Our history ….. revisiting the debt we all owe to Neil and Sue Richardson

Yesterday I wrote about Neil and Susan Richardson and the contribution they made to the history of Greater Manchester.

Neil and Sue published a series of books, many written by unknown authors and local historians which might not otherwise have got onto the bookshelves.*

Some were personal memories of growing up in places like Salford and Ancoats, while others were meticulously researched descriptions of everything from the Pal’s Battalions to housing conditions in the twin cities and beyond.

I never met Mr. Richardson although I did talk to both him and his wife Sue over the phone about possible publishing projects as well as ordering up some of his books.

Nor did I mention that Mrs. Richardson has continued to run the business which I should have done.

So I was very pleased when a heap of people came forward and offered up their memories of Neil and Sue, the contribution they have made to the history of our region, as well as offering a place for writers who might not otherwise got their works into print.

I would like to include all of them, but in some cases I haven’t yet got permission to use their comments, but Tony Wolstenholme found and sent over a link to the Guardian’ obituary for Mr. Richardson who died in 2006.** 

Tony Flynn added that, Neil was “A very good friend of mine I met him in 1976 when he was the printer for Salford University despite having a degree in physics, we shared a mutual interest in local history and pubs! 

Together we researched and he published our first book, History of Salford Pubs Volume One in 1977, we then did three more volumes aided by Allan Gall, I then wrote several books on my own all published by Neil and I have to say if not for Neil, myself and many other people wouldn't have got their works in print. 

His sad death in 2006 was a terrible blow for many people, his wife Sue has carried on his good work and she should be congratulated and supported by buying her publications of Neil’s back catalogue, contact her on 01204 578138, a lovely woman".

And Salford Media*** added links to interviews with Sue Richardson, about Neil, and her work in continuing the business and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4CofYgHBg0 ****

So that is it, other than to say just how many people hold Neil and Sue Richardson in high regard for what they have done to bring our past alive and to thank Tony Flynn for the videos, Tony Wolstenholme for the obituary and many others who have recorded their thoughts.

Location; the past in Greater Manchester

Picture; covers from Waterways Into Castlefield, John C Fletcher, 1989, Visitors to Manchester, L D Bradshw, 1987, Salford's Pubs, Neil Richardson, Tony Flynn, Alan Gall, and The Old Pubs of Hulme and Chorlton-on Medlock, Bob Potts, 1997, Neil Richardson

*Neil and Sue Richardson publishers, 01204 578138, wattywalton@btconnect.com  A full list of all the Neil Richardson Publications is available from Sue Richardson by sending a stamped addressed envelope to 88 Ringley Road, Stoneclough, Radcliffe, Manchester M26 1ET.

Or from MLFHS, https://mlfhs-online-shop.myshopify.com/collections/neil-richardson-publications?page=1

** The Books That Defined Salford & Manchester: Local History Books Galore And All For Sale, Michael Powell, The Guardian, November 15th 2006,  https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/15/obituaries.mainsection?fbclid=IwAR0dSXHeaAZWQN8tca2xfGnj-9gK8wbOQrJGdt9bbzqxKfk42sMRHhiTVLM

*** Salford Media, https://www.facebook.com/salfordmedia and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4CofYgHBg0

****Conversations with Sue Richardson, with Tony Flynn, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4CofYgHBg0... and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4CofYgHBg0

When our history came as inexpensive and varied stories ……. a tribute to Neil & Sue Richardson

Now in an age when we can all access the past by surfing the net, which delivers television programmes, books, and countless photographs as well as a shedload of different original sources it is easy to forget that it was not always so.

Indeed, slide back to the early 1980s and anyone interested in history was pretty much limited to the works of professional historians, and a scatter of documents many of which were difficult to obtain.

And given the cost of books, most of us were still reading the events of the past courtesy of a lending library.

So full credit should be given to those small publishers who were producing books at affordable prices and equally important were willing to offer opportunities to local historians as well as “people with a story to tell” to write about their chosen interest.

Here in Manchester one of the foremost small publishers was Neil Richardson who lived in Radcliffe.

I never asked him how he got into the business, but I bet there will be someone who can provide his story.

Suffice to say that during the mid-1980s I started coming across soft back booklets on a range of subjects related to the history of Greater Manchester.  

Some were descriptions of growing up in places like Salford and Ancoats in the early decades of the last century, while others focused on the unwritten histories of the Pal’s Battalions which formed Kitchener’s Army during the Great War.

They were popular with the public because many told stories which were directly a part of ordinary life.

"Memories of Manchester" by Charles Naan described the streets and characters of Bradford and Beswick and later his time as a policeman on the beat across the City.

While Bob Potts wrote about the pubs of Hulme and Chorlton on Medlock at a time when they were vanishing as quickly as snow in the winter sun and in the process spent hours carefully researching each drinking place.

This I know because years later he kindly passed over his research to me, which was as comprehensive and historically detailed that I suspect it will never be repeated.

And that points to the simple fact that may of those who wrote for Neil Richardson did so with a wealth of knowledge supported by hours of interviewing people as well as wading through records held across the twin cities and beyond.

These included the Archive and Local History Library in Central Ref, as well as Salford Local History Library, Cheetham’s Library and the Greater Manchester County Office, and in the case of Eddie and Ruth Frow, their own vast collection of Labour history which is now the Working-Class History Library.

Much of that research broke new ground, like “Working Class Housing in 19th Century Manchester, The Example of John Street, Irk Town, 1826-1936” by Jacqueline Roberts published in 1999.  

It was an in-depth study of a few streets on the edge of Angel Meadow, and followed on from the collaborative work she had done recording buildings from the late eighteenth, and early nineteenth century. *

Few of the thousands which were thrown up in the decades of Manchester’s rapid expansion had survived and by the 1980s many of those were under threat of demolition.

As was the way of life of the many who lived in inner city areas Manchester which  were vanishing as their homes were cleared away and communities relocated in the new estates.

And one of my favourite accounts is still The Manchester Village by Frank Heaton who collected the memories of those who lived in the collection of streets running back from Deansgate towards the river and roughly bordered by Quay Street and the end of Castlefield, and subtitled “Deansgate Remembered”.

To which there is also  “Manchester’s Little Italy, Memories of the Italian Colony of Ancoats” by Anthony Rea.

To these Neil Richardson also added a selection of British and foreign descriptions of Manchester from the 1500s to 1865, several street directories, as well as plenty of other accounts drawn from across Greater Manchester.

By today's standards they may seem a little down market, with some images a little tired looking and  the print which reminds you of old computer printers.

But don't let that side track you, the history is fascinating is often written with passion, and thanks to Neil Richardson a whole lot of people got to tell their stories of places that have vanished.

And that I think is pretty neat.

Location; Greater Manchester

Pictures, covers of The Manchester Village by Frank Heaton, 1995, Radical Salford: Episodes in Labour History Edmund and Ruth Frow, 1984 and “Manchester’s Little Italy, Memories of the Italian Colony of Ancoats”, Anthony Rea, 1988

*The Early Manchester Dwellings Group

Bob Potts ……. the generous historian

Now there will be many who are better placed than me to write about Bob Potts.

Bob with his Reminiscences of a Flixton Boyhood

I only really got to know him about a decade ago, but during those ten years his visits on a Sunday were most welcome, as were our chance meetings in Morrisons, where over a basket of shopping we would exchange news of each other’s projects.

Bob was one of those generous historians, who was most happy when he could offer up pictures and information from his vast collection of material.

Added to which he was equally keen to proffer advice and the occasional correction which I always accepted from a man whose local historical knowledge was boundless.

So, when I was writing a book on Manchester and the Great War, Bob provided me with some fine picture postcards of Red Cross nurses, and even more generously lent me his records relating to the history of Manchester pubs.

These pub records consisted of the dates when the pubs were first granted a license, included the names of breweries as well as the date when the houses closed.

Bob's pub book on the pubs of Hulme and Chorlton-on-Medlock

And they were collected the old fashioned, way from the records held at the Greater Manchester County Office as well as the Archive and Local History Library in Central Ref,  involving long hours with huge musty volumes, which few had ever used.

Anyone who has trawled such documents will know that mix of excitement and tedium, as the day rolls on broken by the odd coffee break, in lonely seclusion punctuated by some fascinating discoveries.

Bob sharing happily his knowledge

Added to which when Bob undertook this bit of research it was done pre computer, so the records were handwritten and the process of ordering them was done without the aid of an electronic database to sort, edit and represent the information.

These records were invaluable to me, and of course were the basis for three books he wrote on Manchester pubs, written in the early 1980s and published by Neil Richardson.

But his historical interests and writing extended way beyond public houses.  

According to Michael Billington, who was his friend and co author he “started writing in 1970 when he wrote an article about the Roman road from Manchester to Ribchester for The Ribchester Archaeology Group’s magazine” and going on to write for other publications about his passion for digging up old Victorian and Edwardian bottles which had been discarded in ash pits.**

This in turn led to that interest in pub history and marked him out as a historian rather than just a collector.

Bob in his 20s

He was also active in local history groups and was a welcome guest speaker, especially when he gave talks on the Red Cross.

He had been born in Flixton in 1936 but spent most of his life in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, where along with his wife Joyce he raised a family of two sons and two daughters and was blessed with two grandchildren.

During the time I knew him, he was still working, and often would divert from his delivery rounds to drop off some “interesting thing” from his collection, and the presence of Bob on the doorstep, bicycle clips in hand often on a Sunday morning was always a welcome surprise.

The visit was never a short one as Bob described the object in detail, offered up a context to the piece and then slid off on several fascinating anecdotes, before suddenly closing the conversation and disappearing on his bike.

And that more than anything is how I will remember him …… a historian who was keen to share his knowledge and passion.

Sadly Bob died in February 2021, just before the publication of the book he co wrote with Michael Billlington.

Pictures; Bob, courtesy of Michael Billington 

* The Old Pubs of Hulme 1983, The Old Pubs of Chorlton On Medlock, 1984, The Old Pubs of Rochdale Road, 1985, & Reminiscences of a Flixton Boyhood, 1986, are available from Neil and Sue Richardson publishers, 01204 578138, wattywalton@btconnect.com  

**Urmston, Flixton and Davyhulme, A Collection of Antiques and Curios, Michael BIllington and Bob Potts, Epona Publishing, 2021, www.eponarerecords.com and is also available from Urmston Book shop, https://www.urmston-bookshop.co.uk/ 0161 747 7442