Autumn on the Rec ……. and a memory of Mr. Higginbotham from 1894

 

Now, sometimes you just go with two pictures, separated by a century and a bit.

 This is Row Acre being ploughed for possibly the last time by Mr. Higginbotham who farmed the strip of this big field running alongside Cross Road, stretching from Beech Road down to what was the bowling green of the Masonic Hall.

 It is a favourite picture of mine, and one I often repost, and yesterday almost as an echo of Mr. Higginbotham’s ploughing, the Corporation was cutting the grass on the Rec, and in the process left a trail of leaves.

I think it may well have been the last time he ploughed his strip, because within a few years  Row Acre had become the Recreational Ground.

 By which time Row Acre had shrunk from a field which ran from Cross Road down to Acres Road to a parcel of land defined by Cross Road in the east and Wilton Road in the west.

And for the eagled eyed, yes the direction that the two pictures was taken is different.  I took mine from Beech Road, with the Irish Centre in the distance, and Mr. Higgibotham was photographed from somewhere on Cross Road looking towards Beech Road.

 Location; Chorlton

 Pictures; Mr. Higginbotham ploughing Row Acre, 1892, courtesy of Mr. Higginbotham, the Lloyd Collection, and the Rec in 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

 

 

Turning back the hands of time ………… the ink pot

I have no idea of the age or origin of the carved bird’s head.

It has just always been part of my life, first as a child growing up in Well Hall, and then as an object which has travelled with me.

For years it sat on a bookshelf, was briefly hidden away in the cellar, and is now back on the desk in the study.

And its final resting place is where my parents intended it to be, when they gave it to me.

Just when that was I can’t remember, and a bit of me wonders if it was actually a present from my Uncle George, who would hunt out “interesting things” at jumble sales, and secondhand shops.

Wherever it came from I have to say it is indeed an “interesting thing”.

I think it is a unique piece of work, possibly owned by the person who carved it.

Nor is it just a decoration, because the head is hinged and when opened reveals a space for an ink pot, which suggests we are at a time beyond the ball point pen or the fountain pen.

And as the first mass produced fountain pens only date from the 1880s, I suspect our bird may predate that event, and come from that time when dip pens were still in use.

Of course, I have no way of knowing, and there lies the fun of it.

It may be that someone will be able to date it, and dispel my assertion that it was hand crafted, offering up the name of a firm or cottage industry which turned them out in their thousands.

We shall see.

Leaving me just to say that I did once use it for what it was intended for.

The ink came from a shop, and the dip pen from school, which would have been Samuel Pepys County Secondary Modern School, which  I attended from 1961 till 1966.

In the early 1960s, dip pens were still widely used in the school, as they had been in the Juniors I attended.

I may even have been one of the ink monitors who every morning and at the start of the afternoon, were tasked with filling the porcelain ink pots which sat in  recessed holes on each desk.

With them came blotting paper, and countless ink stains, from accidental spillages to deliberate acts of vandalism, which sometimes resulted  in inky walls, stained clothes and damaged textbooks.

Looking back, those who railed against the slow intrusion of the ball point pen, were not only attempting to hold back the future, but were condemning thousands of school children to blue fingers, the temptation of ink pellets, and a lot of grief from parents angry at the ink marks on shirts, ties and jumpers.

There was a brief moment when I thought about filling it again with some ink, but it lasted just a few seconds, and sat beside my dream of opening up the coal cellar and is as impossible as turning back the hands of time.*

And I was wrong, my Eagle ink pot is not home made but was indeed made by men of business, and this I know because David Millard told me so, but  not before he also admitted,

"I was a trusted ink monitor. Added water to powder, filled the inkwells and distributed them round the classroom in a special tray that looked as though it was meant for eggs. My god! Thanks for prompting that memory.

As for the inkwell it's Black Forest. They did bears, eagles, and a whole forest of animals. Benches, hat stands and inkwell holders were very popular. Yours is a good quality one from about 1880". 

Location; our house

Picture; the ink pot, 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson


*Jimmy & David Ruffin - Turn Back the Hands of Time, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-knGjxcPms

Celebrating who we are .... down at the Library

Community is a much-used word but at its best is about how we react with others, how we look out for everyone and a pleasure in recognising the contributions people make to where we live.

Two additions 

And here I am not thinking about the great and the good, but to use that not very helpful word …. the ordinary person.  

Not very helpful because it has a hint of dismissal but does describe most of us, who just get on with things and in the process make a difference.

It is an idea that has exercised the local artist Peter Topping who is in the process of painting portraits to honour our local people in Chorlton.* 

He tells me “that for the next month the library is hosting some of my work featuring Chorlton Champions. 

Through dedication, leadership and tireless effort, they have made a lasting and positive contribution to the social, cultural and civic life of Chorlton. 

Their commitment exemplifies the spirit of community and inspires others. The exhibition will be added to when more people are recognised for their achievements".

The exhibition has grown over the last few weeks as new subjects have been added, and today he messaged me with, “I’m thinking of delving into the past for some of our 'Chorlton Champions' to create portraits for the Library.

Euton Christian

Here is the first one of Euton Christian”.

Mr. Christian was born in Jamaica, served in the RAF during the last World War, and was the first black person to be promoted to a managerial role in the Post Office, the first black magistrate, and the first to sit on a Crown Court bench. 

To this can be added his role as a founding member of the West Indian Sports and Social Club in Moss Side and Manchester Council for Community Relations in the 1960s.

Many will also remember him as a keen sportsman, a neighbour and a father.

He was according to one source “an inspirational man who achieved many extraordinary things. He and his story give just one example of why we should celebrate the men and women who travelled on the Windrush, and the many subsequent ships, who settled and made lives in Britain during the middle part of the twentieth century”.

And his place in the Chorlton community was recognised in 2024 when Chorlton Civic Society erected a blue plaque in his honour on his former house.

And long with Mr. Christian Peter has chosen Ida Bradshaw as his second painting.

Ida Bradshaw

She always styled herself the "unofficial archivist of St Clements Church" and she was my friend. 

Her passion for Chorlton's history was infectious and l welcomed her regular phone calls about some "new find" that she had uncovered from her trawl of the church archives.  More than that l often benefited from one of her discoveries which in turn found themselves into a blog story.

And Ida was many other things.

I still have her folders of art and craft work recording not only her own output but pictures of exhibitions and group activities.

All of which kept her busy and sometimes it was difficult to pin her down to meet up as she mixed church business, trips to Central Ref, and visits to parishioners along with Saturday mornings at some craft event.

Catherine Brownhill remembers,  "A truly wonderful lady Andrew. I was introduced to Ida through Chorlton Civic Society”. 

Four of the first

And along with our conversations on all things Chorlton history Peter’s painting is based on a photograph he took of Ida in St Clement’s Church which was reproduced in our book on the churches of Chorlton.

So as the exhibition at the Library grows you can catch  CHORLTON CHAMPIONS for the rest of this month.

P.S. nominations for candidates to be inducted into the Hall of Chorlton Champions are welcome via Peter Topping.

*Celebrating Chorlton ..... down at our library today, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2026/06/all-this-month-there-is-selection-of.html

  

A book called Alice …. a thunderstorm ….and the lazy buzz of visiting bees … the non-history story

August into September used to be known as the silly season when with Parliament in recess along with the law courts nothing much stirred leaving the media to fall back on trivia to sell newspapers and generate income from advertising.

Driven from the Rec ... hot days, 2026

It would be the time of “man bites dog”, “looking for the sea at Southport” and “spotting the first onion sellers from France”.

And despite that it is only June, and recent stories of earthquakes in Venezuela, wars in the Middle East and that unfolding speculation on who will be Britain’s next Prime Minister, here in Chorlton it all seems to be what the Americans would call a “slow news week”.

All of which I guess is down to the heat wave which has driven me into the coolest part of the house.  Shutters and curtain drawn, windows closed and the admission that the last time I went out was Monday.

It has however given me more time to reflect on smaller bits of history and to explore phrases like “Piffy on a rock bun”, “Black as New gate’s knocker”, and “looking like Reggie Page”. Some are very personal and arise from our own family while others have a wider context and some are rooted in historic events. *

And there are those which like me and my friends have used for decades and no doubt were picked up from our youth.  One such was when my friend Lois responding to the present heatwave describing the moment as “boiling” while many of us have and do say I am “starving”. 

Now neither can logically be true but they perfectly describe a moment.

Alice trying to play croquet with a flamingo, 1865

And that brings me back to one of my favourite bits from Through the Looking Glass where Humpty Dumpty remarks, “When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less’”.

An absurd comment but one which chimes in perfectly with the utterances of some politicians and much of what is peddled on social media and is just “fake news”, although even the word fake news has been hijacked to rubbish what has been verified as accurate.

All that said there is nothing fake about the heat wave.

Inside our house it is currently 29° while outside its 32° but which pales when set against the 34° being suffered by one of my sisters in southeast London.

Alas the promised thunderstorms passed off with just three claps of thunder and the accompanying streaks of lightening at 5 this morning.

It was enough to get me up, water the garden and enjoy the lazy buzz of some friendly bees who were more active than I have been all day.

All of which is very unhistorical so I shall close with a review of the summers from the mid-1840s.

Back then we were still a rural community with most of our population deriving a living from the land or in associated trades. So, the weather was more than just a hot day to endure.  

Hot days looking for bees, 2026

My copy of “Agricultural Records” reports that 1842 and 1843 were “fine dry summers with a good harvest” while 1844 was “a year of drought with disastrous harvest", followed by a year when the summer was “cold with a fairly poor harvest”.***

Happily, 1847 and 1848 offered up mixed weather but the harvests were plentiful although the quality was low.

And anyone who has studied social unrest will know that a succession of poor harvests brings hardships to the poor and anxiety for the people of plenty, who well remembered that the bumper French harvest of 1787 gave way to two bad years and a revolution.

Location; where ever  it is hot

Pictures; Driven from The Rec, Beech Road, empty at midday, 2026, and hot days looking for bees, Royal Horticultural Gardens, Bridgewater from the collection of Andrew Simpson, Alice trying to play croquet with a flamingo, John Teninel, 1865, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carrol, 1865

*"'When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.

'The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

'The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all’”.

Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll, 1871

**Piffy on a rock bun …………… and other travels with my past, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/06/piffy-on-rock-bun-and-other-travels.html

***Agricultural Records, AD 220-1977, J.M. Stratton and Jack Houghton Brown, 1978

The skip ……. a man with a van …… and tales of recycling ….. with a nod to the dustman, shore man and sewer hunters

 There is a lot to be said for the recycling man with his van.

I say man, but there is more than one, and as like as not it will be a woman.

Some come quietly in the early morning while others will announce their presence with a loudspeaker alternating between bursts of music and the cry, “fridges, old boilers, pipes and assorted scrap”.

For those like me who were born in the first half of the last century, it brings back memories of the Rag and Bone Man who travelled the streets with a horse and cart and called for “any old iron” or whatever took his fancy.

Then like now it was a one-way trade in which you disposed of the goods, which he accepted and later would sort out and sell on.

As a form of recycling, it worked and does so again.

So early yesterday morning the man with the van stopped outside Sidney the skip, rooted round, picking out a sink and a couple of kitchen cupboards.

Being a discerning sort of chap, there were items he discarded having first pulled them out, inspected them before throwing them back.

Nor will he have been alone.  One skip close to us was visited three times one morning, with a different team calling the following day, when the skip was again almost full.

Now none of this is new, and a quick flick through the past will reveal the extent to which people of the mid-19th century made an even more precarious living from other people’s rubbish.

They were on the margins of poverty and garnered an income from sifting through the left behinds.

So, my Mayhew* written in the first half of the 19th century picked over occupations like the dustman, shore man and sewer hunters, all of whom found value in the valueless.

Shore workers worked the sewers, in “gangs of three and four for the sake of company, and in order to better defend themselves from the rats …… [finding] great quantities of money – of copper money especially; sometimes they dive their arm down to the elbow in the mud and filth and bring up shillings, sixpences, half crowns and sovereigns. **

Even more central to London life were the dustmen who carted away the dust and ash from the capital’s homes.  

Mayhew estimated that the consumption of coal in the metropolis was, 3,500,000 tons per annum which in turn created a vast mountain of ash and cinders, and as ever where there was muck there was money. 

Like everywhere that money was made by a handful of contractors while the dirty work fell to those they employed.

These men carried the ash to the dust yards where an army of labourer’s sifted through the rubbish which threw up oyster shells, old bricks, old boots and shoes, old ten kettles, as well as old rags and bones.  None of which could be recycled into brick making but ended up as hard core for new buildings or new roads.

While old shoes were sold to London shoemakers who used them to stuff between the in-sole and the outer one, leaving the rags and bones to be disposed of at the marine-store shops. ***

It is a story which is worth a deeper study, but for now I think I will just reflect that the passage of 170 or so years has left our man with his van marginally better off.

We shall see.

Location; London 1851, Chorlton, 2021

Pictures; The London Dustman, and View of a Dust Yard, London, 1851, and skips I have known giving up their treasures, Chorlton, 2021, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Henry Mayhew, London Labour & the London Poor 1851London Labour & the London Poor 1851

** Mayhew page 330

*** ibid Mayhew page 350

A Chorlton ghost sign ……

Not all ghost signs have to be very old.

They are the remnants of businesses and products which long ago vanished, but whose faded signs still appear above doorways, shops fronts and on gable ends.

Many belong to the 19th or early 20th centuries, but here is one that many here in Chorlton will remember and like me used for building jobs.

They were B W Gray and Sons Ltd and were situated on Oswald Road tradeding there until the firm was dissolved in May 2016.

I can’t be sure when the business started up but I know it was incorporated in 1994.

But being Chorlton there will be some who will remember when it started trading.

Location; Oswald Road

Picture; the ghost sign, 2024, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

When the tower of tyres ....... left our Rec

So farewell that tower of tyres,

You were a constant feature of the Rec. 

And while some may have castigated your presence

As a blot on the beauty of Lord Egertos’s gift,

You were many things to many people.

You served as a climbing frame, 

A game of rolling tyres

And even a place to hide.

But now you have gone,

Taken on a Wednesday morning

By men of the Council.

No more will Declan in his early tasks

Of clearing the rubbish from last night’s revellers

Collect you up 

For fresh adventures by children of all ages.

Why you went is a mystery

But in your going

A little bit of the Rec has been lost.

I don’t suppose the curfew bell

Will toll the knell of your parting pleasures.

Nor the weary commuter homeward bound

Mourn your passing 

But I will 

Location; the Rec

Pictures; those lost towers of tyyres, 2025 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

When Mr & Mrs Allendale sold apples at that shop on the corner of Wilbraham and Keppel

That shop having its makeover, June 2015

Never underestimate the power  of memory,

Recently I reflected on the changes to that shop on the corner of Wilbraham and Keppel Road.

But the occupants of the place during the last century were a bit hazy.

That is until I posted the story and then with the help of a shed full of people those long  lost businesses came flooding back.

Back in 1960 with the Allendale's

In the 1980s into the 90s it was the Cheese and Bacon shop which always seemed very busy and operated that old 19th century maxim of offer the customer a wonderful array of good food as they walk in through the door and display much more in the long window.

We went there and I was sad when it closed.

What I didn’t know was that during the 1940's for two decades it was Allendale's the fruit and veg shop.

Now it had been Pauline Kelly who told me about Allendale’s, and Sandra who found the 1960 picture on the digital archive.

And I bet it will bring back a host more stories.

More so because of the cast iron and glass veranda which occupied the Keppel Road side.

Underneath the veranda, 1960

It can’t think it was original to when the shops were built and must have come down in the late 1960's or 70's but what a wonderful addition it must have been allowing the Allendale’s to serve out on the street in all weathers and capturing passing trade.

Added to which it that pre slick marketing age no one thought that trays of fruit on upturned wooden boxes would deter interested customers.

And that is about it, until more stories come flooding in about the Allendale's, and the cheese and bacon shop which they did just minutes after this was posted.

Lesley Smith remembers that the Cheese & Bacon shop was run by a Mr and Mrs Carney whoretired to Wales.

So the stories aren't over yet.

Picture; the shop on a June day in 2015 from the collection of Andrew Simpson and in 1960 by A E Lander’s m18303, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

Some history …. a bit of fiction …. heaps of music …. and a smash of art …… Chorlton Arts Festival today …. for 14 days*

It’s our arts festival back for its 24th year and as I do, I whizzed through the programme and chose some of the events that I will be going to.

So here in no particular order are the authors, historians, artists and musicians I will be enjoying.  Of course there are other authors, historians, artists and musicians and I will be taking a second dibs as the fortnight progresses.

First there is Juliette Tomlinson “writer of ‘Longford’ and ‘Sunnyside: The story continues’" on Wednesday May 13th at the Beagle on Barlow Moor Road between 7 & 9pm.  

Juliette is engaged in a trilogy of books focusing on John and Enriqueta Ryland.  The first was Longford which came out in 2024, and the second Sunnyside has just been published.

And while the books are fiction, they are based on endless hours of meticulous research and are rooted in the history of Manchester, Stretford and Altrincham.

Which seems the perfect point to advertise the story of the Arts Festival which is another in those historical presentations by me and my artist chum Peter Topping on May 12th in the community room of Chorlton Library on Manchester Road.

It fits well with Danielle Lowry’s "Time Threads  … a collaborative project presenting imag
ined encounters with ancestors, [which is an all-day event] inviting visitors to contribute personal stories” at Chorlton Library on Friday and Saturday of May 8th and 9th.

It is followed up by “Family History Research – Talk and Tips” which is a drop in with Mark Burton and Danielle Lowry on Saturday May 16th between 2 and 5 pm and is also at Chorlton Library.

And given that I have already mentioned Peter Topping I will be taking some light refreshments in the Tutku Café on Barlow Moor Road and viewing his Paintings from Pictures exhibition from Friday May 8th to Sunday, and sitting with a cake later on the same day at Mary and Archie on Manchester Road to look at the “Photographs of folk dance , folk musicians and folk traditions by a real life folkie”. 

Which blends nicely into “Baroque: History and Bagpipes with Baroque Giants’ Peter Paul Rubens and JS Bach by Steve Millward, plus Michael Billington talk and play with bagpipes ‘Everything but the Highlands -Bagpipes of the world and influence on classical music" Chorlton Methodist Church, on Sunday May 17th from 2 till 5.

Along with the Ordsall Acapella Singers from Salford in the Wilbraham St Ninian’s Church on Saturday May 9th for an hour at 3pm, concluding with Chorlton Sings  the “50 strong modern pop choir based in Chorlton, an all-inclusive friendly group that loves singing together at Benito Lounge on Wednesday May 20th".

Leaving me just time to visit “The Stories of Our Lives – writing by members of a writing and storytelling community group with an opportunity for audience interaction” at Chorlton Library on Saturday May 16th from 11 to 12.30pm”, and “The Next Thing about being a West fan, a photographic exhibition which follows the unique fan base of West Didsbury and Chorlton AFC during the 2025-26 season” by Jim Doxford in their club house at the end of Brookburn Road between May 13th and 14th.

Location Chorlton

Pictures; covers of Longford and Sunnyside, courtesy of Juliette Tomlinson and the rest from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Chorlton Arts Festival, https://chorltonartsfestival.org/

Your Arts Festival wants you ……

To be more accurate you will want to be part of this year’s Chorlton Arts Festival.

It runs from May 8 to May 21st encompasses all the arts and is live across Chorlton in our church’s, bars, cafes, pubs, and community venues.

And because it is so good the team were out today in Chorlton, handing out programmes, and talking to people.

Added to which there was live music from local bands.

All very good on a day when the sun shone.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures;  out with  Chorlton Arts Festival, 2026 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Chorlton Arts Festival https://chorltonartsfestival.org/

**Chorlton Arts Festival stories, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Chorlton%20Arts%20Festival

Easter on the Rec ……

Now I have lived across from the Rec for half a century, and I never tire of the place*.

It has hosted concerts, the Beech Road Festival, heaps of impromptu football matches between our three kids and loads of their friends and is one of the go to places for our grandchildren.

And because it is special I regularly return to it exploring its history and just taking pictures of how it has changed over the years. **

There will now be no one who remembers the recreation ground being opened 130 years ago but there will be plenty with fon memories of the bowling green, the old fashioned see saw, and the years when it lost its railings.

And for some it is remains a test of just how "Chorlton" you are, becuause  if you refer to it as the "Rec" then you can claim to have been in here long enough to be regarded as Chorlton.  

For every one else who know it only as Beech Road Park that could be a mark of how far you still have to travel.

Our three always call it the Rec and why not, given that all were grew up opposite it from birth and our Saul was actually born upstairs in the big front room overlooking the place.

Of course such a judgement could be regarded as pure tosh and what counts is how much you like Chorlton and especially Beech Road.

And that is it.

All of which is an introduction to a series of photographs I took a few days ago.

Location; Beech Road

Pictures; Easter on the Rec, 2026, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*The Rec, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Rec

**Breaking News ……….. the Rec on Beech Road is officially opened, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/04/breaking-news-rec-on-beech-road-is.html

Down an alley ……..

Now if I were seven again, I rather think I might have been drawn off Beech Road and down the alley.

Down the alley, 2020

One day I will go and search its history, but for now I am content to record that back in 1969 it belonged to Ken Allen who used it as a store for his shop at 115 Beech Road.

Ken Allen, circa 1970s

And back in 1939 it was occupied by Abbot and Connie Palliaser.  Mr. Pallisaser described himself as a  “Furniture dealer Motor Engineer by Trade”, who may well have taken over the property from Harris and Son “decorators who were there in 1911.

A search of the Rate Books will tell me more, and I am inclined also to go looking for Mrs. Annie Dennis who shared 115 with the Palliasers in 1939.  She described herself as a widow with no occupation who had been born in 1872.

I grant you that this search may not be as exciting as the adventure I could have taken back when I was seven and furtively wandered into the alley, but perhaps less scary.

Location; Beech Road

Picture; down an alley, 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and Ken Allen, circa 1970 , courtesy of Lawrence Beedle

A conversation …. the Saturday boy … and heaps of vegetables …. at Muriel and Richard’s on Beech Road

Now Muriel and Richard’s will always have be a special place for me.

Their fruit and veg was always the best, and at Christmas Muriel always did that Nativity scene where local kids were encouraged to make figures for the display.

But above that they were always very kind to me, and during a time when I was juggling work, bringing up three kids and only shopping on Beech Road they could be relied to help out.

In particular Muriel acted as my bank, advancing me cash and letting me run up a tab.

To the consternation of some I would choose the fruit and veg, Muriel would ask if I needed any money and I would leave with assorted apples, pears, potatoes and more, with cash in hand.  To which some muttered that this was not how it was done.

Shops were not supposed to hand out produce and money and wave goodbye to the customer.  But this was Muriel’s and every Saturday the tab was settled.

I shopped there regularly through the 1970s into the 1990s and beyond.

I will have to ask Muriel just when they took over the shop, because I know in 1969 it was a confectioner’s run by a F. Lyth and now it is a letting agency.

Back then at the end of the 60s their shop was flanked by Joan Newman’s hairdressers and Mr. Morgan’s off license.

And a couple of decades later, the cutting of hair would be replaced briefly by a shop selling pianos before it settled on its long and continuing relationship with serving food and alcohol, while after a time as a vacant premises Mr. Morgan’s place became the Italian deli.

And that is about it.

Location; Beech Road

Pictures; Muriel and Richard’s, 1979, & 2002, and Muriel, 2004, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Picking up on Chorlton's story at The Oaks ..... Edge Lane

I am the first to admit that it is lazy history to claim that one house  can reflect the story of Chorlton-cum-Hardy from the mid 19th century onwards.

22 Edge Lane, 1907 shown in red

But if I did, 22 Edge Lane is up there amongst the list.*

It was built in 1865, was home to a succession of wealthy families, and during the last century went through a transformation into multi-occupancy and is now being renovated and redeveloped.

Now, there are plenty of those big houses which fit into that category, but 22 Edge Lane is the one I am focusing on.

The Haselgrove family were the first to own and occupy the property, giving it the name of the Oaks and were typical of the “new people” who were moving into Chorlton-cum-Hardy, when the area was still a rural community.

But already by 1865 the township was changing.

The arrival of the railway sixteen years earlier at the bottom of Edge Lane, along with improvements to the supply of water and sanitation began to make Chorlton an attractive place to live.

22 Edge Lane, entrance, date unknown

And so during the 1860s through the next two decades, there was residential creep along Edge Lane, which was replicated by similar developments following the Egerton estate’s decision to cut Wilbraham Road through Chorlton and onto Fallowfield.

The building of these big properties pre dated the much bigger housing boom which began in 1880 in the area once known as Martledge which was the strip of land around the junction of Barlow Moor and Wilbraham Roads.

These tended to be smaller properties, and were home to the “middling people” who were mainly drawn from the professional and clerical occupations.

But while they may have been the future of Chorlton, those big houses were part of that history as were the people who lived in them.

And that is the link to the Mr. Nicolai Christian Schou, and his family who had made 22 Edge Lane their home in 1871.

Edge Lane, 2019, before redevelopment began

He was a “shipping agent” with offices at 38 Cooper Street which was on the corner with Bootle Street.

The building and his stretch of Cooper Street vanished when Central Ref was built in the 1930s, but was still there at the beginning of the 20th century when it was occupied by Overman and Co., which earlier had operated in partnership with Mr. Schou. 

Just when the two got together is yet to be discovered, but the records show that during the 1860s well into the following decade the company was listed just as N. C. Schou.

Sadly he left very little in the way of a paper trail.  I know he was born in 1834, and was buried in the St James’s Birch-In-Rusholme, in 1881.

But the parish burial records do contain a touching reference to the family, listing the deaths of his wife, and two of his children.  “In memory of Frances Mary wife of Nicholi Christien Schou, died 28th April 1869, aged 36 years also Constance Mary their daughter died 21st November 1863 aged 3½ months also Nicholi Christian Schou born 22nd April 1834 died 2nd December 1881 also Oscar Henry their second son born 6th March 1859 died 2nd August 1892”.

20 Edge Lane, next door to no. 22, 1959

That pretty much is all there is so far, other than the census return for 1871 which lists him living at Edge Lane, with his five children and four servants who included the housekeeper, a cook, housemaid and charwoman.

We may today be surprised at the number of servants, but his neighbours employed almost as many, which again marks number 22 out as typical of the time and place.

Location; Chorlton-cum-Hardy

Picture, 22 Edge Lane, 2019, courtesy of Armistead Property**, Edge Lane and entrance to 22 Edge Lane, date unknown, Lloyd Collection, OS map 1907, and 20 Edge Lane, 1959, A E Landers, m17780, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*At 22 Edge Lane, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/At%2022%20Edge%20Lane

**Armistead Property Ltd, http://www.armisteadproperty.co.uk/