Manchester Remembering 1914-18 ......... at the Imperial War Museum North ..... Sunday June 4

Now this Sunday at the invitation of the Imperial War Museum North I will be signing copies of Manchester Remembering 1914-18.*

The book “offers an intimate portrayal of the city and its people living in the shadow of the Great War. 

A beautifully illustrated and highly accessible volume, it explores the city's regiments, the background and fate of the men on the frontline, the changing face of industry, the vital role of women, conscientious objectors, hospitals for the wounded and rehabilitation, peace celebrations, the fallen heroes and war memorials.

The Great War story of Manchester is told through the voices of those who were there and is vividly illustrated with evocative images.”

Sunday 11 am to 1 pm and again from 2 pm to 4 pm.

*IWMN,  http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-north Trafford Wharf Rd, Stretford, Manchester M17 1TZ

A murder mystery between courses at the History Dinner on March 28

Now as unaccustomed as I am to after dinner speeches I have nevertheless accepted Chris’s invitation to speak at the Chorlton Cafe on the night of the History Dinner on March 28th.

I say after dinner but in fact it will be before, during and after the meal.  So no pressure there then.

This is a bit of a departure from the normal History Talk where I do the bit after the plates have been cleared away.

So in keeping with being a bit different I have decided to settle on the the brutal murder of Mary Moore “who was robbed and cruely murdered at Withington” in June 1838.

Mary was 49 years old, married to Joseph Moore and lived on the Green.  

She was employed by the Chorlton family of Dog House Farm to sell vegetables and fruit at Smithfield Market.

On any one day Mary might make a considerable amount of money from the sale of the farm produce.  Not surprisingly therefore she was described as a “remarkably steady woman not at all addicted to liquor”.

And that is all you will get for now.

On the night we will have a bit of the background to the darker side of life in Chorlton, followed by the story and to give you all something to talk about during the meal a set of clues which will help in trying to track down the murderer.

Ah I hear some people mutter, “not a suitable topic for a Friday night dinner at the Cafe” but I am not so sure.

Along the way as we pick our way through Mary’s journey back to Dog House, the awful murder and the events that followed there will be much about our Chorlton in the 1830s, including a description of the Horse & Jockey where the inquest was held.

Now who can turn all that down?

Of course there will be those who will read up on the story in my book The Story of Chorlton cum-Hardy, but in the interests of fair play I know they will not reveal the ending.**

Picture; of Mary’s gravestone in the parish graveyard from the collection of Andrew Simpson.

* The Post  Box Cafe, http://www.thepostboxchorlton.co.uk/

** The Story of Chorlton cum-Hardy, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/the-story-of-chorlton-cum-hardy.html

Coming soon ... the grand reopening of Central Ref on March 22

It has been a long time coming but  Central Ref will reopen on March 22.*

Now for some of us who spent hours in the Archives and Local History libraries its closure left a gaping hole.

The temporary libraries on Deansgate and down on Marshall Street continued to provide an excellent service but much of the archives were locked away in the salt mines.

But with the reopening comes a new state of the art centre in the basement.

“Archives+ aims to create an archive centre of excellence in the heart of Manchester. 

It will be a one-stop resource centre providing a regional, national and international focus for community activities and learning from archive, library and other sources. 

The project brings together statutory, university and voluntary organisations to provide a holistic range of archive and heritage services from one location. 

Archives+ will raise awareness of and provide easy access to our histories for the broadest possible audiences, including existing and new ones.”

So there it is, an exciting new place to dig deep into our past.

Pictures; from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Central Ref Reborn, http://www.manchester.gov.uk/centrallibrary?dm_i=PR8,28RVR,45WAQ3,84IU8,1

Coming soon, through June, July and August

More trams, a few trains, stories of the floods across Chorlton, along with the Methodists, the Rough Leech Gutter, the artist Tom Mostyn and what lurks below the modern meadows.


 And of course lots of trailers for the book Chorlton-cum-Hardy, a Community Transformed, due out in September. http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20new%20book%20for%20Chorlton

And through most of July, a picture a day and going to school.

Pictures; from the Loyd collection and the collections of Tony Walker and Andrew Simpson

Coming soon, Oswald Field, five cottages, a slice of rural Chorlton and a bit of a mystery

It started as a simple story of five cottages on the edge of the township, and turned into something much more.  They were the homes of gardeners, and shoemakers and might seem nothing very remarkable but they are full of our history, and have a bit of a mystery.

And while they were demolished sometime in the 1860s they have left their foot print just off Oswald Road to this day.





Picture; detail from the 1841 OS map of Lancashire by courtesy of Digital Archives,http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/ /

The History Trail ....... Coming soon a new exhibition about Chorlton

Now we enjoyed putting on the GLAD TO BE IN CHORLTON exhibition during the Big Green Festival and have decided to repeat it at Chorlton Library from May 10th till the end of the month during Chorlton Arts Festival. 

It will be the same mix as before with something of the story of Chorlton from the early 19th century to today and a collection of paintings of Beech Road by local artist Peter Topping. Our collaboration has worked well. He paints the pictures and I write the stories.

So arising out of that venture, we have decided to stage a new event which tells the story of Chorlton from rural community to Manchester suburb in sharp little episodes in venues across the township during the Arts Festival.

Which means you can take in just one or two at selected venues or follow the history trail and as each venue is a pub, bar, restaurant or cafe the mix of history and art should go down just nicely.

 Each stage of the journey has been chosen because it is has something to say about our history, and so not only will there be a painting by Peter and some history from me, but a little story unique to the venue.

 And we will start with the Horse and Jockey, that pub on the green. The interested and the dedicated can then call in at other places in old Chorlton including Beech Road before heading off to new Chorlton and the Four Banks.

 Of course you don’t have to do them all but we think that will be the best way of taking in a bit more of the history of Chorlton during our own Arts Festival. Peter’s work is on display around Chorlton and can also be seen at https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures While my book  Chorlton-cum-Hardy A Society Transformed will be published in September http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20new%20book%20for%20Chorlton

And if all that was not enough we will be back in the Horse and Jockey on Sunday May 20th with more paintings and stories to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the building which is now the pub.

 Picture; ©Peter Topping 2011 www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

Coming soon more at the Chorlton History Group

The Chorlton History Group is now well established and here are the next few meetings.

Tues May 1st, 1.30-3pm

Bill Williams “Black History in Manchester”
To be held at Chorlton Good Neighbours, St Ninians Church, Egerton Road South

Thurs June 5th, 1.30-3pm
Note this is a Thursday as Tues 5th is a Bank Holiday

“Yuri Gagarin come to Chorlton”
Talk about the visit of the first Manchester in space to Manchester & the campaign to bring Gagarin’s statue to Manchester.
Gurbir Singh

Wed June 13th 7pm
Not a meeting, but a walk

Andy Simpson to lead a historical walk & talk on Beech Road
Jointly organised with South Manchester Cooperative Members Group


Tues July 3rd, 1.30pm-3pm (provisional)


Friends of Longford Park:
“History of Longford Park”

This year is the centenary of Longford Park & Hall

Tues Sep 4th, 1.30-3pm
“Still leaning on a lamppost” the life and times of Mr George Formby
Brian Hallworth

Picture; from the collection of Bernard Leach

Coming soon, .............. The Great Chorlton Burial Scandal

Tomorrow the story our local church authorities denied
Picture from the collection of Carolyn Willitts

Coming soon a new exhibition on Chorlton

An exciting exhibition staged by local artist Peter Topping and historian Andrew Simpson as part of the Big Green Festival. It aims to explore the changing nature of Beech Road over the last 170 years and compliments the debate on what we want of the area in the future.

Not near me ...... coming soon the story of a sewage works here in Chorlton

Hard to imagine a sewage works on the meadows or for that matter the need for one here on the banks of the Mersey. But from the 1870s onwards it became clear that the traditional way of dealing with our sewage could no longer work. Sometime in the mid 19th century the ditch running down from High Lane to the Row* had become so polluted that it had been covered with stone flags and by the 1880s some of our wells were contaminated. Later still the Alexandra Park Sewer which joined Chorlton Brook just south of Mauldeth Road was according to the Manchester Courier so full of refuse that it is said “the stream ran through Chorlton and faecal matter was often seen”†
All of which meant that we were in line for a sewage works. The story of its construction, the opposition and its final closures will be featured during the New Year
*the Row was renamed Beech Road
†The Manchester Courier October 1907, qouted in Ashworth, Geoffrey, The Lost Rivers of Manchester, Willow Publishing, 1987 p48

Coming soon two anniversaries ............. 500 years on

This year will mark the 500th anniversary of the building of St Clements Chapel and the row of buildings which is now the Horse & Jockey. The chapel was built by the Barlow family and was a simple wattle and daub construction on the site of the later church in the parish graveyard by the green. The building which now contains the Horse & Jockey can be dated to the early 16th century and part of the original wattle and daub wall was recently uncovered.
Picture; from the collection of Tony Walker, based on a drawing from Booker’s History of the Chapels of Didsbury and Chorlton published in 1857

The Great War: Localities and Regional Identities

I came across this advance notice

One day conference held in Manchester,
Wednesday 20 June 2012
The event will be held in Manchester Metropolitan University
As the centenary of the Great War approaches and it slips from first-hand experience, shelves on military history in high-street bookshops testify to the misty-eyed mythical appeal it continues to have for many. This conference forestalls the coming public history bonanza by concentrating on the under-researched responses to the crisis from the regions and localities of Britain. Was there a common national response to unprecedented events or did strong local and regional identities cause significant variations?

This day conference will bring together twenty papers from scholars working on regional issues in the Great War and its aftermath. Strands include:

• Recruiting, volunteering and conscription
• Local patriotisms
• Agriculture, food and rural life
• Commemoration and religion
• Community and home front

Speakers will include:
Keith Grieves, Nick Mansfield, Helen McCartney
Professors Chris Williams and Karen Hunt

More details and application form at http://www.mcrh.mmu.ac.uk/confer/gw/index.htm
Picture; taken from website origin Cambridge Collection, Cambridge Central Library

Manchester History Festivals more news

Two years ago there was plenty to see including,
Great Talks...
Centrepiece of the Festival were the exhibition spaces in the rich architectural surroundings of Manchester Town Hall, which were packed with dozens of enticing displays on Manchester's past from 70 local museums, galleries, cultural institutions, historical societies and community groups, not to mention 40 Manchester schools and the city's universities.

Guided Walks...
For many people, the best way to appreciate all that happened in Manchester is by exploring it for themselves. The Histories Festival featured a series of guided walks covering everything and everyone from John Dalton to Joy Division, with expeditions to uncover hidden stories in familiar locations across the city centre, shorter walks around the curiosities in and around the Town Hall and tours of the Ford Maddox Brown murals in the Great Hall.
The site can be reached at www.manchesterhistoriesfestival.org.uk/

The new festival website launches this week

The new festival website launches this week
• The Manchester Histories Festival runs for ten days from 24 February - 4 March 2012 following on from the first festival that was on for two days in 2009. It aims to celebrate the history and heritage of Manchester (Greater Manchester) and to enable people to engage and share their knowledge and stories.
• A wide range of individuals and organisations are getting involved with the festival from the key partners of University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and Renaissance, to People's History Museum, Gaskell House, Bolton Historical Association, Manchester Library Theatre, Band on the Wall and many more.
• Activities take place across the ten days in locations across Greater Manchester, covering a wide range of topics including football, music, textiles, literature, film and more.
Visit them at http://www.manchesterhistoriesfestival.org.uk/

Coming soon ........... stories of cinemas, tea rooms and dance halls

Picture; The Palace Cinema, Barlow Moor Road, A.H.Downes, May 1959 m09248 Courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Informationand Archives, Manchester City Council. Now a supermarket

Manchester Histories Festival

Now I missed this event two years ago so I am looking forward to attending the festival to be held from 24 February - 4 March 2012.
From the home page of the organisers, "On Saturday March 21st 2009, 4000 people came to the first Manchester Histories Festival (MHF) in Manchester Town Hall demonstrating an enthusiasm and interest showing the possibilities of this kind of collective event and of the wide popular appeal of discovering and celebrating our histories. All in all, about 1500 people helped make MHF and its educational projects, as well as those who came and enjoyed it.Headlining the Festival was a packed program of inspiring talks on Manchester's past, from top historians, including broadcasters Michael Wood and Tristram Hunt, Haçienda DJ Dave Haslam, academic Sheila Rowbotham, football journalist David Meek, Manchester Confidential's Jonathan Schofield and many others. Between them they covered everything from city life to science, and from football to factories."

The festival homepage can be reached at
http://www.manchesterhistoriesfestival.org.uk/