Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 52 ............ the one beside the Police Station

Now you would be forgiven for thinking this was nothing more than the entrance to a lock up, but not so.

Maps from the late 19th and early 20th centuries show it as a road running into Salford Approach.

But it does seem to predate the Police Station and Salford Approach which were built and cut in the early 1880s and seems the start of what in 1849 was Harding’s Buildings, a shi

short stretch of which has survived as Harding Street

Location; Salford

Pictures; Chapel Street 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the area in 1900, from Gould’s Fire Insurance Maps, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ........... nu 35 walking along Greengate in the winter of 1849

Greengate in 1849

Now I don’t think there will be many pictures of Greengate in the winter of 1849.

All of which leaves me with a map and a street directory.

The map is self explanatory but street directories may need a bit of an explanation.

They were as they suggest a list of the people and businesses to be found on  the streets of Manchester and Salford.

They came out every year which means that you can track someone more closely than the census which was issued every ten years.

The downside is they only listed the householder missed out those who were deemed unimportant and by extension left out the small and mean back streets.

Greengate from 1 to 35, 1850

That said armed with the names of those householders, it is possible to go looking for them in the census returns from 1841 through to 1921 along with the 1939 Register and once found with a bit deft trawling it is possible to find the missing people and the missing streets.

All of which means that I think we may soon have a new series taking the story of lost and forgotten streets of Salford into the very homes of those who lived on Greengate and Chapel Street, and of course the neighbouring ones.

Greengate from 6 to 34, 1850

So for now I shall be a tad lazy and leave you with the map from 1849 and the first group of residents from the following year.

Now given that the list for 1850 will have been compiled in the winter of 1849 I think we can be confident that in our walk along Greengate we would have been able to meet George Hooley, hairdresser living at number 9 and Thomas Tower who served the pints at the Polytechnic Tavern opposite.

Picture; Greengate 1849, from the OS map of Manchester & Salford, 1844-49 courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ....... nu 37 Francis Street and that children's charity

Now Francis Street which is off Great Ducie Street is hardly likely to lift the heart of the casual tourist or I suspect anyone.

In the back yard off Francis Street, 1873

True there is a hotel on the corner but the rest stretching out to Charter Street and down to New Bridge Street to the south  is a car park.

And the rest is rather unpromising.

Walk along Francis Street as I did a couple of years ago and you come to a dead end having passed what was more open land and a warehouse which was up for sale.

Of course things may have changed and it is on my to do list to visit with a camera which neatly takes me to this photograph.

Part of the Refuges, circa 1882

It was taken in 1873 from the back yard of a children’s charity.

The charity was the  Manchester & Salford Boys’ & Girls’ Refuges which had been established in 1870 to provide a bed and a meal for destitute boys.

The charity quickly extended its work to include girls as well as boys,and  provide more permanent homes offering training for future careers along with holiday homes.

It also campaigned against some of the worst cases of child exploitation taking negligent parents to court and arguing against the practise of employing young children to sell matches on the streets of the twin cities.

And like other children’s charities it became involved in the migration of young people to Canada.

The organisation is now called the Together Trust, and it is still engaged in the primary role of helping young people.

So given how vital their work was then as now I thought I would offer up the detailed plans of their buildings on Francis Street.

The complex was part home and part industrial school but also included a gymnasium and classrooms given over to training for those who were migrated to Canada.

From 1870 till 1939 many organizations engaged in caring for young people migrated some to Canada and later Australia as well as other parts of the old British Empire.

More of the Refuges, circa 1882

The practice has come in for some criticism and also had its critics at the time and the Manchester & Salford charity stopped earlier than most.

That said there were success stories and these are contained in letters and reports held in the Trust’s archives some of which are regularly featured in their blog.*

Added to which the organization is engaged in some exciting work with local schools aimed at extending our understanding of their work both in the past and today.

This also includes help offered to those who may have had relatives in the care of the Trust and want to trace their story.

All of which brings me back to Francis Street where their main building was situated.

Location; Salford

Picture; the yard of the Manchester & Salford Refuges, 1873, courtesy of the Together Trust,  http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-together-trust.html and details of the buildings from Goads Fire Insurance maps, 1882-1901, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

*Getting down and dusty, the Together Trust, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 10 .......... under the arches of Bury Street and beyond

The short trip through the gloom of the railway arches brings you out on a stretch of Bury Road flanked by modern retail and residential properties and ends in a narrow alley.

Along the way you can wander off up one dead end or take the two streets off to the right which will bring you to Blackfriars Road.

Now I thought about digging deep into its history, but instead wonder what other people remember of the buildings, and the people which occupied Bury Street in the time before now.

And Alan Jennings has added, "Interesting, nothing much remains now of its former glory, 

It ran through to St Stephen's Street, when I was a child in the 1950s there were still a few pubs left, the Fox Tavern which we could see from our front door had by then become a common lodging house and there would be men hanging about outside, there was the Crown and Anchor which was still open as a pub, the Globe, and the Duke of York, and the Bird in Hand, 

Some buildings had been destroyed during the war, my memory fails me and I can't remember what else was there, I think that there were the Ironworks, and a Tatters yard, but I am not sure".

Location; Salford

Picture; Bury Street from Chapel Street, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Lost and forgotten Salford streets nu 9 ......... Mallett's Court and Greengate

Greengate, numbers 34-42, circa 1895

You won’t find Mallet’s Court nor for that matter the beer shop of Mrs Lucy Parton which occupied numbers 34 & 36 Greengate, or the home of Mr James Finn shopkeeper.

They were all there on this bit of Greengate in 1895.  Mrs Parton’s beer shop is there on the immediate right of the picture announced by the sign of the Flying Dutchman.

But already the row of houses next door are marked, for there is a sign announcing that they are to be sold, and just a few years later the site is empty and later still has become a garage for the Daimler Motor Company.

The Flying Scotsman, circa 1895

Mrs Parton however hung into 1909 but she too had vanished two years later and the pub was now a boarding house.

Now in time I will go looking for Mrs Parton along with Mr Finn and the other inhabitants both of this bit of Greengate and Mallet Court which led off to seven back to back properties.

And for those wanting to know exactly where we are on Greengate, had you stepped just one more down from the beer shop you would have been standing on the corner of Greengate and Gorton Street.

All a bit more helpful than the caption on the picture postcard which just said “Old Houses, Greengate Salford.”

Which just leaves me to ask if any one is passing this bit of Greengate to snap the corner with Gorton Street and send me the results.

Other than that I will offer up the detail of the area from Goad's Fire Insurance maps which show Gorton Street, Greengate and Mallet's Court.

Greengate, circa 1900

At the time no doubt Mrs Parton was still offering up beer to her customers.

And here I must give a thankyou to Alan Jennings who corrected me on the original story where I called her pub the Flying Scotsman.

In my defence I couldn't read the name, and the directories only list the place as a "beer shop" so I was pleased that Alan came in with, "Hi Andrew, not trying to be picky, but the pub was called the Flying Dutchman, not Flying Scotsman. 

It was named after the 1849 Derby winner, it closed in 1906 when Cornbrook brewery were awarded compensation for the licence.

In 1850 it was a whip makers shop, 2 years later it was the Flying Dutchman, tenanted by Henry Smith, later licensees included William Boswell in the 1860s, Sarah Hindle in the 1870s and Paul Parton in early 1900s. 

The brewery installed Thomas Carney in July 1905, 8 months later the police reported that the pub was still being used by thieves and other bad characters and so it was referred for compensation. Carney was at the Waterloo hotel before that."

Now that is not picky just a sound piece of historical correction and has set me off looking for the story of the Cornbrook brewery.

Please keep them coming Alan.

Location; Salford






Picture;“Old Houses, Greengate Salford, circa 1895, from the collection of Mrs Bishop and map from Goad's Fire Insurance Maps, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 8 .... Chapel Street

Now before anyone says anything I am quite well aware that Chapel Street is neither lost nor forgotten.

Anyone who has tried to cross the road from Trinity Church to the other side during the rush hour well testify to that.

But for JBS who sent this picture postcard on July 12 1905 at 3.30 pm Chapel Street as she experienced it has long gone.

She had arrived that morning “all safe ..... weather Beautiful, if I can I shall stay here till Wednesday providing I can find lodgings.”

I can’t be sure but given that the card was addressed to a Miss Smith of 78 Wellington Street, Batley, I think we can assume she was from Yorkshire.

And the rest as they is up to the curious to match her lost Chapel Street with ours today.

Location; Salford 3

Picture; Chapel Street, 1905, from the collection of Mrs Bishop

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 6 ............ Gravel Lane

Now I know that strictly speaking Gravel Lane is neither lost nor forgotten.

It runs from Blackfriars Road up to Greengate, but that first chunk is hidden underneath the railway viaducts which make it a tad foreboding.

But if you do wander into that dark cavern you will be rewarded by some fine cast iron pillars on the corner of Viaduct Street.

These support the original Liverpool and Manchester Railway’s track which was constructed in 1844 and while it was a substantial structure carrying four railway lines it was not yet the structure we know today.

Back in the late 1840s looking out from the north side of Trinity Church there was still a wide expanse of space beyond which were a  Rope Walk, a series of mills and foundries and a timber yard.

Gravel Lane, 1849

And a walk up Gravel Lane in 1849 would have taken you past the Methodist Chapel, a whole shed load of houses with access to some closed courts and Christ Church which stood between King Street and Queen Street.

All a little different today.

Location; Salford

Pictures; Gravel Lane, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the area in 1849, from the OS for Manchester and Salford, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 5 ............ what you find on Blackfriars Road

I am always fascinated by those narrow little passageways which hold the promise of all sorts of dark stories.

Passageway, 2016

Now this one has no name, and leads to Harding Street which today just gives access to a car park under the railway arches from Salford Approach.

So our little passageway seems hardly worth a second glance, but not so.

Go back to 1849 and it led to a closed court called Nightingale Square which in turn took you on to Harding’s Buildings which was the original Harding Street.

Here could be found 23 properties some of which were back to back and a whole warren of alleys on either side.

All were lost with the construction of the new railway viaduct and Exchange Station in 1884.

All of which just leaves me to go looking for the two buildings that stood on either side of our passage.

These were the Salford Library and Mechanic’s Institution to the left and The Royal Archer Public House to the right.

Now I am pretty sure there will be someone who can point me towards pictures of the Library and offer up rich stories of its contribution to Salford life.

In the same way I am also confident that The Royal Archer will reveal something of its past/

This I suspect will start with the names of some of the landords and if we are lucky a date for its opening.

It was there by 1849 and may well be much older than that.  In 1851 it was run by Margaret Horton and with a name we may be able to find out more.

Sadly Harding's Buildiings and Nightingale Square were not considered important enough for inclusion in the directories.

But Margaret Horton should be on the 1851 census and by following the streets from her pub it might be possible to come across both Harding's Buildings and Nightingale Square and in turn uncover the people who lived there.

We shall see.

To which Alan Jennings has added "You mention the Royal Archer, It can be traced back to about 1779 when Samuel Chantler opened an Alehouse called the Black Bull, In 1812 it was listed as the Robin Hood, occupied by Robert Armstrong, After Margaret Houghton the landlord was Thomas Callow in the 1860s. The pub stood on land owned by the Earl of Derby, and it was acquired by the Corporation when the new Blackfriars Road was being planned. In 1873, Thomas Sykes was the tenant and he applied to transfer the licence to a new Royal Archer Hotel which was being built on Lower Broughton Road, the transfer was eventually granted a few years later. I hope that this helps, Andrew."

Thank you Alan.

Location; Salford

Pictures; passageway on Blackfriars Road, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the area in 1849, from the OS for Manchester and Salford, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 4 ............ Caxton Street

Caxton Street is the one that runs from Chapel Street to the railway viaduct but once upon a time ran on as Union Street under the train tracks to Posey Street..

Now I say that but am well prepared to be corrected.

I should have crossed the road and followed Caxton Street up to the brick wall but I didn’t and so may have lost a clue.

Back in 1849 there were 76 properties strung out along Union Street

Location, Salford

Picture; Caxton Street, 2016, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Lost and forgotten Streets of Salford Nu 3 .......... Clowes Street

Of the threes streets that stretch from Chapel Street down to the river Clowes Street has fared the worst.

Clowes Street, 2016

True, at the bottom there are some new blocks of flats overlooking the Irwell but the rest is at present a plot of open land waiting development on one side and a car park on the other.

Back in 1850 there were a shed load of properties including some closed courts, the Barley Sheaf pub and the Eagle Foundry.

And the occupations of the street included, a book keeper, beer retailers, skewer maker, button turner, hat box maker and engineer along with a smallware manufacture and Stiffener.

That said not everyone seemed worthy of a mention on the street directory, and quite a few houses are not listed.

Added to which there is the fascinating fact that nine people are recorded at number 21.  All of were male and single.

And as I promised yesterday in the fullness of time I will go looking for the census returns to find out more about Peter Pennington, bookkeeper, Thomas Schofield , beer retailer, Henry Sutcliffe, button turner.

Clowes Street, 1849

Of course nothing stays the same, and that open space will be developed. I might even check out the planning applications to see what will take the place of those small back to backs and closed courts.

Location; Salford 3

Pictures; Clowes Street, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson and in 1849 from the OS for Manchester & Salford, 1842-49 courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ...................... nu 1 St Simon Street, a wireless and sixty earth rods

Now you can still walk along St Simon Street but it no longer follows the route that it did when it led from Blackfriars Street to the Anaconda Works of Frederick Smith and Co who were producing some pretty nifty things in brass at the beginning of the 20th century.

This I know because in Dad’s garden shed in Well Hall Road in south east London he had sixty brass Earth Roads still in their cardboard boxes.

The rods are 46 cms [18”] in length, are fluted and pointed at one end  with a screw and terminal cap at the other.

According to the description on the side of the box “A good Earth connection to a wireless receiver cannot be over emphasised.  It provides a definite relief from howling and mush.  It improves selectivity and volume.  

The Anaco S (registered) Earth Road is made by engineers who have specialised for over 50 years in the manufacture of electronic conductors....with the object of producing a connection giving the lowest possible earth resistance and to be entirely free from incipient corrosion of any type.  

The improvements produced by the use of this earth are permanent and no replacements are necessary.” 

So there you have it.  Our Dad at some point acquired sixty of these rods.  I have no idea why and we never got round to asking him.  I have no idea when he got them but there they were in 1994, having been manufactured I guess sometime in the early 1920s.

Of course some will have chapter and verse on both the date of the rods and the history of the Anaconda Works.

I know that they were Type W “would not crumple when driven into the ground” and the instructions  direct me to “ease the screw on terminal cap, insert the earth wire from set into bottom grove and tighten up screw to hold wire in good contact with rod.”

All I need now is the wireless .............. something dad didn’t have in the shed.

But like many of my generation I do on occasion refer to the “wireless” remember with fondness the Home Service and the Light Programme.

None of which of course helps with St Simon Street which at the beginning of the 20th century ran from Blackfriars hugging the south side of the river and ending at Springfield Lane.

Today it takes a different route and my bit of St Simon’s Street along with Frederick Smith & co’s Anaconda Works has gone.

Location; Salford

Pictures; box and earth rod circa 1920s, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ...... nu 28 Gore Street

It isn’t so much that Gore Street has been lost or even forgotten it is just that it has become another giant Salford car park.

And what were once Morris, Beck, Ridings and Bolton Streets have suffered the biggest indignity of now being relegated to car park entrances with only one still being marked with its name on the street map.

Also gone are Walker’s Place, Temple Place, Short Street, and Back Saxon Street along with three pubs and the Albert Bridge Brewery.

To be fair I have no idea of the state of the housing off Gore Street but I suspect they were not good.

Likewise at least one of the pubs had vanished by the 1890s leaving only the Griffin and the Red Lion on Chapel Street and the Egerton Arms Hotel on Gore Street.

And now only the Egerton is still serving pints.

As for the brewery, according to one source the brewery which stood in the shadow of the New Bailey Prison, was founded sometime before 1788,

“Accounts from the Ring O'Bells, Didsbury, show that the pub served Joule's beer in 1791 when two barrels of strong beer cost three pounds and sixteen shillings. The brewery document reproduced on the following page carries the warning ‘Barrels to be returned when empty being never sold’. By the 1840s the brewery on New Bailey Street had about 13,000 barrels in use.”  

The Joule family who had owned it from the beginning  put it up for auction in 1855 and although it was then owned by various brewers by 1868 the site was used for storage and was later redeveloped.

There is more but that would stray into a new series ............ the lost and forgotten breweries of Salford and that is for another day.

To which Alan Jennings has added, "A very interesting post, I worked just around the corner on Chapel StreetThe Egerton Arms was a great pub in the 1960s when it was run by Nan Freshette, and I was a regular customer, The cast from Coronation Street used the pub regularly and there was a beautiful full-length portrait of Pat Phoenix in evening dress on the wall, Peter Adamson who played Len Fairclough would stagger out very drunk, the pub itself has a long and fascinating history with the first license being granted in 1834, when the pub was rebuilt in 1897, it was announced that it had been rebuilt regardless of cost and that it had the ' Grandest concert room in Salford, but it also drew attention from the police who described the Egerton as a disorderly house".

Location; Salford

Picture; Gore Street, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*James Joule – Brewer and Man of Science, Brewery History,
http://www.breweryhistory.com/journal/archive/115/bh-115-002.htm

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 13 ............ the one they condemned in 1910

Now I am back with Barn Street which for a long time I couldn’t  find which is not surprising given that it was one of those tiny streets north of St Stephen’s church hemmed in by Rosamond Street to the west and Mottram’s brewery.

Barn Street, 1849

Added to which its inhabitants would not rate highly on any of those lists of the well do and influential of Salford.

In 1901 their occupations ranged over a variety of the unskilled and semi skilled occupations, including labourers, textile workers, a carter and a charwoman.

My own interest is simply that my friend Val’s mother was born there in 1904 and so as you do I went looking for it.

In total there were eleven houses, which were a mix of 4 and 2 roomed properties.

Val’s mother was born at number 14 which was one of the six which consisted of 4 rooms.

The remaining five were made up of just two rooms and in to these were crammed eighteen people when the enumerator called in the March of 1901 to compile the census.*

Barn Street, 1901

And it will be some of these that that the council had declared as unfit for human habitation nine years later.

The slight puzzle is that on both the 1849 and 1894 maps all the properties consisted of back to back houses which seems to preclude a set of four roomed ones.

But the eastern side backed onto another row which faced a closed court and it is just possible that at some time after 1894 these were knocked through to make larger properties.

There is no doubt that this enclosed court must have been a dire place to live.  It was entered by a narrow entry which ran alongside the wall of the brewery from Thomas Street and in the way of these things didn’t even warrant a name on any of the maps and certainly isn’t in the directories.

But the census returns offer up two possibilities one of which is Brewery Yard and the other Simpson’s Passage, and given the access to our court it might well have been Simpson’s Passage.

Barn Street, 1894

In 1901 the return lists just five properties which might be the ones on the eastern side leaving the ones opposite to have been converted from two into four rooms becoming ourproperties on Barn Street.

All a bit mystifying.

So I shall leave Barn Street with a reference to Mr and Mrs MacDonald who in the April of 1901 were living at number 14 Barn Street with their three children and a lodger in the four rooms.  Mr McDonald was a carter working for a building form and the lodger was an Albert Fernely of Salford who described himself as a “stocker of a stationary boiler."**

Now that boiler may or may not have belonged to Mottram’s Brewery but a search for Mr Mottram and his brewery seems the next port of call.

Location; Salford.

Pictures; Barn Street, 1849, from the OS for Manchester & Salford, 1842-49 and in 1894 from the OS for South Lancashire, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

*Simpson’s Passage, Enu 20 29-30, Greengate, Salford, Lancashire 1901

**Barn Street, Enu 20 11-12, Greengate, Salford, Lancashire 1901

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ........... nu 55 standing on Greengate with the help of Mr Goad

Now yesterday we were on Greengate in the winter of 1949 and today we have moved forward almost a full half century.

Of course by now there are a bank of photographs to call on to recreate what Greengate was like.

But instead I have fallen back on a map.

And it is a very unusual map in that its main purpose was to assist insurance companies.

“Goad’s fire insurance plans had a number of features that distinguished them from the available commercial maps, notably the Ordnance Survey town plans. 

First and most importantly, the plans were produced to meet the needs of a specific customer, the fire insurance companies, providing a range of information that would enable them to assess more accurately the risks associated with insuring properties. 

To that end the plans, surveyed on a scale of 40 feet to the inch, covered all properties in a town or city centre, recording information on the materials used in the construction of each building. 

This was achieved by means of a colour code (red: brick and stone; light blue: skylights on one/two storey buildings; purple: skylights on taller buildings; yellow: wooden buildings), a feature which gave the plans their distinctive appearance. 

Details were provided of the internal layout of buildings, particular attention being given to the construction and flammability of party walls, skylights, windows and doorways. 

Thus roofs were identified as slate, tile, metal, cement and felt with tar. The entrances in warehouses distinguished such features as hoists and the crane doors.”*

Now that is pretty impressive.

More so because the plans were regularly updated although instead of printing a new plan correction slips were produced and just pasted on the original section of the map.

All of which means that the original sheet became a multi-layered document and dating the map can be a bit difficult given that the first surveys were undertaken in 1886 and were still being issued in 1901.

That said they are a fascinating guide and just leaves me to trawl the directories to match the names on the maps with the street lists.

Picture; Greengate 1886-1901, from Goads Fire Insurance maps, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

*Introduction to Goads Fire Insurance Maps, Digital Archives Association

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ...... nu 46 Lamb Court

It was called Lamb Court and ran from Chapel Street past the chapel and joined Lamb Lane.

Location; Salford

Picture; Lamb Court, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ........... nu 25 a busy day on Chapel Street

I suppose it is pretty much the case that Chapel Street has always been a busy spot.

I don’t have a date but there maybe a clue in the Union flag fluttering from the building and the crowds which seem to suggest that something has either happened or about to.

Location; Salford






Picture; Chapel Street, date unknown, m77251, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 58 ................. Booth Street

Now Booth Street is just what you would expect of one of those twisty little streets off Chapel Street which make their way down to the river.

Unless you have business down there I doubt that you would give Booth Street a second glance.

Today there are a few apartments along the stretch and that is pretty much it.
Back in 1850 the street directory lists just five addresses, starting with Mary Farren, shopkeeper at number 5, George Lord, mechanic at number 12, Daniel Gaskil who was an overlooker at 20 and John Blomeley next door who also an overlooker and finally the firm of James Aspinal Turner & Co, cotton spinners.

There were plenty more properties along with a closed court and a timber yard, but none of the residents of these were worthy or wealthy enough to get a mention in the directory.

Booth Street, 1849

Of course the turnover of occupants in this bit of Salford would have been high and indeed just a year earlier at the bottom of Booth Street there was the Eagle Roller and Spindle Works who likewise is missing from the 1850 list of businesses.

Still there were always the pubs.  On the corner of Booth and Chapel Street there was the Punch Bowl, while back down on Barlow Croft you could have ordered a pint at the Lord Nelson , while heading in the opposite direction there was the Royal Oak and finally starting on the corner of Blackfriars Street there was the Saddle Inn and the Crown.

Now I suspect that both Mr Gaskil and Blomeley who lived on the west side of the street could have worked at James Aspinal Turner’s but it is just speculation as is the notion that they may have been regulars in the Punch Bowl.

But armed with their names I shall in time go looking for them on the census returns  and that will also offer up the names and lives of some of the others who lived on Booth Street.

And that is all for today, but I shall be visiting  the streets on either side over the next few days.

Location; Salford 3

Picture; Booth Street from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and Booth Street in 1849 from the OS for Manchester & Salford, 1842-49 courtesy of Digital Archives Association,  http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ........ nu 40 Chapel Street

Now I know Chapel Street is nether lost nor forgotten but over the next few days here are a few photographs that were taken on a June day two years ago.

And like all good pictures and stories I leave the rest to you.

Other than to say the lighting was iffy.







Location; Salford

Picture; Chapel Street, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 38 Garfield Street and a post card home

Now I am having difficulty locating Garfield Street which was off Trafford Road.

I know it was there because sometime after September 26 1917 Mr and Mrs Lewis received a picture postcard from the Western Front.

It is a beautifully written message which draws attention to the Cathedral on the other side of the card “Hopes this finds you in the best of health, thanking you for the good wishes you so kindly sent in the letter.”

It was signed Jim and I rather think the surname was Elliot but so far I haven’t been able to locate either Jim or Mr and Mrs Lewis and Garfield Street.

Location; Salford


Picture; picture postcard, 1917 from the collection of David Harrop

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ...... nu 44 Spaw Street

Now Spaw Street doesn’t have a lot going for it. 

Spaw Street, 2016

On the day I passed even the sun contrived to shine directly into the camera and pretty much messed up the appearance of this short street which runs from Chapel Street to Brown Cross Street.

Once there were 25 properties along its length, a mix of small houses and bigger industrial units, and added to this seven entries which led into a series of closed courts.

Adding to this maze was Wilkinson Street which joined Spaw Street and from which branched off even more entrees.

Spaw Steet, 1849

And for those with a keen interest in pubs just a few yards up Chapel Street away from Spaw Street were Albert's Vaults and The Dyers Arms.  The first of which stretched back to Wilkinson Street, and the second  backed on to a court with an entry to Wilkinson Streett

But the expansion of the railway viaduct did for Spaw Street and now a trip down from Chapel Street presents the curious traveller with a series of railway arches and nothing much else except of course for another car park

Location; Salford




Picture; Spaw Street, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and Spaw Street in 1849 from the OS for Manchester & Salford, 1844-49 courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/