Walking the northern boundary of Rent Meadow in the summer of 1848 …………

Now, it is always fascinating to take a spot you know well, and try and think it back to a time before now.

Looking out towards Chorlton Brook, 2020

So here we are on that footpath that stretches from Barlow Moor Road, down to Nell Lane, with the allotments and park on one side and those roads that run off Sandy Lane on the other.

It is an ancient footpath, and is clearly visible on the OS maps of the mid and late 19th century and shows up in the 1847 tithe map.

The western end ran alongside Lime Bank which was a fine looking house and dates from at least the late 18th century.  At this point the path was more a road, but as it made its way east down to Nell Lane it pretty much petered out becoming quite narrow.

Trees, and bushes, 2020

Walk it today heading towards Barlow Moor Lane, and you get glimpses of the bank of Chorlton Brook, with its dense vegetation and it is easy to think it was always such.

But not so, because back in the 1840s, the land from the path, on either side of the brook and stretching across what we now know as Chorlton Park was fields.

Rent Meadow, [1] and Lime Bank, [3], 1847

The biggest of the two was Rent Meadow which covered 4 acres and was farmed as meadow land.

Its neighbour was Lime Bank, consisting of just 1 acre and was given over to arable farming.

Had you stood on the footpath looking south towards the brook, there would have been a clear view, down to what is now Mauldeth Road West.

But bits of that scene would have been obscures by a belt of trees and bushes which followed the line of the water course.

Beech House, 1853

Both fields belonged to James Holt, who lived in Beech House.

His grounds covered all of the land from Beech Road to High Lane, and down from Barlow Moor Road, almost to Cross Road.

Added to this he owned 17 acres of prime agricultural land in the township.

But his money and that of his family had been made in town in a factory at the bottom of Deansgate, where he made the wooden engraving blocks for calico printing.

Such was his wealth that he also owned a considerable portfolio of properties around St John Street, including the only double fronted house on that street.

As befits a man who had “made it”, he retired early, moved to Chorlton-cum-Hardy, and settled in Beech Cottage which he  redeveloped into a grand property which he renamed Beech House.

The Holt's town house, 2010

His son continued to live in the city centre in St Johns Street, managing the business, and in the fullness of time followed his father and moved into Beech House.

Now, none of this is romantic conjecture, but based on maps of the 19th century, the Rate Books, Tithe schedule and a series of legal documents belonging to the Holt’s.

Together they offer up a detailed picture of the Hot’s business along with the lie of the land by our footpath.

I would love to know who worked Rent Meadow and Lime Bank, but alas that is lost to us.

But there are the odd little glimpses of who might have laboured there.

One such clue, comes in the form of of clay pipes found on the allotments.  It is just possible that they were refuse from night soil spread over the fields which had been bought in from Manchester.

A clay pipe, 2020

But I like to think they may have been discarded by an agricultural labourer on the edge of Rent Meadow sometime in the 19th century.

And as unhistorical as it might seem I would think that the resident of the house known as Lime Bank might have taken a stroll along the footpath on a summer’s evening.  He was a Charles Morton, but more of him another day.

Location; Chorlton-cum-Hardy

Pictures; Rent Meadow, 2020, the Holt's town house, 2010, and clay pipe, 2016, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and in 1847, from the Tithe map, Beech Cottage in 1841, detail from the OS map of Lancashire, courtesy of Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/

Of paddling pools and vanished pastimes in Chorlton Park

Now if you are of a certain age you will remember the paddling pool in Chorlton Park.

Now this is not to be confused with the big open air swimming pool which was a feature of the park when it first opened, and was 50 yards long, 21 yards wide running from 5 feet 3 inches at the deep end to 2 feet and 6 inches at the shallow end.

It is a story for the blog for another time but does appear in that book I wrote with Mr Topping and entitled
The Quirks of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, which came out last year.

So back to the paddling pool.  Until yesterday I only had the one picture of the paddling pool which dates from the 1930s, but yesterday Roger Shelly sent over this one, which he took in the 1960s or 70s.

Leaving me just to include the map from 1933showing all the features of the newly built park.

Location; Chorlton Park

Picture; the paddling pool, circa 1960s/70s from the collection of Roger Shelly, and detail from the OS map of Manchester & Salford, 1933-34

Two parks .....a recreation ground ..... the stolen village green ..... and the Mersey Valley ... now that's our new book

 The story of Chorlton’s open spaces has yet to be told, and with that story will come heaps of memories.

Alexandra Park, 1937

And prompted by those two thoughts, Peter and I have embarked on the our next book which will explore the stories of all our open spaces from the Rec on Beech Road, to Chorlton Park, Alexandra Park and that large open piece of land out by the Mersey.

Chorlton Park, circa 1930s

Along the way we will take in Chorlton Green which was stolen by Sam Wilton sometime in the early 19th century, and only returned to the village after the death of his last daughter in the 1890s..

Added to this we will include a chapter on the bowling greens as well as the fields and market gardens when Chorlton was still a rural community.

We are particulary pleased that my old friend David Bishop has agreed to write the chapter on the Meadows.  

The Meadows, 2019

David is a well known botanist who regularly is asked to speak on a range of topics related to his work and recently addressed an American University.  

He was in at the beginning of the project to turn the neglected area of land by the river into the Mersey Valley, and in fact started exploring the area soon after the sewage works had closed down in the 1970s.

There will be those who question the inclusion of Alexandra Park, but both our families have used the facility over the years, and I bet lots of Chorlton people also have fond memories, so it’s in the book.

Nor will we stop there because we could also include people's gardens, providing of course they would be happy to show them off, once a year when Chorlton proud gardeners open their gardens to the public.

The Meadows, 1979

And that just brings me to the request because there will be lots of people with their own stories, and pictures which we would like to include., and of course those gardens. 

These can be sent as a comment to the blog, or to the Facebook sites, Chorlton History, and Glad to be in Chorlton, or by phone to me on 0161 861 0105.

So to start you all off.  There was a barrage balloon of the Recreational Ground, Chorlton Green once had a drinking fountain, The Meadows regularly hosted winter skating and Chorlton Park was built with a civic theatre.

The lost drinking fountain, Chorlton Green, circa 1900

Location; Chorlton and a few bits beyond

Picture; Sunday in Alexandra Park, 1937, from Manchester, heart of the Industrial North, Manchester Chamber of Commerce, 1937, Chorlton Park circa 1930s, and the lost water fountain on Chorlton Green, circa 1900, the Lloyd Collection, and the Meadows in 2019, and 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

When Withington pinched a bit of Chorlton ……..

It’s a silly story really but none the less interesting, and that is enough for me.

Houghend, 2023

Back in the winter of November 1885, our own local historian Thomas Ellwood wrote that “The township [of Chorlton] in its early history consisted of four hamlets, viz., Chollerton, Mansleache, Hardie, and Houghend, but the later hamlet, after the Protestation of 1641, was added to the township of Withington.  Within the memory of the oldest inhabitants, the township has only been divided into three hamlets, viz, Hardy, Chorleton, Martledge”. *

To which a later historian added that Houghend “lay to the east of the present St. Werburghs Road, south of Chorlton Brook to Barlow Moor Road and then east of that road.” **

Chorlton Brook running through Houghend, 2023

Hardy was a tiny hamlet on what we call the Meadows, close to Jackson’s Boat bridge and was finally abandoned after the last two families left in the 1850s due to the unpredictable Mersey which could flood with little warning.  Chollerton, or Chorlton was the area around the village green and and along what is now Beech Road. 

While Mansleache or Martledge was the area beyond the former Four Banks and extended up to the Library, and out towards Longford Park in one direction and to the present metro stop in the other.  

It disappeared in the last twenty years of the 19th century when the building boom covered the fields with housing, and so complete was the transformation that the very name Martledge was lost and became known as the “New Village" or “New Chorlton” to distinguish it from community that lived around the village green.

All of which begs the question of why Houghend moved into Withington.

At present I don’t have an answer.

That source of all things to do with the history of south Manchester is silent on the matter.  This is John Booker who published the histories of Chorlton, Didsbury, and Withington in 1857.***

It remains a very scholarly work and draws on a vast number of documents dating back to the Middle Ages.

According to Mr. Booker “Withington possessed the style and title of manor and had its corresponding privileges; the limits of the manor greatly exceeding those of the township [of Withington] embracing the hamlets of Withington, Didsbury, Burnage, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Moss Side , Rusholme , Denton, Haughton and Levenshulme.” **** 

Houghend, 1854

And unless I am contradicted by some medieval expert on land holdings, I suspect it was purely an administrative stroke to shift it from one part of the manor to another. 

Such decisions may explain why according to the tithe maps, a small section of land south of Hardy Lane is marked not as Chorlton but “Withington Detached” while a small patch south of the bend in the Mersey is described as “Chorlton Township”.

But it may just be as simple as two townships sharing good quality grazing lands or a bequeath to a church or monastery in the middle ages.*****

I suspect the search for the explanation is not over.

Of course in one of those little twists, what was the hamlet of Houghend is now back in Chorlton, and a big chunk of it is in Chorlton Park residing in the municipal ward of Chorlton Park.

Location; Hough end, Chorlton, Withington

Pictures; Houghend, 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson and in 1854 from the OS map of Lancashire, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

*A History of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Chapter 1, November 7th, 1885, Thomas Ellwood

**The Township of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, John Lloyd, 1972, page 4

***The History of the Chapels of Didsbury and Chorlton, Rev. John Booker, 1857

****ibid Booker, page 107

*****The Phenomena of Detached Enclaves of Local Townships. The Case of the Fishlake and Skyehouse, Rob Downing, 2020, Fishlake History Society, http://www.fishlakehistorysociety.uk/index.php/rob-downing-s-research/the-phenomena-of-detached-enclaves-of-townships-the-case-of-fishlake-and-sykehouse

Who stole Chorlton’s racecourse?

Now, this is a serious question, because once, according to our own Chorlton historian we did indeed possess a racecourse.

The old lane up to Hough End Hall, 2014

Writing in the December of 1885, Thomas Ellwood recorded that “Barlow Moor is celebrated in the annals of Manchester as the scene in the seventeenth century of animal races and other games prior to the establishment of the Manchester Races on Kersal Moor.  

All that remains to recall the racecourse is the field bounded by Barlow Moor-lane, and the left of the lane  leading to Hough-end Hall, still known as the ‘scaffold field’ where was formerly a low mound, which  served as a vantage point from which to view the contests”.*

And since then, John Lloyd in his book on the township also chimed in with “Horse racing was followed in the 17th century, traditionally the site being a field known as the ‘Scaffold Field’.  The field can be more accurately defined as being the area north of the path in line with the front entrance to Hough End Hall and occupied by the schools and the bowling greens."**

Riderless Races in Rome, 1817 

But Lloyd was merely repeating Ellwood and points out that “Ellwood seems to be the only source and the one frequently quoted”.

To which Eric of Sandy Lane will mutter that all of this was so far in the past that it “ain’t worth a copy of yesterdays Chorlton and Wilbrahamton News”.

And here I would disagree, if only because it does still come up in conversation.

So this much I know, Kersal Moor “achieved its greatest popularity from 1688 to 1816, the period when horse races were held on it”.  That said a later newspaper article pushed back the date to 1687 when an advertisement appeared in the London Gazette, announcing a plate of £20 to be run at Carsall (Kersal) Moor”.****

Chorlton Park, 2020

All of which does indeed push back the date when the “sport of kings” took place in what is now Chorlton Park.

Nor do I think that those events in the 17th century can  truly be equated with our idea of horse racing, because the popular idea of the sport was still in its infancy.

According to a Mr. W.G.C. Frith who was clerk to the Manchester Racecourse in 1963, the first race meeting held at Kersal Moor back in 1687 was “At a time when racing was just emerging from the stage when one man ran his horse against another’s for a private bet”.****

So, there you have it, perhaps those horsey events described by Ellwood were less a series of grand races watched by the good and the rich, and more a set of individual contests where farmers pitted their horses against each other.

I await Eric’s informed and measured response.

Leaving me just to observe that Axon in his wonderful Annals of Manchester, makes no reference horse racing at either Chorlton or Kersal Moor in the 17th century.*****

Scaffold Field and the Observatory, 1854

Although the 1854 OS map for Lancashire , does show an Observatory in front of Brookfield House just a little to the west of the lane  leading to Hough-end-Hall.

As for Scaffold Field this shows up on the Withington tithe map for 1848 as belonging to the Egerton estate and occupied by William Jackson who may have been connected to Henry Jackson who was the tenant at Hough End Hall in the 1840s.

There are a number of William Jackson’s listed as living in Withington in 1841, but none I think are our tenant of Scaffold Field.

So, that is it other than to say the painting Riderless Racers at Rome, has nothing to do with racing in Chorlton, other than it shows horses in Rome which is a city I like.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; lane  leading to Hough-end-Hall, 2014, overgrown Chorlton Park, from the collection of Andrew Simpson,  detail from the 1854, OS map of Lancashire, courtesy of Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/ and Riderless Racers at Rome, 1817, Walters Art Museum

*Ellwood, Thomas L Horse Racing, Chapter VII Badger and Bear Baiting’s, History of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, December 19th, 1885, South Manchester Gazette

**Lloyd, John M, The Township of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, 1972, page 75

***History of Kersal Moor, An Early Manchester racecourse, Manchester Guardian, September 11, 1936

****The end of 276 years of racing history, Manchester Guardian, November 9th, 1963

*****Axon, William E.A., Annals of Manchester, 1885

When the story of a murder reveals an earlier tragedy and a family that made good

Now the murder of PC Cock in 1876, and the subsequent arrest and conviction of one of the Habron brothers is well known and was recently the subject of a new book.*

Brookfield House, Chorlton,  circa 1900, home to the Deakin family in 1881

And more so because of the timely confession of the real murderer who was a criminal with a long track record of burglaries and violence.

PC Cock was interred in the churchyard by Chorlton Green where there is still a memorial to him, the real murderer  was hung and Mr Habron after his release fell out of history.

What intrigued me and set me off on one, was a request from Brian Robertson who runs an excellent facebook site. **

Brian was interested in Francis Deakin who employed Frank and William Habron.

Brookfield House, 2015

The Deakin family were well known to me.

They had been market gardeners way back into the 19th century and in the middle decades they lived in Martledge which was one of the three hamlets of Chorlton –cum-Hardy.

In the 1840s they farmed 3½ acres when Mr Deakin’s father was murdered in a beer shop in Chorlton in 1847. ***

The family received much sympathy and financial help not least because Mrs Habron was left with a large family of young children.

The family appear to have survived the tragedy and prospered. By 1881 Francis Deakin was farming 36 acres and employing 16 men and 3 boys and lived at Brookfield which still survives and is the house in Chorlton Park opposite Hough End Hall. ****

In that same year Mr Deakin farmed land near Hough End hall and so I suspect it might well be that the land was around Brookfield House in what is now the park.

The land around Brookfield House, 1854

But in 1876 at the time of PC Cook’s murder the rate books have him down as farming near the old Church which must be somewhere near Chorlton Green close to the Bowling Green pub on what was Lloyd land and also on High Lane just past Stockton Road and maybe all that was left of Row Acre which was a sizable plot of land which was farmed by various Egerton tenants and originally stretched from roughly Cross Road down to Acres Road between Beech Road and High Lane.

The OS for 1894 shows that it had shrunk to a stretch from what is now Chequers Road to Cross Road.

Interestingly there is a reference to Francis speculating in building plots in the 1880s and the rate books show that he owned at least one property in Chorlton.

Brookfield House, 2014

For me what makes the story just that bit more interesting is that it revealed more about the Deakin family, provided me with another resident for Brookfield House and offered a possible place for where the Habron brother’s worked.

That said Brian added that   “there seems to be some confusion over where the land that the Deakin’s worked was though. One newspaper report clearly suggests that access to it was from a triangular piece of land opposite the spot where PC Cook was murdered.”

This might put it over the border and alas at present I don’t have access to the rate books covering that area.

But it is entirely consistent with land holdings in Chorlton during the 19th century, with many farmers and market gardeners renting plots over the whole township and beyond into Withington and Stretford.

So there you have it.

Pictures; Brookfield House circa 1900 from the Lloyd Collection, and in 2015 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the area around the house in 1854 from 1854 OS for Lancashire, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk

* The Murder of Chorlton’s ‘Little Bobby’ ………… Who killed Constable Cock? by Angela Buckley* https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/the-murder-of-chorltons-little-bobby.html

** Greater Manchester History, Architecture, Faces and Places

***The Story of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Andrew Simpson, 2012

****Looking for the story of Brookfield House on the edge of Chorlton Park, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/looking-for-story-of-brookfield-house.html

When there were goats in Chorlton Park

Now I don’t remember the goats in Chorlton Park but Julie does and here on the Mauldeth Road West side of the park is the said goat.

The park dates from the late 1920s and over the years has had many attractions from that pool, to the bowling green and the interesting little nature reserve by the Brook.

I am pretty confident that Julie’s picture will bring a flood of memories and comments and I hope some more pictures.

Location; Chorlton Park

Picture; the goat and Julie in Chorlton Park circa early 1970s, from the collection of Julie Thomas

Summer days in south Manchester No 1 the paddling pool in Chorlton Park

We are at the paddling pool in Chorlton Park and the year is sometime in the 1930s.

The park was opened in the mid 1920s and the pool is still fondly remembered by many people in Chorlton.


Location; Chorlton Park, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester

Picture; from the Lloyd collection

A paddling pool, bowling green and street scenes ……… Chorlton in the 1960s

Now I am never over keen on picture postcards which display a collection of photographs.

The effort of displaying four or more means that the images are small and with that comes a loss of detail.

That said I like this one which Ken from St Clements gave me recently.

It will date from the late 1950s into the following decade, and while somethings are familiar, others point to a Chorlton we have lost.

Location, Chorlton

Picture; Chorlton Park, Barlow Moor Road, Wilbraham Road, circa late 1950s -1960s, from the collection of Ken

Growing your turnips in Chorlton Park ..... and other wartime stories ........

Just what Chorlton Park was like during the last World War will pretty much have faded from living memory, and so stories of air raid shelters and the Dig for Victory campaign among the flower beds will not be readily available.

Chorlton Park, 2020

Like Dominic Anderson I have sometimes wondered how the Park was used during conflict and was galvanised into action when he posted on the Chorlton History site, “Walking in the park today a question struck me - was the land used to grow food during ww2 and if so are there any pictures?”

Well I went looking, but have so far only turned up one which shows an air raid shelter and not a line of turnips.

That said the Manchester Guardian carried a story on October 19th 1939 that “To meet the needs of those who have taken up allotments, and of others interested, the Manchester Corporation Parks Committee has arranged with the Agricultural Committee to provide demonstration plots in the following parks: Heaton Park, Boggart Hole Clough, Brookdale Park, Queens Park, Birchfield Park, Lady Barn, Fog Lane Park, Platt Fields Park, Chorlton Park, Wythenshawe Park.

Starting on Saturday, members of the parks staff will attend to demonstrate correct methods of cultivation, including digging, manuring, and controls of pests.”*

A further series of demonstrations were planned over the following weeks and along with this “A cropping scheme for the average 300 square yard plot will be issued shortly by the Manchester Agricultural Advisory Committee and will be available to all interested.”

Digging your own food, 1940

It is unclear whether these demonstration plots became permanent and nor do we know exactly where they were located in Chorlton Park, which is a ta d annoying given that the newspaper piece specified where to go in some of the parks.

But someone may know and may even have a picture.

That said according to a later report “the trench system in the parks is nearing completion.  Approximately 10,000 people will have shelter in these trenches in Alexandra Park, Queens Park, Moss Side recreation ground, Boggart Hole Clough, Crumpsall Park, Didsbury recreation ground, Platt Fields, Manley Park, Whitworth Park and Chorlton Park.

The trenches, which are of reinforced, precast concrete covered with two feet of earth are being provided with ramps in preference to steps  and emergency manhole exits are placed at frequent intervals.”**

This was part of a much wider provision of shelters, which included the conversion of the Victoria Arches  and the underground canal near Central Station [GMex] , 

Chorlton Park and the site of the shelter, 1939

In addition the Council had indented for “28,000 Anderson steel shelters, with17,000 allocated by the Home Office” and has completed a list of 17,000 names and addresses of people in the city with basements which they desire to have strengthened and the survey of houses with suitable accommodation for brick and concrete shelters is continuing”.

All of which was a start in the preparation for the bombing to come.

And that is it other than to say some will have fun identifying the shelter in the park. And the clue I suspect is that line of chimneys in the distance.

All very different from the place today.

Down by the Brook in the Park, 2020

Location; Chorlton Park

Picture, Chorlton Park, 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, “The Penguin Book of Food Growing Storing and Cooking” 1940, Chorlton Park Shelter Surface Shelter, City Engineer, July 12th, 1939, m09588 courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*Allotments In Manchester, Demonstration Plots, Manchester Guardian, October 19th, 1939

**Corporation Raid Shelters Manchester Guardian, June 22nd, 1939

The story behind that path in Chorlton Park ............ discovering Sir Nicholas Mosley's grand drive

Walking towards the Hall. 2015

I must have walked this route countless times and never made the connection with that 400 year old house which sits away in the distance.

The house is Hough End Hall and we are in Chorlton Park.

Old maps show what will once have been a grand drive up from Barlow Moor Road to the hall.

In its time it will have been wide enough to accommodate a carriage and horses and may also have been flanked by avenues of trees.

This after all was the first glimpse that visitors would have had of the home of Sir Nicholas Mosley who made a fortune trading in the city of London, was elected its mayor and walked with royalty.

The end of the path with the hall opposite, 2015

And long after the Mosley’s had left Hough End and it had become a more humble farm house this was still the main way to get to the hall.

It shows up on maps from the 18th and 19th centuries and so when in the 1920s the Corporation created Chorlton Park it made sense to incorporate it as a pathway.

Now I grant you that this discovery may not rank with the great tales of history but it is the sort that I like pointing as it does to that simple observation that quite often there is a story where you least expect it.

The grand drive in 1845

Pictures; Chorlton Park looking towards Hough End Hal, May 2015, from the collection of Costel Harnasz, and the route to Hough End Hall,from the 1845 OS for Lancashire, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk

*Hough End Hall The Story, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/hough-end-hall-book-on-sale.html

The mystery of the lost Chorlton Observatory …. revealed today at 2pm

 As mysteries go it is small beer when compared to the strange disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle or why Wagon Wheels seem smaller than in the past, but the Chorlton Observatory is our mystery.

The Observatory, Brookfield House, and a bit more, 1853

At which point I should say that the Bermuda Triangle much loved of conspiracy theorists and any one with nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon is largely the invention of cynical writers and TV producers, while I suspect Wagon Wheels haven’t got smaller, it’s that those of us of a certain age have just got bigger.

But the Chorlton Observatory is a puzzle.

Brookfield House, 2023

It shows up on the OS map of Chorlton in 1853 and was at the end of the garden belonging to Brookfield House, which is now the office connected with Chorlton Park.

It stood just to the east of a twisty set of ornamental paths, close to what was the processional drive from Barlow Moor Road up to Hough End Hall.

And while it is clearly marked on the 1853 OS, it is missing from the tithe map of 1839 and is not recorded on the later Ordnance Survey map dated 1894.

At present I don’t know what it was like, who constructed it or whether it actually belonged to Brookfield House.  

All the evidence is that it was in the garden of the house, which in the 1850s was rented by a James Partington who was a doctor and lived there with his wife, Frances, two grown up children and two servants.

It makes sense to have sited the observatory at this point given that according to our own historian the land round about was on a gentle mound.*

That said there is no reference to an observatory in the rate books for either James Partington or his successor.

And some might just point out that given that low rise we may just be dealing with an observation by the map makers that here was a place to have an observatory.

But I rather think given the preciseness of those said map makers the note will refer to a proper observatory.

Leaving me just to say that you can debate the point today at 2pm when in the company of Peter Topping, the “Friends”, and heaps of interested people we will be walking the story of Chorlton’s past.

Location; Chorlton Park

Pictures; the observatory in 1853, from the 1853 OS for Lancashire, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk  and Brookfield House, 2023 from the collection of Andrew Simpson.

*Badger and Bear Baiting, Chapter 7, December 19th 1885, History of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, South Manchester Gazette

Looking down on Chorlton in the 1930s

I like this picture and it is not the first time it has featured on the blog.

And the reason is obvious.

We are looking down on Chorlton in 1933 and while much of what we know is there to see there is enough to make it a fascinating source for how things have changed.

The scene is dominated by Chorlton Park which was opened in 1928 and by the school buildings.

To their right is the broad bank running along the middle of Mauldeth Road West which today is the route of the metro and for those with a keen eye for detail making its way along Barlow Moor Road in a Corporation tram

Beyond the park and sitting in splendid isolation is Hough End Hall which was still occupied by the Lomas family who had taken up residence in the late 1840s.

But there are clues to the changes which were underway.  Already Nell Lane running between the Hall and park had been widened and the old bridge across the brook replaced.

The aerodrome had long closed and to the north and east of the hall the land would son be developed with new housing housing estates.

Location, Chorlton, Manchester


Picture; aerial view Chorlton Park, 1933 N S Roberts, m72054, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

The perfect gift for the discerning fan of Chorlton Park .... out today

 Every place deserves a park, and every park deserves its story, so today I can announce the publication of the “big bumper history book about Chorlton Park”. 

It’s got the lot from what was there before the park including the racecourse, observatory, and posh 18th century house.

And by degree moves on to why Chorlton residents wanted a place to play, its opening in 1928 and lots more from the open-air swimming pool, the paddling pool, open air theatre and that pets corner, along with two bowling greens, heaps of tennis courts, some football pitches, and the lost air raid shelter.

nothing to do in chorlton …… Chorlton Park – Stolen By Withington And then Returned will be published in December, and is available from us www.pubbooks.co.uk  Chorlton Book Shop and cost £5.

It is the fifth in our very popular nothing to do in chorlton.

It is small enough to fit in a pocket, be carried in a bag and with a tilt at those winter festivals will be perfect as a stocking filler, as well as a surprise gift for Hanukkah.

What did you do in Chorlton Park?……….

So, for those who got their feet wet in the paddling pool, made friends with the goat or just whiled away the hours in Chorlton Park this is for you.

Every place deserves a park and every park deserves its story, so we have written the story of our own big park.

It will take in what was here before the park including the racecourse, observatory, and posh 18th century house.

And by degree move on to why Chorlton residents wanted a place to play, its opening in 1928 and lots more from the open air swimming pool, the paddling pool, open air theatre and that pets corner, along with two bowling greens, heaps of tennis courts, some football pitches, and the lost air raid shelter.

It is one in our series "nothing to do in Chorlton"

nothing to do in chorlton …… Chorlton Park – Stolen By Withington And then Returned is available from us at, www.pubbooks.co.uk of Chorlton Book Shop and cost £4.99.

Perfect for that present that fits into the Christmas stocking.

Pictures; reading in the Park, 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

* A new book on nothing to do in chorlton, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20doing%20nothing%20in%20Chorlton

Hot summer days …….. with memories ….. of parks …. and carefree times

 It may still be August with another bank holiday to come but some mornings have had a distinct autumnal feel.

Reading in the park, 2023

Added to which there is that dampness which even when the sun does break through the clouds remains as a persistent backdrop to the summer we might have had.

The park in 1934

So as a  challenge to damp 2023 Peter and I have decided to remember those hot sunny carefree days in Chorlton Park with a new book in the series “nothing to do in Chorlton”* where we offer a selection of locations to sit and enjoy some stories as well as a few original paintings and a variety of old images of the places we have chosen for you.

Our new book on Chorlton Park, comes as it heads towards its centenary and will explore its long and fascinating history, including the now vanished open air theatre, swimming pool, and paddling pool and mysterious wartime air raid shelter.

And not to shortchange the park there was that magical “Pets corner”, the bowling green and the mound, along with the historic Brookfield House and the lost observatory and racecourse.

Julie and the goat, circa 1970s

So, lots to write about, but as ever the story is also about your memories, and these we would like to include in the book.  For some it will be rolling down the mound or paddling in the pool, before playing tennis or football on the football pitches.

There may also be some who can remember the air raid shelter, theatre and swimming pool.

Over the years I have collected plenty of memories of the animals in the Pet’s Corner and Julie has donated a picture of herself with a goat sometime in the 1970s.

The paddling pool, circa 1930s

And that is it, memories, stories and pictures are invited and these you can leave with us at www.pubbooks.co.uk

Location; Chorlton Park

Pictures; reading in the Park, 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson,  Julie in Chorlton Park circa early 1970s, from the collection of Julie Thomas, Chorlton Park 1934 from the 1934 OS map for Manchester & Salford, the paddling pool, circa 1930s, from the Lloyd Collection

*nothing to do in chorlton, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20doing%20nothing%20in%20Chorlton

Sun …. flowers …. heaps of history … and a thank you to the Friends of Chorlton Park

Yesterday over 30 people turned out for our first walk through Chorlton Park’s past.

History in the Park, 2023

It was at the invitation of the Friends of the park and this ramble through a bit of Chorlton’s history, covered the missing observatory, and racecourse, a sideways look at the historic Brookfield House and even more historic Hough End Hall and of course covered the story of the park.

Questions were asked about the open-air swimming pool, the bandstand and the wartime air raid shelter with a tad amount of speculation about the possible existence of Dig For Victory Allotments somewhere in the park.

Such are the stories about the place that Peter and I have decided to make it the next book in the series “nothing to do in chorlton”.*

And we invite you to offer up your own memories of the park, along with  treasured pictures which might be of a night in the air raid shelter, a carefree day in the padding pool or a magic moment in the pet’s corner.

Julie and the goat, circa 1970s

There may even be the odd “fascinating object” which was long ago discarded but which might have its own story.   In the course of digging some of the Friends revealed that they had come across fragments of clay pipe, broken crockery and “dark matter” which challenged them for an explanation.

During the walk Tony shared his father's memories of a barrage balloon and anti aircraft gun which were sighted in the park and of plying football and cricket on the pitches in the 1950s.

You can contact us at www.pubbooks.co.uk, where you can also see all the books by Andrew Simpson and Peter Topping.**

Location; Chorlton Park

Heaps of people listening to the park's past, 2023

Pictures; in the park listening to a heap of history, 2023, from the collection of Peter Topping and the goat and Julie in Chorlton Park circa early 1970s, from the collection of Julie Thomas

*Doing nothing in chorlton, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20doing%20nothing%20in%20Chorlton

**www.pubbooks.co.uk