A Didsbury door …… February in Didsbury

Location; Stenner Lane, Didsbury

Picture; Didsbury door, 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

That church ……….. February in Didsbury

Location; Wilmslow Road, Didsbury

Picture; the former church, 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

 

Passing the church on Albert Hill Street ………………

It’s the one on Albert Hill Street, and was the Primitive Methodist Church.

In 1911 it proudly announced that its “Services were at 10.45 am and 6.30 pm on Wednesday’s and 7.30 pm on Sunday with a Sunday School”.

And for those who prefer it in colour, rather than "arty farty monochrome", here is the original colour version. Two for one ...... now that's an offer not to be turned down.

Location Didsbury









Picture; the one on Albert Hill Street, 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

So goodbye and thanks for those Art Nouveau church windows* …… or a little bit of Didsbury’s finest

I have never visited St. Aidan’s Presbyterian Church on Palatine Road and now I doubt I ever will.

It closes for good in late June after a decision by the congregation to merge with Christ Church South Manchester on Parrs Wood Road. **

And that means I will never get to see its stunning Art Nouveau windows which my friend Phil Portus tells me were by Walter Pearce who once lived on Lansdown Road in West Didsbury.

His is a fascinating story which involved the death of his parents when he was just ten, followed by a succession of institutions where he grew up, culminating with an apprenticeship as a painter and decorator.

After a spell working for different firms, he set up on his own and by 1899 described himself as a Stained Glass Artist.  

The year before he had begun teaching painting and decorating at the Manchester Municipal School of Technology and published “’Painting and Decorating’ which became the standard text book, running to seven editions”.*** 

At this point if you want more follow the link to the article in Architects of Greater Manchester.

And never one to steal other’s research rather than describe the windows which he created in 1901 for the church I suggest you go to the Didsbury United Reformed Churches site and read the history along with some pictures of those windows.

For now, I will thank Phil for alerting me to both the windows and the closure as well as his own fine pictures of Mr. Pearce’s work.

And perhaps all is not lost as the congregation comments, "The  church building is Grade 2 listed having some beautiful stained glass windows so when the church is able to re-open we hope you will come to see them".

I hope so.

Location; Palatine Road, Didsbury

Pictures; courtesy of Phil Portus, 2023

*With apologies to Douglas Adams and his wonderful book So long, thanks for all the fish, 1984

**Didsbury United Reform Church,  https://didsburyurc.org.uk/

***Walter John Pearce, Architects of Greater Manchester, https://manchestervictorianarchitects.org.uk/index.php/architects/walter-j-pearce

****Didsbury United Reform Church, About Us, https://didsburyurc.org.uk/about-2/

The Church ……… February in Didsbury

 Where else would you go on a grey day which promised little?

That said a heap of runners were making their way back from a jaunt along the River and opposite the Parsonage was preparing for another Saturday morning Art class.

But the church and the surrounding graveyard was empty.

Location; Church of St James, Stenner Lane, Didsbury

Picture; Church of St James, 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

A house in Didsbury, that brewer from Hulme and a new church ....... a story from Chris O'Connor

Following on from the recent blog on William Roberts, a brewer from Hulme, I had the honour of being asked to write the follow up blog based on some research I had been doing recently on the road. 

Oaks Farm, Christ Church Avenue, Darley Avenue, 1888

I live on Manor Drive in Chorlton.

Andrew had already unearthed a lot of information on William, but some further research was needed to determine where he lived in Didsbury and which church he offered to build.

The entrance to Manor Drive is just behind St Ambrose Church on Princess Parkway.

Before boundary and post code changes, it was previously in West Didsbury but now firmly resides in M21.

The origins of Manor Drive (original name Broxton Road) were a row of 4 farm cottages on what was called Oaks Farm.

Oaks Farm consisted of a few fields, some farm buildings and a large farmhouse on the corner of Darley Avenue and Christ Church Avenue.

As you can see on the map from 1888, Christ Church can be seen across the road from Oaks Farmhouse.

Further research on the christchurchdidsbury.org.uk website led me to some more information about our William Roberts. It reads “The Church was a gift to the community from Mr. William Roberts of Darleydale, Derbyshire”.

It also goes onto say “In the 1870s he employed 62 men and lived at Oaks Farm which occupied the site which is now St. Ambrose’s Church”.

Aerial View, 1933 

The Oaks farmhouse was still around 1933, as can be seen in this aerial view of Princess Parkway.
 Aerial Views, 1933

 Oaks Farmhouse and Christ Church, 1933

Quite clearly from the zoomed up version of the aerial view, we can see Oaks Farmhouse overlooking Christ Church. This fact is further confirmed on christchurchdidsbury.org.uk “At this point Mr. Roberts offered to build a church and rectory at his own expense and insisted on the present site, the corner of Darley Avenue and Princess Road (rumour has it that he wanted to see the church from his home!).

Oaks Farmhouse and Christ Church, 1933

 In 1881 he was still living on the Chorlton/Didsbury boarder and would have watched the building of the Church and Rectory.”

So, it seems like our Brewer, William Roberts in fact lived in West Didsbury and built Christ Church.

I’ve found further connections between Manor Drive and Oaks farm to other drinks manufacturers’ from Manchester….but we’ll leave that information for the next blog 😉

Chris O’Connor © 2020

Location: West Didsbury and Chorlton.

Pictures:  Oaks Farm, Christ Church Avenue, Darley Avenue, 1888, from OS Six Inch map, courtesy of National Library of Scotland, Aerial views, 1933 N. S Roberts m67695, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

Ivy Cottage ……………… doing the essential walk and making it historic .... no. 14

Now I like Barbarella’s picture of the entrance to Ivy Cottage, on Barlow Moor Road.

The entrance, 2020

And as you do I went looking for its story.

It appears in the 1911 directory for Manchester and Salford as “Ivy Cottage Mission Hall”, and one source offers a date of 1901 for the establishment of this Evangelical place of worship.

The church, 2020

Strangely I have not found any other reference to it.

I vaguely remember doing some research years back, and came across an account of a Didsbury resident holding services in his own house on Barlow Moor Road, which was called Ivy Cottage.

And the historic records confirm that a James Green was living at 18 Barlow Moor Road in 1901 which was just north of Pine Road.

He described himself as a “day gardener”, was 58, from Bramhall, and shared the cottage with his wife, Mary, two daughters, and a Mr. Joseph Benson.
Two years and the directory lists the Mission Hall alongside the Green’s cottage.

Mission Hall, date unknown

They are still there in 1911, in what was an eight roomed property, which they were now sharing with one of their daughters and her husband.

All of which is fine, but a tad confusing as Ivy Cottage Church id on the other side of the road.

So, I suspect that at some point between 1911, and 1933 when a hall appears on the OS map for that year, the present hall was constructed on the opposite side of Barlow Moor Road.
Well we shall see.

Location; Didsbury

Pictures; Walking Barlow Moor Road, 2020, from the collection of Barbarella Bonvento

Always explore properly …… Parkfield Road and Didsbury United Reformed Church

Now it’s a simple lesson, but one I don’t always follow through, which is …… never stay on the main roads, always wander off and you will be amazed at what you find.

It is an idea I used to adhere to, and back in the 1970s got to know much of the city by just turning off the big busy street and exploring the smaller often much more interesting ones.

But I don’t do it as often as I should, and so when Barbarella sent over this picture of a church I was totally stumped.

Of course, residents of West Didsbury will know it well, but I didn’t, and it was only when Barbarella said it was almost opposite the synagogue I knew where to look. 

It is Didsbury United Reformed Church, or as it once was St Aiden’s Presbyterian Church, and it is one I have passed countless times, but only from Palatine Road.

And I have to admit I have at times thought it odd, given what looks to be a small footprint facing Palatine Road, but then as I now know it extends down Parkfield Road.

So, there you are.

Location; West Didsbury

Picture; Didsbury United Reformed Church, 2020, from the collection of Barbarella Bonvento

A new history book for Disbury ……….. tell your story of where you live

Now the last book on the history of Didsbury came out in 2013, and so it is time for a new one.

But this one will be different, because instead of writing a “general history” which has been done, not once but four times, the latest will focus on Didsbury’s places of worship and will not just be restricted to a history of the buildings but will include the stories behind the doors.

And there will be plenty of those stories, each with an individual perspective which will add to the whole.

So the appeal is, for any one with a story, a memory or a picture, to get in touch, using the links on the poster.

The book, will be the second in the new series, devoted to places of worship which started with Chorlton - Churches, Chapels, Temples, A Synagogue and a Mosque, which was published earlier this month.

And for those intrigued with the first book, and with an eye to what the Didsbury book will look like, the launch of with Chorlton - Churches, Chapels, Temples, A Synagogue and a Mosque in on Monday December 3 at 7.30, in Chorlton Library, on Manchester Road.

Leaving me just to add that the last book written specifically about a Didsbury church was 165 years ago, so time for a new one.**

* History of Didsbury, Ivor Million, 1969, A New History of Didsbury, E. Woodall, T.F. France, 1976, Looking Back at Withington and Didsbury, Peter Helm, 1988, Didsbury Through Time, Peter Topping, Andrew Simpson, 2013

** A History of the Ancient Chapels of Didsbury and Chorlton, John Booker, 1853