I thought I would send you a supplement to my first story which you kindly posted 28/2/17, "Lives revealed ... selling coal from Hyde Street in 1905."
The photo showing William Whitehurst with 'Polly' has hidden features not obvious to the casual observer.
The wagon was positioned straddling the boundary between Manchester (Hulme) and Stretford; the two areas where most of the Whitehurst's coal business was conducted.
The boundary followed, for the most part, the course of the Corn Brook which the second photo shows flowing North through Hulme and into the River Irwell.
By 1905, much of the Corn Brook had been culverted with the tunnel passing beneath Hyde Street directly under the coal wagon at the point where Hyde Street transitioned into Cornbrook Grove.
The planners of the day even went to the trouble of marking the boundary/brook where it crossed under their roads by a double row of granite setts.
Unfortunately, these boundary setts are not very clear under the coal wagon, however they were a common feature along the boundary and examples can be seen here on 1901 photos of nearby Cornbrook Park Road and Drayton Street.
The Cornbrook Works building shown in the photo with its twin gable ends is still standing today close to the junction with the Bridgewater Way (A56).
Its use has changed many times and the setts have long gone, whilst Drayton Street disappeared in the large-scale clearances of the 1960s.
Nothing shows the course of an urban boundary and the resulting dislocation of the regular lattice work of streets between neighbouring boroughs, and presumably different teams of planners, better than an aerial photograph.
This 1926 aerial photo of Hulme shows the parallel vertical roads of Essex Street on the left and Erskine Street on the right, both running up to Stretford Road.
The large Luxor cinema can be seen at the top of the photo on the left hand side of Erskine St and the white lean-to roof in the Whitehurst coal yard can just be seen reflecting the sun immediately to the left of the Luxor.
Meanwhile, the awkward abutment of buildings and streets across a borough boundary is beautifully illustrated at the bottom of the photo with the Drayton St boundary, shown earlier, visible at the apex of the inverted "V".
The abrupt mismatch of terraces is traceable North and South of this point.
© Colin 2017-03-10
Location; Hulme
Pictures, map, www.artus-familyhistory.com/Manchester 1857/SW.html William Whitehurst and Polly, 1905 from the collection of Colin and Cornbrook Park Road, m25892
Drayton Street, m25973 and aerial shot Hulme, m67727, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
References
Map; www.artus-familyhistory.com/Manchester 1857/SW.html
Manchester Libraries Local Image Collection, Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
The photo showing William Whitehurst with 'Polly' has hidden features not obvious to the casual observer.
The wagon was positioned straddling the boundary between Manchester (Hulme) and Stretford; the two areas where most of the Whitehurst's coal business was conducted.
The boundary followed, for the most part, the course of the Corn Brook which the second photo shows flowing North through Hulme and into the River Irwell.
By 1905, much of the Corn Brook had been culverted with the tunnel passing beneath Hyde Street directly under the coal wagon at the point where Hyde Street transitioned into Cornbrook Grove.
The planners of the day even went to the trouble of marking the boundary/brook where it crossed under their roads by a double row of granite setts.
The Cornbrook Works building shown in the photo with its twin gable ends is still standing today close to the junction with the Bridgewater Way (A56).
Its use has changed many times and the setts have long gone, whilst Drayton Street disappeared in the large-scale clearances of the 1960s.
This 1926 aerial photo of Hulme shows the parallel vertical roads of Essex Street on the left and Erskine Street on the right, both running up to Stretford Road.
The large Luxor cinema can be seen at the top of the photo on the left hand side of Erskine St and the white lean-to roof in the Whitehurst coal yard can just be seen reflecting the sun immediately to the left of the Luxor.
Meanwhile, the awkward abutment of buildings and streets across a borough boundary is beautifully illustrated at the bottom of the photo with the Drayton St boundary, shown earlier, visible at the apex of the inverted "V".
© Colin 2017-03-10
Location; Hulme
Pictures, map, www.artus-familyhistory.com/Manchester 1857/SW.html William Whitehurst and Polly, 1905 from the collection of Colin and Cornbrook Park Road, m25892
Drayton Street, m25973 and aerial shot Hulme, m67727, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
References
Map; www.artus-familyhistory.com/Manchester 1857/SW.html
Manchester Libraries Local Image Collection, Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
