Stories from the attic ...... part 6 ........ travelling across Europe with my dad

To be accurate it was our cellar rather than the attic, but the principle remains the same, which is that all sorts of stories can be conjured up from the bits and pieces we carefully store away and then forget.

Glenton Tours circa 1956

In our case, it was two leather suitcases, which had accompanied dad on his travels across the Continent, during his drive as a coach driver, transporting happy passengers on sightseeing tours from Antwerp to Paris, to the Swiss and Italian Lakes and the French and Italian Rivera.

Along the way he picked up lots of luggage labels, form hotels.

Dad being dad, chose instead to collect them, storing them carefully in envelopes, which is how we inherited them.

Over the years I have plundered the collection to write about places as varied as Venice, Paris, Nancy, and Brussels.*

But until yesterday I had missed a group of six identical one’s advertising Glenton Tours, which was the tour company he worked for, for over 40 years.

Venice, cicra 1950s

The firm had begun in the 1920s when an estate agent settled a debt with a customer by accepting a coach and that started “Glenton Motor Coach Holiday Tours.”

Dad worked for them from the very beginning and finally retired in 1987 having driven their coaches around Britain and Europe from the early 1930s.

The tours were all inclusive, offering “first class accommodation” and the “Chauffeur-Couriers have been chosen after exacting tests of their reliability and skill and give every attention to travellers.”***

 The tours lasted for anything between 7 and 15 days.

For £45 Tour C7 in 1965 offered nine days to the Swiss and Italian Lakes, leaving London on the Saturday, staying in Brussels on the Sunday night and travelling on to Lake Lucerne on the Monday, then later in the week to Lake Maggiore and then in to Switzerland and back via Burgundy to London.

Dad and Elizabeth, circa 1959

Of course it is easy today to sneer at an experience where everything was provided and if you failed to look out of the window you might miss a country, but in an age before the internet with television still in its infancy this was a relatively cheap way to see places which would otherwise just be a picture in a book.

And this was value for money given that the national average wage in 1965 was £26.

There are still plenty of travel companies offering this sort of holiday but back in the late 1940’s and ‘50s this was an experience just opening up for thousands who were beginning to enjoy the first taste of consumer prosperity.

St Anton, date unknown

They are as much an indication of that new Britain as the washing machine, television and motor car.

And given the stories that will tumble from these treasures, Peter and I have embarked on the next project which will be to use those objects left in cellars, attics and garages for the new book, which we have called The Lost Stories of Chorlton-cum-Hardy In Our Attics, Cellars, Garages and Sheds.

We are confident that there will be plenty of people with their own treasures and stories which they would like to be included.

Leaving me just to make the appeal for objects.

You can contact us by leaving a comment on the blog or through Facebook, telling us just what you have and its importance to you and your family.

Location; across Europe

Pictures; Luggage labels, 1950-1968, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the box of treasures from the book cover, courtesy of Linda Rigby





*Hotel labels, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=hotel+labels&max-results=20&by-date=true


**Glenton Tours, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Glenton%20Tours

***Glenton Tours Brochures, 1951-1968

The Lost Stories of Chorlton-cum-Hardy ....... the new book ….. coming soon

Like all good stories, it started with a discovery and a conversation.

The discovery was a hoard of treasures stored carefully in Peter’s attic for over 30 years and brought out into the daylight last week.

Those treasures ranged from an old cigarette packet, and tea carton dating from the 1930s, through to a selection of electronic consuls, and games from three decades ago, and in between were dozens of military cap badges, bottle openers and badges.

Having found them and knowing I would be interested, Peter sent over some pictures of the hoard, and from there we had the conversation, which roamed over the excitement of rediscovering the bits in the attic, to just what they said about how we lived.

And as they do the blog stories followed, which in turn inspired friends  to offer up their treasures, which then led to more blogs, and by degree to the book, which we have called The Lost Stories of Chorlton-cum-Hardy In Our Attics, Cellars, Garages and Sheds.

It is as they say a work in progress, which at present has clocked up some wonderful items, all of which with a bit of research and memories from the owners, has taken me to the Great War, a textile factory outside Hebden Bridge, and an unforgettable night in a Yates Wine Lodge in Preston.

But this is just the start, because out of that conversation came a parallel one where we discussed just how to involve groups of people coming together with their attic finds and sharing the stories behind each one.

And here we have been joined by Jolene Sheehan, whose very successful community writing project culminated in the recently published book, The Stories of Our Lives.*

Just how this exciting part of the project develops is still in the planning stage, but it holds the promise of being fun, and rewarding.

So that is it, ………. just leaving me to make the appeal for more treasures, from your attics, cellars, garages and sheds.

You can contact us by leaving a comment on the blog or through Facebook.

Location; Chorlton-cum-Hardy

Pictures; cover of The Lost Stories of Chorlton-cum-Hardy in Our Attics, Cellars, Garages and Sheds, featuring Linda Rigby's box of treasures, and selection of attic hoards from Peter and me.

* The Stories of Our Lives was a community writing project in Chorlton cum-Hardy which involved 50 local people coming together over four Saturdays in August to share their memories, which in turn were transcribed by a group of volunteers and became the book.

Stories from the attic ….. part 4 ..... the camera

Now, just a few days ago, I ran some stories on the forgotten treasures that lay lurking in attics, cellars, and garages.

Peter Topping’s hoard was first off the starting line, and that led me to make the appeal for others to go rummaging, and that is exactly what Andy Robertson did.

And here is his little bit of the past …..an Olympus Trip, which he tells me, “my mother had one when we lived in London.  

When I moved to Manchester and was earning a wage, I bought mine probably 1975. A good servant!”

According to one source,"The Trip 35 is a 35mm compact camera, manufactured by Olympus. 

It was introduced in 1967 and discontinued, after a lengthy production run, in 1984. The Trip name was a reference to its intended market – people who wanted a compact, functional camera for holidays. 

During the 1970s, it was the subject of an advertising campaign that featured popular British photographer David Bailey. Over ten million units were sold”.*

So, there you have it a wonderful find that offers up a glimpse of popular photography in the late 20th century.

Location; Andy’s attic

Picture; an Olympus Trip 35, 2019 from the collection of Andy Robertson


*Olympus Trip 35, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus_Trip_35

Who knows the secrets of the little room at the top of the stairs? …………

So, I know you will have to be of a certain age to link the title with that TV advert for Black Magic Chocolates, but then if you can, you may well be the person we are interested in, because it is of the forgotten gems,  carefully put away in the box room or the attic which could be the subject of our new book.*

It started when Peter brought down box loads of stuff which had been stored in the attic, gathering dust and almost sliding out of recorded memory.

There was a collection of military cap badges, from both world wars, assorted old computers, and electronic games, along with a packet of Edwardian tea, and an empty carton of Player's Weights.

Nothing you might think as valuable, but each offered up clues to how we used to live during the last century.

Having got hold of some of the treasures I wrote the story with a promise of more to come, and then Peter came up with the idea of asking to look into other people’s attics, spare rooms and garages.**

Now I  know that the idea is not new and one TV channel specialized in programmes rummaging around in the attics of celebrities, but what makes Peter’s idea a tad different is that we will be looking into the homes of people from across south Manchester and ignoring “celebs”.

And having been given permission to unearth the boxes of promise, we intend to tell stories of what those boxes contain, with the firm expectation that the bits and pieces will offer up a slice of our collective past.

Looking again at Peter’s cornucopia of forgotten interests, I fastened on all those old 1980s computers and the games which went with them, remembering the hours our kids spent playng on Sim City, Tetris, Dungeon Master and Prince of Persis.

At which I could explore the power of this new form of entertainment and its impact on how we did leisure, but instead that’s for the book.

For now, here is the challenge which “ should you choose to accept”, is to  go rummaging amongst your old and neglected store of half-forgotten objects and get in touch with us.  We will come around, take the pictures and in consultation with you choose some which tell a story.

Unlike Mission Impossible this story and your stories will not “auto destruct in 5 seconds” but will linger long enough for lots of people to become inspired by the project.

And in the fullness of time become another book which Peter Topping and I offer up to the world.

Leaving you to leave comment on the blog or contact us through social media.

Location; your attic, garage, or spare room,

Pictures; things that have sat in Peter’s attic for decades, courtesy of Peter and Linda Topping

*Who knows The Secret of The Black Magic Box? was an TV advertising  campaign from the 1970s

**The time capsule that is Peter’s attic …….. part 1, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-time-capsule-that-is-peters-attic.html

The time capsule that is Peter’s attic …….. part 1

Now when Peter ventured into his loft and brought down the accumulation of 40 years of stored stuff, I doubt he was quite prepared for just what had been “ carefully put away”.

But that is just what most of us do when faced with the need to clear the backroom but unwilling to part with treasures.

In some cases, they will be the product of a collecting enthusiasm, or just that assumption that one day they will become useful again.

That said I challenge him to explain how in the 21st century he will use the contents of the box of “Players’ Weights, Made from PURE VIRGINIA TOBACCO”, or for that matter the packet of blended tea sold  by “Yates Brothers, Wine Lodges Ltd”.

But I suppose that is less relevant than just what so many of his treasures tell us about the last century.

So, I was intrigued by that Yates’s tea, and had no idea they sold it.

I remember the lodges as big smoky rooms, filled with people of a certain age, drinking in a place that hadn’t much changed since Victorian times.

And that brings me back to the tea, and that simple question of whether it was sold in  the bars, alongside their “Blob”, their wines and their white rum?*

I do remember reading somewhere that they also sold beef, so perhaps an expert will wade in with chapter and verse.

In the meantime, I am equally intrigued by the box of military cap badges, the metal bottle openers, and those testaments to late 20th century gaming, which includes a Nintendo 64, a Commodore Amiga, and the CD Rom of NODDY The Magic of Toytown.

Nor is that all, but some like Peter’s time as a snake keeper and his time with Chorlton Breakers are best left in the shadows.

But I am drawn to the cap badges, partly because of book I wrote on Manchester and the Great War, and partly because each will have a story to tell, and after all stories are what it is all about.**

So, I will be beating a path to Peter’s house to borrow the box and continue the stories.

And when they are done, I shall follow up on the time of the Nintendo 64, Commodore Amiga, The Kodak bellows camera, and the posh leather wallet and newspaper clipping.

Location; Peter’s attic

Pictures; assorted attic history, 2019, from the collection of Peter Topping

Next; Stories from cap badges


*Blob was a mix of sweet Australian wine, and brandy, to which was added hot water, sugar and lemon.  The company began in 1884 when they opened their first lodge, and within 20 years had nearly 20 lodges across Lancashire

**Manchester Remembering 1914-18, Andrew Simpson, 2017, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20Manchester%20and%20the%20Great%20War