Of floods and weirs and peaceful places, on the edge of Turn Moss

The weir in 1915

I really don’t do enough pictures on the blog and rarely do those then and now sort of stories.  So here with the help of Nigel Anderson and Michael J Thompson of Hardy Productions UK* are some shots of the weir on the edge of Turn Moss just where the river takes one of its dramatic twists.

Now the Mersey is prone to flooding and after a particularly bad flood in 1799 the weir was built to channel storm water across the plain and into the Kickety Brook and so lessening the danger to the aqueduct which carried the Duke’s Canal.

And floods and the story of floods regularly pop up on the blog including the tale of the weir and Kickety Brook,.

Almost the same spot today © Nigel Anderson

So when Michael told me that he and Nigel had been down at the weir I just had to ask permission to use their photographs, along with two from 1915 which was the last time it served the purpose it was built for.


Their pictures show a benign spot, but it was not always so.

The river could flood with little warning and on one occasion a farmer just had time to release his horses from the cart as the water swept across the open land.

The weir from the flood plain, 1915

Another time in the July of 1828 flood water transported hay ricks from the farm behind Barlow Hall down to Stretford only later to take them back, while later floods proved to be even more destructive with one destroying the bridge across Chorlton Brook.

It was, wrote Thomas Ellwood the local historian
“no uncommon thing to see the great level of green fields completely covered with water presenting the appearance of a large lake , several miles in circuit,” and he recorded six major floods between  December 1880 and October  1881.

Looking towards Kickety Brook from the weir © Michael J Thompson

Not that it always worked.  Soon after it had been built flood water swept it away and during the nineteenth century neither the weir nor the river banks prevented the Mersey bursting out across the plain.

This happened in 1840 and in the following year it was rebuilt by the engineer William Cubitt.

After litigation the cost of repair was borne by the Bridgewater Trust who paid out £1,500, the Turnpike Commissioners £500, Thomas de Trafford £1,000 and Wilbraham Egerton £1,000.

*Hardy Productions UK https://sites.google.com/site/hardyprodsuk/

Pictures; of the weir in 1915 from the Lloyd collection and the weir today courtesy of Nigel Anderson and Michael J Thompson

On Beech Road …….. not long ago

It is a scene of Beech Road which will be familiar to many and was not that long ago.

I can’t now remember the exact date I took the picture, but it will be some time in the early 2000s, which is a lesson always to date photographs.

But this one I didn’t, but it will be in the region of seventeen years ago and perhaps a bit less.

And as you would expect almost all the shops have changed and most no longer sell anything other than food and booze.

Muriel and Richard’s is an estate agent, the deli is the Spanish tapas bar and stretching up the road only the clothes shop and Etchells are now trading.

Even the Nose has closed.

I could now state the obvious and reflect on the bar culture, bit won’t and instead I shall invite stories of the buildings in the picture.

And to start off I will offer up two, which are the red fronted building was Diamond Dogs opened by Martha and Atlanta in what had been Bryan the Books place, and next door was the Mr Jackson’s barber shop which was once taken over by a TV company who blew out the shop front during a scene in the show they were filming.

And Diamond Dogs has helped fasten the date because Martha reminded me she and Aalanta opened the cafe in 2002.


Location; Chorlton

Picture; Beech Road, circa 2002s, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

“Two pieces of cod, and some shrimps” ……. shopping for fish on Wilbraham Road

Now, we do still have independent food shops, but there aren’t many of them.

So here from sometime in the early 1980s, is the wet fish shop on Wilbraham Road.

I have no idea exactly when I took the two pictures but judging from the tree, it will have been winter.

At first, I thought it might have been Mac Fisheries, but this was further up the road closer to the bank, and anyway may have closed by the time I took the picture.

This shop was which was Inshore Fisheries was at 482 Wilbraham Road and the place still sells fish although it trades as Out of the Blue.


And as you do, I went looking for references to Inshore Fisheries, and found a wholesale company of that name, which operates across the north.

I know that our shop was doing the business in 1969 and with a bit of research should be able to establish when they opened and when it changed its name.

Of course, given that they were there in the early 1980s, there will be people who remember them and can tell me some stories.

But for now, I am equally intrigued by the shop owned by Mac Fisheries, which was at 468 Wilbraham Road.

 It was part of a chain of fish shops started by Lord Leverhulme in 1918, whose original plan had been to purchase the Isle of Lewis and resurrect the Scottish fishing industry, using the island to land fish from the fleets and then move them to Fleetwood where the fish would be processed and then sold in his shops.

The plan was later centered on another island and proved successful with the company buying up independent fishmongers to create chain.

By the 1970s the business was less profitable and in 1979, the company was sold on and the fish shops closed within months.

All of which leaves me with the shop that survived, and a hope that someone might recognize themselves in the pictures and get in touch.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; shopping for fish on Wilbraham Road, circa 1980s, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Bus stops can be lonely places

It is just one of those things that most of us take bus stops for granted.

Chorlton, 2022

Until that is for reasons never explained by the authorities one is taken down and never replaced.

So, it is with one of the shelters in the bus terminus at Chorlton.

Over the years the number 23 bust stop has seen a shelter come and go.

Which is a shame because on a wet miserable day it afforded a bit of shelter and somewhere to sit.

And sometimes a place to exchange a few words with a travelling stranger.

Stretford, 2022

But not so these two.

Location; Chorlton and Streford

Pictures; Lonely Bus Stops, 2022, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Bedtime for a car ……… how we used to do things

You don’t see many cars wrapped up and tucked in for bed these days.

When I was growing up in the 1950s,plenty of the car owners where we lived would cover their vehicle for the night.

But then, car ownership in Peckham was still small, and most properties had been built a century ago long before there was a need for a garage.  

So, the few proud car owners were impelled to protect their investment as it sat on the road outside the house.  And it was a practice which extended to motorbikes as well.

Now I might just have got it a tad wrong, and wrapping up the car was something you did when you didn’t intend to use it for a while.

Either way you do sometimes still see a car in its cover on a road.  This one, I spotted recently in south Manchester.

And in the interests of historical research, I wonder how many other cars there are tucked up.

Location; south Manchester

Picture; wrapped up for the night, 2021, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Walking through Chorlton ............

Tuesday July 28th

Location; Chorlton














Pictures; Walking through Chorlton, 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

He writes them stories ...… but not necessarily the ones you can believe …. Smile Dammit Smile!!! Chorlton

Here for those of a discerning but gullible frame of mind are the Chorlton stories which you will not find anywhere else.

Mr. Topping has set himself the task of some fine investigative journalism with stories ranging from “Bodies Found in Southern Cemetery”, “Chorlton Bus found on Moon”, and “Mysterious Container Found on Doorstep", along with “Books Discovered in Chorlton Bookshop”, and “Dead Shark Found in Chorlton Diving Pool”.

I am told that the public’s response to the news sheet has been very positive, with one chap writing in to complain about a story on the proposed revised route for HS2 through Chorlton and the construction of a new station to be sited in the township.

Pleased as the chap was, he wanted to know why the Government hadn’t considered a station in Wythenshawe which would assist the areas regeneration.

Leaving me to ponder on the power of silly news to move events forward.

And this collection will certainly open up undiscovered corners of Chorlton, challenge the concept of truth, and make most people calling for the sequel

The book is available from http://www.pubbooks.co.uk/ or Chorlton Book shop, 506 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester M21 9AW 0161 881 6374

The Kickety Brook, Stretford, once a vital part of our flood defences

I first walked the Kickety Brook with my old botanist friend, David Bishop.

It doesn’t look much but it was vital in its day for protecting the Duke’s Canal at Stretford.

The Canal dates from the 1760s and was cut to bring coal into the heart of the city and also was used by our farmers and market gardeners to ship their produce into the Manchester markets.

But the canal was close to the Mersey which could flood with little warning. In July 1828 flood water transported hay ricks from the farm behind Barlow Hall down to Stretford only later to take them back, while later floods proved to be even more destructive with one destroying the bridge across Chorlton Brook.

It was, wrote Thomas Ellwood the local historian
“no uncommon thing to see the great level of green fields completely covered with water presenting the appearance of a large lake , several miles in circuit,” and he recorded six major floods between  December 1880 and October  1881

By then the stone weir had been in place for nearly a century.  It had been built after a heavy flood in August 1799 had broken the banks where Chorlton Brook joined the Mersey.  This had led to fears that the Bridgewater Aqueduct across the flood plain could be damaged in a subsequent flood.

The weir was designed to divert flood water from the Mersey down channels harmlessly out to Stretford and the Kicketty Brook.  Not that it always worked.  Soon after it had been built flood water swept it away and during the nineteenth century neither the weir nor the river banks prevented the Mersey bursting out across the plain.

This happened in 1840 and in the following year it was rebuilt by the engineer William Cubitt. After litigation the cost of repair was borne by the Bridgewater Trust who paid out £1,500, the Turnpike Commissioners £500, Thomas de Trafford £1,000 and Wilbraham Egerton £1,000.

Today, standing beside the weir you get little sense of the force of the river in full flood. In the winter there can be a pool of water at its base stretching out across the plain but on many occasion in the past on warm summer’s days even this bit of land can be bone dry.

And likewise the Kickety Brook seems just an overgrown and quite forgotten bit of water. The last time the weir took an overflow of flood water was 1915 when these two pictures were taken.

Pictures; Higgibotham's field in flood, 1946, from a painting by J Montgomery, 1963, m80092, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, and 1915 pictures from the Lloyd collection

Making stories out of our histories ... part 5 .....the celebration .......today

The community writing project which led to the book ....The Stories of Our Lives has been a great success, and to celebrate that success the book will be officially launched today.

So with an outrageous and unprincipled move I will just lift their launch leaflet and quote Jolene,  "This year, Chorlton Good Neighbours and I teamed up to lead an experimental group in Chorlton.  

It drew together people who all shared the same belief. We agreed that, given the chance, people with life experience have such interesting and valuable things to say that their stories should be heard and recorded in some way.   

Older people with memories and stories to tell were connected with locals with an enthusiasm to listen and varying experiences of writing. Additional volunteers helped in different ways, for example by editing and designing the layout of the finished stories. 

We also received enough donations from helpers to get the book printed.  It was with true team effort that this community group shared, recorded and compiled over 50 stories – enough to create a book that celebrates each of the significant lives glimpsed within it. 

The group would now love to share this finished book with you, to speak of what it was like to be part of and reveal some of the background of how it was put together as a community.  Come help us celebrate our efforts and learning at Chorlton Library today  from 2pm until 3.30pm.  

If you arrive at 2pm, you will see a short presentation, then there will be time to have a cuppa and chat with some of those who were involved.  

The event is free but if you would like to buy a book, a donation of £5 or more in cash is very welcome.  CGN and I are continuing the story telling club on a monthly basis next year so all money donated goes towards future publications produced."


To find out more contact me jolenesheehan@live.com or 07939566148. 

Jolene Sheehan www.joyethic.com

Making stories out of our histories ... part 5 .....the celebration .......

The community writing project which led to the book ....The Stories of Our Lives has been a great success, and to celebrate that success the book will be officially launched on December 14th.

So with an outrageous and unprincipled move I will just lift their launch leaflet and quote Jolene,  "This year, Chorlton Good Neighbours and I teamed up to lead an experimental group in Chorlton.  

It drew together people who all shared the same belief. We agreed that, given the chance, people with life experience have such interesting and valuable things to say that their stories should be heard and recorded in some way.   

Older people with memories and stories to tell were connected with locals with an enthusiasm to listen and varying experiences of writing. Additional volunteers helped in different ways, for example by editing and designing the layout of the finished stories. 

We also received enough donations from helpers to get the book printed.  It was with true team effort that this community group shared, recorded and compiled over 50 stories – enough to create a book that celebrates each of the significant lives glimpsed within it. 

The group would now love to share this finished book with you, to speak of what it was like to be part of and reveal some of the background of how it was put together as a community.  Come help us celebrate our efforts and learning at Chorlton Library on the 14th December from 2pm until 3.30pm.  

If you arrive at 2pm, you will see a short presentation, then there will be time to have a cuppa and chat with some of those who were involved.  

The event is free but if you would like to buy a book, a donation of £5 or more in cash is very welcome.  CGN and I are continuing the story telling club on a monthly basis next year so all money donated goes towards future publications produced."


To find out more contact me jolenesheehan@live.com or 07939566148. 

Jolene Sheehan www.joyethic.com

Making stories out of our histories ... part 4 .....the book ...

Now I am looking forward to getting my copy of The Stories of Our Lives, which is out today.

It  “is the culmination of a community project which brought together older people who wanted to share their stories, lessons and memories, with a group of voluntary writers who were keen to listen, learn and record what they hear".*

The project ran through the later summer and has been a remarkable success.

Once a month, the group came together and over a cup of tea, engaged in telling the stories of how we used to do things.**

Along with those stories, are some fascinating photographs and original paintings attractively laid out in a compelling format.

The idea and much of the organization was undertaken by Jolene who told me that, “This project is being made possible by the support of Chorlton Good Neighbours and a range of wonderful volunteers including the story tellers and writers themselves. Here is some of their feedback:

'How lovely it is to share common memories.'

'It's the most interesting morning I have had in ages!'

'Great for everybody involved.'
'I'd tell my friends to get involved, it's very rewarding.'

'Really fun atmosphere.'

"Enjoyable in all aspects.'

'Helped me relive happy memories.'

'What a fantastic project!'

'I think more people should be involved in more projects like this.'

Wouldn't it be great to reward these people with a memento of their generous efforts? 

To help us get our finished book printed, please check out the Just Giving link below. 

A £5 and over donation means you get your own copy to keep. 

You could also share this post to help us gather further support. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/thestoryofourlives "

So, that’s it, leaving you to follow the link above to get your copy.

Location; Chorlton-cum-Hardy

Pictures; the cover and a selection of pages from The Stories of Our Lives, along with members of the project, courtesy of the Our Lives community writing project

So, that’s it, leaving you to follow the link above to get your copy.

*Jolene, https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/thestoryofourlives

**Stories of Our Lives community writing project, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Stories%20of%20Our%20Lives%20community%20writing%20project

Making stories out of our histories ….. part 3 ……….. sharing those stories ...

Now the title could quite easily have been reversed to “making history out of our stories”, and both are at the heart of a new project to record the memories of Chorlton people which will go a long way to addressing the traditional history books.*

All of which is an introduction to this exciting project.

“The Story of Our Lives is a community project which is bringing together older people who want to share their stories, lessons and memories, with a group of voluntary writers who are keen to listen, learn and record what they hear.

Once a week for a month, local people who may not otherwise have met, came together over a cuppa, enjoying a chat about a key theme and then together, working towards creating an anthology of tales that preserves and celebrates the memories shared that day. 

This project is being made possible by the support of Chorlton Good Neighbours and a range of wonderful volunteers including the story tellers and writers themselves." 

And this Sunday, the result of the project was previewed during Chorlton Arts Festival at Chorlton Unitarian Church**

Jolene who has organized the project commented “A massive thank you to Chorlton Unitarian Church and the Chorlton Arts Festival for hosting our Stories of Our Lives celebration event, as well as everyone else who came to support this wonderful community writing project. 

It was a full turn out, and the participants of this project really got a lot out of sharing their efforts with such a lovely audience.  If you want to support the creators getting their words into print whilst also getting a copy of the book yourself, see this link”. ***

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; The Story of Our Lives, Chorlton Unitarian Church, 2019, courtesy of the project

*Stories of Our Lives community writing project, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Stories%20of%20Our%20Lives%20community%20writing%20project

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

***Jolene, https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/thestoryofourlives

Making stories out of our histories ….. part 2 ……….. seaside and holidays ... tomorrow

Now the title could quite easily have been reversed to “making history out of our stories”, and both are at the heart of a new project to record the memories of Chorlton people which will go along way to addressing the traditional history books.

“The Story of Our Lives is a community project which is bringing together older people who want to share their stories, lessons and memories, with a group of voluntary writers who are keen to listen, learn and record what they hear.

Once a week for a month, local people who may not otherwise have met, are coming together over a cuppa , enjoying a chat about a key theme and then together, working towards creating an anthology of tales that preserves and celebrates the memories shared that day.

This project is being made possible by the support of Chorlton Good Neighbours and a range of wonderful volunteers including the story tellers and writers themselves. Here is some of their feedback:

'How lovely it is to share common memories.'
'It's the most interesting morning I have had in ages!'
'Great for everybody involved.'
'I'd tell my friends to get involved, it's very rewarding.'
'Really fun atmosphere.'
"Enjoyable in all aspects.'
'Helped me relive happy memories.'
'What a fantastic project!'
'I think more people should be involved in more projects like this.'

Wouldn't it be great to reward these people with a memento of their generous efforts? To help us get our finished book printed, please check out the Just Giving link below. A £5 and over donation means you get your own copy to keep. You could also share this post to help us gather further support. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/thestoryofourlives

We will be sharing some of what we create within Chorlton Arts Festival so keep following this page to find out more.

Additionally, you can message me to find out more if YOU would like to get involved in the project in some way”.*

The next session will be on Saturday 24th August 9.30-12.30 At Adastral House, the  small block of flats opposite Morrisons Garage in Chorlton .

This Saturday morning we are chatting about 'travels and holidays' which again should stimulate lots of interesting recollections and history. The response has been excellent and we have a full set of volunteers to record the memories tomorrow, but we are short of a few people for the session on August 31st.

If you could help it will involve  jotting down a memory and write something up, which may onlybe  a couple of paragraphs.

And for more information follow the link

All of which I think is pretty exciting

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; holidays from the 1930s, from the collection of Ron Stubley

*Jolene, https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/thestoryofourlives

Making stories out of our histories ……….

Young Clara, date unknown

Now the title could quite easily have been reversed to “making history out of our stories”, and both are at the heart of a new project to record the memories of Chorlton people which will go along way to addressing the traditional history books.

These were full of the tales of the great and good, along with the not so good and the very bad.

 It was a style of history which didn’t just forget to record the lives of working men and women, but actually didn’t even recognize them.

At best they appeared only as walk on parts, left nameless, viewed as insignificant and at worst were mentioned as “the mob” the humble peasant” or "the unwashed majority”.

And yet Caesar would not have achieved his victories, Hannibal have crossed the Alps, and countless generals down the ages without those who cooked the meals, dodged the bullets and carried the baggage.

Harold and Alma at the seaside, circa 1930s

They were the people who “lived out little lives in great times”, and their contributions are equally important and deserve to be heard.

And that brings me back to an exciting new initiative.

“The Story of Our Lives is a community project which will bring together older people who want to share their stories, lessons and memories, with a group of voluntary writers who are keen to listen, learn and record what they hear.

Once a week for a month, local people who may not otherwise have met, will come together over a cuppa , have an enjoyable chat about a key theme and then together, work towards creating an anthology of tales that preserves and celebrates the memories shared that day. 

There has been so much support already for this project in terms of time and energy given. 

Here are a few examples (there are many more): Chorlton Good Neighbours have kindly partnered in the organisation of this; Chorlton Arts are also helping to promote and support the work and Topping Publishing Productions have offered to help edit, illustrate and get it ready to send off to the printers. 

The Simpson/Goldsmith christening, 1981

Most vital of all, story tellers and writers are giving their time for free to create the content. It's a thoroughly inspiring project to help co-ordinate.

HOWEVER, one thing that doesn't seem to happen for free is printing! We want to print enough copies of this book so that all the participants can get one to keep as a memento of their contribution and that costs.... money!

By donating even £2 to this cause, you will help create something of lasting importance to our community. 

If you donate £5 or over, you can receive your own copy of the finished book as a thank you”.* 

So there you have it, follow the link, make a donation, and look for details of  the Stories of Our Lives community writing project, Chorlton.

Shopping for bargains, 1979

Pictures; Young Clara, date unknown from the collection of David Harrop, Harold and Alma Morris at the seaside, circa 1930, courtesy of Jean Gammons, the christening, 1981 and shopping for bargains, Ashton Under Lyne, 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Stories of Our Lives community writing project, Chorlton
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/thestoryofourlives?utm_id=107&utm_term=n524ZpW6w&fbclid=IwAR3iDZqlrdrZh9XfvZZ7f-5T6sZ4IlLMgDCcSTozIiuJTCrouV6BkfpimbE

Coming soon ......... a story about this place

And in the meantime, one all about it's past.

Location; Chorlton

Picture; from the collection of Andy Robertson,2014

*Rediscovering the Savoy cinema on Manchester Road in Chorlton,  https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2019/02/rediscovering-savoy-cinema-on.html?fbclid=IwAR1QdRDDgWNdhCC4T_rBOQz8xSavFsDG9qCMXA8m0PuWfxUJ2sZMAeRFG5w

No 200/198 Upper Chorlton Road ...... part 1 looking for stories

Now I don’t suppose I would ever have been drawn into the story of no 200 Upper Chorlton Road if Mr Armistead had not asked me to research the house and its neighbour.*

200 and 198 Upper Chorlton Road, 1960

They are two of the grand villas set back from the road which you just know have histories but are all too easily ignored as you pass them on the bus.

Once and not that long ago there were many more of them along this stretch of Upper Chorlton Road, but the trend to smaller families, higher fuel prices and the demise of the domestic servant pretty much meant that they were no longer attractive places to live.

Some like nu 202 were demolished to make way for a modern block of flats retaining only the old name of the house as a faint reminder of what had once been there.

202 Upper Chorlton Road..... the Allied Library, 1960

The fate of many other big houses was to be converted into bedsits with little regard for the original architecture or lay out.

As someone one who spent his student years in a succession of bed sits the memories are of cold, damp properties.

At best the rooms had been re papered with wood chip and at worst a coat of bright orange or green emulsion had been applied over the original wall paper.

They were dismal dreary places, where you got to know none of your immediate neighbours.

Most were just passing through and the only record that they had stayed were those piles of junk mail and old election addresses which sat for months in a corner of the hall.

Of course once each of these properties had been a real home, and each would have had their share of stories.

So it was with no 202 which for a while had been the Allied Library and from where at its peak in March 1962 hired out 362, 000 books to small private lending libraries.

But cheap paperbacks did for the small commercial libraries and the Allied Library closed sometime in the 1960s.

Our two houses with the Lawn Tennis Ground, 1994

All of which brings me to its neighbours no 200 and 198 Upper Chorlton Road.

They were built sometime after 1871, and appear on the OS map for 1894 set in their own grounds and looked out on to a tennis ground with clear views across open countryside to Hullard Hill Farm.

Just to the north was “Manchester Football Ground.”

That said the urban sprawl down from Hulme as far as Stretford Road and Brooks Bar was in place, and the opposite side of Upper Chorlton Road was full of largish villas.

Our two houses were big.

The 1911 census records that no 200 had fifteen rooms, excluding “scullery landing, lobby, closet, and bathrooms” and no 198 had twelve rooms.

It is more than likely they would have been built with a well and there is documentary evidence that houses in Chorlton built in 1862 had internal wells.

Mains water came into Chorlton in 1864 and it is possible that around this time properties your properties could have been connected by another pipe from wither Manchester or Stretford.

Sadly the 1881 and ’91 census do not allow us to be exactly sure who was occupying the properties but by 1901 a Mrs Emma Hyde was at no 198 and a Mr John Windsor next door.

They were as you would expect comfortably well off.  Mrs Hyde described herself as as “living on own means.”  She shared the house with her four unmarried daughters and Edith Baynes who was the “cook/domestic.”

The Hyde family were still there in 1909, although sometime between 1903 and 1909 Mrs Hyde died and the householder is listed as Miss Annie Hyde who was the eldest daughter and had been born in 1861.

The entrance of 198 Upper Chorlton Road, 1960

In a way more promising might be the Windsor family who moved into no 200 sometime after the April of 1891.

He was a “merchant” and at the turn of the last century owned Windsor’s Bridgewater Union Mills with a factory in Rochdale and an office/ warehouse at 1 Canal Street in Manchester.

Sadly all we have are two photographs of the exterior of the houses taken in 1960.

There will be more and I rather hope that someone will come forward and share their pictures and perhaps even have a few of the inside of each house.

The added bonus would be a few stories of what it was like to live in no 200 and no 198.

As a historian I would be fascinated to see what there is, as would Mr Armistead who is currently developing the two properties.

All of which is a good point to stop.

You can contact me by leaving a comment on the blog.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; Allied Librarie,  202 Upper Chorlton Road, m40870 no 202, m40865 and 198, m40864, Downes A H m40870, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass,  Upper Chorlton Road, 1894, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/


*Armistead Properties, http://www.armisteadproperty.co.uk/

Where did the last half century and a bit go?

May 1966

I will soon have reached that age when I can go to the post office and collect my State pension which of course is that bitter sweet confirmation that I am officially an old man.

I have lived through two centuries, was almost there for the birth of the National Health Service, trembled at the awful implications of the Cuban Missile Crisis, marched against the Vietnam War and felt a little of my world had been lost at the news that Otis Redding had died.

But the immediate trigger for this bout of reflection was nothing more significant than the powerful fragrance of some flowers I passed this morning which transported me back to those long childhood summers when the sun always shone and each morning offered up new possibilities of adventures.

For a full minute I was back in the big garden that my grandparents retired to with its ornamental pools, the carriage shed and hay loft and big open field beyond.

March 1954

It was August 1958 and I was nine years old and like many summers during my childhood I was spending the holiday with my grandparents in the tiny village of Chellaston.

We didn’t have a television, there were none of my friends to play with but that month walking the country lanes, catching the humming of the telegraph wires and the odd bird song were magic.

Now of course none of that is unique to me, all of us will have memories as powerful, some good, some not so good but reaching “that age” does mean they can crowd in on you.

This bout of reflection is inevitable and will come and go with varying degrees of intensity mixed with the knowledge that there are fewer years ahead of me than behind.

September 1970

And everyone who looks back on the six or seven decades they have been around will perhaps reflect that in their life there was the most profound set of changes.

So had you been born during the last years of the long wars with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France you would have seen Britain transformed by the Industrial Revolution, entered middle age as the country acquired an empire and still have had a few years left to be able to sample gramophone records, make a telephone call and see a flying machine.

And some people experienced even more.

My uncle George was born in 1899, lived through the entire 20th century and died in 2001.

Sometime in 1960

He was given a present to mark  the passing of the old Queen in 1901, celebrated Empire Day, fought in the Great War and remembered when  he saw his first aeroplane.

And during that long life he mastered the telephone, bought an early wireless, enjoyed the first "talkies" and while he had little time for television wanted a computer.

The Nokia 3310, 2000

Against which I can advance the mobile. This when I was growing up  was still in the realms of science fiction.

And yet today we use that tiny hand held device not only to speak to friends and family but also to check the weather, make a hotel reservation and send an image of Manchester halfway across the globe.

And yet we remain blind to the history we are losing be it photographs, buildings or people’s memories.

I still have a very real soft spot for my first mobile but it is now as ancient and outdated as the telegram, the Model T Ford or the fountain pen.

It has long since been lost, and while it only allowed you to speak and text it did have a battery which didn't die by midday and played snake.

Now that was something worth preserving.

So I guess I know how I want to spend the time after collecting the pension and I hope others will help me by continuing to send me their pictures, their stories and contribute their own little bit of the story of this and the last century.

And the places are all there from Well Hall and Eltham to Chorlton, Manchester, Salford, Ashton-Under-Lyne, Stretford and Stockport.

And while I am at it I will just throw in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Sunderland and big chunks of Canada which of course pretty much gives away the family history.  I doubt however whether Naples, Varese and Cologne will surface .......... well not yet any way.

Pictures; Albert Square and the Town Hall, 1960, courtesy of Sally Dervan and the rest from the collection of Andrew Simpson