Saturday in the Square ....

Now as our Town Hall continues along that path of restoration and renewal Albert Square with its statues and fountain is steadily being returned to public use.

It’s been going on for a while and on warm sunny days the place is packed.

Even yesterday when the showers were intense if infrequent the Square attracted the tourist, the curious, the passers through and more than a few wedding parties.

To these could be added the few who stopped outside No 10 North which for the those blissfully unaware is my Wikipedia tells me “a unit of the UK government's Office for the Prime Minister and Cabinet, based in Heron House in Manchester city centre. 

Its name refers to 10 Downing Street, the principal office and London residence of the prime minister of the United Kingdom”.*

But yesterday all that indicated the building’s new role were four Police officers.

So, dodging the rain I busied myself with renewing my acquittance with those statures which I have been photographing for nearly fifty years, and catching up on the rise of the new developments.

And that today is that.

Location; Albert Square

Pictures; yesterday in the Square, 2026, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Number 10 North, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_10_North

What was lost ….. is found

“We have just found a box of old photos at 515-521 Barlow Moor Road; I haven’t had a good look at them yet .... but I immediately thought you would find them interesting”.*

It’s the stuff that makes for stories, and with some luck and a heap of research the photos may do just that

Or they may lead nowhere but the fun will be in the looking.

515-521 Barlow Moor Road is currently being redeveloped by Armistead Property who have a track record in renovating and restoring old properties and giving them a new lease of life.**

And with all old buildings you can never be sure what secrets have lain undisturbed for generations.

I still remember the story of the  parcel discovered under the floorboards of a house and the momentary excitement of the crew who found it, leading to wild speculation of buried treasure.  

So sure, were the team of builders that something valuable and perhaps historic was contained in the parcel wrapped in old newspaper that they took the find to the museum only to discover that the discovery was nothing more earth shattering than a cheese sandwich left by a carpenter under a newly laid floor in 1910.  

Just why it was left under the floor space will remain a mystery, but I suspect we are dealing with nothing more than one worker’s lunch left in the house, only to be lost when a fellow builder put down the timber floor.

All of which brings me to the Barlow Moor Road collection.

They consist of fourteen pictures found in a battered wooden box, and range from images of smart cars, and equally smart “young things” on holiday to a group of men in uniform and the Grand Hotel Oceanic.  

At first glance there is little detail which could lead to clues upon which to fasten some research, but I will persevere.

I had high hopes of the Grand Hotel Oceanic but I guess there will have been and indeed will be many hotels that claim the name.  The first I came across was in Paris and is one of those typical Parisian builds which are narrow, with a courtyard and stretch to seven floors with those elegant iron balconies. 

Alas it isn’t ours.  Ours is an ugly undistinguished modernist box.

But a further search may lead somewhere.

I can’t even be sure of a date or dates for the fourteen, but we will narrow that down and in time may come up with more.

We shall see.  

Location; 515-521 Barlow Moor Road

Pictures; Barlow Moor Road collection, undated

*Peter Armistead

**Armistead Property, http://www.armisteadproperty.co.uk/

Silly things to do on Beech Road ….. greeting the morning

It’s not an original idea, and it’s something I have done before, but when you sit at the same spot every morning, you should always record the scene.

And so, as the mornings have rolled on through August, I have sat with my morning coffee and watched the changing skyline.

They were all taken between 5 and 7 am and I suppose hint at how slow my mornings can be.

From exciting to drab ….  to beautiful and stunning they are the backdrop of another day.

Most have made their way onwards to my kids, sisters and friends with that simple “Morning X”.

Those with long memories may want to suggest I am merely copying that practice of posting a cup of coffee on Facebook which was so prevelent in the early years of that social media platform. 

To which I can only respond ... at least it ain't a cat.

And that is all I have to say.

Location; Beech Road

Pictures; morning coffee in August 2026, from the collection of Andrew Simpson 

“Take your picture Mister” ……. photo booths we have all known

The photo booth has and is still more than just a box where you can get your picture taken.

Photo-Me, 2026

Many will have fond memories of group pictures which might be just two friends larking around or one of those silly nights out when the challenge was to see how many could pile in and be recorded.

And on a more serious or practical level the photo booth was the perfect and cheap way of getting an ID picture, even if the results were sometimes grim.

I could never quite get the hang of the curtain at the back or worse was never prepared for the camera flash resulting in a few gawking images, with half closed eyes and worse still at least one of the back of my head.

Once they were everywhere, from Post Offices to shops and railway stations.

Manchester Victoria Railway Station, 2026

But like telephone boxes you see few of them these days and so when I do encounter one, I do a double take and reflect a little on their demise.

I suppose like the picture postcard they are victims of the mobile phone with its camera feature which at an instant can take a photo exactly as you want tailored to the moment.

Of course, such a photo might not pass muster when it comes to the demands of an official record.

And anyone who has struggled with uploading a selfie for a passport will know that the only recourse is one of those chains of professional photographers.

Still, I feel rather sad that the photo booth no longer is the first go to place for a quick snap and so having come across “Photo-Me” at Manchester Victoria I began pondering on the history.

To my surprise it goes back to the 1880s with the first recognizable boots turning up in the 1920s.

And the rest as they say is all down Wikipedia and never one to steal someone elses’s research I will suggest you follow the link.*

And for those curious to relive their youth there is a fine example of a photo booth in that wonderful and magical store, which is Fred Aldous in Stevenson Square.  

They have a “Photo-Me Model 17 Black and White booth from 1968. It was manufactured right here in the UK but spent most of its life in a Woolworth’s store in Canada”.**

Me, 1970

And I rather think it was in a Woolworth’s store in town where I had my ID picture taken in 1970.

Alas like my hair the photo booth has become a thing of the past. 

So while some still exist and do a good job I doubt that many 14-year-olds will seek them out, and even less spend heaps of money retrying to get the right picture or the silliest one.

Location; the past and Manchester Victoria

Pictures; “Photo-Me”, Manchester Victoria, 2026, and me in 1970, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Photo Booth, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_booth

**Fred Aldous, https://www.fredaldous.co.uk/pages/photobooth?srsltid=AfmBOorZHgkMwL8Agu6-ZWs0TcwSVe4lATt2QSwz8LSDb1LnHuRB9ZKF

One old picture ….. a mystery location ….. and the Chorlton debate

Now I have Lee Hutchings to thank for this image.

He posted it today on a Chorlton Facebook site and it invites intriguing questions of just where we are, and the identity of the three individuals.

I doubt we will ever know their names but with a location we might be able to check on the occupants of the house and make a guess using the historical records.

Which of course just leaves the hunt for that location.  We are looking out on a well-established front garden with a lane and fields beyond, with just a suggestion of open water in the distance and a date of 1898.  There is furthermore a reflection of another house in the windows of the front door, which must have been opposite ours.

The lamp would perhaps indicate that the lane was well used or important enough to have public lighting at a time when this was not common in Chorlton.  

The first four street gas lights date from 1875 and a trawl of the records of the Withington Local Health Board and its successor the Withington Urban District Council might reveal the onward march of lighting provision and in turn reveal possible locations which match our picture and the date.

And I rather think our house might be one of a pair, which could narrow the hunt slightly.

So, with an address we could hit lucky and find occupants who resemble the people in the photograph.

The three look as if they are posing with that uncomfortable attempt to “look natural” which is rather negated by the artificial pose of the dog on the chap’s shoulder.

Already and rightly so there has been some speculation on where we are. The consensus so far is Beech Road with the Rec directly opposite.

It is plausible.  The Recreation Ground was opened in 1896, and our picture is dated two years later, but I think not.

This stretch of Beech Road facing what is now Beech Road Park down to Ivy Farm was undeveloped and remained so until Joe Scott built the row of terraced houses in 1915.

Wilton Road could be an alternative but there were no houses matching that reflected building nearby.

All of which leaves Cross Road, its houses are all in situ by the late 1880s and just maybe that reflected building has a mirror in the tall mid 1870s buildings on the corner of Cross Road and Beech Road.

But I am unconvinced, leaving me to think we still have a mystery.

And of mysteries I am fascinated by the thumb print on the picture. It is fruitless to wonder how we could identify it but it is one of those exciting but intangible bits of history which march alongside speculation on the identity of the last person to handle the grave goods of Tutankhamun or the strand of hair placed in a locket beside the ancient burial of a young bride.

But enough of such romantic tosh ….. bring on the debate on the location of our house.

But answers will only be judged worthy of consideration if like John Anthony Hewitt you make out a compelling case.

It maybe just be that we should be looking elsewhere and that open land in the distance is not the Rec but open fields yet to be built on.

We shall see.

Location; as yet unknown

Picture; the mystery house the unidentified people and a street gas lamp, courtesy of Lee Hutchings, 1896, restored and colourised 2026

The picture with secrets ………. or what to do with Montague?

 We will all have one of these pictures.

It is undated, has no name on the back and could be anyone in our family or no one in our family.

What I do know is that it comes from a large collection of photographs which date from the early 1920s into the 50s which belonged to our dad.

They have pretty much lain undisturbed since they came north from London in the mid-1990s.  

Every so often I look through them trying to identify some of the people and the locations and others I will use for stories.

But this one has always eluded me and at the same time fascinated me.

And yet again I am drawn back to it.

I doubt that his name was Montague who was my great grandfather and belonged to my mother’s side.

It is more likely that he was connected to Dad and if so perhaps I am looking at my paternal great grandfather, which means the baby could be dad, or one of my uncles.

But dad was born in 1908 and the picture I think may be a little later.  I am pretty confident it isn’t me, so he might be my cousin Mary who was born in the 1930s.

Or it might just be a distant family member.

So, with no idea of the identity of the man or child, what do I do with the picture?

I could bin it, but that seems outrageous, and an act of betrayal on dad who felt sufficiently connected to it to have kept the picture in his collection for perhaps 60 years.

And even though Dad will never know, I will, so it will go back into the collection prompting me to ponder that I should get the entire collection in order, given that at 74 there are fewer years ahead of me than behind.

And in doing so give our kids and perhaps grandchildren a better context on what they are looking at.

Leaving me just to reflect on the scene behind the two of them with its vague view of a cut glass bowl, a fireplace and what looks like another person.

The full picture reveals that they were sitting outside, possibly under a veranda with a door to the right and a bamboo thing to the left.

And that is it.

Location; unknown

Picture; unknown man and baby, undated, from the Simpson collection

Greetings from Naples … another story from Tony Goulding

On the surface this looks like another run-of-the-mill postcard sent by a holiday maker from the Bay of Naples. However, the message on the back makes it a little more intriguing. 

It was dated 27th November 1917 and was sent to a Master Willie Metcalfe of Fairfield, Liverpool by his “Daddy”. 

 Now as the card was posted from a Mediterranean port during the First World War, I was curious to discover whether Mr. Metcalfe was a sailor in the Royal Navy or alternatively a British soldier attached to a unit sent to assist their Italian allies in their battles against the Austro-Hungarian army in the North of the country.

After some research I found “Willie” and his “Daddy” in the 1911 census which confirmed my suspicion that Mr. Metcalfe was indeed a sailor, albeit a Captain in the Merchant Marine, and a Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (R.N.V.R.) officer (1), employed by the White Star Line. 

In November 1917 George Robert Metcalfe was in command of the 12,268 ton “Canopic”. which had been requisitioned for war service earlier in the year. 

S.S. Canopic

Its Captain was given the rank of Lieutenant-Commander in the R.N.V.R. It is likely that this passenger liner was being used as a troop ship to carry British troops to Italy. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Website, Commonwealth troops served on the Italian front from November 1917 until the armistice the following November and lists 3,809 who did not return.

George Robert Metcalfe was born in Potter Gate, Helmsley in Yorkshire’s North Riding on 28th September 1870, the son of an agricultural labourer, William Metcalfe and his wife Elizabeth (2)

George Robert had at least 3 older brothers, William, Charles, and Joseph plus two older sisters, Elizabeth Ann, and Sarah Frances. In the early summer of 1878, there was a further addition to the household when Elizabeth Ann gave birth to a son, Harold, presumably “out of wedlock” as no father’s name is included in the baptismal record of 6th October 1878.

At the young age of fifteen George Robert left home to, no doubt, seek adventure by pursuing a career on the high seas. 

Initially, he served a four-year apprenticeship under sail with Davis & Co., a shipping line based in Swansea, South Wales which operated between the ports of the Bristol Channel and those of South America’s west coast. 

Obviously, an accomplished sailor he rapidly moved through the ranks, eventually serving as a second and first mate for three years and eleven months with the Gwynedd Shipping Company of Caernarfon, North Wales before, after ten years at sea, joining the White Star Line, on 12th December 1896, as a junior officer, firstly in the cargo fleet. 

Captain Metcalfe remained with the White Star Line for more than thirty years, he was given command of several different liners of their fleet but fortunately for him he was not appointed as an officer on the “Titanic”. 

Fortune also favoured his ship the 20,470 ton “Megantic” (3) in 1915 while it was engaged in trans-Atlantic crossings in the face of threats from German submarines. 

On occasion the “Megantic” was even known to set sail from New York in company with the ill-fated Cunard liner the “Lusitania”. On 30th May 1915, less than a month after the latter was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of County Cork on7th May, Captain Metcalfe’s ship was also confronted by a U-boat but managed to outrun it. 

Earlier in 1915 on 22nd March the “Megantic” took part in a dramatic sea rescue when it went to the aid of an American liner the “Denver” which had sent a distress signal that it was sinking in heavy seas. 

For his involvement in the incident, Captain Metcalfe was presented with a gold medal and chain by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool (Mr. A. S. Mather) on behalf of the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, as a sign of appreciation of his efforts. This was the fifth award of its kind he had been given.

 George Robert Metcalfe, who was made the commadore of the White Star Line fleet in January 1925, retired from sea duty due to declining health in September 1928 but remained with the company until its mandatory retirement age on 60th birthday in 1930.

In retirement, Captain Metcalfe settled in Anglesey, North Wales. In the 1939 Register he is shown residing at “Culfor”, Cambria Road, Menai Bridge, where he remained until his death on 2nd February 1945. His estate was valued for probate at £2,396-14s-6d. (equivalent to £85,470 today)

The “Master Willie” to whom the postcard was addressed, was William George Metcalfe who, as stated above, was the son of Captain George Robert Metcalfe. He was born on 8th October 1907 to Elizabeth Metcalfe (née Williams) the captain’s wife whom he had married in the March quarter of 1905 at the church of Our Lady, and St. Nicholas; facing the river Mersey close to the Pier Head it is the parish church of Liverpool but is also known as the “Sailor’s Church”.

 

Church of Our Lady and St. Nicholas, Pier Head, Liverpool

William George’s mother sadly passed away during the December quarter of 1918 aged just 39 when her son had only just reached his 11th birthday. 

Following this tragic event and with their father away at sea, the Metcalfe children (William George had a younger sister, also Elizabeth, who was born in October 1910) were put in the care of Captain Metcalfe’s niece Florence Ethel, the unmarried daughter of his older brother, William. The 1921 census records them living, with one servant, at 103, Newsham Drive, Fairfield, West Derby, Liverpool.

In the 1939 Register, William George is recorded at 56, Mulgrave Street, Liverpool. 

He was unmarried and his occupation is shown as a motor driver, however the notes next to his entry indicate that he had some experience as a Merchant Mariner. He died in Liverpool during January 1988. (4)

Pictures: - Naples postcard from the collection of Tony Goulding, S.S. Canopic by White Star Line - http://www.esseximages.com/images/steamships/21542Canopic1900.JPG, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8534024, Church of Our Lady and St. Nicholas, Pier Head, Liverpool by Man vyi - Self-photographed, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4643779

Notes: -

1) Captain Metcalfe first joined the Royal Navy Reserve on 24th April 1900 and by the time he retired from the service in July 1922 he had risen to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander.

2) I have not included Elizabeth’s maiden name as the entry on her marriage record was altered with “Cook” crossed through and “Mennel” substituted. Also, there was no entry made for the name and occupation of the bride’s father. A possible explanation of this may be provided by a record in the 1851 census; an unmarried Elizabeth Mennel is shown as residing with her widowed grandmother, Elizabeth Cook in the nearby town of Thirsk, Yorkshire (North Riding).

3) The “Megantic” already had a famous connection as it was in August 1910 the ship in which the fleeing alleged poisoner Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen was brought back to the U.K. to stand trial at the Old Bailey.

4) There is a record of a William George Metcalfe marrying a Constance Elsie Johnstone at St. Agnes Church, Toxteth, Liverpool in November 1940.  This couple had at least one and possibly two daughters.

Forgotten faces … lost stories

I am looking at a set of glass negatives and staring back at me are four people of whom I know nothing.

Unknown man, unknown date

The images are undated, there is no hint of a location nor the name of a photographer.

All of which means my four people are and will remain a mystery.

They are part of a collection of glass negatives belonging to Phil Portus who acquired them a very long time ago.

Amongst the others there are four pictures of Worsely and Wardley Halls in Worsely which we can attribute to J.T. Sandell from South Norwood in London, who pioneered a new photographic process, but died in near poverty in 1906.*

Gardens, date unknown

But it is impossible to say whether these four come from Mr. Sandell.

Three might be but one I am pretty sure dates to the Great War and will postdate Mr. Sandell.

The quality is mixed, and so the two of a man woman in their gardens lack a degree of sharpness but still offer up lots of detail, from the flowers to the rain butt, watering can and hint of their houses.

The other two are better, and the image of the man in uniform prompts so many questions, about his identity, that uniform and the location.

Equally the picture of the soldier and his wife throw up a heap more questions.  

She appears to be wearing a wedding ring and he wears a red cross badge on his right arm, and carries a stick. My Wikipedia tells me that “In the British Army before World War I, swagger sticks were carried by all other ranks when off duty, as part of their walking out uniform. 

The stick took the form of a short cane of polished wood, with an ornamented metal head of regimental pattern. 

The couple, date unknown

The usual custom was for the private soldier or non-commissioned officer (NCO) to carry the stick tucked under his arm. … Until 1939 swagger sticks were still carried by peacetime regular soldiers when ‘walking out’ of barracks, but the practice ceased with the outbreak of World War II”.**

The background, date unknown

And while I can’t make out the detail on the cap badge and belt buckle so one will and suggest a regiment and a time.

Added to which there may be a clue in the background, which has escaped me.

So, all still to play for.

Picture; four glass negatives, unknown date, courtesy of Phil Portus

*In search of Worsley mysteries …….. two halls….. five old pictures and …. an enigmatic clue, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2023/04/in-search-of-worsley-mysteries-two.html

**Swagger stick, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swagger_stick

In search of Worsley mysteries …….. two halls….. five old pictures and …. an enigmatic clue

I am not a fan of those stories of mysterious and dark goings on in old halls, which at best leave the ghost of some tragic figure wandering the corridors or at worse stamp the place with a curse which rings down the centuries.

The Hall circa 1896-8

And on our visits to Worsley Old Hall nothing untoward has befallen us, other than the singing man in the lavatory whose mastery of the 1-minute aria from La bohème was astonishing.

The food and the service has been excellent, and Rosa from Milan always asks to go back.

Now, I must confess I only vaguely knew of the Hall’s existence until our Ben and Lindsey took us there a few years ago and since then we often drop in for a leisurely midday meal. *

My Wikipedia tells me that it is "a public house and restaurant in Worsley, Greater Manchester, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building," dates from the 16th or 17th centuries and has undergone several additions before becoming a pub in 1930.

The Hall "in the show", circa 1896-98

Added to which “the hall is of particular historical importance because it was here that Francis Egerton, the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, James Brindley and John Gilbert planned the Bridgewater Canal and supervised its building”.

And it serves up an excellent Cheshire cheese, onion and potato pie, served up with buttered greens, and redcurrant gravy.

But as far as I know there are no restless spirits or dark stories of treachery, unfilled promises and strange sudden deaths.

That said my friend Phil Portus has presented with a mystery, which comes in the form of five old images of Worsley and Wardley Hall, which he tells me .  “A while ago friends who lives in the old house opposite the Moor Allerton prep school found these somewhere in the house and gave me 5 old half plate glass negs to me as I'm a photographer. 

I'd forgotten about them and found them when clearing out stuff.  Here is a quick inverted phone shot on my light table”.

Wardley Hall, circa 1896-98

They are undated, of mixed quality but are a fascinating record of the two halls sometime in the late 19th century.

That said what I thought at first was a shot of Worsley Hall may not be so.

The connfusion arose because of a reference to the Hall on a faded typed card which offers up details of the images, how to process them, and the name J.T. Sandell along with the word Halation which a source describes as “a photographic effect that can add a sense of nostalgia and warmth to a photograph or video. 

It is often associated with the look of film and can be used to give digital images a more analog feel. 

You can achieve this type of "bloom" or halation through diffusion filters for your camera lens”***

I hadn’t expected to track Mr. Sandell’s down assuming he was a local photographer in the Salford or Manchester area.

But not so, he was from South Norwood in London, pioneered a new photographic process, but died in near poverty in 1906.****

The clue, circa 1896-98

According to another source he established his own company in 1896, in Norwood Junction, South Norwood, which folded two years later, “the firm produced dry plates and later films, specialising in multi-coated plates and Cristoid films. Sandell Works Co. went into receivership in June 1898, its interests were taken over by Sandell Films & Plates Ltd (capital £10,000). J.T. Sandell (d. 1907) ended his links with the company in 1902. 

T.K. Grant worked for the company until 1901 as a sales representative.

References: Phot. Dealer Jun/1898, p. 148. Phot. Dealer Mar/1899 p. 69. Article in Phot. Dealer Jun/1902 p. 143 on Sandell. Phot. Dealer Nov/1902 p. 276. BJP 21/6/1901, p. 396.”*****

Between them the two “Sandell” sites include more information, along with a picture of our man and a poster.

So, I suppose that goes some way to explain the Worsley mystery, offering up a date range for our pictures and possible identity for the photographer, all of which means our next visit to the Worsley Old Hall will have the added bonus of knowing we are eating in a place with a bit of photographic history.

And my task will be to match the image s with the Hall thereby confirming or not that Mr. Sundell passed this way.

Another of Wardley Hall, circa 1896-98

Location, Worsley 

Pictures, Worsley Old Hall, and Wardley Hall, circa 1896-8, from the collection of Ron Marsden and Clare Debenham. courtesy of Phil Portus, http://www.philportus.co.uk/

*Worsley Old Hall, https://www.brunningandprice.co.uk/worsleyoldhall/

** Worsley Old Hall, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worsley_Old_Hall

***Fstoppers, https://fstoppers.com/guest/use-halation-624893#:~:text=Halation%20is%20a%20photographic%20effect,filters%20for%20your%20camera%20lens.

****J.T. Sandell, Historic Camera, http://historiccamera.com/cgi-bin/librarium2/pm.cgi?action=app_display&app=datasheet&app_id=2707

**** Sandell, Early Photography, http://www.earlyphotography.co.uk/site/companies4.html