Lawrence Beedle ... my friend

 I have been thinking of my friend Lawrence who died recently, and as you do I have been reflecting on over 40 years of friendship.

Lawrence

We shared an interest in history and particularly the Labour Party and the Co-op movement which for Lawrence translated into a deep knowledge which was a product of years of research.

Co-op Spring fashions, 1939

I always remember the time he compiled a complete collection of local election results for Chorlton stretching back to 1904 which also included all the MPs elected for our bit of south Manchester charting the complicated journey of boundary changes. 

Nor was it just the obscure.  

His knowledge and understanding of Co-op history was so detailed he could talk with authority on the founding of Co-operation in Manchester, the advance of the Manchester and Salford Equitable Co-op Society not to be confused with Marks and Spencer’s which carried the same initials on their shop fronts.  

And Lawrence could offer up the dates for the opening of the stores and exactly which Co-op store was best for buying furniture. 

Lawrence recounting when the Co-op went Self service, undated

Equally Lawrence was his blog on just one Co-op store … the one on Hardy Lane.   *

The blog ranged over all sorts of history from food to retail stamps, old 78 gramophone records and the story of Sanatogen that “Tonic and Restorative Wine”.

As he once said “before Lucozade there was Sanatogen”.

Now that blog is still live and is well worth a visit.

And all of this was done with joy as if the discovery and retelling was the fun.

And the fun also came in testing the past like the time he announced he was going to recreate some now forgotten war time dishes using the same rationed ingredients.

Orange curd, 1940

He started with the National Loaf from 1941 and accompanied it with Woolton Pie which consisted of diced cooked potatoes, cauliflower, carrots and turnips to which were added rolled oats chopped spring onions and vegetable stock which formed the gravy.  

Both the loaf and the pie were met with derision and even hostility during the war and so Lawrence just wanted to taste them himself and see what the fuss was all about.

I brought to the table a bowl of orange curd made from a 1940 recipe.  

We sat back and reflected that as vegetarians all three dishes were pretty dammed good, and the project was the perfect example of reenacting history.

And along the way we had touched a bit of the past even if it was a tad silly.

That silliness could also be the academic challenge, like the day he found a card of fuse wire, and challenged me to turn it into a history story, commenting,  “We’ve all got things at the back of a drawer. This must be 40 or 50 years old. Fuse wire in three different amperages. When did you last use fuse wire?

Winfield was the brand name for own label goods from Woolworths”. 

The Lawrence fuse wire challege

Of course there was so much more to him, from his days with Rabid Records, his fascination with the possibilities of the early internet, his contribution to the Unicorn Food Co-op, along with his impish sense of humour, his rabbit hole interests and much more.

So there you have it, my friend Lawrence.

Pictures; Lawrence, courtesy of Kathy his wife, and other images drawn from his blog, Hardy Lane Scrapbook

*Hardy Lane Scrapbook, https://hardylane.blogspot.com/

When Esperanto came to Manchester .... Esperanto Congress, Manchester 1936 .... another story from Lawrence Beedle

 What took my interest when I spotted this poster stamp was the exonym for Manchester. 

It’s definitely Manchester. There is the Town Hall (1877), in the centre the Central Library (1934), the Ship Canal & Docks (1894) plus a couple of 5 storey cotton mills with tall chimneys. The other buildings look like stylised interpretations of the new Sunlight House (1932) and the Midland Bank building on King Street (1935). But I maybe just be imagining that. 

The stamp is approximately 5cm x 7cm. Not an official postage stamp but what is called by philatelists a Cinderella. Stamps affixed to letters for advertisement or propaganda and numerous other reasons like charity, Christmas, fund raising, private mail delivery service, etc. 

These are collected and traded just like real stamps with prices ranging from worthless to hundreds of pounds. This one has a price tag of nearly £5. I have not found who issued them, how many, or the country of origin.

The event promoted was a six day Esperanto Congress in Manchester commencing Sunday 2nd August 1936. Not the annual world conference, that was scheduled for Vienna, but one under auspices of SAT - Sennacieca Associo Tutmonda, translated as Worldwide Non-National Association. A left-wing organisation that attracted trade unionists, workers and socialists.

It was held at the large Co-Operative Hall, Downing Street, Ardwick. That was owned by the Manchester & Salford Equitable Society, and was the venue for the first annual Labour Party Conference back in February 1900. 

Newspaper reports state 200 delegates from 16 countries attended. The whole area was redeveloped in the 1970’s but there will be people who remember the stores and the hall.

The event attracted official attention. There was a civic reception at the Town Hall, fraternal greetings from Sir Walter Citrine of the TUC, and special postmarks from the Post Office. The BBC presented a short programme on the radio ‘Say it in Esperanto’ with some of the delegates.

In these modern times Esperanto is still being studied, spoken and written. There are Apps for your smart phone including Duolingo and Google Translate. Radio China International broadcasts an hour long radio programme in Esperanto on shortwave. SAT still have an annual congress and the 94th one was scheduled for Moscow this year.

Location; Manchester, 1936

Picture; The Esperanto Stamp, 1936, courtesy of Lawrence Beedle

Ghost signs in the sky

Well less in the sky and more accurately in Didsbury. 

It is one that you can easily miss, as my old friend Lawrence acknowledged today when he sent this picture over, adding, “Can’t believe I’ve never spotted this ghost sign in Didsbury before. It’s at everyone’s favourite little street Warbuton Street. 

Think it says “R Oldfield Coal Agent & Dealer”. Can’t remember if you’ve written about this sign before”.

And I have to confess that while the sign features as a picture back in a story in 2021, I never actually wrote about it.

So here it is again, and despite a first trawl of the records I can’t find a reference to R. Oldfield in either the late 19th or early 20th century, but I travel in hope that someone will.

The location does make perfect sense given that at the end of the road there were the coal yards of the railway and other known coal merchants.

For those who don’t know, ghost signs are the names of companies or products most of which no longer exist.  In a simpler age they were painted or picked out in coloured brick on the sides of buildings and date back well into the past.

Today they are slowly fading out of history, because the painted signs are peeling and growing fainter by the day.  While others are just being painted over, which for another Didsbury ghost sign was a fate which very nearly happened.

So that is it, leaving me just to thank Lawrence and point you to the link on the blog for plenty of other “ghost stories”.*

Location; Didsbury

Picture; The Didsbury ghost sign, 2022, from the collection of Lawrence Beedle 

*The Ghost Sign, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Ghost%20Sign

What Lawrence found at the back of a drawer …… the fuse wire selection

A new series showcasing the things we put away and forgot.

Most of them will offer a window on how we used to live.

This is the one Lawrence found, who added “We’ve all got things at the back of a drawer. This must be 40 or 50 years old. Fuse wire in three different amperages. When did you last use fuse wire?

Winfield was the brand name for own label goods from Woolworths”. *

Location; at the back of the drawer

Picture; Fuse wire in three different amperages, 2021, from the collection of Lawrence Beedle

*The Woolworths Museum http://www.woolworthsmuseum.co.uk/

When the last Chorlton newsagent delivers the last newspaper …..

I always considered that the mark of civilization, was the newspaper delivered through the door and the pint of milk on the front step first thing in the morning, along with the reassuring sounds of the Home Service on the wireless.

Martin's, 2021

All of which dates me to that generation which grew up in the 1940s and 50s.

But as I am in danger of sliding into nostalgia I will stop, and  reflect on the passing of the newsagent.

Nor am I alone because my old friend Lawrence emailed with a picture of the one in the precinct, adding 

“You can count the number of newsagents in Chorlton on one hand but twenty years ago they were in every parade of shops. 

Another one about to disappear is Martins in Chorlton Mall. 

It was called Forbuoys for a while. I liked when it was trading as R S Mcoll named after the famous Scottish footballer. Supposedly Robert Smyth McColl used some of his signing on money from Newcastle United to invest in his younger brother’s Tom Naismith McColl’s shops”.

Etchell's, 2020

I doubt that any newsagent made much money from selling papers, they were just the loss leaders, with the real money coming from sweets, tobacco and a range of other things including in some cases a private lending library, where books could be borrowed for a small fee.

We can all call up reasons for the demise of the newsagent, from the relentless dominance of news by other means, be it online platforms, 24 hour rolling news on the television and radio or the move by supermarkets to add newspapers to the countless variety of things they sell.

Mr. Nixon's shop, 1911

So that is it ………. fewer of us have bothered to heed the message, “use it or lose it”, leaving us on Beech Road, with just the one traditional newsagent and other parts of Chorlton with none.

Other than to say in 1911 there 492 newsagents across the city, while here in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, we had four who were up with the lark selling all the news that was fit to read, and much I guess that wasn't.

They were Lionel Nixon, 44 Beech Road, Robert Sowerbutts, 105 Manchester Road, Walter Tole, 65 Whitelow Road,and Robert Greig Wilson, 64 Sandy Lane.

To which over the rest of that century there were more. 

Location; Chorlton

Picture; Martins, 2021, from the collection of Lawrence Beedle, Etchell's, 2020, from the collection of  Andrew Simpson, and Mr. Nixon's shop, 1911, courtesy of Rita Bishop

Ghost signs on Beech Road ..............

A little bit of the past came out into the sunlight on Beech Road this week.

I have to admit l missed it but Lawrence clocked it.

And the clue to what was sold in the shop is there in the ghost sign.

That said you have to have lived on Beech Road over a decade ago to have bought some stamps or sent a parcel by recorded delivery and picked up a birthday card for good measure.

I will have to go back and check because my memory has played me false and l can't  now remember exactly when the Post office closed. Since then it has traded under a number of names, from Pillar Box, Melanie Jones, and Love Lucy.

I can't remember B & J McLaughlin, but someone will.

In 1969 it was run by Joseph Hartley who was listed as "stationers & post office", with a separate listing "Post & M.O. Office".

And no sooner had I posted the story, and Marilyn Clough commented, "the Hartley's ran it in the 1950s and 60s I lived on Beech Road in the 50s. I was friends as a child with their son Michael".

Location; Chorlton

Picture; ghost signs on Beech Road, 2021, from the collection of Lawrence Beedle

Chorlton Champs of Lancs .......... from Lawrence Beedle

When Chorlton were the champions of Lancashire. 

Lancashire Amateur Cup, 1893

You have to go back a hundred and ten years to the muddy fields of football when this happened. As the Athletic News & Cyclists' Journal published on their front page “the honour of being the strongest amateur team in the county may this year, for the first time be justly claimed by a Manchester team, Chorlton-cum-Hardy” - Monday 6th May 1907.

That year Chorlton-cum-Hardy won the Lancashire Amateur Cup, a Lancashire Amateur League title and a League Cup. Back then County Cups were taken seriously even by the big clubs and players with amateur status were in the same teams as the maximum wage restricted professionals of City, United, Everton, etc.

Let's see how Chorlton reached the final of the Lancashire Amateur Cup. It took four rounds seeing off Marine 2-0, Heaton Moor (away) 2-1, Fleetwood Amateurs 3-1, and a derby semi-final game against Whalley Range (away) 3-1. This set up the final tie against the favourites Manchester University on Saturday 6th April 1907. It was to be played at a neutral venue and the Giant Axe ground in Lancaster was chosen.

The weather was windy with heavy rain. Those who attended might have witnessed the only goal just before the interval. A player called Wedge “took the ball on the bounce and with a terrific drive shot into the net, well out of reach of Knott”. Chorlton-cum-Hardy won. T. Laithwaite of the Lancashire FA presented the prestigious trophy to R . J. Stephenson, the captain. The latter was considered one of the best amateur centre forwards and had played numerous times for the Northern Nomads including the match against the Corinthians at Goodison Park. The receipts for the final were £19. 18s. 3d. (that's £19.91 in decimal), a sum considered low by the newspapers.

These amateur cup finals usually incurred losses for the Lancashire FA.

Lancashire Amateur Cup Final, 1909 Preston Winckley v Smithhills

Chorlton-cum-Hardy FC then resumed their remaining Lancashire Amateur League games. It was divided into a Manchester Section and a Liverpool section of ten teams each. Chorlton led the former Section with Whalley Range only two points behind with a game in hand. It was two points for a win and it all came down to the final match between the two teams. The fixture was arranged for a Thursday evening on 18th April 1907 with a 6pm kick off. Whoever won would be champions. There is no match report but the result was Chorlton-cum-Hardy 2 Whalley Range 1.

Chorlton-cum-Hardy P18 W13 L3 D2 F42 A22 Pts 28
Whalley Range P18 W12 L5 D1 F41 A22 Pts 25
Heaton Chapel P18 W11 L4 D3 F44 A26 Pts 25

To complete the season a new Lancashire Amateur League Cup had been instituted. The champions of Manchester would play the champions of the Liverpool Section. That was Southport Trinity Old Boys, a team that had only lost two league games in two seasons.

Detail from the 1909 Cup Final

Both teams met at Springfield Park, Wigan on another wet and windy Saturday afternoon on the 27th April 1907. Unfortunately Southport were soon reduced to ten men when T. Mawdsley the centre half retired from the match with an injured knee.

The match ended goalless at full time and Southport obviously declined to play any extra time. So a replay was arranged and by a toss of the coin Southport was the choice of venue.

So on the following Tuesday 30th April the teams met at the Southport Central Ground.

There are brief match reports. “Winning the toss the Mancunians played with the wind at their backs in the first half. From a melee in front of Dent, the Trinity custodian, Stephenson netted the ball. This was all the scoring during the game, which only lasted eighty minutes.” Why the match was ten minutes short with J.T. Howcroft, a well known referee who officiated Football League games, we'll never know but apparently time keeping of matches back then was not a precision.

Detail from the 1909 Cup Final

Anyway, Chorlton-cum-Hardy would have returned on the train that night collecting their third silver cup in a month.

Forward to present times. Amateur status was ended by the F.A in 1974 though the name is still used and the ethos prevails. Chorlton-cum-Hardy FC are no more but turned out teams until 1939 with lesser success. Whalley Range AFC was founded in 1900 and keep the spirit of playing for the love of the game alive at their Kings Road ground.

They are in the Lancashire & Cheshire Amateur Football League and still enter a Lancashire FA competition. Marine, founded 1894, have their home in Crosby and are in level 7 of the football pyramid (that's six tiers below the Premier League). Manchester University still play the Association game. The Giant Axe grounds which once held agricultural shows, athletics, cycling and other sports are next to Lancaster railway station but Springfield Park, Wigan which older readers will remember as the home of both rugby and soccer is now under bricks and mortar. The Lancashire Amateur League, formed 1899 is still going strong with six divisions, 32 clubs fielding 71 teams but none from Manchester.

Detail from the 1909 Cup Final

Lawrence Beedle © 2017










Pictures; Lancashire Amateur Cup inaugurated 1893 from The History of the Lancashire FA book published 1928. and Lancashire Amateur Cup Final 1909 Preston Winckley v Smithhills. Sports photography was very rare with the cumbersome cameras and glass negatives but it gives the flavour of the football conditions of the period.