The Sale picture …..

Now you can have fun with recording urban shapes.

And here is Tony Goulding’s image taken yesterday on Hope Road in Sale.

Location; Sale

Pictures; Street shapes, Sale Shapes, 2022, from the collection of Tony Goulding

Bandstands and wizards ........... and the headless one in Sale

I grew up during the decline of the bandstand.

Once they were the pride and joy of any respectable park, and a venue to listen to live music and meet your friends.

But in the years after the last world war, they became less popular, and this coincided with a lack of interest by cash strapped Councils in maintaining their parks.

Out went the carefully tended floral displays, and the stunning flower beds, along with  the resident park keepers who were part policemen, part friend, and who always kept an eye on the safety of unattended children.

And a creeping policy of low maintenance gardening and longer periods between cutting  grass, and following up on essential repairs, made some of our parks less than safe places.

All of which condemned the bandstand to a lingering death.

First, went the delicate and intricate iron work which not only supported the roof but gave a sense of Edwardian elegance to the structure. 

In the absence of regular painting, the iron rusted, looked unsightly and eventually became a safety hazard.

The logical next step, given that the bands no longer played, and the stand was just a brick plinth, which kids might fall off, was to demolish them.

I suppose they didn’t really fit that image of a new Britain where everyone sat on the grass listening to their transistor radios and chose to go off on Sunday’s for a drive into the countryside or even to the coast.

Some like the one in Fog Lane have vanished completely.  Some have been restored and others like the one that stood in Longford Park have been transported off to museums and cultural theme parks.

A few survived, minus their iron work and can still be seen which is where h Andy Robertson came across this one in Sale, yesterday.

But not content with just a bandstand he conjured up a  a wizard for good measure.

He christened it the “headless bandstand" but added “a wizard for good measure”.

And you can’t say fairer than that.

I shall add it to my growing collection of bandstands from around the world with a little bit of bandstand history.

Location; Worthington Park, Sale

Pictures; the bandstand and the wizard, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Bandstands, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=bandstands&max-results=20&by-date=true

In Brooklands Cemetry with Samuel Edgar Walker of the 67th Pioneer Battalion

Now I know there is much more to discover about Samuel Edgar Walker who is recorded on the family’s gravestone in Brooklands Cemetery.

He was the youngest son of Samuel and Margaret Walker of Sale, and was born in 1889 and was killed in action during the Great War.

What marks him out as a little different from other the young soldiers commemorated in the cemetery is that he served with the 67th Pioneer Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

According to his Attestation Papers he enlisted in Vancouver on September 28 1915 giving his occupation as “musician” which may suggest he was on a tour of Canada at the time but could equally mean he was a resident.*

At the moment his full military records have not yet been digitalized but I do know that he was 5 ft 7 in height had a “ruddy” complexion, with blue eyes and dark hair and was judged “fit for the Canadian over Seas Expeditionary Force.”

And that for now is it.

I am indebted to Antony Mills who came across the gravestone and has also photographed those of other Canadian soldiers who in due course I will research.

Location; Brooklands Cemetery






Picture, from the collection of Antony Miller, 2017

*Library and Archives Canada, Personnel Records of the First World War, http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=293490

There are always stories …… The Case of the Curious Bride

This is 72 Marsland Road and the shop which today has revealed it’s past.

Andy Robertson tells me that “the last incarnation of the shop was ‘The Case of the Curious Bride’”, but his photographs reveal that in a previous commercial existence it sold cigarettes and tobacco, with at least two different families.

And look carefully and there is a hint of other names that were painted over and lost.

Now I don’t have access to the street and trade directories for Marsland Road, but someone will, and maybe they will be able to offer up more information.

In the meantime, Andy’s three pictures reveal multiple ghost signs which I guess is rare.

Ghost signs remains  a fascinating link to the past.

Most come in faded painted signs on the sides of walls, or above shop windows.

They can be the name of a product or the owner of the shop, and if you are lucky can be in very good condition.

Sadly most are clinging on, as the paint peels and the lettering and names become indistinct.

For some they offer a reminder of products they knew as children and for others the names of the shop keepers will evoke memories of the people behind the counters.

And no sooner was the story posted than Alice Cordelia commented, "John and Irene Eckersley ran this as a newsagent and much loved penny sweet shop in the 80's and 90's. They had a German shepherd dog who used to bark at customers from a hatch behind the counter".

Location; Sale Moor

Pictures; Multiple ghost signs, 2021, from the collection of Andy Robertson

In Sale with …. the war memorial ….. a place in Yorkshire and the Battle of El Alamein

I have long since stopped being surprised at just where a story can take you.

This one began with a request from Chris in Yorkshire who was trying to track the identity of a young man who died during the last world war.

The only clue was the name of the young man’s father and a suggestion that there was a connection with Whalley House in Whalley Range.

By one of those convoluted twists, he had got hold of my name, and together we set off to uncover what we could.

At this stage Chris had no idea which of the three services the young man had served in, or the theatre of war, only that his death might have been in 1943.

The father’s name was Samuel Holmes who had left Bradford to set up a business in Manchester, sometime around 1925.

And after a few disappointing false trails I found him living on Washway Road in Sale, with his wife, and son in 1939.  He described himself as a Cotton Piece Goods Merchant and Shipper, which fitted with what Chris already knew.

But the real find of course was the name of Mr. Holmes’s son, who was Cyril, born in 1919, and armed with his identity it was possible to trawl the war records, which offered four possible candidates.

As so often happens, each seemed promising but also contained details which appeared to rule them out.

In one case there was no match with Samuel and his wife Elsie, and in another two, the date of death was wrong, leaving the last which placed him at El Alamein in 1942.  This was a year earlier and uncomfortably offered Manchester not Yorkshire as the place of birth.

But this last one remained a possibility if only because this Cyril Holmes had joined the East Yorkshire Regiment which given the family links with the county made it the best of the four.

And it was at this point that Chris following up the leads with Sale researched the Sale War Memorial which he writes confirmed that “There  is a Cyril H Holmes, who died  on June 15th, 1942 in Egypt.  And that on the Commonwealth Grave commission  website, they have Cyril Hardy Holmes, born in 1919 son of Sam and Elsie Holmes of Sale Cheshire, who  died on June 15th in 1942 at El Alamein, Ser.no.3656103,  of Duke of Yorks. East Yorkshire  Regiment.

I have checked my Lodge minute books and his death was noted in September 1943 after the summer break. With his Father being a Country member, it might be that the news took so long to be known”.

There will be more to find out, but for now that is it, other than to reflect that together Chris and I have added something more to the simple record on the war memorial in Sale.

Location, Yorkshire, Sale, Egypt

Picture; Sale War Memorial, 1925, TP 10912& November 12th, 2014, TP 10779, courtesy of Trafford Local Studies Centre, https://www.trafford.gov.uk/residents/leisure-and-lifestyle/libraries/Local-Studies/Trafford-Local-Studies.aspx

The one which will stay a mystery …………..

 Sometimes you have to accept that a story has run its course with no resolution.

Not that I expected to find out the identity of a certain Hampson whose gravestone was deposited in Walkden Gardens a long time ago.

It was part of a pile of memorial inscriptions which were taken from the old Brooklands cemetery and dumped in the park, later to be recycled ad edging and kerb stones.

I doubt I would have ever come across them and certainly not set off on the search for the identity of Hampson if Andy Robertson had taken a walk through the park.

And having set off through Walkden Gardens he photographed some of the lost stone inscriptions.

Most of them record the names of stone masons, who left their names on the small edging stones which formed the border of the grave plots.

But one inscription was much larger, leaving Andy to speculate that this was actually part of a gravestone, belonging someone called Hampson, who was buried in the old Brooklands cemetery.

Of course a walk around the cemetery would not reveal anything given that the Hampson gravestone was no longer where it had been so reverently placed, which led me to seek the help of Trafford Local Studies Centre and in particular Sonia Llewellyn the Local Studies Advisor, 

Sonia replied to my request with “We do hold a CD ROM listing memorial inscriptions in the old part of the cemetery, which was compiled by the Ashton and Sale History Society. 

If there is anyone I can look up for you, just let me know”.

And I did ask, and kindly Sonia sent over the results which offered up twenty headstones, recording the deaths and internment of 61 people.  

Not all were Hampsons, but those that weren’t, rested with Hampson’s.

The burials span the period from 1872 through to 1978, with the youngest an infant and the oldest aged 84, and contain a mix of “memorial language” from the conventional “departed this life” to the touching  “who sweetly fell asleep in Jesus”, and the intriguing reference to a Edward Hampson of Manchester, "late of Moscow”.

But sadly, I am no nearer identifying the memorial stone found by Andy, other than that it appears to have no other names or details, which raises the possibility that it belongs to none of the above.

Leaving me just to thank Sonia, and Andy.

Location; Walkden Gardens

Pictures; Walkden Gardens, 2020 from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Trafford Local Studies Centre, https://www.trafford.gov.uk/residents/leisure-and-lifestyle/libraries/Local-Studies/Trafford-Local-Studies.aspx

When the mysteries keep coming …… stories from a municipal park

Now I am back in Walkden Gardens which is a place I have never visited and yet has begun to offer up some fascinating stories.*

All of which come courtesy of Andy Robertson who a week ago photographed a group of  stones, some of which were quite clearly taken from a cemetery.

The research took the story to a John Royle Whittick, stone carver, modeller and sculptor, of 8 Railway Street Altrincham and  Peter Spence, sculptor, stone and marble mason of 132 Hyde Road, Ardwick.

Of the two it was Mr. Spence who proved the easier to research.  He ended his days as a “master mason” and was buried in Philips Park Cemetery, which is long way from Walkden Gardens in Sale.  

B

But Barry Botherton from Friends of Walkden Gardens, offered up the explanation that "These stones are edging stones and kerbs that were removed from Brooklands Cemetery in Sale many years ago. 

They had been dumped in the Gardens and the Friends Group later reused them to make walls".**

And yesterday Andy went back and came across another three, all of which look to be promising research projects.  

Alas so far he “couldn't trace HOLDEN but HAMPSON might actually be a part of a gravestone and HILTON could be the ones on Barlow Moor Road opposite Southern Cemetery”.

Most mysteries can be solved.  

In the case of Holden and Hilton these will be the names of the stone mason’s who were commissioned to make the graves and added their names on the edging stones at the foot of the monuments.

But the stone bearing the name of Hampson might well be a gravestone.

I don’t have access to the records of Brooklands Cemetery, and there are 38,586 burials recorded there from September 1862 to November 1999, added to which Trafford’s online search service costs £89.

And while Manchester does also charge it offers a free limited search which is usually sufficient.

So I won’t be going down the route of looking Mr./Ms. Hampson, and there I think the search will stop, leaving me just fall back on a description of Sale and Brooklands cemetery, which according to one source, “is a mid-19th-century cemetery that was later extended twice, although only the original cemetery is registered by English Heritage. 

It has an informal layout of winding intersecting paths and surviving chapels, which are no longer in use. Other features include a Gothic Revival-style lodge and an underpass.

Plans were prepared in 1861 by architect William Wilson of Manchester and the cemetery was opened in 1862. It was extended in 1895 and again in the 20th century.

The cemetery contains a great density of notable 19th century and early 20th century monuments, in a wide variety of sizes, styles, and materials, and the graves of many notable local people”.***

Of course the question that remains is why did some end up in Walkden Gardens?  

I know that some parish graveyards and public cemeteries have in the past "dispensed" with old monuments but it does seem a poor reward for a family who paid for an eternal resting place.

Although it may be that Sale and Brooklands were merely following the practice of offering only a limited resting place, or simply those that ended up in the Gardens were damaged and beyond repair.

We shall see.

In the meantime, I find it interesting that all but one of the named stone masons were based in Manchester, but that is a story for another time.

Location; Walkden Gardens

Pictures, Walkden Gardens, 2020,from the collection of Andy Robertson, and Brooklands Cemetery, Sale, Scanned from a glass plate negative, date unknown, TL7772. courtesy of Trafford Local Studies Centre, https://apps.trafford.gov.uk/TraffordLifetimes/

* Hyde Road, Ardwick, and Railway Street, Altrincham ….. turn up in a small park in Sale … and the mystery is?, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=walkden+gardens

**Friends of Walkden Gardens, http://walkdengardens.co.uk/

***Sale and Brooklands Cemetery, Parks and Gardens, https://www.parksandgardens.org/places/sale-and-brooklands-cemetery

Hyde Road, Ardwick, and Railway Street, Altrincham ….. turn up in a small park in Sale … and the mystery is?

Now I know there is a story here, but I am not quite sure what it is.

On a recent walk Andy came across these two pictures in Walkden Gardens, which he sent across, adding “When normal people visit parks and gardens they admire the plants and trees, but not me!”

Instead Andy photographed a collection of edging stones, one of carried the name of John Royle Whittick, stone carver, modeller and sculptor, of 8 Railway Street Altrincham and another of Peter Spence, sculptor, stone and marble mason of 132 Hyde Road, Ardwick.

The actual stones gave only the name and address of the two men and Andy supplied their occupations.

And never wanting to appear lazy I followed suit.  Railway Street is listed in the directories as is Hyde Road which was easier to find.  

The Ardwick stretch of Hyde Road runs out from Ardwick Green and here I found Mr. Spence, first on Darley Street in 1867 where he had a yard, then through to 1891 on Hyde Road.  He was still there at the beginning of that year but by April had moved to 6 Romeo Street which was off Stockport Road.

And given that he had been born in 1830, I am guessing that he had retired by the time he and his wife Hannah moved into Romeo Street.  That said he still listed himself as employed but whereas earlier he owned the yard and described himself as a Master Mason, by 1891 he describes himself as an employee.

Nor is that entirely the end of the story, because having moved into Romeo Street sometime around or just before April 1891, he died in the May and was buried in Philips Park Cemetery .

He lies with eleven others, who seem to be unrelated to him.  For a brief while there did seem something odd about his burial in that one source listed him in Southern Cemetery but a search of the their records proved that to be false and he is indeed buried in east Manchester. 

None of which explains why the stones with the names of Mr. Spence and Whittick came to be in Walkden Gardens.  They look to be the edging stones which would adorn the foot of graves, and I guess were taken up when some of our public cemeteries and church yards were closed or redesigned.

But someone will know and that is the fun of it.

And no sooner had I sent the story over to Andy and he had solved the mystery....... "Have just checked the Walkden gardens website........'a huge pile of stone from a local cemetery had been tipped on the site some time in the past, and some of this has been used to edge paths and build walls around the Dovecote and in the Japanese garden'".

Leaving me just to finish off with a follow up from Barry Botherton from Friends of Walkden Gardens, who confirmed that "These stones are edging stones and kerbs that were removed from Brooklands Cemetery in Sale many years ago. They had been dumped in the Gardens and the Friends Group later reused them to make walls".*

Location; Walkden Gardens

Pictures, from the collection of Andy Robertson, 2020

*Friends of Walkden Gardens, http://walkdengardens.co.uk/

Road signs with a story …………… just waiting to be found

I am intrigued by this stone road sign and its story.

Andy Robertson sent the pictures over, adding 

“I spotted this on the corner of Derbyshire Road and Northenden Road in Sale. 

I don't suppose it is in its exact original location but still interesting. 

Even when It was brand new and glistening I guess the passing motorists of today would have had trouble reading it?”

And I wondered if the local resident was happy to have such a sign above his stone wall.

It is one of those silly historical stories which might just lead somewhere.

After all there will be a few people with detailed local historical knowledge who can answer Andy’s question on the sign’s original location, as well as explaining how common these road inscriptions were and perhaps offering up some more.

And finally, it does allow me to use a delightful image from Trafford Lifetimes, dating from the 1880s.

Sadly my knowledge of Derbyshire Road is scant, so I can do no more than suggest this might be the other side of the road.

But someone will correct me, and that is both the fun and the joy of sharing pictures and stories on the blog.

Location, Sale

Pictures; Derbyshire Road and Northenden Road in Sale, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and Derbyshire Road, 1880, TL3126, courtesy of Trafford Lifetimes, https://apps.trafford.gov.uk/TraffordLifetimes/

*Derbyshire Road, Sale, view from Northenden Road, terrace beyond trees on the right 12-16 cottages. Beyond was the Smithy (see 1876 OS map) and Gough's field, now a pair of semis and town houses. 1880

The Vine in Sale, the Ainscow Hotel on Trinity Way and a bit of a detective story

Now it started with a picture of the Vine on Washway Road, and ended with the Ainscow Hotel on Trinity Way in Salford.

The Vine, 2015

All of which makes perfect sense given that both are in a similar line of business but as ever the route from one to the other was a tad more complicated.

Andy took the pictures of the Vine recently on his latest excursion to record bits of our history.

What caught his attention was the fine lettering at roof level which contained not only the name of the pub but the Watson and Woodhead Brewery.

And that set me going.  The brewery was located between Bolton Street and Irwell Street just a short walk from Salford Station.  One source suggested that it operated from 1895-98 and it shows up on the OS map for 1894.

The Vine on Washway Road, 2015

All of which is muddied by the same source which suggested a date for the Vine of 1909.

At which point I am fully prepared for some one to help me out, especially given that the brewery appears to have continued until 1927.

And here I will fall back on Ainscow Hotel which records that “the building changed hands in 1927, becoming a jam factory for Mackie & Sons Fruit Preservers. 

In 1957 the building was occupied by Brown Brothers Auto Parts who would remain there until 1986. From then, this splendid testament to Northern industrialisation would lay barren – eventually falling into disrepair.

The Brewery, 1894

In restoring this famous landmark, we have sought to capture the character of the original building. 
We believe that it is simply too interesting to be allowed go to waste. 

As such, our guests will be able to enjoy some of the original features and architectural aesthetics that prove that ‘they don’t build them like that anymore’.

Having served as an industrial workplace for over a century, the Brown Brothers Building has played an important role in the working lives of tens of thousands of local people. 

In respect of this, we have worked with Salford City Council to recruit 75% of our staff from the local community in order to preserve this tradition.”

Now that it was I call a bit of a twisty journey but offers up some fascinating bits of our history.

Pictures; the Vine in Sale 2015, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and detail of Bolton Street from the 1894 OS of South Lancashire, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/

* The Ainscow Hotel, Trinity Way, Salford,M3 5EN http://theainscow.com/about.php

The Board School .......... still going strong almost 140 years later

I remain a fan of those old Board Schools built in the late 19th and early 20 centuries.

They were, and still are solid beautiful buildings which are warm in winter and cool in summer.

By contrast the new wave of schools built in the 1950s onwards, were bold modern statements about what schools should be like, but  were all glass and metal with a fflat roof.

All of which meant that these new builds leaked heat in the winter, and were furnaces in the summer.

Added to which the metal frames were not always a good fit, and over the years began to rust and buckle allowing the wind to whip through.

And while all that glass looked good it proved an irresistible temptation to stare out at everything from the games lessons taking place or the traffic whizzing past.

Their Victorian and Edwardian predecessors had high windows which were good for letting in the light but were often just that bit too high to afford a distraction.

And of course these schools have lasted much better than those thrown up in the 1950s, which means many of us will have been to a Board School and seen our children go through similar ones and no doubt will see our grandchildren do the same.

Some are now too small and have had modern additions grafted on.

Andy Robertson was drawn to Springfield School on his travels through Sale and sent over a selection of pictures with the comment "this was on the way to Bulls Head, which was only a necessary watering stop you understand for an evening of culture with Cathy at the Waterside centre... John Bramwell of I am Kloot fame.

I was drawn in by the ‘Cookery Instruction’, sign and also by the way the 'Infant Boys' has been incorporated into the new build”.

Now I had to agree, but I wonder which of the two bits of building will still look good and be fit for purpose a century on.

Location; Sale

Pictures; Springfield School, Sale, 2018, from the collection of Andy Robertson

Always look up ..... On Cross Street, with ceiling window ..... Sale

Now Andy Robertson is a man of few words, but they cut to the point, so accompanying these two pictures he sent over was the simple comment, “On Cross Street, with ceiling window”.

And that is pretty much all that needs to be said.

The Bulls Head is not a pub I have been in, but I think I will take a visit, just to check out the ceiling.

The date says 1879 which means it will be pretty easy to trace.

Of course there will be someone who can reel off its whole history which would be interesting.

The Trevor Arms in Chorlton had a similar ceiling which was closed off in the 1960s, exposed again in the 1990s and after the last refurbishment has gone again under false panelling.

In the case of the Bull its attractive features are a little eclipsed by the big TV screen.

Still people will be drawn to the glass in a n idle moment when the football gets boring, which might start me off on a new series ....... Pub Windows.

And that is it.

Location; Sale

Pictures; the Bulls Head, Sale, 2018, from the collection of Andy Robertson 

The bit that Sale lost ......... remembered by Andy Robertson

Now you can be over precious about old buildings, but I am always guided by Andy Robertson who as we all know has been recording our changing landscape for the last four decades.

Yesterday he sent me four pictures of two buildings he photographed three years ago with the comment, “I took these pictures in March 2015 because I was there and they looked ‘nice’ and a bit old. 

Driving past the other week I noticed they were no more. 

I just thought the white building was just one building but having seen the 1908 map it is or was obviously three. 

The other building was to top right of the three. 

Bittersweet really, nice to have a picture of something gone but at the same time sad to see it gone!"

Location; Sale

Pictures; Bits that Sale has lost, 2005, from the collection of Andy Robertson

Outside the Red Cross Hospital in Sale in 1915 with a gramophone, a nurse and some wounded soldiers

During the Great War the Red Cross established hospitals across the country to care for the wounded returning from the battlefield.

They were the product of prewar planning, were opened in our cities, towns and villages and most disappeared within months of the Armistice.

The buildings were returned to civilian use, the equipment ranging from beds to blankets and typewriters were auctioned off and the memory of the hospitals faded from memory.

Today I doubt that many people will know of the existence of these hospitals near to where they live and yet they were supported by local people who cared for the sick prepared meals and did the washing and regularly raised funds for these voluntary hospitals.

Chorlton had two, Didsbury three and there were more in Whalley Range, Withington and Sale.

In fact pretty much all our suburbs would have had at least one hospital.

Some were in private homes, others in Sunday Schools and in some in church halls.

All of which leads me to David Harrop’s latest acquisition which is a postcard of the Red Cross Hospital in Sale in 1915.

Now I have no idea where it was but someone will.

Already when David posted the image of facebook my old friend Neil was quick off the mark with suggestions.

Sadly like many it has been demolished but I am hoping that there will be more pictures, perhaps an official document or newspaper report to tell us more.

And there is plenty in this photograph to start us off.

To our left standing beside a nurse are a group of soldiers two of whom have crutches and another who looks to be wearing “hospital blues” which were worn by many of the men recovering from wounds.

And then to the left there is one of those windup gramophones which suggest that something special was happening.

It may have just been one of those rare impromptu moments, a combination of a sunny day, a few idle hours and wish to listen to a selection of the popular “hits” of the day.

But given that all Red Cross hospitals were supported by fund raising activities we might just have stumbled on just such event.

I have to say I rather like both ideas and that seems a good point to close.

Picture; Sale Red Cross Hospital, courtesy of David Harrop

Two who died in the Great War ....... remembered in Brooklands Cemetery

Now when you start on a search for the story of one person’s life you are never quite sure where it will take you.

I knew from the inscription on the family gravestone that Willy Whipp had been born in 1890 and was killed in the September of 1916 just months after his elder brother also died while serving with the Royal Flying Corps.

I cannot begin to imagine how their parents coped with the double tragedy.

But with the detachment that comes with being a century away from their loss I was curious about the two young men.

Willy was serving with the Canadian Expeditionary Force and had enlisted in the October of 1914.*

He was a farmer and had been in Canada since 1909 and that is about all we know but more will come to light.

His father had been the managing director of company specializing in leather and the family moved from Ardwick via Hulme to Ashton-on-Mersey.

Given his father’s status and falling into the trap of making gross assumptions I had assumed that Willy’s brother would have been a pilot, but not so he was an Air Mechanic.

Now before any one bridles at my assumption I am fully aware of the importance of air mechanics, this was the profession of my uncle when he joined the RAF in 1938 and without them the planes stay on the ground.

What puzzles me slightly is that he is buried in Sale suggesting either he died in hospital of wounds or while on leave.

But that is a bit of research for another time.

Location; Brooklands Cemetry

Picture; the family gravestone of Mr and Mrs Whipp, 2017, from the collection of Antony Mills

*Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada, http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/Pages/introduction.aspx#g

A day on Dane Road in Sale

Now I am fairly confident that as soon as Andy’s picture of the Bridge Inn goes live on the blog someone will offer up a detailed history of the pub and more than a few interesting stories.

And while I won’t put him on the spot I bet my friend Bill will be one of the contributors, which instead just leaves me to concentrate on the image.

Andy sent it over a few days ago with a New Year greeting and the comment that he took the picture on his way home from work.

I did go looking on the OS for 1870 which shows a collection of buildings on the site but alas I have no directories for the area and so will wait comments.

Location; Sale

Picture; the Bridge Inn, Dane Road, Sale, 2017 from the collection of Andy Robertson

Telling the story of that house in Sale ............ part 3

How do you tell the story of a house?

Vernon Lodge, circa 1880s

You could start with the simple facts of when it was built, the additions over the years and its change of use from perhaps family home to multi occupancy to care home and somewhere along the way its conversion into a block of offices.

Or do you focus on the people who lived there trying to weave a set of stories out of the historic record and pitching their lives against the big events of the last few centuries.

Which ever approach you adopt it is as true for the council house, or semi as it is for the palaces of the people of plenty.

And that brings me to the final story of Vernon Lodge which has stood on Marsland Road since 1851.

It was built for Peter and Mariana Royle who made it their home with a brief interruption for the next forty years.

Peter and Mariana remembered in glass, circa 1851

So completely had they made it their own that they had their initials placed high up on the outside wall and again in a beautiful stained glass window above the entrance door.

He was a surgeon with a practice in the centre of Manchester on Lever Street where they had first set home after their marriage in 1843.

But it would be Vernon Lodge which would be where their children grew up and no doubt would continue to think of as home long after they had all moved on.

And moved on they eventually did.

I can’t be sure when they finally gave up Vernon Lodge but while they were there in 1891 they had gone a decade later when the place was home to Mr and Mrs Cunnigham their three young children and two servants.

By 1911 they too had moved on and the Lodge was the residence of Mr Heath who described himself as an employer and whole sale druggist his wife of 21 years and their children.

Vernon Lodge, 2016

After which at present I know only that a C.G. Spence lived there because in the December of 1944 he was elected as a member of the Historical Society of Lancashire and Cheshire.

It is not much so far but there are other forms of records which will help tell the story of those that lived there, and in time I will chart the changes to the area and the Lodges’ transformation into a the guest house it has now become. Today it is Brooklands Lodge.

Pictures; Vernon Lodge, circa 1880 and stained glass window courtesy of Mr and Mrs Vernon owners of the Lodge

Painting; Vernon Lodge  © 2016 Peter Topping 

Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

Facebook: Paintings from Pictures https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures

*Transactions of the Historical Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 1944, Vol 96.

**Brooklands Lodge, http://www.brooklandslodge.co.uk/ 208 Marsland Rd, Sale, Manchester M33 3NE
0161 973 3283

A little bit of romance and the continuing story of Vernon Lodge on Marsland Road ........ part 2

Now I wonder why Peter and Mariana Royle would leave Vernon Lodge in semi rural Sale and return to live in Manchester.

Vernon Lodge, 2016

They had built Vernon Lodge in 1851 and as a statement had their initials placed high up in the side wall and again in a beautiful piece of stained glass above the front door.*

Mr Royle was a surgeon who had a practice on Lever Street which was where the couple settled in 1845 soon after they had got married in London.

Their new home was close to the railway which offered a quick service into the city which allowed him to commute from home to Lever Street with ease.

The stained glass, circa 1851

So I can’t quite workout why the family would relocate to 58 Greenheys Lane which was a six roomed property close to the city centre.

I know they were there from 1878 but had moved by 1883 and later were back in Vernon Lodge.

And while I was pondering on these moves I shared the story with Peter Topping who decided he would paint the lodge as it looks today and I rather think he has made a magnificent job.

All the more so when you compare it to how it looked in the 1880s when the Royle’s moved back from Manchester  and again took up residence in the lodge.

Vernon Lodge, circa 1880

The mystery is still a puzzle given that Mr Royle had maintained his presence in Lever Street.

He pops up there in a directory of 1863 and while he is missing in 1876 is back there in 1878.

Of course for reasons I don't understand he may somehow have been missed off the lists at one point, although he does move from nu 21 where he had been for 20 years to nu 25 in the late 1870s.

And later in the week Peter and I will take up the invitation of the present owners who run the lodge as a guest house.**

Not that I will leave it there because there are still plenty of directories along with other sources to trawl through which may add to my knowledge of Mr and Mrs Royle and perhaps offer up the explanation for their brief stay in Greenheys Lane.

Painting; Vernon Lodge  © 2016 Peter Topping 

Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

Facebook: Paintings from Pictures https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures

Pictures; Vernon Lodge, circa 1880 and stained glass window courtesy of Mr and Mrs Vernon owners of the Lodge and Greenheys Lane, 1893 from the OS map of Lancashire, 1893, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

*On discovering Vernon Lodge on Marsland Road and a bit of romance from 1851 .... part 1, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/on-discovering-vernon-lodge-on-marsland.html

**Brooklands Lodge, http://www.brooklandslodge.co.uk/ 208 Marsland Rd, Sale, Manchester M33 3NE
0161 973 3283

On discovering Vernon Lodge on Marsland Road and a bit of romance from 1851 .... part 1

I have no idea whether Peter and Mariana had a happy marriage but I like the idea that when their new home was finished in 1851, they added their initials on the wall, where it still proudly looks down on Marsland Road today

Vernon Lodge, 2016

They had been married in London in 1843 and by 1845 were renting number 21 Lever Street in the city centre.

Mr Royle was a surgeon and back then Lever Street was a mix or people.  On the same side and within a few yards of their home the Royle’s could count four boarding houses,  rub shoulders with a fellow surgeon two doors down and count as their neighbours, a tailor, a plumber, a  linen draper, carpenter and a gilder.

Lever Street, 1849

To the north and east were the working class districts of Ancoats whose humble dwellings stood in the shadow of large textile mills, busy timber yards and much else in what passed for industry in a city which one historian called “the shock city of the industrial revolution.”

I do wonder what Mariana made of all this.  She had been born in the village of Withycombe Raleigh in Devon which was 2 miles from Exmouth with a population of just 1054 people.*

But with all such assumptions you do have to be careful.  Mariana had married Robert in London so I guess she would have been familiar with the noise and buzz of a major city.

R & M, 1851

That said their new home would have been in a more pleasant location with the added attraction that since 1849 the railway line ran close by which could have taken Mr Roberts into the heart of the city in next to no time.

The journey to Sale Railway station was a relatively short one but with the opening of Brooklands in 1859 he would have even closer being able to mix the semi rural tranquillity of this bit of Cheshire with the big city.

And the Royle’s remained at the house through the 1860s into the 1890s.

In time I think I will go looking for more on these two and on their family delve deeper into both his professional activity Mariana's early life and something of the lives of their children.

But for now I will just thank Andy Robertson who out on his travels took the pictures of they home just a few days ago and include a link to the work which was being done a few years ago to renovate the lodge.

Vernon Lodge, 1875

And today as the Brooklands Lodge it is a "winning 4 star" guest house.***

Pictures; Vernon Lodge, 2016 from the collection of Any Robertson, Lever Street in 1851, from Slater's Street Directory, 1851 and in 1849 from the OS map of Manchester & Salford, 1844-49, and Venon Lodge in 1910 from the OS map of Cheshire, 1870-75 ,courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/


*A Topographical Dictionary of England in four volumes, Samuel Lewis, Vol 4 1840, page 529

**Historic Sale lodge is being renovated, Messenger, August 29 2013
http://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/news/whereyoulive/sale/10642017.Historic_Sale_lodge_is_being_renovated/

***Brooklands Lodge, http://www.brooklandslodge.co.uk/ 208 Marsland Rd, Sale, Manchester M33 3NE
0161 973 3283