Another bit of the story of Chorlton's first cinema and a performance of Dorothy in the April of 1914

Now I would like to think that one day I could identify these members of the Chorlton Operatic Society.

In 1910 their secretary was  Herbert Bayfield of 61 Claude Road, and their conductor a T M Ferneley, but of course three years later when they gave this performance at the Pavilion Theatre in the April of 1914 these two may have passed on to greater things.

But the picture remains a wonderful find and has set me off again thinking about just how much there was to do in Chorlton back in the early decades of the last century.

According to Kemp’s Almanack and Handbook for 1910, there was everything from an amateur gardening society, a drama club and Literary Association along with our operatic society and an orchestral society.

So plenty to do, and if instead if you fancied sport there were cricket, football, tennis, golf and hockey clubs which vied with lacrosse, cycling and bowling to draw the more athletic resident out to play.

Which brings me back to the operatic society and the Pavilion Theatre.

The society was active by 1910 and still going strong fifteen years later when the Manchester Guardian reported that the "Chorlton Operatic and Dramatic Society has given three successful performances of ‘Peg o’ My Heart” this week at the Chorlton Public Hall, in aid of the Widows and Orphans Fund of the National Union of Journalists.  A fourth and final performance of the play will take place tonight.”*

Back in 1914 they had been performing in aid of the Chorlton and District Nursing Association which was also listed in the Alamanck and run by Mrs Worlidge of 12 Edge Lane who would soon be running the Red Cross Voluntary Hospital in the Sunday School of the Baptist Church.

And so the picture does begin to tie many little things together.  The influx of new people into the township was sufficiently large and diverse to support many cultural activities and the Operatic Society were performing in the relatively new Pavilion on the corner of Wilbraham and Buckingham Roads.

It had been opened around 1904, soon changed its name to the Chorlton Theatre and Winter Gardens and from 1909 was our first cinema.

It remains a place that fascinates me and continues to offer up new stories ever since I came across a photograph of the place in the June of 1910.

And finally there was Mr Herbert Bayfield of 61 Claude Road whose address is listed in 1911 but is missing from the census record just a few month later, which is odd given that he had been living there by 1904.

But maybe he had moved on, which of course will perhaps mean he is not one of those on our picture.

Pictures; the Chorlton Operatic Society April 1914 from the Manchester Courier, courtesy of Sally Dervan, and the Chorlton Theatre and Winter Gardens, June 1910 from the Lloyd Collection

*Chorlton Dramatic Society’s Effort for Charity, Manchester Guardian November 21 1915.

Chorlton Operatic Society ...... three programmes and a story

Now, sometimes what you know about a bit of our history just increases tenfold.

Dorothy, 1920

Yesterday I knew a little about the Chorlton Operatic Society, but not much.

I had the name of its secretary in 1910, who was a Mr Herbert Bayfield of 61 Claude Road, and the name of the conductor, added to which I had two small newspaper clippings of the society’s production of
“Dorothy" which was staged at the Pavilion Theatre in April 1914 and “Peg o’ My Heart” at the Chorlton Public Hall, eleven years later.

Included in the first revue was a photograph of the cast and in the second a fulsome account of “three successful performances”.*

But today thanks to an anonymous donor, I have three programmes, and the musical score and script for “Be Careful Bill” which may have been performed in 1936 or 1937.

The Rebel Maid, 1927

All of which means, that the story of the Society can now be traced from 1907 through to the mid 1930s.

This includes the names of the actors and musicians along with the subscribers and a full list of performances from 1908 till 1927.

According to the programme notes from La Fille De Madame Angot, “Two Operas are performed by the Society each Season, and throughout the winter months a series of Whist Drives, Concerts and Social evenings are held, when Subscribers and Acting Members have the opportunity of becoming acquainted.

The subscription is 10/- per annum, which entitles each Subscriber to two Specially Reserved Seats for each of the two Opera, which they have the privilege of booking before the general public.

Proportionate profits derived from the Season’s working are devoted to local charities, each Subscriber having a vote as to this distribution, also in the choosing of the Operas for the following season”.**

An earlier Dorothy, 1914

In 1914 one of the charities had been the Chorlton and District Nursing Association, and later ones included the Widows and Orphans Fund of the National Union of Journalists, and the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen.

The influx of new people into the township was sufficiently large and diverse to support many cultural activities and the Operatic Society were performing in the relatively new Pavilion on the corner of Wilbraham and Buckingham Roads.

La Fille de Madame Angot, 1913

It had been opened around 1904, soon changed its name to the Chorlton Theatre and Winter Gardens and from 1909 was our first cinema.

Kemp’s Almanack and Handbook for 1910, listed everything from an amateur gardening society, a drama club and Literary Association along with our operatic society and an orchestral society.

And for those who fancied sport, there was cricket, football, tennis, golf and hockey clubs which vied with lacrosse, cycling and bowling to draw the more athletic resident out to play.

As yet many of these clubs are still sitting in the shadows, but the donation of the programmes not only offers up some fascinating detail about the Operatic Society but also on Chorlton during the first two decades of its existence.

The programmes contain adverts for local businesses, two of which made it into the 21st century and add to what we know about the public halls which were open for hire.  In 1913 the society performed at the Public Hall in West Didsbury and later at St Edmund’s Hall on Alexandra Road and in 1927 at the Public Hall in Chorlton which was attached to the Conservative Club.

Adverts, 1927

But what caught my eye was that at one stage they were based at the Davenport Hall on Stamford Road, which is that part of Brantingham which runs from Manchester Road to Albany Road. During 1912-13 this was their headquarters and it has long been a place with a history waiting to be uncovered.

“The Hall measuring 45 ft long and 16 ft wide with Ladies’ and Gentleman’s Clock Rooms, Kitchen, etc may be hired for Parties, Socials, Whist Drives, Meetings etc, on very moderate terms.  Crockery, Chairs, etc., may also be hired separately”. ***

And like the Operatic Society, which has now come out of the shadows, that small advert has added to our knowledge of long lost public hall.

Leaving me just to reflect on one last advertisement from one of the the programmes, and my favourite.

It  was for Charles Shaw & Sons Ltd., at 98 Barlow Moor Road who as well as having opened the first petrol pump available to the public, proudly declared that having been "established in Chorlton for 29 years we offer the finest service it is possible to give in motoring [with]  for hire a splendid fleet of landaulettes, with men in livery to take you anywhere. No hackney carriage plates on the back but a car that nobody can tell is not your own".****

List of  subscribers, 1912-13

Now if I had the imagination and the skill that could be the start of an opera with and impossible plot, and full of pompous people.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; the Chorlton Operatic Society April 1914 from the Manchester Courier, courtesy of Sally Dervan, and programs of Chorlton Operatic Society, 1912-13, 1919-1920,and 1927, donated anonymously.

*Chorlton Dramatic Society’s Effort for Charity, Manchester Guardian November 21 1915.

** La Fille De Madame Angot programme. La Fille De Madame Angot was performed between May 1st and May 3rd 1913, at the Public Hall West Didsbury

*** La Fille De Madame Angot programme

****The Rebel Maid Programme 1927

The church ... the hall …….. and two Chorlton mysteries

Now, the stretch along Brantingham Road up from Manchester Road to Albany Road might not seem to have a lot to offer, consisting of a few houses on the eastern side, and a car wash and garage on the opposite side.

But this bit of Chorlton has history, starting with the name which was once Stamford Road and the now lost Davenport Hall and St Andrew’s Protestant Episcopal Evangelical Church.

They date from sometime between 1907 and 1909. The church later become St Luke’s Protestant Episcopal Evangelical Church and by 1910 the church and hall were unlisted.

And that for a long time was all I knew, until last week when I came across a set of programmes for the Chorlton Operatic Society which was established in 1907.*

During 1912-13 the Davenport Hall was their headquarters and according to one programme, the  “The Hall measuring 45 ft long and 16 ft wide with Ladies’ and Gentleman’s Clock Rooms, Kitchen, etc may be hired for Parties, Socials, Whist Drives, Meetings etc, on very moderate terms.  Crockery, Chairs, etc., may also be hired separately”. **

It now seems that the hall or the church was still there in 1950 because we have a painting by the artist J Montgomery who painted the building in 1966, using a picture postcard.

The notes accompanying the painting merely say, “Chapel on Albany Road, from a 1950 photograph. The site was later occupied by a garage”.

Not much I know, but it is a bit more than I knew last week, and the logical conclusion is that Davenport Hall and the church of S Andrew/St Luke were one, with the hall serving as both the headquarters of the operatic society

and the church.

But there is a second mystery and that is centred on J Montgomery who painted upwards of 200 paintings from the 1940s through to the mid 60’s and despite them being in the digital archive of Manchester Libraries, there is no information on the artist.

And after a long search stretching back six year’s I have come up with only one reference to him, in a catalogue listing some of his works in a neighbouring library.

During that time, I have appealed for information, introduced the subject of the missing artist in countless talks and walks and got nowhere.

All of which is a puzzle because you would think someone would have a memory of the person, who they had come across in a local church, or the library or just living nearby.

But just as the Davenport Hall has started to come out of the shadows, perhaps Mr Montgomery will also.

We shall see.

A thank you to Lawrence Beedle who reminded me of the hall and church and went looking from Mr Montgomery's painting.

Location; Chorlton

Picture; Programmes from the ChorltonOperatic Society, 1920 & 1927, Chapel on Albany Road, from a 1950 photograph. The site was later occupied by a garage, J. Montgomery, 1960, m80123, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, https://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

* Chorlton Operatic Society, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Chorlton%20Operatic%20Society

** La Fille De Madame Angot programme. La Fille De Madame Angot was performed between May 1st and May 3rd 1913, at the Public Hall West Didsbury

Coming soon ………..Chorlton Arts ….. the Festival

Now every community should have their own Arts Festival, and the news that this September Chorlton Arts will be staging events across the township is very exciting.

Chorlton Arts Festival 2002-14

The original Chorlton Arts Festival grew out of a conversation over a bottle of wine in 2002 between Hilary Barber, Val Stevens and Ed Wyllie, which became a series of events embracing theatre, visual arts, exhibitions and the spoken word.

The following year there were 28 venues around Chorlton, including pubs, bars, schools, art galleries church halls and the streets.

Badly Drawn Boy performed at St Clements Church, there was an Arts Trail across the Meadows and amongst the highlights was that simple fact that over 3,000 young people were involved in some of of "art" over that week
In the run up to the 2003 festival, Zoe Morris who was deputy head at Chorlton High School and festival director,  commented that “the idea was to create a festival for the community, by the community and people of all ages and backgrounds, taking part in what is a fantastic event”.*

Launching the Chorlton Arts Festival, 2004

That determination to involve the whole community is very much at the heart of Chorlton Arts,
which aims “to bring together residents and venues active in the Visual Arts, Literary Arts, Performing Arts, and Crafts at all levels facilitating creativity within the Chorlton Community”. **

Much the same was true just 100 over years ago.

In Kemp’s Chorlton Almanac for 1910 there are listed seventeen associations ranging from the political to drama, musical, and gardening to horticultural societies.

And there were clubs catering for cricket, football, bowling, golf, as well as hockey, lacrosse and lawn tennis. ***

What is even more surprising is that back then the population of Chorlton was 16,000.

Chorlton Operatic Society, 1913

Of all these cultural ventures one of the most lasting was the Chorlton Operatic Society, which was active from 1907 into the 1930s

According to the programme notes from La Fille De Madame Angot, “Two Operas are performed by the Society each Season, and throughout the winter months a series of Whist Drives, Concerts and Social evenings are held, when Subscribers and Acting Members have the opportunity of becoming acquainted.

The subscription is 10/- per annum, which entitles each Subscriber to two Specially Reserved Seats for each of the two Opera, which they have the privilege of booking before the general public.

Proportionate profits derived from the Season’s working are devoted to local charities, each Subscriber having a vote as to this distribution, also in the choosing of the Operas for the following season” ****

So, we have a long tradition of doing the "Arts" and doing them well in Chorlton.

For those interested in the forthcoming festival, there will be a presentation at the next Civic Society meeting which will be in Chorlton Library on Tuesday May 14th at 7.30

CHorlton Operatic Society, 1913

Location; Chorlton

Pictures, memorabilia from the early years of the Arts Festival, 2003-4, courtesy of Zoe Morris, and programme of the Chorlton Operatic Society, 1913 from the collection of Andrew Simpson and the Manchester Courier, Sally Dervan


*South Manchester Reporter, May 2003

** Chorlton Arts Mission Statement, www.chorltonarts.org

*** The Chorlton-cum-Hardy District Almanack & Handbook For 1910, Harry Kemp, 35 Wilbraham Road

**** La Fille De Madame Angot programme. La Fille De Madame Angot was performed between May 1st and May 3rd, 1913, at the Public Hall West Didsbury