Manchester's first railway station ........... no.2 a history lesson

The carriage shed, 2004

Now I have always had a fascination for Castlefield and in particular the Liverpool Railway Station.

And a few days ago when Ron posted some of his pictures of the site in the early 1980's it stirred my pot.

So here are a mix of Ron's pictures and mine from almost four decades later, with a bit of a story.

Castlefield became the centre of the first railway complex in 1830.

The original site consisted of the station and warehouse, which was extended a year later to include a set of offices, passenger shed and two more warehouses.

By 1837 a second station platform had been built opposite, reflecting the growing number of passengers.

What is interesting about the buildings is the way they mirror the existing technology but also look forward to the future.

The 1830 warehouse, 1980

So the 1830 warehouse copied the canal warehouses, which were built around the Castlefield Basin but used new materials like cast iron.


Canal warehouse design had been perfected during the last half of the 18th century.

The main features of the design were a series of loading points called loop holes on each floor and access points for barges to move directly into the building.

Similar loopholes were situated on the roadside of the warehouse. This enabled goods to be moved from one side to another. One of the best of these is sited opposite Dukes 92 and has recently been renovated.

The 1830 warehouse, 2004

The original 1830 warehouse used a combination of loopholes and arches designed to allow wagons to be pushed into the building.

After the great fire in 1866, which destroyed the two newer warehouses, this practice was stopped. It is still possible to see where the lines ran into the building. Turntables existed to turn and push wagons into the warehouse.

Maps of the period show these turntables all over the site. The last one was only torn up in the late 90s.

All along the rail side it is possible to see changes that have been made to the original design.

One of the arches has been enlarged and one of the loopholes adapted. It is possible to see some of the early winding gear above one of the loopholes, and the different brickwork above other loopholes can see the evidence for where others once were.

Canal Warehouse, 2004

Likewise the station design is really just a development of stagecoach technology.

Passengers stepped up into the railway carriage, which were just stagecoaches on rails.

Like the road version, luggage and the guard sat on top of the carriage.

The carriage shed, which protected passengers, has a wooden beamed roof not unlike medieval buildings but is supported by the new technology of cast iron pillars.

Looking up to the Byrom Warehouse, 1980

If you look beyond the station to G Mex you can see the future.

In just 50 years railway stations were to be transformed into graceful arches of iron and glass, with the platforms below. Central, Piccadilly and Victoria stations are only later manifestations of Crystal Palace.

The site continued to evolve, and for a long time was a pretty drab warehouse complex and after its closure could have lingered on as a neglected spot gently decaying before falling to Derek the Developer.

1980                                                                      2004

But happily it became the home for the museum which is another story.

Location; Liverpool Road

Pictures; the site in the 1980s courtesy of Ron Stubley, and in the early 21st century from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Manchester's first railway station ........... no.1 waiting for something to happen

Now when Ron shared four pictures of the old railway station and warehouse on Liverpool Road, I was transported back nearly four decades.

The station and carriage shed

I visited it just after it had finally closed and British Rail had sold it to the museum.

It was hard at the time to see just how significant were these old run down buildings.

But these were the first passenger railway station and warehouse, having opened in 1830 when a group of Manchester businesses wanted a quick and cheaper way to get their manufactured goods to Liverpool.
Added to which they quickly saw the commercial advantage of using their railway trains to carry paying passengers.

So here in the pictures is the passenger buildings, beyond which is the carriage shed erected the following year.

And as with so much of the 19th century there was a strict division between those of property and wealth who travelled first class and the rest as seen in the provision of a first and second class booking hall and waiting room.

the 1830 warehouse, railway side

And it is worth remembering just how much the new railway company was at the cutting edge of technological change.  Their steam locomotives may have been the future but tickets were still handwritten and first class carriages were essentially stage coaches placed on a set of railway chassis.

In that respect they were looking back as well as forward.  And that was reflected in their choice of warehouse design, which was direct coy of the existing canal warehouses, complete with arches which allowed waggons to be taken into the building.

Inside the 1830 warehouse

But unlike canal boats which can turn effortless, the railway waggons had to be uncoupled placed on a turntable and then turned 90 degrees before being pushed into the warehouse.

Originally these turn tables were all over the site but the last which was beside the Byrom Warehouse was taken away some time in the 1990's.

And tomorrow there will be more on those early warehouses, of which there were three.

The first built in 1830 opposite the railway station and the second two built the following year which stood at right angles.

These were destroyed in a devastating fire.

The surviving buildings have done well to be still with us, although they were pretty much knocked about.

But have now become part  of the museum complex.

Location; Liverpool Road

Pictures; the railway station and first warehouse, built in 1830-31 as they were in the early 1980s from the collection of Ron Stubley

Pictures with no stories ........ no 2 .... off in the Chara

I was way too young to have ever travelled on a “chara” but our dad drove one back in the late 20s and early 30s, and we have the pictures to prove it.

And here is another full of smiling holiday makers out on a trip.

There will be someone who can describe the type, make and date of the vehicle and perhaps even suggest a location.

Chara’s were often only brought out in the summer and placed on the chassis which at other times doubled up as a lorry transporting goods.

They were by all accounts pretty uncomfortable things to travel but that said they offered up the promise of fun and new places.

Sadly there in no date on the back or a hint of where our people were and not even a comment.

So that is it.


Location; unknown







Picture; from the collection of Ron Stubley

Pictures with no stories ........ no 1 on a beach sometime before now

Now I am fascinated by stories  and more than that the way that a photograph can offer up a story even when there is apparently nothing there.

And this is one of those.

It comes from a collection of picture postcards which were found by a friend of Ron Stubley who looked after them and recently passed them over to me.

They are a mixed bag, consisting of saucy seaside cards, more than a few of holiday destinations and some which are of a family but have no names and no dates.

Many were sent to addresses in north Manchester from resorts on the Welsh coast and that is about it.

Over the last few months quite a few of them have featured on the blog but until now I have not used those which have no means of identifying the place or the people.

And that brings me to this one.  We are clearly on a beach with a pier and judging by other cards in the collection I think the date will be sometime in the 1930s.

Someone may well recognise the pier in the distance, although I am not counting on it.

For me the story is just that the picture perfectly offers up a day at the seaside.

That mix of sand, sandwiches, warm beer, tepid tea and very cold sea water.

Location; unknown






Picture; somewhere on a beach, date unknown, from the collection of Ron Stubley

A house in Harpurhey, the holiday in Weston-super-Mare and the start of a story

Now I will have to take advice on this one but I think Beach Lawns at Weston-Super-Mare may be all that is left of a trail I have been on for the last half an hour.

It began and looks as if it will end with the detail in this picture postcard which was sent to Mr and Mrs Turner c/o Mrs Hanman at 15 Oxton Street, Harpurhey in the August of 1933.

Eve wrote to the Turner’s  "Dear Eddie and Bessie.

Having a very nice holiday.  Had a visit from Flo and Frank yesterday.  How’s this for a lovely spot?”

And as you do I went looking for Oxton Street but it has vanished and appears to have had a short existence.  It dates from some time at the beginning of the last century but is now no more.

Nor without a surname will I be able to find Eve or for that matter Fred and Flo, leaving only an outside chance that the Turner’s or Mrs Hanman will turn up in the historical record.

Not that I will be deterred, there are always the city’s burial records, the directories and  the census returns.

The 1939 Register had quite a few Turner’s so with patience and a bit of luck something might come out of the shadows.

So for now I am back with Beach Lawns.  We did Weston some years ago but I have no recollection of this bit so I shall have to ask my friend Lois who has lived there on and off for a long time.

Location; Weston-Super-Mare and Harpurhey

Picture; Beach Lawns at Weston Super Mare, circa 1933 from the collection of Ron Stubley

A little bit of gentle fun at the seaside in the 1930s ............. no 20 "one tin bath”

A short series reflecting on a bit of gentle fun from the seaside.

Location; at the seaside in Wales

Picture; courtesy of Ron Stubley

A little bit of gentle fun at the seaside in the 1930s ............. no 18 "Ask a Policeman”

A short series reflecting on a bit of gentle fun from the seaside.

Location; at the seaside in Wales

Picture; courtesy of Ron Stubley

A little bit of gentle fun at the seaside in the 1930s ............. no 17 "the man in the kilt”

A short series reflecting on a bit of gentle fun from the seaside.

Location; at the seaside in Wales

Picture; courtesy of Ron Stubley

A little bit of gentle fun at the seaside in the 1930s ............. no 16 "I cannot bare to leave”

A short series reflecting on a bit of gentle fun from the seaside.

Location; at the seaside in Wales

Picture; courtesy of Ron Stubley

A little bit of gentle fun at the seaside in the 1930s ............. no 9 "the lady next door"

A short series reflecting on a bit of gentle fun from the seaside.

Location; at the seaside in Wales

Picture; courtesy of Ron Stubley

A little bit of gentle fun at the seaside in the 1930s ........ no 4 central heating

A short series reflecting on a bit of gentle fun from the seaside.

That said each of the four has something to say about the period in which they were sent.

But I will leave you to draw conclusions.

Location; at the seaside in Wales

Picture; courtesy of Ron Stubley

A little bit of gentle fun at the seaside in the 1930s ........ no 3 the nice boy

A short series reflecting on a bit of gentle fun from the seaside.

That said each of the four has something to say about the period in which they were sent.

But I will leave you to draw conclusions.

Location; at the seaside in Wales

Picture; courtesy of Ron Stubley

A little bit of gentle fun at the seaside in the 1930s ........ no 2 Pinched

A short series reflecting on a bit of gentle fun from the seaside.

That said each of the four has something to say about the period in which they were sent.

But I will leave you to draw conclusions.

Location; at the seaside in Wales

Picture; courtesy of Ron Stubley

A little bit of gentle fun at the seaside in the 1930s ........ no 1 the Swank

A short series reflecting on a bit of gentle fun from the seaside.

That said each of the four has something to say about the period in which they were sent.

But I will leave you to draw conclusions.

Location; at the seaside in Wales

Picture; courtesy of Ron Stubley

A little bit of gentle fun at the seaside in the 1930s ............. no 14 "I want a baby ....."

A short series reflecting on a bit of gentle fun from the seaside.

Location; at the seaside in Wales

Picture; courtesy of Ron Stubley

A little bit of gentle fun at the seaside in the 1930s ............. no 13 ....... "Have one for me"

A short series reflecting on a bit of gentle fun from the seaside.

Location; at the seaside in Wales

Picture; courtesy of Ron Stubley

A little bit of gentle fun at the seaside in the 1930s ............. no 8 "Reminded of you"

A short series reflecting on a bit of gentle fun from the seaside.

Location; at the seaside in Wales

Picture postcards, Postcards and their history, Ron Stubley

A little bit of gentle fun at the seaside in the 1930s ............. no 7 "I'm Respectable"

A short series reflecting on a bit of gentle fun from the seaside.

Location; at the seaside in Wales

Picture; courtesy of Ron Stubley


Picture postcards, Postcards and their history, Ron Stubley

A little bit of gentle fun at the seaside in the 1930s ............. no 6 "the lady what does"

A short series reflecting on a bit of gentle fun from the seaside.

That said each  has something to say about the period in which they were sent.

But I will leave you to draw conclusions.

Location; at the seaside in Wales

Picture; courtesy of Ron Stubley

A little bit of gentle fun at the seaside in the 1930s ........ no 5 "so shall we peep"

A short series reflecting on a bit of gentle fun from the seaside.

That said each of the four has something to say about the period in which they were sent.

But I will leave you to draw conclusions.

Location; at the seaside in Wales

Picture; courtesy of Ron Stubley