Chorlton's Blue Plaques ..... the story ...... Tuesday September 10th ... 1.30pm ...... St Ninians's Church, Wilbraham Road

 It is a truth universally acknowledged, that any place in possession of a past, must be in want of a blue plaque.*

Chorlton Blue Plaque Days, 2023-4

At which point some readers will mutter “clever blighter” and others will be appalled at the misquote from the opening lines of Pride and Prejudice.

But I don’t care.

The idea of a blue plaque trail has been floating around for a while by Peter and Andrew but has now been taken up by Chorlton Civic Society and aims to record those people in Chorlton who in some way have made a contribution to where we live, coupled with buildings or events that are part of our history.

They are not necessarily looking to remember the conventional “famous person” or the most elegant property, but people and buildings which are significant in our own history.

Chorlton Civic Society wants suggestions for plaques.

So far three have gone up. The first on the wall of the Bowling green Hotel, recording that the pub was one of the earliest in Chorlton.

The second can be found at Foster’s Cycle shop on Barlow Moor Road and celebrates a business which has been run by three generations of the same family on a site which has sold bikes since the Second World War.

The Lord Mayor unveils the Blue Plaque for Euton Christian, 2024

And the third on Nicolas Road honoured the life of and contribution of Euton Christian who was born in Jamaica, served in the RAF during the last World War, and was the first black person to be promoted to a managerial role in the Post Office, the first black magistrate, and the first to sit on a Crown Court bench. 

To this can be added his role as a founding member of the West Indian Sports and Social Club in Moss Side and Manchester Council for Community Relations in the 1960s.

Many will  remember him as a keen sportsman, a neighbour and a father.

Of course there is more and for an hour and a bit Andrew Simpson and Peter Topping will talk about our the Blue Plaque project, acknowledge earlier Chorlton plaques and go into the fascinating tale of how societies have remembered those who lived in their communities.

As ever there will be the light hearted bits, a few serious ones and the chance to question Andrew and Peter as well as  suggesting other people, buildings and events for a plaque.

Blue Plaques for Chorlton

Location; all over Chorlton

Pictures; blue plaque days in Chorlton, 2023-4 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, 1813

**Every place should have blue plaques, St Ninians's Church, Wilbraham Road, September 10th at 1.30

A Royal Tudor Bed and A Northern Rogue ….. that excellent exhibition moves to Chetham's Library ….. alongside a series of lectures

Anyone who has visited the Cathedral during July into the start of August will have encountered the exhibition on A Royal Tudor Bed and A Northern Rogue.

That Tudor Bed, 2024

And some like me will have been present at the opening talk and discussion by Ian Coulson and Dr Peter Lindfield.

The exhibition will move on from the Cathedral to Chetham's Library on Monday August 12th till September 11th. Dr Lindfield tells me that access to the exhibition will be free  using  the library’s bookable tours, https://lnkd.in/ewqqYQyn".

Ian Coulson, 2024

And during its time at Chetham's there will be a series of talks.

THE FIRST TUDOR BED: DISCOVERY AND COMPARISON

WITH IAN COULSON

THURSDAY 22 AUGUST 2024, 5:30PM

BARONIAL HALL

https://lnkd.in/eCRSZhrV

THE DUKE, THE FORGER, AND THE MYSTERY BLUE

WITH HELEN HUGHES

WEDNESDAY 28 AUGUST 2024, 5:30PM

BARONIAL HALL

https://lnkd.in/eNjintST

Dr Peter Lindfield, 2024

MAKER AND FAKER OF ‘ANCIENT TUDOR RELICS’: GEORGE SHAW OF UPPERMILL

WITH DR PETER N. LINDFIELD

WEDNESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2024, 5:30PM

BARONIAL HALL

https://lnkd.in/eQtykv2X

 EXHIBITION CLOSING: HENRY VII’S AND ELIZABETH OF YORK’S MARRIAGE BED AND MANCHESTER

WITH IAN COULSON & DR PETER N. LINDFIELD

WEDNESDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 2024, 5:30PM

BARONIAL HALL

https://lnkd.in/eSrnsdHu

So there you are.

Location; Chetham's Library

Pictures; from the opening day of the exhibition at the Cathedral, 2024 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

A heap of history …… and an exciting new project .... today

 It is easy to slide over Chorlton’s past.

The graveyard, 2023

Buildings disappear, people’s memories fade, and newcomers will have no reason to think that close to where they live is a treasure trove of stories about our shared past.

So that landscaped area between the village green and the Bowling Green pub is more than a collection of bushes and trees with the odd ancient gravestone.

Mary Crowther's gravestone, 2023

The clues for the curious are of course those gravestones, that marks the place out as the old parish graveyard, and with a little careful observation the casual visitor will find the outline of the old church, which dates to 1799 and was built on a wattle and daub chapel constructed sometime in the early 16th century.

Today there are only a handful of the 362 gravestones and memorials left. The earliest recorded burial in the parish records was in 1753 but a headstone found in the 19th century carried the date 1690.

And of course, with these gravestones come the stories.

Stories like that of Mary Crowther the last woman to do penance in the old church and whose gravestone is situated beside the Lych Gate, or that of Thomas Walker anti slave trade campaigner, supporter of the French Revolution who was indicted for sedition in 1794.  

A record of all the gravestones, 1974

Added to these are memorials to two families who took opposing sides in the great Chorlton Church schism and that of Samuel and Sarah Nixon who ran the Traveller’s Rest Beer shop on what was once Chorlton Row but is now Beech Road.

And there is plenty more …… but for the rest you will have to join me and Peter Topping at our two talks of the day on St Clements’s Church, and the campaign to refresh the graveyard.

Finds from the archaeological digs, 1971-82

The first of the talks is at St Ninians’s Church at the invitation of Chorlton Good Neighbours starting at 1.30, today, May 9th.*

The second will be tonight at the meeting of Chorlton Voice [the Civic Society] at 7.30, Chorlton Central Church, corner of Barlow Moor Road, Sandy Lane and Zetland Road

As well as sharing the stories of our past we want to alert people to the exciting new campaign to refresh the former graveyard.  

It was landscaped in 1984 and while it is still a pleasant place to sit and relax it needs some tender care and attention.

Location; Chorlton Green

Pictures; our parish graveyard, 2023 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, record of gravestones, Manchester City Council, 1974, and finds from the digs conducted by Angus Bateman, 1971-81

*Chorlton Good Neighbours, Wilbraham St Ninians Church, Egerton Road South M21 0XJ, 0161 881 2925, www.chorltongoodneighbours.org

**Chorlton Voice, Chorlton Central Church, corner of Barlow Moor Road, Sandy Lane and Zetland Road, 7.30, https://chorltonvoice.org/