M2 5PD

The Rosa Grindon Mural, 2026

Pictures; in the Shakespearean Garden, and the model of the gardens, 2026 courtesy of Kattie Kincaid, and Mr. Shakespeare at the Theatre Royal, 2024, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, the Shakespeare Window, 2025, courtesy of Ian Nickson, and The Mural Of Rosa Grindon Facing Platt Fields Due To Her Part In The Creation Of The Shakesperian Garden, 2026, from the collection of C.Roman

Next; the story of Rosa Grindon, and her time in Manchester, her role in The Shakespeare Garden and  her contribution to Shakespeare research, with material from the exhibition

*The Shakespearean Gardens, Friends of Platt Fields,  https://friendsofplattfields.org.uk/shakespeare-garden/

The painting …. the actor …. and the exhibition

This is Ira Aldridge and my Wikipedia tells me he “was an American-born British actor, playwright, and theatre manager, known for his portrayal of Shakespearean characters”.*

 Ira Aldridge, 1826

He was born in1807 and emigrated to Liverpool in 1824 and by the following year was performing on the London stage.

At this point I could launch into a detailed description of his life and achievements, but I would only be copying from Wikipedia and even if I cobbled something together from several sources, I doubt that I could really call it research ….. it would still in truth be copying.

At the Threatre Royal with Mr. Aldridge, 1856

So, I won’t.  Suffice to say that by following the link you can get the lot.

Instead, I will just pick up on his condemnation of slavery which he made in several speeches while touring in Coventry and which according to various sources inspired the residents to petition Parliament to abolish slavery.**

Now that I think is worthy of some research.

And as you do, I went looking for him in Manchester, and yes, this portrait is in the City Art Gallery but more exciting because it is a bit of original research, I found that he performed here in the city.

The Queen's Theatre, 1850

On May 12th, 1849, the Manchester Guardian reported that he was performing at the Queen’s Theatre, Spring Gardens and seven years later at the Theatre Royal.***

At the Queen's Theatre, 1849 in the company of Mr. Aldridge

I have yet to uncover a review, but it will only be a matter of time, but I know the old Theatre Royal and found the Queen’s Theatre on the corner of Spring Gardens and York Street. Alas the Queen’s has gone having been demolished in the 1860s for a warehouse.

All of this was unknown to me until I met Ian Nickson who is involved in a fascinating exhibition at Central Ref exploring the connection between Shakespeare and Manchester.

It explores "the story of how seven personalities transformed Manchester into a global centre of Shakespearean theatre in the Victorian era and reveals present-day evidence of the city’s innovative engagement with the works of Shakespeare”.

The Shakespeare Windowm, Central Ref

One of the seven is my old chum Ira Aldridge along with “local businessman John Knowles who commissioned the Theatre Royal on Peter Street in 1845, actor-manager Charles Calvert and Rosa Grindon who forged a career as the Victorian age’s leading female Shakesperean scholar.”

There are more but where would be the fun in recording all of them when dear reader you can discover them for your self at  Shakespeare and Manchester: A Victorian Powerhouse Exhibition Manchester?

It is on at  Central Library on the First Floor Display Cases from February 12th 2026 untill May 30th 2026.

I have got my personal tour booked with Ian for next Wednesday, but given that it is on till the end of May there will be plenty of opportunities to visit it again and again and again.

For more details contact:

Ian Nickson. Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester, ian.nickson-2@manchester.ac.uk

Kattie Kincaid, Project Lead for the Shakespearean Garden,  kattiekincaid@hotmail.com

Location; Manchester Central Library, St Peter's Square, Manchester, M2 5PD

At the Ref, 2014

Pictures; Ira Aldridge, 1826 painted by James Northcote, Manchester Art Gallery Accession number 1882.2, advert for The Theatre Royal 1856, the Queen’s Theatre 1850, from Adshead’s map of Manchester,  courtesy of Digital Archives Association http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/  The Shakespeare Window in the entrance of the Central Library and Central Reference Library, 2014, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Ira Aldridge, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_Aldridge

**First black Shakespearean actor Ira Aldridge honoured BBC News, August 3, 2017, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-40802072

***Queen’s Theatre, Manchester Guardian, May 12, 1849 Theatre Royal, Manchester, Manchester Guardian July 5th, 1856

Shakespeare and Manchester: A Victorian Powerhouse Exhibition

This exhibition tells, for the first time, the story of how seven personalities transformed Manchester into a global centre of Shakespearean theatre in the Victorian era and reveals present-day evidence of the city’s innovative engagement with the works of Shakespeare.

These seven people operated in diverse fields - business, religion, theatre, architecture, academia, politics - but were united by their appreciation of Shakespeare’s cultural value and, as if imitating the seven bees atop Manchester’s coat of arms, they collaborated to create an urban, libertarian, distinctively Mancunian interpretation of Shakespeare’s works.

The exhibition also presents traces of Manchester’s Victorian influence that can still be found today – the portrait of Ira Aldridge in Manchester Art Gallery, the Shakespeare Window in the entrance of the Central Library, and the Shakespearean Garden in Platt Fields Park.

One aim of this exhibition is to raise awareness of the benefits to mental and physical health conferred by the Shakespearean Garden and to obtain funding for a full-time gardener who can secure the future of the garden for the benefit of the citizens of Manchester.

Manchester Central Library First Floor Display Cases February 12th 2026 - May 30th 2026

"For so work the honey-bees,

Creatures that by a rule in nature teach

The act of order to a peopled kingdom.

They have a king, and officers of sorts,

Where some like magistrates correct at home;

Others like merchants venture trade abroad;"

The Life of King Henry the Fifth (1.2.187-92)

For more details please contact:

Dr. Ian Nickson. Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester, ian.nickson-2@manchester.ac.uk

Kattie Kincaid Project Lead for the Shakespearean Garden, kattiekincaid@hotmail.com

Location; Manchester Central Library, St Peter's Square, Manchester, M2 5PD

Picture; The Shakespeare Window in the entrance of the Central Library

Uncovering one of our local photographers, A H Clarke .............where local history met family history

Now I have been fascinated by Harold Clarke who was one of our local commercial photographers.*

Barlow Moor Road, circa 1926

During the 1920s and 30s he recorded many scenes of Chorlton and they are a priceless snap shot of the area.

This one was taken by Harold Clarke of 83 Clarence Road Chorlton, and may have been part of a series issued by Lilywhite Ltd, of Brighouse, in Yorkshire.

There are 21 of his photographs in the Greater Manchester County Records collection dating from 1926 through to 1934 and some from 1926 carry a serial number close to the one in the picture.

All of which is an introduction to a story written by Tony Goulding, who has contributed to the blog before.

“Your posts using postcards produced by A H Clarke re-kindled in me an interest in my family history. A  H Clarke was my maternal grandfather. 

Miss Clarke's ration book, 1939

I had previously searched in vain for 83, Clarence Road where my mother was raised, as her ration book shows. 

I had not noticed the name change to Claridge Roadd. 

On a recent walk past the house I realised how close it was to the old brickworks and remembered how my mother had told me how she used to get into trouble for playing around them and the clay pits.

My grandfather was born in Reddith, Worcestershire in 1889, the son of William who owned tobacconist/photographers on the High St. 

His mother Bessie was a member of the Woodfield family prominent in the town both as needle factory owners and in local politics. 

Arthur Harold became a professional photographer. 

In the 1911 census he is recorded as working as a photographer’s assistant in Hitchin, Herts. He later moved back to Redditch, then after the break-up of his first marriage in the early 1920's lived for a little while in Toxteth, Liverpool, where my mother was born in 1927 before settling in  Chorlton in about 1930.

Book marks Central Ref, 1934

He was obviously quite enterprising at this time as can be seen by these bookmarks he produced of the newly opened Central Library.

Sometime in the early 1940's he both re-located the family home and ceased making his living solely from photography as a 1944 wedding certificate shows him as an Inland Revenue clerk residing at 5, Keppel Rd. 

It must remain a matter of conjecture whether this change was for personal reasons or was due to economic pressure on the photographic trade by the advance in camera ownership and the decline in postcard usage as a result of the increased availability of telephones. 

Of course any such difficulties would be exacerbated by war time shortages, rationing, and restrictions.

Finally it is ironic that I haven't got any photos of my grandfather, who died  in 1952; two years before I was born ------a man who must have taken 10's of 1,000's of them in his lifetime.”

And so there you have it a little bit more of the history of those who recorded our history.

© Tony Goulding May 2015

Pictures; from the collection of Harold Clark, Barlow Moor Road, circa 1926, from the Lloyd Collection, and the ration book and book mark courtesy of Tony Clarke.

*Harold Clarke, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/travelling-around-chorlton-in-1930s-in.html

St Peter’s Square ……. 1962 …. compare and contrast

This was taken from the Central Ref, sometime in 1962.  

A little over 5 years later I would be looking out from the same windows, and the scene hadn’t changed much.

That can’t be said today, and the fun will be to tick off just how many differences a casual observer would notice. 

Location; Manchester

Pictures,  St Peter’s Square, Manchester, 1962 – 3664.5, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

North across the City from Central Ref …… and on to Greater Manchester …. a thank you

This is a thank you to all the people who regularly make our books a success.

For two decades Peter Topping and I have written heaps of books about the history of Manchester and beyond.

Over the years they have included Viki, Andy, Jo, Debs and Linsey at Chorlton Bookshop who have acted not only as book sellers but ambassadors for the Simpson Topping partnership in all things past.

And since October they have been joined by the staff at Central Ref who run the Information Centre and sell our tram books.

We were there today with more copies of books of the History of Greater Manchester By Tram, The Stories At the Stops.

The first covered Trafford Bar to East Didsbury and the second Cornbrook to Exchange Square.  Our third book in the series will take you from Market Street via Shudehill down to Victoria is currently in preparation.

Eventually we will write about all the 99 stops on the eight routes, picking stories at each stop which will build into a unique and comprehensive history of Greater Manchester, including the grisly, the surprising and the unknown with a dollop of fun.

So that is it.  A big thank you to the team on the front desk, to Jacki Pugh from archives, and Beverley at Chorlton Library  where the stories all began.

And if you can’t get into Central Ref the first two in the series can be found in Chorlton Bookshop, and Waterstones on Deansgate as well as from us at www.pubbooks.co.uk, price £4.99*

Location; Central Ref, St Peter’s Square

Pictures; the team at the Ref, 2025, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

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

Travel the past by tram …..today at Central Ref from 1pm

Join us to celebrate the start of an exciting new project to tell the History of Greater Manchester By Tram. 

It is one of those original ways of telling stories of Greater Manchester and fits in with that slightly quirky way that me and Peter Topping have brought you the history of where we live.

The idea of telling the story of Greater Manchester by using the tram network has a lot going for it.

You can catch a tram from the city centre and go south, east, north, and west and along the way each of the 99 stops will have a story to tell, and being the tram, you can just jump off, explore this little pocket of history and move on. 

Or skip to the end destinations and discover interesting historical things about Didsbury, Ashton-Under-Lyne, Rochdale, Oldham, Salford and bits of Trafford, Altrincham and Bury.

And this is the new project Peter, and I have chosen for a series of new books.

Each book will wander along the network, taking in nine stops or so at a time, with original paintings by Peter, old photographs, and stories by me. 

Crowds gather to greet a big yellow tram, St Peter's Square, 2024

The first two in the series can be found in Chorlton Bookshop, Waterstones on Deansgate, and in the Shop in Central Ref or from us at www.pubbooks.co.uk, price £4.99**

What have they got …. they’ve got the lot

So, ignore Bertie the Storm and join us.

Location; Centra Ref, St Peter's Square, Saturday November 23rd, between 1pm and 4pm.

Pictures; artwork for book covers and poster, Peter Topping, 2023-2024, Crowds gather to greet a big yellow tram, St Peter's Square, 2024, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, 2024, Stormy weather over Manchester, Balzano, 2024

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

**Old Trafford to East Didsbury, Book 1, 2023, Cornbrook to Exchange Square, Book 2, 2024

A book launch …… some stunning views …. and a bit of history …. Saturday in Central Ref from 1 pm

 There are plenty of reasons to visit the Central Reference Library in St Peter’s Square.

Leaving aside the books, there is architecture, ranging from the impressive Great Hall which was once the Social Sciences Library on the first floor with its circular layout, to the Shakespeare Hall replete with stunning windows, statues and coats of arms and the grand meeting area, where you can sit with friends, explore the current exhibitions or head off to the Archive and Local History Libraries.

And on Saturday from 1pm there is the book launch of the first two in the series, the History of Greater Manchester By Tram.

All you could want and more.

Location; Central Ref, St Peter’s Square

Pictures; Central Ref, 2024, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Early morning in Library Walk ........ waiting for Central Ref to open no. 3

Now the light wasn’t so good and I still had 20 minutes to go before Central Ref opened.

So with nothing else to do I started taking pictures.

Location; Library Walk

Picture; Library Walk, 2017, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Early morning in Library Walk ........ waiting for Central Ref to open no. 2

Now the light wasn’t so good and I still had 20 minutes to go before Central Ref opened.

So with nothing else to do I started taking pictures.

Location; Library Walk

Picture; Library Walk, 2017, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Early morning in Library Walk ........ waiting for Central Ref to open no. 1

Now the light wasn’t so good and I still had 20 minutes to go before Central Ref opened.

So with nothing else to do I started taking pictures.

Location; Library Walk








Picture; Library Walk, 2017, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

When Central Ref opened in 1934

History comes in lots of different ways including a handkerchief.

Just 87 years ago 250,000 of these were issued to Manchester school children to commemorate the opening of Central Ref in 1934.

Location; Manchester

Picture; from the collection of Linda Rigby

It's all in the windows ……….

One day in the Ref.

Location; Central Reference Library, St Peter's Square, Manchester

Picture; It's all in the windows, 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

What’s that secret …… beyond that arch? …..

My association with Central Ref stretches back 54 years and across that half century and more I have always pondered on those steps through that archway and just where they led to.

Now, I know it will be an office of sorts, filled with filing cabinets, lockers and the odd table.

But when the hours hung heavy and the promised break through from an old document was not forth coming I would ponder on what Narnia like scene would be revealed behind that wooden door.

To be very accurate this is not the staircase in what was the Archive and Local History Library, that was further on, and for most of my time in the Library I inhabited the vast Social Science Library with its echo and circular message on the power of knowledge.

Of course, I could just ask those I know who worked there.

But wouldn’t that be too easy?*

Location; Central Ref

Pictures; that staircase, 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*But I can not stay silent for Helen was moved to offer up "Yes they were both just offices.  The one at the end of the Local Studies dept. I knew well.  I think they are now just storage rooms, as there's not much wiring into them, for computers, and phones".  

So no Narnia surprises then.

Salford says thank you to the Discharged Sailors, Soldiers & Airman, 1920

Now somewhere there will be a record of the day Salford Corporation hosted the Civic Reception for the Discharged Sailors, Soldiers & Airman.

It was held on Saturday October 9th 1920 in Belle Vue Gardens.

I would like to know how many attended, what was said and above all what people thought of the event.

I have trawled the Manchester Guardian with no success and will now have to wade through the files of the Salford and Manchester local papers at Central Ref.

And no sooner had the story gone live, than Maureen Swanwick commented that

"The Reception was a success according to the Salford Reporter. It said 5,000 attended and a further 3,500 invites were sent out and  because of the large numbers, it was over 3 Saturdays".

To which I can add this little gem from the Manchester Evening News, dated, October 6th, 1920, passed to me by Paul Sherlock.

Location; Salford

Picture; the Salford Corporation invitation, 1920