Hidden …. forgotten ….. and neglected ….. a piece of our old technology

Now I remain fascinated by those odd bits of our old technology, and so is my friend Barbarella who came across this box.

She told me “It was above a train line, in Cheadle, just passed the Mersey and before the Garden Centre”.

And I think it is a Lucy box, which according to I Spy Lucy Boxes, "is a name applied to boxes, about 3 feet high, about 2 feet wide and about 18 inches deep, which are to be found on pavements throughout the city.*   

Such boxes were originally used in connection with the tram network and then with the trolley bus network; and as part of the general electricity supply network; and for telephone purposes…….. 

The name 'Lucy box' was applied to these boxes because the great majority of them, in the early days at least, were made by the Lucy Foundry in Oxford.**

The equipment in them was used to isolate a section of the tram or trolley bus route - that is, to stop electricity running through that section. 

It could also be used to make the route solid, that is, you could make the electric current bypass the isolating components in the box; this would enable you to work on the box while the trams or trolleys continued running”. 

Of course I might have got this terribly wrong, but then someone will tell me, which is the joy of the blog.

Location; Cheadle

Pictures, what Barbarella saw, 2022, from the collection of Barbarella Bonvento

*I Spy Lucy Boxes, http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/articles/lucy/lucyboxes.htm

**W. Lucy & Co., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Lucy_%26_Co.

An ex-Police Station and a gunsmiths ……….. Cheadle Hulme

Now,  Andy didn’t elaborate on the connection, and so I will leave that to the imagination and perhaps the curiosity of a reader to dive into the story of both.

Andy tells me that “Cheadle Hulme Police Station was built in 1911/12, with quarters for a married sergeant and three cells”.

It is the first Cheshire police station I have come across, and it differs to those erected by Lancashire which relied heavily on stone to face the front of the building or the more utilitarian ones built by Manchester City Council in the late 19th and early 20th century.

But I am confident that Andy will offer up more examples in the near future.

For now, I shall just say that it stands on Station Road, just round the corner from the gunsmiths which was established in 1968 and has its own facebook page.

Opposite the shop is the war memorial, and by one of those odd twists of coincidence, back in 1972 I commuted in to Cheadle Hulme every week day for three months doing a teaching practice at the Direct Grant Grammar School, which to this day seems a bizarre experience given that I attended a secondary modern school.

Not that my route took me past the police station or the gunsmiths, and after a fruitless twenty minutes with google maps I gave up my search for the route I took from the railway station.

But like all things it will come back.

Location; Cheadle Hulme

Pictures; Cheadle Hulme, 2021, from the collection of Andy Robertson

Old fashioned shopping ….. doing the essential walk and making it historic .... no. 15

In this age of supermarkets and online shopping, I like the way you can be reminded of how we used to shop.

Location; Cheadle

Picture; Parry the Watchmaker, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

The Cheadle tithe barn ….. pretending to be something else ….. doing the essential walk and making it historic .... no. 13

So, I can quite see why Andy passed over this building when he sent a collection of the pictures from his latest “essential walk”.

The Hall, 2020

As he said “I didn't send this one, as I thought it was just a dilapidated old shed.  

Turns out it is Depleach Hall, a grade 2 listed building. I also enclose a picture of the interior in 1935 from British Listed Buildings. It is on the corner of Charlotte Street.”

All of which just leave me to add a little of its history, which I hasten to add I lifted directly from Historic England.*

Inside the Hall, 1935

“Tithe barn, now vacant. C17 but much altered in the C20. Cruck-framed with a red sandstone plinth, rendered walls and a slate roof. 3 bays, one storey with C20 porch at front and brick addition to rear. 

Large space obscured only by C20 partitions and a suspended ceiling. Elevations appear to be largely of the C20 although the render may obscure an earlier structure. 

Ornate C19 pierced bargeboards. 2 closed cruck trusses are partly obscured by a suspended ceiling”.

The Hall, 1935

Location; Cheadle

Pictures; Depleach Hall, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and the hall in 1935, courtesy of British Listed Buildings**

*Historic England, https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1260399

** British Listed Buildings, https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101260399-depleach-hall-cheadle-and-gatley-ward#.XrOz5ahKiUk

Some pubs, an old church, and an intriguing industrial building in Cheadle ….. doing the essential walk and making it historic .... no. 12

Now, if you are going to do “an essential walk”, Cheadle is a place not to pass up.

I have only visited it but briefly, and missed the church, both pubs and pretty much everything else which Andy photographed.

He does have a discerning eye for historic buildings, and having fallen on a guide to the listed buildings of Cheadle I have a story.

My only visit to Cheadle was by a circuitous route, which involved the tram, a bus and bit  of walking, because not having a car, I resorted to public transport and took the long journey.

All of which started with the tram from Stretford to Altrincham, a bus to Cheadle, and because I was going on to School Hill,  a short walk to Wilmlsow Road and another bus stop.

None of which has much to do with Andy’s listed buildings, other than I saw some of them on my adventure.

The George and Dragon, 2020

The George I saw, which I now know is late 18th century and is “a public house in rendered brick on a stone plinth, with a bracketed eaves cornice and a slate roof.

There are three storeys and five bays.

In the first bay is a carriage entry with a segmental arch and a keystone.

The fourth bay contains a doorway with paired Ionic columns and a canopy, and in the fifth bay is a canted bay window.

The other windows are sashes, and at the rear is a round-headed stair window”.*

The White Hart and St Mary's, 2020

I also did clock St Mary’s with its lych gate dating from 1883, but was unaware that the church goes back to the 16th century, “was rebuilt and restored in 1859–62, and restored again in 1878–80 by J. Medland Taylor.

It is in stone with a stone-slate roof, and is in Perpendicular style.

The church consists of a nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles with chapels, a south porch, a chancel with a north vestry, and a west tower.

The tower has three stages, diagonal buttresses, a clock face, and an embattled parapet with gargoyles. The porch has crocketed pinnacles and the doorway has a Tudor arched head”.

I missed the White Hart which and more to the pint a small industrial building on Hall Lane, which Andy took a picture of, and which set me looking for it in the historic record.

On Hall Street, 2020

It appears on the OS map of Cheadle for 1900, and back then ran out towards Charles Street, which along with Andrew Street consisted of 62 terraced properties.

All of these have now gone, and in their place is a small open space, and a set of garages.

I suppose the 62 houses were no longer fit for purpose, and the small park must be a very pleasant place on a sunny day.

And I doubt they would ever have been considered for listing as of historic interest, but with their passing a small bit of Cheadle's history has gone.

Hall Street, 1900

They date from sometime after 1875, were well established by 1900 and had gone a century later.

Location; Cheadle

Pictures; Cheadle, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and Hall Street, 1900,  from the OS map of Cheshire, 1900, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

*Listed Buildings in Cheadle and Gatley, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listed_buildings_in_Cheadle_and_Gatley

Cheshire Line Tavern ..... Cheadle ....... yesterday

Now I like Andy's title to his picture, which is succinct and to the point.

This is the former Cheadle Railway Station, opened in 1866, and closed to passenger traffic just two years shy of its hundredth birthday.

According to that excellent site Disused Stations, it was converted into a pub in the 1980s and "extensions have been added to the original building but in a sympathetic way".*

The entry also offers up a fascinating history of the railway station and the railway line, leaving me just to comment we often fall in to the pub after doing the garden centre" which is next door.

Location; Cheadle

Picture;Cheshire Line Tavern, 2019, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Disused Stations, http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/c/cheadle_cheshire/index.shtml

“While we rejoice at the advent of peace ... we remember with awe the price”* ..... with the Together Trust yesterday in Cheadle

It was a touching act of commemoration in Cheadle yesterday, when the Together Trust remembered the staff and “boys” who served in the Great War and the 33 who never came back.**

At the centre of the event was the plaque in memory of those who died which stands in the grounds of the Together Trust and is surrounded by five silhouettes, funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.

Young people from the Trust’s Ashcroft service had worked hard to learn more about the charity during World War One and were involved in the production of art work, music and poetry to mark the occasion.

You can read the full story of the preparations for the day by following the link to their blog.***

Location Cheadle

Pictures; courtesy Liz Sykes, Records, Archives and Information Manager at the Together Trust

*"While we rejoice at the advent of peace and the vindication of righteousness, we remember with awe the price. How many homes in our beloved land will mourn some who will never return! 

The end of the war has even renewed the sense of loss to many. We have our own sad yet proud record as an Institution. There was a ready response to our country’s need in the early days of the war from officers and boys alike, and we have had the sad tidings time by time of those who have fallen – a member of Committee, three officers in charge of the boys, and 29 of the boys themselves”.  Children’s Haven, 1918

**Together Trust, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.com/p/about-together-trust.html

***Remembering those who fought in WW1, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.com/2018/10/remembering-those-who-fought-in-ww1.html

Just when you thought it was safe to go out and stop worrying about ghost signs

Now it has been a while since we had a ghost sign so I was very pleased that Graham came across this one on Stockport Road today and sent it across.

I don’t really think there is much more to say other than it is a fine example and all credit to whoever decided to save it.

I did think about an in depth piece of research on the Stockport and Industrial Equitable Co-operative Society but that’s for another time.

And as ever if anyone has a favourite or just one that has stood the test of time please pass it to me so we can all share in this little bit of our industrial and commerical past.

Thank you Graham

Location; Stockport Road Cheadle

Picture; the Stockport and Industrial Equitable Co-operative Society, ghost sign, 2016 from the collection of Graham Gill

Belmont House in Cheadle .......... a house with a history

Belmont House

This is Belmont House in Cheadle and as you would expect it has a history.

Now I don’t know much about its early history but it was there by 1875  just south of Cheadle and a little to the north of Bruntwood House.

In time I will go looking for that early period of its existence but for now I am content with its time as a children’s home run by the Together Trust.*

The house came up for sale in 1918 and according to the Trusts’ blog** “was bought for £5,700 and included the house and 22 ½ acres of land. A description of the house still resides within the Together Trust archive showing the extent of the house and grounds in 1918: 

The billiard room

'Belmont is a compact family home situated in nicely laid out grounds approached by a carriage drive and entrance lodge, from the main road, from Cheadle to Wilmslow.'

The house itself contained an entrance hall, morning room, drawing room, dining room, billiard room, kitchen, scullery, cellars, 11 bedrooms, 2 dressing rooms and two bathrooms. Heating was installed throughout.”

All of which makes the house an interesting place for anyone interested in how the charity cared for young people in their trust.

“The house, of course, was adapted in order to accommodate the 40 girls who transferred over to Cheadle from Manchester. Many of the outside features were removed although the kitchen garden was kept. The bailiffs' cottage was used to house the gardener who maintained the 22 1/2 acres of land the charity held until the 1980s.”

Belmont set in some of its grounds, 1910

Now at this point I must own up and declare that much of the information for the post comes from the charity’s own blog and so never one to steal another’s research I shall just point you towards, Belmont House from Getting Down and Dusty where there are heaps more about the house and the work undertaken by the charity.

Pictures; Belmont House, and the Billiard Room courtesy of the Together Trust and map showing Belmont House in 1900 from the OS Map of Cheshire 1900-1910, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/

*The Together Trust, http://www.togethertrust.org.uk/

**Belmont House, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/