From Radium Street to North Wales and back via [Little] Italy .... more from Anthony Hewitt

Radium Street late German Street and in particular, British Road Services Parcels with their fleet of green vans, hold some fond memories for me, a lad born in Cheshire and raised in Chorlton-cum-Hardy. 

Ancoats, Radium Street, 1962

BRS, or Sutton’s as they were commonly known, were a family firm to me and others since sons often followed in the footsteps of their fathers into work as drivers or bank staff. My use of the term bank has more in common with canals and rivers than with money and referred to the warehouse floors, which were raised above the height of railway station platforms for ease of moving parcels to and from vans or trailers. 

The BRS Parcels building had occupied the entire block bounded by Radium Street, Loom Street, Poland Street and George Leigh Street. Within the large entrance archway, there had been a cobbled road wide enough for 2 motor vans to park side-by-side. In the days of horse vans and trailers, which had been far more manoeuvrable, direct access from either loading bank would have been easily arranged.

The loading banks had stretched almost the full length on both sides of the roadway and by the 1950s had been connected by a drawbridge, located approximately half-way, and which bridge had facilitated direct access to vans and trailers. Access from the road to the loading banks had been via wooden ramps, which after a short landing space on the loading bank, the wooden slopes continued to reach the stables on the upper floor. Those wooden ramps had been fitted with wood laths or strips laid across at regular intervals, which had assisted horses climbing up to, or descending from, their stables. My exploration of the upper floors, as a child visitor one Saturday morning in the early 1950s had satisfied an inquisitive mind that there had indeed been stables and horses up there. – and with some straw remaining scattered across the floor as proof. 

Ancoats, Naval Street, transport warehouses, 1962

The loading bank facing onto the narrow Loom Street had loading bay doors for lorries and vans parked in the road outside. Originally built for use with horse-drawn trailers, these had to wait demolition of the terraced back-to-back houses located on Loom Street and Naval Street before access by rigid chassis motor lorries and trailers would become possible. Both of the loading banks had been sub-divided by wood partitions labelled for other BRS Parcels depots and the main trunk sorting depots. On the Loom Street side those partitioned areas had corresponded to the adjacent loading bay doors allocations.

The offices had been located immediately to the right of the road entrance off Radium Street, beside Loom Street, although the toilet facilities had not been so conveniently located (for the office staff) being halfway along the opposite loading bank.

Ancoats, 11A Radium Street, 1939 Register 

Facing the offices across the cobbled roadway was the former home to Sutton’s Ostler or in modern parlance, Horse-keeper, officially known as 11A Radium Street. The 1939 Register records the occupant of the home as Edward Nield, Horse-keeper, Sutton. Edward had lived in that home with his disabled wife, Margaret, and their unmarried daughter Mary.

Drivers at Suttons had been divided between 2 groups, for local and long-distance trips. One of those trips would take a trailer loaded with parcels for London to a transport café on the A45 near Daventry where the drivers would stop for rest and refreshment. Whilst there, he (there were no lady drivers) would meet with a driver bringing a similar load from London, and they would exchange their trailers then return to their home depot. Local trips would be around Manchester area and as far as Warrington, for example. 

Ancoats, Radium Street, Former Site of BRS Parcels, 2013

BRS Parcels had been established as a consequence of the nationalisation of road transport in 1948. Pickfords, the removals and storage company had also been nationalised at the same time. A decision had seen BRS Parcels become part of National Freight Corporation (NFC) in 1969, and which event resulted in closure of the Radium Street depot, followed by demolition of the buildings at a date not yet known to me. The site of BRS Parcels is now occupied by single-storey industrial units. BRS Parcels undertook a journey into oblivion via NFC, Roadline and Lynx Express to disappear as part of United Parcels Services (UPS).

Prior to nationalisation, Pickfords, Sutton & Co., and Carter Patterson (located at Mayfield Station) had been owned by the ‘Big Four’ railway companies, LMSR, LNER, GWR and SR*.

The ‘Big Four’ had acquired the companies from Hays Wharf Cartage Co., in 1933*, which company had in their turn taken control of Pickfords Ltd in 1920, 2 years prior to my father starting work for Sutton & Co. Pickfords had merged with Sutton & Co., Manchester Parcels Delivery Company, Carter Patterson and London Parcels Delivery Company in 1912*. All the road transport companies had retained their original identities until nationalisation. That now leaves me an unanswered question. Who were Sutton & Co.?

Lewis’s 1788 Directory** has no listing for either person of firm in the name of Sutton but does record Matthew Pickford in business as a Carrier. Being mindful that road-mender Thomas Pickford*** had started his transport business in Adlington, Cheshire, as long ago as 1646, it seems that any attempt to research the origin of Sutton & Co., of Radium Street, Ancoats, is perhaps best left for a future story.

My father, Charles, had left Nelson Street school, aged 14, to start work at Sutton’s, as BRS Parcels were then known, as a Van Boy helping to collect and deliver parcels in Manchester. He had later worked as a Van Driver, according to my birth certificate, sometime thereafter, my Dad had started to work a permanent Night Shift as Bank Foreman. As my Dad only took his first driving lessons after retirement, I know that the van he had driven was one-horse power and had been fed and watered before he set off.

It was during the early 1950s that Dad took me to work with him on Saturday mornings. In the mid-1950s, I graduated to be an unofficial Van Boy helping my older brother, also named Charles, assisting with parcels deliveries in and around Warrington. My Dad – and my Mum had made an unfortunate mistake when they bought me a Meccano set for Christmas 1952. Their well-intentioned present led me astray and instead of following my big brother into the “family firm” as they had hoped, I started my career in engineering with British Railways.

Like most manual workers in the 1950s, my father’s wage packet would have been small, so together with his workmates had used means to ease their difficulties (for comparison, when I started work in 1963, skilled technical staff on the railway had been paid 254/- (£12.70p) per week (wages had then been accounted in shillings) weekly. Prior to the NHS medical care would often require some form of payment. BRS Parcels, and Sutton’s before them, had facilitated membership of the Hospital Saturday Fund, which cost less than 1/- (5p) per week. Another method had involved a Christmas Club, known colloquially as the Diddl’em, which required a weekly contribution starting in January each year. Each week my Dad would pay a different amount, the first week One Farthing would be paid, the second week One Half-Penny, the third week One Penny, after which the amount increased every week until December, when my Dad could take his savings back to fund Christmas Dinner and presents.

Located in the heart of Little Italy, Suttons / BRS parcels had been very much a part of the community. Every year on Whit Sunday, the congregation of St Michael’s Church had joined in a procession of their faith through the streets, which is still held to this day and known by all and sundry as “The Italians.” One year, I had been privileged to watch the parade from high up in Victoria Buildings, more commonly known as ‘The Dwellings’. Whilst my memories of the pipe bands, banners, children in white shirts or dresses and adults in traditional Italian clothes are still fresh, quite who had lived in the flat and their possible connections to my father have long ago been lost / forgotten in the mists of time or perhaps never known to me.

Pantasaph Monastery, Souvenir Prayer Book, 1958

In 1958, my father had taken my younger brother and I on a coach trip to visit Holywell and Pantasaph Monastery in North Wales, from which visit I still have my souvenir prayer book. It is only in last few years that I have read Manchester’s Little Italy**** and information that they held an annual pilgrimage to the same places. That is, for me, evidence of early connections between my family, the Italian community of Ancoats, and continuing throughout my career and their global diaspora, however, tenuous any such links might be.

My father had achieved a feat that I could not even contemplate as a possibility in my career. Upon his retirement from BRS Parcels in 1973, my father had completed 51 years of service at Sutton & Co. / BRS Parcels. My father, Charles Hewitt, may be identified in his retirement photograph by noting a red mark below his feet.

Ancoats, Naval Street, BRS Parcels, Charles Hewitt Retirement, 1973

Photographs:courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, 

Ancoats, Radium Street, T. Brooks, 1962, Manchester Libraries, m10531: https://images.manchester.gov.uk/web/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=45255&reftable=ecatalogue&refirn=8260

Ancoats, Naval Street, transport warehouses, T. Brooks, 1962, Manchester Libraries, m10306:

https://images.manchester.gov.uk/web/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=45029&reftable=ecatalogue&refirn=7997 

Pantasaph Monastery, Souvenir Prayer Book, 1958, John Anthony Hewitt Collection

Ancoats, Naval Street, BRS Parcels, Charles Hewitt Retirement, 1973, John Anthony Hewitt Collection

Ancoats, Radium Street, Former Site of BRS Parcels, 2013, John Anthony Hewitt Collection

Census:

Ancoats, 11A Radium Street, 1939 Register [Extract], Find My Past:

https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=TNA/R39/4530/4530D/010&parentid=TNA/R39/4530/4530D/010/01 

References:

* Pickfords; Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History: www.gracesguide.co.uk/pickfords 

** Manchester and Salford Directory 1788, Lewis’s Manchester Directory for 1788, reprinted / republished by Neil Richardson, Radcliffe, Manchester

*** The History of Pickfords: www.pickfords.co.uk/pickfords-history 

**** Manchester’s Little Italy, Anthony Rea, printed / published by Neil Richardson, Radcliffe, Manchester

Roby Street – Manchester’s Other Infirmary …. a story from Anthony Hewitt

Recently as part of my genealogy research, I had received a copy of the Death Certificate* from the GRO# for a family member who had died at Roby Street Infirmary, Manchester. 

My immediate reaction was to question the location as Roby Street Infirmary was a place that I had never known. My quest to discover more had started.

William Hughes, 68, had been crossing City Road, Hulme, near his home, on the evening of Monday, 8th March 1943 when he was run down by a motor vehicle. 

He had been taken to Roby Street Infirmary, where he had died from his injuries.

Extract from Death Certificate for William Hughes, Columns 1, 6 & 7

Roby Street runs parallel to and between Piccadilly and Aytoun Street and the Infirmary had occupied an entire block between those two roads.

The photograph shows the rear elevation of Roby Street Infirmary in 1940, which faced onto Aytoun Street, which at the time of construction was not the major artery that it is today and had ended at the Rochdale Canal.

1922 OS 25” Map of Piccadilly Area of Manchester [NLS]

Roby Street Infirmary, Rear Entrances, Aytoun Street, 1940

The site of the infirmary had previously been occupied by the Grosvenor Street Chapel on Roby Street, and from 1901 by Roby Sunday School on Aytoun Street, named after William Roby, a former minister. The Sunday School only needed and had occupied only two upper floors of the building. 

Not only was the ground floor unnecessary but behind those intriguing, trellised window openings lay a dark secret.

An extract from Godfrey’s 1849 Map, clearly shows Roby Sunday School located on Aytoun Street and Grosvenor Street Chapel on Roby Street, separated by Chapel Yard, occupied the site that became Roby Street Infirmary. 

Roby Sunday School, Aytoun Street, 1901

Chapel Yard was a burial ground that reached as far as Aytoun Street**. 

It is reasonable to assume that the presence of those graves had prevented a ground floor in Roby Sunday School, except for that part needed by the stairs.

This raises the question of when those buildings had been demolished and the infirmary was built, and by whom. 

The question of what had happened to the remains of the unfortunates who had been laid to rest therein is not known to the author. 

Extract from Godfrey’s 1849 Map of Piccadilly, Manchester

A temporary workhouse for 200 inmates had been located on Minshull Street, 1847-8*** with a fever hospital on Millgate but a clue or red herring, only time and research will tell.

For several weeks after writing this story I kept asking myself how it was possible that, as a schoolboy I had ridden top deck on a No. 94 bus along London Road and Piccadilly, but I could not remember Roby Street Infirmary. 

A fleeting glimpse of memory recalled a heart on a building at the far end of Gore Street and brought the National Blood Transfusion Service out from the mists of time.

It is not possible for me to be certain but in all probability Roby Street Infirmary had closed as a hospital and been repurposed as the Central Blood Bank for Manchester many years earlier than my memories had 

Today, the site is occupied by apartments in what looks like a repurposed building.

National Blood Transfusion Centre, Roby Street, 1963

…And quite possibly by a few restless souls too.

Photographs: courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, 

Roby Street Infirmary, Rear Entrances, Aytoun Street, 1940, Manchester Libraries, m75488 https://images.manchester.gov.uk/web/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=82579&reftable=ecatalogue&refirn=2149

Roby Sunday School, Aytoun Street, 1901, Manchester Libraries, m69114 https://images.manchester.gov.uk/web/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=54277&reftable=ecatalogue&refirn=23890

National Blood Transfusion Centre, Roby Street from Gore Street, 1963, W. Higham, Manchester Libraries, m01891 https://images.manchester.gov.uk/web/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=10004&reftable=ecatalogue&refirn=66785 

Maps:

1922 OS 25” Map of Aytoun Street Area of Manchester; National Library of Scotland

1849 Map of Piccadilly, Manchester, Sheet 29; Alan Godfrey; John Anthony Hewitt Collection.

References:

# GRO: HM Passport Office, General Register Office

* Death Certificate for William Hughes, GRO Ref. 1943-Q1, Manchester, Vol. 8d, Page 10; John Anthony Hewitt Collection.

** https://manchestervictorianarchitects.org.uk/buildings/roby-day-and-sunday-schools-aytoun-street-manchester 

*** http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Manchester/

A little bit of Victoria Railway Station in Southern Cemetery ………… Walkers Croft

Now, I have to confess the title is a little misleading, but its close enough.

If you wander down to Victoria Railway Station and head off to platform 1 there was this plaque.

Never one to waste words I will let the inscription say it all.

And will conclude with a thank you to John Anthony Hewitt who sent it over in a response to an earlier story by Tony Goulding on the memorials at the railway station.*

John Anthony added “There is another memorial plaque at Victoria Station, Andrew. The attached photograph was taken 30th March 2011 showing the plaque located on the fence at the end of platform”.

I will in time revisit Walkers Croft Cemetery, but the way the blog works, I bet someone will get there first.

That said there is some speculation that after the renovation to the station the sign is still there, to which John Anthony writes, "I think it is still there, but it was moved to platform 1. If my memory is correct, then it will be somewhat hidden from view by Greggs and the Arena footbridge lift. My 2011 photo shows it was on platform 2, erroneously mentioned as platform 1, now corrected. I will have a look next time passing through Victoria".

In the meantime I couldn’t resist a sidesway look at that old Music Hall favourite  "They're moving father's grave to build a sewer", which I know John Anthony will not only appreciate, but will be able to sing along to word perfect. **

Location; Victoria Railway Station

Pictures;  brass plaque, platform 1, Victoria Railway Station, 2011, from the collection of John Anthony Hewitt

* Victoria Station … another story from Tony Goulding https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/12/victoria-station-another-story-from.html

**They're moving father's grave to build a sewer

They're moving father's grave to build a sewer

They're moving it regardless of expense.

They're moving his remains to lay down nine-inch

drains

To irrigate some rich bloke's residence.

Now what's the use of having a religion?

If when you're dead you cannot get some peace

'Cause some society chap wants a pipeline to his

tank

And moves you from your place of rest and peace...

Now father in his life was not a quitter

And I'm sure that he'll not be a quitter now.

And in his winding sheet, he will haunt that privy

seat

And only let them go when he'll allow.

Now won't there be some bleedin' consternation,

And won't those city toffs begin to rave!

But it's no more than they deserve, 'cause they had

the bleedin' nerve

To muck about a British workman's grave.

Uncovering another corner of the city’s past …….

It is easy to forget the warren of little streets that exist underneath the great viaduct that carry trains in

and out of Piccadilly Railway Station.

Once upon a time they would have been home to hundreds of families who lived in the rows of terraced properties many of which were already showing their age before the railway came to Manchester.

As late as 1950 there were still plenty of them, stretching south from Fairfield Street down to Ardwick Cemetery.

But they have all gone.  Some were cleared away by the extension of the brick viaducts in the 19th century, and the rest from clearance programmes.

Some new social housing has taken their place around what is now Ardwick Park, but the rest of the land has been given over to industrial units and open space.

Decades ago I would wander this area, but I for all sorts of reasons I haven’t been back .

That said my interest was reignited by a bit of research on a group of houses that were located off Fairfield Street in a bend in the River Medlock.

They dated from around 1837, and clearly owed much to the coronation of the old Queen, because one block of 14 back to backs was called Victoria Terrace, and half of the fronted Coronation Square.

And as you do I was drawn in, so having found them on census returns and then the Rate Books,

I began a research project which led to a series of blog stories which ran their course.*

But then John Anthony set me going again, by sending over a series of pictures he took of Coronation Square today and the surrounding streets.

Look along Coronation Square, and the original stone wall  of the brewery yard which dates back to the 1840s  is still there.

Nor has there been any attempt to widen this very narrow street.

And that is true of some of the other streets. Made to seem all the smaller by the dominance of the railway viaducts.

But walk along them as John Anthony did and you can still be rewarded by golden finds, like the reappearance of the River Medlock which briefly comes out into the daylight by Hoyle Street.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; Top: Temperance Street, Hoyle Street Junction looking towards Ardwick Station; Centre: Coronation Square from North Western Street; Bottom: River Medlock from Temperance Street, from the collection of John Anthony Hewitt

*Fairfield Street, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Fairfield%20Street

Looking for Littleborough library … discovering gold, and a feat unequalled in over 100 years ... from John Anthony Hewitt

Littleborough is a pleasant semi-rural town, North-East of the economic giant that is Manchester. 

A former mill town with several former coal mines and quarries, Littleborough still has traditional high street shops that include butchers, artisan bakers and a smokeless fuel merchant. A newcomer to the area, I had moved to Wardle in 2018 from West Didsbury via India.

Hare Hill Gardens, Littleborough, July 26,2019

Just under a year ago, in July 2019, I had a thought to borrow a book from the local library, instead of traipsing by bus into nearby Rochdale, home to a library in the Borough Council’s ultra-modern showpiece Riverside building. No, instead with my face turned towards the East, I set off best foot forward down the hill into Littleborough, a short 20-25 minute walk away.

The first place I looked for the library was in Hare Hill Road, the town’s main shopping area, but asking the right person had me soon pointed in the right direction towards Hare Hill Park. On entering the park, I noticed a striking resemblance to a long, winding driveway to a big house, which is exactly what it turned out to be. Hare Hill Park, formerly the gardens / grounds of Hare Hill House are nothing short of magnificent, small though they may be in comparison with grander stately homes.

Hare Hill House, Littleborough 26 July 2019

Littleborough Library I discovered comfortably ensconced in a large Victorian home – Hare Hill House – and part of Hare Hill Park, like many other parks in other places, had been their gardens. A closer look suggested the large house appeared to be a community centre and museum with the actual library in a smaller annexe constructed behind the main house.

Hare Hill House had been built by Henry Newall, a merchant, and his wife, Maria Fenton, both from local families of high standing.

The family of Henry Newall can be traced back to the reign of Henry IV in the 14th Century through the records of the august body that is the College of Arms. Maria Fenton was also from a notable Lancashire family and the grand-daughter of John Fenton, who represented Rochdale as Whig (Liberal) Member of Parliament on two occasions. Henry Newall and Maria Fenton their raised ten children in Hare Hill House, one of whom would go on to find fame in their own right, but more of that later.

1893-1914 OS 25"  map, Hare Hill House Park & Park, Littleborough

A comparison of two maps, 1893 and 1914 shows the pace of change over a twenty year period, during which Hare Hill House became home to the Littleborough Urban District Council, who built the annexe that became a Free Library, and remains home to Littleborough Library to this day. Hare Hill woollen mills, at the foot of the garden, had been constructed circa 1840, owned by the Newall family and by 1860 had been bought by Littleborough Co-operative Society.* During the same 20- year period, Hare Hill Park had been extended to meet the extended Sale Road and a bandstand, which is still there today, was built. Other near neighbours were the town gas works, fire station and several reservoirs for the various mills.

Blue Plaque, Hare Hill House, Littleborough, 26 July 2019, J.A.Hewitt

A Blue Plaque was unveiled, Saturday 13th August 2016, at a ceremony organised by the Friends of Hare Hill House to commemorate the achievements of Sybil “Queenie” Fenton Newall, Olympic Gold Medal Winner, 1908.**

Sybil Fenton Newall, the eldest daughter of Henry Newall and Maria Fenton, was born in Hare Hill House, Littleborough, Tuesday, 17 October 1854.***

Sybil had moved home to reside in Cheltenham, where she became a member of the Cheltenham Archers in 1905, winning regional finals to qualify as a member of the British female archery team at the 1908 Olympic Games, London. Sport is no different to normal life and achievement of success requires hard work and a measure of good luck, both of which Queenie Newall possessed in London on that day in 1908 when taking Gold Medal in Women’s Archery. All the archery  contestants had been British because no other country had sent any female archers. Olympic favourite, Alice Legh, had chosen not to compete at London, preferring to save her strength for the Grand National only a week later, leaving Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Dod, sister of William Dod, Gold Medal Winner in Men’s Archery, as main rival to Queenie Newall. Lottie had won Wimbledon Ladies Singles 5 times, won Ladies Golf once, represented England at ice hockey and had achieved high standards at ice-skating and tobogganing. Trailing by 10 points at the end of the first day, Queenie Newall came from behind to beat Lottie Dod by 46 points with Beatrice Hill-Lowe taking the bronze medal. ****

The archery contest took place on Friday and Saturday, 17th July 1908, and on that final day Queenie Newall did not just win an Olympic Gold Medal, but also made history becoming the oldest female to win Gold at the age of 53 years 275 days.

The record set by a Lancashire Lass from Littleborough has remained unequalled to this day.

Sybil 'Queenie' Fenton Newall, 1908

Furthermore, her gold was the last medal won by a British female in
Archery until Alison Williamson won Bronze Medal in Athens, 2004, 96 years later.**

Sybil’s luck had run out at the Grand National Championship, held only a week later in Oxford, where she was heavily defeated (by 151 points) by the all-time greatest British female archer, Alice Legh, 23 times Champion. Undeterred, by defeat, Queenie went on to win the Grand National Championship twice, in 1911 and 1912, and only missed victory by the narrowest 3-point margin in 1914.

Queenie continued her competitive archery with Cheltenham Archers long after WW1, with her final score to be recorded in 1928. Sybil ‘Queenie’ Fenton Newall, Lancashire’s British Champion Archer Olympic Gold Medallist and record-breaker, born in Littleborough, died in Cheltenham 24 June 1929, aged 74 years.****

For me, this is not the end of the story, but just the first chapter as I have decided to do some more research to discover a little bit more about Sybil, a lady, who until 26th July 2019 was unknown to me, a lad born in faraway Cheshire and raised in the suburban district of Chorlton-cum-Hardy in nearly as far away South Manchester.

John Anthony Hewitt © 2020

Photographs:
Hare Hill Gardens, Littleborough, 26 July 2019, J. A. Hewitt, Personal Collection;
Hare Hill House, Littleborough, 26 July 2019, J. A. Hewitt, Personal Collection);
1893-1914 OS 25” Map, Hare Hill House & Park, Littleborough, 2 July 2020, National Library of Scotland;
Blue Plaque, Hare Hill House, Littleborough, 26 July 2019, J. A. Hewitt, Personal Collection;
Sybil ‘Queenie’ Fenton Newall, Olympic Gold Medal Winner, London, 1908, Archery at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Women's double National round, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archery_at_the_1908_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Women%27s_double_National_round#/media/File:Queenie_Newall.jpg

References:
* Littleborough’s History, Littleborough Co-operative Society of Industry - Local Mills it was involved in, Hare Hill Road Mill, https://www.littleboroughshistory.org/coopmills

** Littleborough honour record-breaking Olympian Sybil Fenton Newall, Rochdale Online, 8 August 2016, https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/104467/littleborough-honour-recordbreaking-olympian-sybil-fenton-newall

*** Newall, Sybil Fenton [Queenie] (1854–1929) James W. Bancroft https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/65168 [Extract] Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-65168

**** Queenie, Sybil Fenton Quenni Newall, Olympic Channel, https://www.olympicchannel.com/de/athletes/detail/sybil-fenton-quenni-newall/

***** Results (Extract from), Archery at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Women's double National round, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archery_at_the_1908_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Women%27s_double_National_round

Looking for Gibraltar in Manchester ........... a story by John Anthony Hewitt

Some years ago, November 2013, I had downloaded a photograph of Gibraltar from Facebook – I have forgotten who had posted it, but it has been re-posted recently. 

Gibraltar Back-to-Back Houses, 1877

This re-posting also reminded me that back in 2013 I had wandered around Manchester looking for any signs of Gibraltar. Being curious, I had wondered if any trace of Gibraltar could still be found in 21st century Manchester.

Two potentially useful pieces of information may be seen,  in that 1877 photograph, firstly the road passes under an archway, and the hand / horse cart is sitting astride what appears to be a gully pointing towards the centre of the archway.

The houses are very dilapidated and appear ready for demolition, but what is not apparent from the photograph, although very clear on Godfrey's 1849 Map, is that these were back-to-backs with the other houses fronting Gibraltar Court.

1849 Map of Gibraltar

The 1849 map shows Gibraltar ran between Mill Street / Walkers Yard through the fourth railway arch, counting from Scotland Bridge (Long Millgate – Red Bank), and Mill Hill.

A comparison with Laurent's 1793 map, shows Gibraltar mentioned as Mill Hill, which name had in all probability been changed to commemorate some military adventure.

Laurent, however, did not follow the common "North at the top" orientation in his map – North is towards the lower right of the map.

1793 Map of Mill Hill (Gibralatar

On the 1849 map the railway viaduct is seen to carry only two tracks, but as any visitor to Victoria Station will tell you, there are still six tracks heading towards Miles Platting, which means the viaduct had been widened  on at least three, possibly four, occasions.

The first group of photographs are a montage of views of the railway viaduct taken from Scotland, on the Red Bank side.

The final photograph in the montage is a railway arch, which appears to be the fourth arch, that was mentioned earlier in reference to Godfrey’s 1849 map of the area.

The final photograph in the montage is a railway arch, which appears to be the fourth arch, that was mentioned earlier in reference to Godfrey’s 1849 map of the area.

This arch would mark the line of route for the road known as Gibraltar. It is difficult to be certain because of the style of construction for widening the railway viaduct necessitated by the course of the River Irk, and the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway’s requirement for a turntable (shown on Godfrey’s 1915 map).

The small arch, shown alongside this arch in the upper left photograph, seems to mark the location of the former mill race shown on the 1849 map.

Scotland, 1966

These may be compared with the archive photograph of Scotland, taken in 1966, and showing the then new, but now-demolished, Victoria East power signal box on the railway viaduct.

Before leaving Scotland, a very informative photograph of Aspin Lane (formerly Long Millgate, previously Smithy Lane) was taken from the corner of Scotland and Red Bank looking across the River Irk towards Angel Meadow.

The most striking feature – apart from the anti-bridge-strike markings – is Scotland Bridge over the River Irk, marked by a very substantial beam crossing the unseen river high above the parapet wall.

Upstream, the River Irk later emerges from the railway viaduct, still on the Red Bank side, at the site of the former Union Bridge Iron Works.

Downstream, the Irk tumbles over the weir and disappears into a tunnel beneath Victoria Station only to re-emerge and be instantly swallowed up by the ravenous River Irwell.

Aspin Lane Bridge, 2013

The clean, red brick section of wall nearest the camera carries the Red Bank – Cheetham Hill Line, which formed part of the Monsall Loop avoiding Miles Platting. Beyond Scotland Bridge is a very dirty wall section, illuminated by a street lamp, and beyond that a further clean section of wall.

The underside of the bridge can be seen changing from light to dark to light again. This suggests at least three, possibly four, occasions on which the railway viaduct had been widened, and which would record the following expansions of facilities at Victoria Station:
• 1865: Additional bay platform tracks on the former Walkers Croft Cemetery with viaduct widening Angel Meadow side of River Irk;
• 1879: Construction of Victoria to Bury via Cheetham Hill and Heaton Park Railway and Monsall Loop Line with viaduct widening on Red Bank side of River Irk;
• 1884: Additional platforms on the site of the former Manchester Workhouse with viaduct widening on the Red Bank side of River Irk;
• 1904: Additional bay platforms above the River Irk with viaduct widening on the Angel Meadow side of River Irk.


Viaduct widening on the Red Bank side had necessitated eventual demolition of the Town Mill and Corn Mill and the loss of Mill Hill. On the Angel Meadow side, the two widenings provided additional terminal platforms 1-10 (now mostly demolished to leave platforms 1, 2 and Metrolink) and had resulted in demolition of Gibraltar, Gibraltar Court and some other properties.

The cumulative effect of all the viaduct widenings are shown on Godfrey's 1915 Map. The course of the River Irk below the railway viaduct may be seen as a dashed line on the map.

1915 Map of Gibraltar

Another item of interest shown beside Aspin Lane Bridge is an advance information sign for Millow Street Car Park. Walking through to Angel Meadow side of the railway, Millow Street can be found where Mill Street used to be (refer Godfrey's 1915 Map).

A photograph taken from the corner of Aspin Lane and Millow Street shows a cobbled street with embedded edge markers. Visible in the photograph are four railway arches, with the fourth bisected by a relatively old wall, which I have reason to believe follows the line of the gully seen in the old photograph of Gibraltar.

Gibralatar - Millow Street Car Park, 2013

The dilapidated houses shown in the archive photograph would have been on the other side of the wall.

The railway viaduct looks different because it is different, what can be seen is the newer widened section, as shown in the photograph of the bridge over Aspin Lane.

The photographs and narrative suggest that the ghost of Gibraltar does indeed live on in what is now Millow Street car Park. But, I may yet be proved wrong by others who, like me, had their curiosity aroused and determined to look and research our common history.

John Anthony Hewitt © 2020

Photographs:
Gibraltar Back-to-Back Houses, James Mudd, 1877, m80003, m00003 & m16875, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass 1849 Map of Gibraltar, 1849, Sheet 23 Manchester Victoria, Alan Godfrey Maps, Consett;
1793 Map of Mill Hill (Gibraltar), Laurent's 1793 Map of Manchester, Old House Books, Oxford;
Scotland Montage, 2013, J. A. Hewitt, Personal Collection;
Scotland, T. Brooks, 1966, m16875, Manchester Libraries;
Aspin Lane Bridge, 2013, J. A. Hewitt, Personal Collection;
1915 Map of Gibraltar, 1915, Lancashire Sheet 104.06 Manchester (NW) & Central Salford 1915, Alan Godfrey Maps, Consett;
Millow Street Car Park, 2013, J. A. Hewitt, Personal Collection.