The blog joins a distinguished band of history groups ...... Manchester Histories Celebration Day

Now I like the idea that the blog has joined a club which includes some fascinating and interesting organizations working to uncover more of our collective past.

And last week we were enrolled in to the Hall of Fame, or to be more accurate Manchester Histories Celebration Day.*

The charity Manchester Histories is one I have been involved in. 

It “delivers projects, events and activities with communities that reveal, share and celebrate Greater Manchester's diverse histories and heritage. [including] the Manchester Histories Festival.

Manchester Histories is a growing and dynamic charity that works collaboratively with people, organisations, and partners to reveal, share and celebrate Greater Manchester's diverse Histories and Heritage.

Manchester Histories works throughout the year delivering projects, training, exhibitions, events, networks and more with communities to recognise, explore and value histories”**

And that brings me back to Manchester Histories Virtual Celebration Day 2020, which is "a chance to celebrate all the hard work of organisations that are often run by volunteers, but play an important role in telling local stories and help to connect people together through history and cultural activities".

In all there are at present 26 groups in the club, of which one of my favourites, is Clayton Hall Living History Museum, but it would be unfair to single out any one.  So I will leave it at that, with of course links to the Manchester Histories site and their Celebration site.

Location; Greater Manchester

Pictures; Clara East Lancs Uniform, circa 1914-1918, courtesy of David Harrop,  Chorlton Union Workhouse button, circa 1837-1930, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Manchester Histories Celebration Day, https://manchesterhistoriescelebrationday.myportfolio.com/chorlton-history-blog

**Manchester Histories, https://manchesterhistories.co.uk/aboutus/default.aspx

Remembering another successful day in Manchester Town Hall with the Manchester History Festival

Now yesterday’s Manchester History Festival in the Town Hall was a resounding success.

There were more stalls than I remember last time offering everything from canals to trams as well as plenty of history societies and much more.

Added to that there were some top name speakers from Michael Wood to Angela Buckley and an interesting chap dressed in black who entertained the visitors.

And Peter and I had more than our fair share.

Pretty much all of the steady stream were from Chorlton, which was odd because no where did we advertise the place, but with books, paintings, some very magnificent picture postcards and lively banter from the two of us it is not surprising.

On a serious note we met some fascinating people with vivid stories to share with us.

These included Martin Logan who has been tracking the men of the Manchester Corporation Tramways who enlisted during the Great War.

3000 joined up and 310 lost their lives and are remembered on the Manchester Corporation Tramways memorial plaques.

Martin has so far uncovered information of 290 of those who died including name corrections and something of their lives before the war began.

It is a remarkable piece of research and has started the process of bringing these men out of the shadows with the added bonus that Martin has agreed to contribute the story of his research to  the blog.

And then just as the day was coming to a close we met Stuart Bolton whose grandmother had worked at Hough End Hall when it was still a working farm.  She vividly remember the Lomax family who had worked the farm from the 1840s through to 1940 and still had pictures of one of the daughters of Mr and Mrs Lomax.

This he has promised to send over and in return I will offer up my own collection of pictures from the Lomax family album.

So all in all a good day.

And of course the event yesterday was just the culmination of a week and a bit of events dedicated to all sorts of history.

There were the professional historians, rubbing shoulders with school groups, and heaps of people interested in bringing the past of their own community for all to see.

Location Manchester Town Hall















Pictures; in Manchester Town Hall with the Manchester History Festival from  the collection of Andrew Simpson

"He paints the pictures......... And I tell the stories" ...... a history in pictures and words today at Manchester Town Hall

Now here is an invitation you won’t want to miss.

The Town Hall

"He paints the pictures......... And I tell the stories" is a celebration of the collaboration between Peter Topping the artist and me Andrew Simpson who does the words.*

It’s less Darby and Jone and more a partnership perfected over the last six years where we combine paintings of buildings and look for the stories behind the doors.

Like the delightful postcard sent to Miss Johnson at the City Hotel on Cooper Street in 1911 from an admirer who was with the Territorials on a summer camp.  He wrote “You will be surprised to receive this.  Hearing you say your Yeomanry friend had disappointed you, I thought I would endeavour to rectify it.”

And that started the story which took me to that training camp, led me on to investigate the life of Miss Johnson and ended with me wondering if the message was the start of something wonderful between the two of them.

Not to be out done Peter went off and painted the picture of what was once the City Hotel.

The Crescent, Salford

And that pretty much is how we work.

The projects span the centuries and have taken in the story of Chorlton and Didsbury, slid into the long history of Hough End Hall and wandered across bits of Manchester, Salford and beyond.

In the next few months we will be engaged in writing about Alexandra Park and a major new guide to Manchester pubs which combines a tale of each drinking establishment the odd strange story and a description of the area they serve.

So having checked out the weather which will not be to clever, why not come and join us at Manchester Town Hall today.

We are there as part of the Manchester History Festival which celebrates the history of the city and the surrounding area and brings together all those who share that fascination and have their own story to tell.**

On the tram

The groups are as diverse as our history, and cover everything from historical societies proud of their local heritage to railway and canal historians to those wanting to save a unique building.

One of my favourites is the Together Trust which was once the Manchester & Salford Boy’s and Girls’ Refuges which since 1870 has been campaigning on behalf of children in the twin cities.

The Plaza, Stockport

They had their own special event as part of the Festival which involved young people in researching the work of the charity and culminated in a presentation at Central Ref on Tuesday.***

So there will be lots going on down at the Town Hall today, not least of course that Darby and Jone partnership who will be on hand to show their books, the paintings and just talk about how he came to paint the pictures and I told the stories.

Location; Manchester Town Hall

Paintings; Manchester Town Hall, © 2014 the Crescent, Salford, © 2016, Tram, © 2011 and the Plaza Stockport © 2015, Peter Topping,

Facebook; Paintings from Pictures, Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

*"He paints the pictures......... And I tell the stories"

** Manchester History Festival June 3-12

*** Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces ............ today at Central Ref .... telling the story of the Together Trust

The Fleece Inn in Mossley, a challenge and an exhibition

Peter paints pictures and as he told me once “is drawn to sandsone built pubs since we were once tenants of a Thwaites house, The Wellington Hotel in Clayton-le-Moors” and that led him to paint the Fleece Inn in Mossley.

Now he also likes to offer me a challenge which is the simple one of being able to admit visiting the pubs he paints.

And to make the challenge just that bit more difficult he often chooses ones he and Linda have come across on their motoring holidays which pretty much means anywhere between north Wales, the Yorkshire Moors and deepest Cornwall.

But he lost the challenge with the Fleece, because unknown to him I spent three years in Ashton-Under-Lyne in the 1970s.

And back then being very young we would often walk to Mossley and yes more than once passed the pub.

As to whether we went in, sampled the beer or just bought two packets of crisps I can’t remember.

But then I no longer remember the colour of the socks I put on yesterday or which dreadful reality TV show bounced across the telly over the weekend.

What I do know is that Mossley is in the upper Tame Valley in the foothills of the Pennines, is four and a bit miles from our old house on Raynham Street in Ashton and along with Stalybridge and Uppermill helped launch the annual Whit Friday Band Contest after all three had staged a brass band event on the same day back on June 6 1884.

At present I have no idea if the Fleece was offering up pints to thirsty bandsmen back then but I bet there will be someone who can give us chapter and verse so I shall just wait and see.

But after a brief closure it has reopened owned by a consortium and Mike Tebbs one of the group has bought Peter's picture of the pub and soon it will be available to see along with a pint.

In the meantime I have every confidence another challenge will be issued and for those who want to see just how many of those earlier challenges were met and turned around, Peter and I will be in Manchester Town Hall tomorrow as part of the Manchester History Festival with the story of our collaboration.*

"He paints the pictures......... And I tell the stories" is a celebration of that collaboration. **

It’s less Darby and Jone and more a partnership perfected over the last six years where we combine paintings of buildings and look for the stories behind the doors.

Painting; the Fleece Inn, Mossely, © 2012 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

* Manchester History Festival June 3-12,  http://www.manchesterhistoriesfestival.org.uk/

**"He paints the pictures......... And I tell the stories", https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Manchester%20History%20Festival

"He paints the pictures......... And I tell the stories" him and me at the Manchester Histories Festival Manchester Town Hall ............... Saturday June 11

Now the thing about history is that for most people it is one of the most compelling subjects.

From stories on Chorlton Green

It includes everything from dark deeds in equally dark castles to the triumphs of those faced with all sorts of adversity to mad scientists and not so mad scientists revealing the secrets of the universe.

And in between there is everything else of which an individual’s own family history can trump the lot.

After all families will offer up stories of villains and heroes, as well as the mean and the generous and a multitude of other tales, some sad some funny but together they help explain who you are.

Now I take after the Scottish and German sides of our family but the rest including those I don’t even know in Derby and lots more who I do know in Canada have the same physical characteristics as my great grandfather who fought for the old Queen across bits of the Empire I can’t pronounce and went on to have two families neither of which knew of the others existence until recently.

They are spread out across two continents and for all I know there may be more.

So history for me pretty much has the lot and since 2010 has led to a very successful collaboration with local artist Peter Topping and to celebrate that partnership we will be at the Manchester Histories Festival Manchester Town Hall on Saturday June 11, talking about what they do best.

Appearing in "The stories behind the doors"  Manchester city centre pubs

We have called it simply "He paints the pictures....... And I tell the stories."

It all began when I was writing a blog about local history and needed a picture to enhance the story, Peter had a painting that fitted the bill and thus the story began.

From there began a partnership telling stories of the past matched with paintings of the present.

Together we have produced exhibits for The Big Green Festival in Chorlton, A History Wall covering 80 metres, and History Trail spanning the length and breadth of Chorlton’s cafes, bars and shops.

From Lost Commercial Manchester

We feature each year in Chorlton Arts Festival, and have written books about, Hough End Hall and Didsbury and we have commissioned to write a book about Alexandra Park and another book in collaboration with CAMRA about "The stories behind the doors" in Manchester City Centre pubs.

And along side this we continue to pursue independent projects.

Peter has exhibited his work at studios around the City and his paintings are in demand.

I wrote the Story of Chorlton-cum-Hardy in 2012 which was a study of a small agricultural community just four miles of Manchester and have just completed Manchester and the Great War for the History Press.

Next year I will be working on a history of the Together Trust which was founded in 1870 as the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges.

From Salford Pubs

And now the partnership has extended to cover areas as far away as Macclesfield and London as well as closer to home in Salford and Manchester, includes one Tudor building, the strange tale of the “gates of hell" in Didsbury and even a telephone Exchange.

But above all it is the people who lived in the places Peter paints and the stories I uncover, like the day in 1911 when young Bertha Geary heard the “flying man” and told her friend “we saw the flying man on Tuesday night fly over head.  Beaumont is his name.  I wish you could have seen him.  It made such a noise.”

Now I could tell you more but instead I will just invite you down to the Town Hall where you can see our type of history and we can tell you more.

Location; pretty much everywhere but this Saturday for one day only, at the Manchester Town Hall

Paintings; the Lych Gate, Chorlton, © 2011 and Peveril of the Peak, 50 Newton Street, © 2013 and the Black Horse © 2015, Peter Topping, 
Facebook; Paintings from Pictures, Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

Walking Angel Meadow ............. the archaeological tour June 4 2016

Now I first came across Angel Meadow when it was an overgrown bit of waste land.

Angel Meadow in the 19th century

I read about the place back then but on a visit down there I couldn't really visualise just what it would have been like to live there when it was one of our worst slums.

Well the Friends of Angel Meadow are about to offer just such an experience.*

For one day and one day only on Saturday June 4 you can walk the walk. It is billed as the ANGEL MEADOW ARCHAEOLOGY WALK and is part of the Angel Meadow Histories Day.

And not wanting to repeat what someone else has already written here is what they say,

ANGEL MEADOW ARCHAEOLOGY WALK

Dr Michael Nevell is Head of Archaeology at Salford University and Co-Editor of the Industrial Archaeology Review.

Angel Meadow in 1980

He will lead an archaeology walk around Angel Meadow highlighting the sites of recent digs and the findings from workers' housing excavations.

This event is part of the Manchester Histories Festival 2016.

The walk starts from Popup Bikes on Corporation Street and they have kindly offered free bike parking to those with tickets. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/angel-meadow-guided-archaeology-walk-tickets-24839925887

Do you have questions about Angel Meadow Guided Archaeology Walk? mail@friends-of-angel-meadow

Angel Meadow, 2005

This event is expected to be very popular- please contact FOAM ASAP should you not be able to attend to ensure others do not miss out.

Look out for further announcements of events soon.

Location; Angel Meadow



Pictures; courtesy of FOAM

*Friends of Angel Meadow http://www.friends-of-angel-meadow.org/

Stories, people and events ................. Manchester History Festival June 3-12

I have always been a great fan of the Manchester History Festival which will be back this June.

A selection of memorabilia from the Great War

“The festival takes place over 10 days with events held at a wide range of venues across Greater Manchester. 

The Celebration Day is a one day event on the last Saturday of the festival that is traditionally held in Manchester Town Hall and includes exhibitions, talks, film screenings, games and lots more.
MHF is for people of all ages and historical experience from schoolchildren and college students to family history enthusiasts and museum curators.”*

The highlight for me is the Celebration Day when lots of different groups as well as individuals come together to share their interest in history with displays, exhibitions and much more.

Peter and I will be there featuring the 400 year old story of Hough End Hall, lots on the history of Chorlton and news of our two new projects on Alexandra Park and Manchester Pubs as well as  my forthcoming
book on Manchester and the Great War.

Now that is all I am going to say for now but as March gives way to April and slides into May I will be returning to the story featuring some of what you will see on display.

Location, Manchester, June 3-12

Picture; a selection of memorabilia of the Great War,  from the collection of David Harrop

* Manchester History Festival June 3-12, http://www.manchesterhistoriesfestival.org.uk/