One house on Barlow Moor Road over a century and a bit

Our house on Barlow Moor Road in 1904

Now I don’t usually go in for then and now pictures but today is different.

We are on Barlow Moor Road at the junction with High Lane, and I am looking at the same house over the last century and a bit.

Our first was taken by A. Bradburn in the winter of 1904, and of the three it intrigues me the most so I shall return to it later in the week.

The remaining two were taken in the May of 1959 by A.H. Downes and by me this month.

Just 55 years later in 1959

It should not be too difficult to track just when what is now 503 Barlow Moor Road gave up being a private residence or the different businesses which have occupied this and its neighbour over the years.

More than once I have found myself thinking about that first house on the corner, and when it lost the gardens to the front back and side.

In 1904 it was the home of James Chapman, was a solicitor.

He and his wife Emmie and their four children had been living at number 76 since at least 1901.

And today

James had done well for himself, for just six years earlier he had described himself as a solicitor’s clerk and the family had lived on Cranbourne Road.

But for now I shall leave you with the three images of one little bit of Chorlton.

But that is not quite it because After talking to Andy Robertson he remembered talking the same shot back in 1992 which I guess is when its time as the Microwave shop will be most familiar to many.

And in 1992

And Andy was also able to dig out that back in 1969 the shops were occupied by 503  H Morris and sons, decorators and at
505 Julia Allyson, ladies' hairdresser.

So there you ago the place continues to have a long and varied history.

Pictures; 78 [now 503] Barlow Moor Road, 1904, A. Bradburn, m17434, again 1959, A.H. Downes, m17508, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council and today from the collection of Andrew Simpson and in 1992 from the collection of Andy Robertson

When the snow came down in lumps

It began falling in the early hours of the morning and by six had blanketed the township.

One by one the family attempted to get into work and school.

But the buses had stopped running, it was almost impossible to drive on to Beech Road and by nine o’clock even the schools had decided not to open.

So that January of 2009 became a snow day and more followed till the thaw set in.

All of which was a bit different to the winter of 1962-63.  At home in London it began snowing on Boxing Day and continued the following day.

Across the country the snow brought down power lines.

Snow lay 6 inches deep in Manchester city centre and 9 inches  in Wythenshawe while at Keele Univerity it reached a depth of 18 inches.

By the end of the month there were snow drifts eight feet deep in Kent and fifteen feet deep in the west and by January the sea had frozen for a mile out from the shore at Herne Bay.

And we still went to school with not a day missed from the end of the Christmas holiday till the thaw set in in March.

Not that we were any harder, tougher or more resilient than school children today , just that back then most of our teachers also lived close by which meant none of us had to face long difficult journeys.

But stories of the Big Freeze of 1963 are for another time along with the days we were sent home in 1962 because of the dreaded smog.

Still I would welcome  any one wanting to contribute their memories of the January of 2009, the winter of 1962-63 or the equally bad snow year of 1947.

Pictures, accounts, descriptions all will be gleefully accepted and sent back out on the blog.

Pictures; of Beech Road in January 2009 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

On the Rec at Beech Road during autumn and winter

Now I know these two pictures have not been taken from exactly the same spot but absolute detail has never been something I am perfect at.

Nor are they the best pictures, but on a sunny autumn day on impulse I took a few of the Rec and was reminded of a much colder day in January 2009 when I did much the same thing.*

And in my defence it is a sort of history story.

The Rec was last farmed around 1896 when it was Row Acre, both the Higginboth and Bailey families had land on this site and since it was gifted to the people of Chorlton it has been an invaluable place to play, sit and just relax.

At one time it has held public meetings, was home to a barrage balloon and has been the venue for many festivals including the Beech Road Festivals and the Peace Festival.

Picture; from the collection of Andrew Simpson, 2007 and 2013

* January 2009 when the snow came down in lumps http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/january-2009-when-snow-came-down-in.html