Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 58 ................. Booth Street

Now Booth Street is just what you would expect of one of those twisty little streets off Chapel Street which make their way down to the river.

Unless you have business down there I doubt that you would give Booth Street a second glance.

Today there are a few apartments along the stretch and that is pretty much it.
Back in 1850 the street directory lists just five addresses, starting with Mary Farren, shopkeeper at number 5, George Lord, mechanic at number 12, Daniel Gaskil who was an overlooker at 20 and John Blomeley next door who also an overlooker and finally the firm of James Aspinal Turner & Co, cotton spinners.

There were plenty more properties along with a closed court and a timber yard, but none of the residents of these were worthy or wealthy enough to get a mention in the directory.

Booth Street, 1849

Of course the turnover of occupants in this bit of Salford would have been high and indeed just a year earlier at the bottom of Booth Street there was the Eagle Roller and Spindle Works who likewise is missing from the 1850 list of businesses.

Still there were always the pubs.  On the corner of Booth and Chapel Street there was the Punch Bowl, while back down on Barlow Croft you could have ordered a pint at the Lord Nelson , while heading in the opposite direction there was the Royal Oak and finally starting on the corner of Blackfriars Street there was the Saddle Inn and the Crown.

Now I suspect that both Mr Gaskil and Blomeley who lived on the west side of the street could have worked at James Aspinal Turner’s but it is just speculation as is the notion that they may have been regulars in the Punch Bowl.

But armed with their names I shall in time go looking for them on the census returns  and that will also offer up the names and lives of some of the others who lived on Booth Street.

And that is all for today, but I shall be visiting  the streets on either side over the next few days.

Location; Salford 3

Picture; Booth Street from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and Booth Street in 1849 from the OS for Manchester & Salford, 1842-49 courtesy of Digital Archives Association,  http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 6 ............ Gravel Lane

Now I know that strictly speaking Gravel Lane is neither lost nor forgotten.

It runs from Blackfriars Road up to Greengate, but that first chunk is hidden underneath the railway viaducts which make it a tad foreboding.

But if you do wander into that dark cavern you will be rewarded by some fine cast iron pillars on the corner of Viaduct Street.

These support the original Liverpool and Manchester Railway’s track which was constructed in 1844 and while it was a substantial structure carrying four railway lines it was not yet the structure we know today.

Back in the late 1840s looking out from the north side of Trinity Church there was still a wide expanse of space beyond which were a  Rope Walk, a series of mills and foundries and a timber yard.

Gravel Lane, 1849

And a walk up Gravel Lane in 1849 would have taken you past the Methodist Chapel, a whole shed load of houses with access to some closed courts and Christ Church which stood between King Street and Queen Street.

All a little different today.

Location; Salford

Pictures; Gravel Lane, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the area in 1849, from the OS for Manchester and Salford, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 5 ............ what you find on Blackfriars Road

I am always fascinated by those narrow little passageways which hold the promise of all sorts of dark stories.

Passageway, 2016

Now this one has no name, and leads to Harding Street which today just gives access to a car park under the railway arches from Salford Approach.

So our little passageway seems hardly worth a second glance, but not so.

Go back to 1849 and it led to a closed court called Nightingale Square which in turn took you on to Harding’s Buildings which was the original Harding Street.

Here could be found 23 properties some of which were back to back and a whole warren of alleys on either side.

All were lost with the construction of the new railway viaduct and Exchange Station in 1884.

All of which just leaves me to go looking for the two buildings that stood on either side of our passage.

These were the Salford Library and Mechanic’s Institution to the left and The Royal Archer Public House to the right.

Now I am pretty sure there will be someone who can point me towards pictures of the Library and offer up rich stories of its contribution to Salford life.

In the same way I am also confident that The Royal Archer will reveal something of its past/

This I suspect will start with the names of some of the landords and if we are lucky a date for its opening.

It was there by 1849 and may well be much older than that.  In 1851 it was run by Margaret Horton and with a name we may be able to find out more.

Sadly Harding's Buildiings and Nightingale Square were not considered important enough for inclusion in the directories.

But Margaret Horton should be on the 1851 census and by following the streets from her pub it might be possible to come across both Harding's Buildings and Nightingale Square and in turn uncover the people who lived there.

We shall see.

To which Alan Jennings has added "You mention the Royal Archer, It can be traced back to about 1779 when Samuel Chantler opened an Alehouse called the Black Bull, In 1812 it was listed as the Robin Hood, occupied by Robert Armstrong, After Margaret Houghton the landlord was Thomas Callow in the 1860s. The pub stood on land owned by the Earl of Derby, and it was acquired by the Corporation when the new Blackfriars Road was being planned. In 1873, Thomas Sykes was the tenant and he applied to transfer the licence to a new Royal Archer Hotel which was being built on Lower Broughton Road, the transfer was eventually granted a few years later. I hope that this helps, Andrew."

Thank you Alan.

Location; Salford

Pictures; passageway on Blackfriars Road, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the area in 1849, from the OS for Manchester and Salford, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 4 ............ Caxton Street

Caxton Street is the one that runs from Chapel Street to the railway viaduct but once upon a time ran on as Union Street under the train tracks to Posey Street..

Now I say that but am well prepared to be corrected.

I should have crossed the road and followed Caxton Street up to the brick wall but I didn’t and so may have lost a clue.

Back in 1849 there were 76 properties strung out along Union Street

Location, Salford

Picture; Caxton Street, 2016, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Salford Station ............ the one you miss

It’s the one you miss. Salford Central Station is on New Bailey Street and is set back between two railway viaducts.

So travelling out of Manchester into Salford even on foot it was not the most visible of places.  

Moreover the actual entrance seemed to retreat away from the road and so apart from the station’s name on the wooden canopy there was  really only the sign above the entrance announcing the way “To the ticket office” and the railway timetables which gave a clue as to what was behind the maroon door.

But all that has changed.  The viaducts have been painted and the detail highlighted, as have the pillars and the entrance is now behind a glass wall which draws you into the station itself.

It is one of our oldest stations having been opened in 1838 as the terminus of the Manchester and Bolton Railway and in 1843 the viaduct across New Bailey Street were built to connect with Victoria Station.  Only the Liverpool Road Station is older, but that closed for passengers in 1844 when Manchester Victoria was built.

Of course the purist will point to the fact that I am mixing up Manchester and Salford and treating them as one but I rather think that is being a wee bit pedantic.

The station has had many names.  For the first twenty years it was just plain Salford, was then renamed Salford (New Bailey) until 1865 when it reverted to its original name and in 1988 it was changed to Salford Central.

I suppose the fact that for a long time it was only open at peak times and is closed on Sundays does continue to make it a bit of a forgotten station.  So to bring it back I thought I would include the 1894 painting of the station by H. E. Tidmarsh from Manchester Old and New.

Pictures; from the collection of Andrew Simpson and Manchester Old and New, William Arthur Shaw

The bridges of Salford and Manchester .......... nu 8 back with a favourite

The day back in November was grey and cold and the clouds seemed to touch the ground.

So I cheered myself up with another picture of that bridge I like.

Location; the River Irwell,














Picture; The Irwell Road Bridge, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

The bridges of Salford and Manchester .......... nu 7 walking over the river

Now this one sprang up when I wasn't looking.

And just because it is silly I shall aim to walk over each of the Salford bridges before Chris on the same day.

Location; Salford

Picture; the Irwell Street Bridge, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

The bridges of Salford and Manchester .......... nu 6 looking over the river from the Irwell Street Bridge

Now I have always taken this one for granted which is a shame because it is not only a fine looking bridge but stands out on the river.

But as Bill pointed out I omitted to include the Irwell Street Bridge in the picture.

And so you will either have to go back to nu 5 or wait for number 8.

Such is the joy of the blog.
Location; Salford

Picture; the Irwell Street Bridge, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

The bridges of Salford and Manchester .......... nu 5 the Irwell Street Bridge

Now I have always taken this one for granted which is a shame because it is not only a fine looking bridge but stands out on the river.

Location; Salford










Picture; the Irwell Street Bridge, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

The bridges of Salford and Manchester ........... nu 4 two for one

Now I am the first to admit the lighting is all wrong and I suspect the composition is iffy but its a picture of a bridge.

Which actually contains two ....... one behind the other and three if you count the  the footbridge.

And that is all I am going to say.

Location Salford

Picture; the river and the bridge, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

The bridges of Salford and Manchester ........... nu 3 how things change

I recently included much the same view along the river in the 1850s by the artist C W Clennell.

And then I was back in 2016.

Location Salford











Picture; the river and the bridge, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 52 ............ the one beside the Police Station

Now you would be forgiven for thinking this was nothing more than the entrance to a lock up, but not so.

Maps from the late 19th and early 20th centuries show it as a road running into Salford Approach.

But it does seem to predate the Police Station and Salford Approach which were built and cut in the early 1880s and seems the start of what in 1849 was Harding’s Buildings, a shi

short stretch of which has survived as Harding Street

Location; Salford

Pictures; Chapel Street 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the area in 1900, from Gould’s Fire Insurance Maps, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford nu 10 .......... under the arches of Bury Street and beyond

The short trip through the gloom of the railway arches brings you out on a stretch of Bury Road flanked by modern retail and residential properties and ends in a narrow alley.

Along the way you can wander off up one dead end or take the two streets off to the right which will bring you to Blackfriars Road.

Now I thought about digging deep into its history, but instead wonder what other people remember of the buildings, and the people which occupied Bury Street in the time before now.

And Alan Jennings has added, "Interesting, nothing much remains now of its former glory, 

It ran through to St Stephen's Street, when I was a child in the 1950s there were still a few pubs left, the Fox Tavern which we could see from our front door had by then become a common lodging house and there would be men hanging about outside, there was the Crown and Anchor which was still open as a pub, the Globe, and the Duke of York, and the Bird in Hand, 

Some buildings had been destroyed during the war, my memory fails me and I can't remember what else was there, I think that there were the Ironworks, and a Tatters yard, but I am not sure".

Location; Salford

Picture; Bury Street from Chapel Street, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Lost and forgotten Streets of Salford Nu 3 .......... Clowes Street

Of the threes streets that stretch from Chapel Street down to the river Clowes Street has fared the worst.

Clowes Street, 2016

True, at the bottom there are some new blocks of flats overlooking the Irwell but the rest is at present a plot of open land waiting development on one side and a car park on the other.

Back in 1850 there were a shed load of properties including some closed courts, the Barley Sheaf pub and the Eagle Foundry.

And the occupations of the street included, a book keeper, beer retailers, skewer maker, button turner, hat box maker and engineer along with a smallware manufacture and Stiffener.

That said not everyone seemed worthy of a mention on the street directory, and quite a few houses are not listed.

Added to which there is the fascinating fact that nine people are recorded at number 21.  All of were male and single.

And as I promised yesterday in the fullness of time I will go looking for the census returns to find out more about Peter Pennington, bookkeeper, Thomas Schofield , beer retailer, Henry Sutcliffe, button turner.

Clowes Street, 1849

Of course nothing stays the same, and that open space will be developed. I might even check out the planning applications to see what will take the place of those small back to backs and closed courts.

Location; Salford 3

Pictures; Clowes Street, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson and in 1849 from the OS for Manchester & Salford, 1842-49 courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ...... nu 28 Gore Street

It isn’t so much that Gore Street has been lost or even forgotten it is just that it has become another giant Salford car park.

And what were once Morris, Beck, Ridings and Bolton Streets have suffered the biggest indignity of now being relegated to car park entrances with only one still being marked with its name on the street map.

Also gone are Walker’s Place, Temple Place, Short Street, and Back Saxon Street along with three pubs and the Albert Bridge Brewery.

To be fair I have no idea of the state of the housing off Gore Street but I suspect they were not good.

Likewise at least one of the pubs had vanished by the 1890s leaving only the Griffin and the Red Lion on Chapel Street and the Egerton Arms Hotel on Gore Street.

And now only the Egerton is still serving pints.

As for the brewery, according to one source the brewery which stood in the shadow of the New Bailey Prison, was founded sometime before 1788,

“Accounts from the Ring O'Bells, Didsbury, show that the pub served Joule's beer in 1791 when two barrels of strong beer cost three pounds and sixteen shillings. The brewery document reproduced on the following page carries the warning ‘Barrels to be returned when empty being never sold’. By the 1840s the brewery on New Bailey Street had about 13,000 barrels in use.”  

The Joule family who had owned it from the beginning  put it up for auction in 1855 and although it was then owned by various brewers by 1868 the site was used for storage and was later redeveloped.

There is more but that would stray into a new series ............ the lost and forgotten breweries of Salford and that is for another day.

To which Alan Jennings has added, "A very interesting post, I worked just around the corner on Chapel StreetThe Egerton Arms was a great pub in the 1960s when it was run by Nan Freshette, and I was a regular customer, The cast from Coronation Street used the pub regularly and there was a beautiful full-length portrait of Pat Phoenix in evening dress on the wall, Peter Adamson who played Len Fairclough would stagger out very drunk, the pub itself has a long and fascinating history with the first license being granted in 1834, when the pub was rebuilt in 1897, it was announced that it had been rebuilt regardless of cost and that it had the ' Grandest concert room in Salford, but it also drew attention from the police who described the Egerton as a disorderly house".

Location; Salford

Picture; Gore Street, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*James Joule – Brewer and Man of Science, Brewery History,
http://www.breweryhistory.com/journal/archive/115/bh-115-002.htm

Wet days at Media City ............

 It is a truth universally acknowledged, that no matter how much rain and grey clouds greet a summer event people turn out with umbrellas, woolly jumpers and a steely determination to have fun.*

And so, it was on Saturday when Media City hosted “We Invented the Weekend” which was organised by “Salford CVS (Community and Voluntary Services) bringing together all the things that make our weekends great – music, sport, games, gardening, craft, cooking, shopping and everything in between”.**

It was free and open to all, and despite the weather plenty turned out to take part.

Had we chosen the Sunday instead of the Saturday we would have had the sun, and no doubt lots more participants.

But despite the wet cool day we had fun on the Saturday. 

And given that it had been a while since we had been to The Quays and to Media City there was lots of new things to clock, so a good experience all round.

Location; Media City

Pictures; having fun on a wet day at Media City.

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

*Salford CVS (Community and Voluntary Services) https://www.salfordcvs.co.uk/about-us

Crossing into Salford ……. Victoria Bridge

I can’t count the number of times I have crossed Victoria Bridge over the years, but I have rarely noticed its street furniture.

So, here are two.

The purists will point out that the first bit of furniture, is actually on the Manchester side of the river ....... but I won't be pedantic if you won't.

The rest is for you to go and explore.

Although I will just point to the date on the side of the lamp.

Location; Victoria Bridge











Pictures; Salford Street Furniture, 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

The co-op tower

Now  I am a great fan of all things co-operative.

After all the Co-op socities which sprang up in the 19th century offered quality food and other products at reasonable prices and for those who joined, provided a share of the profits at the end of the year.

Our family shopped co-op, I worked for the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society, and I have often written about them.*

So here is another story, this one from Salford, which Andy Robertson encountered earllier in the month.  

It is one of the 54 branches of The Pendleton Co-operative Industrial Society which had been founded in 1860 and by 1911 had shops across Salford.

Its central store which included a grocers, and drapers had opened in 1887 was extended in 1903 and became a listed building in 1990.

The society also boasted a warehouse, bakery, diary, ice making and refrigerating plant, slaughterhouses and a coal office.

And since reposting the story several people have asked where this one was.

To my embarrassment I never asked Andy, where he took the pictures, but here is a list of all of the local co-ops from the 1911 directory which should allow someone to pinpoint our tower.

From the 1911 directory for Manchester & Salford

And spark a hunt for the rest.

Location; Lower Broughton

Picture; the co-op, 2021, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Celebrating some more of Salford’s finest buildings ........ the Pendleton Co-operative Industrial Society, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2019/07/celebrating-some-more-of-salfords.html

Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ...... nu 46 Lamb Court

It was called Lamb Court and ran from Chapel Street past the chapel and joined Lamb Lane.

Location; Salford

Picture; Lamb Court, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Posters from the Past ........... no 19 ......... something to come home too

Now the project is simple, take an image of a building we all love and turn it into the style of poster which was popular in the middle decades of the last century.*

And supposing we were asked by the Salford Tourist Board to produce a series of posters which celebrated Salford, this might have been one of them.

So I came up with  the original photograph of the brewery, along with a caption, and the rest was down to the artistic talents of Peter Topping.

All of which makes me think I shall nominate some more places for Peter to paint and reproduce as posters from the past.

And of course invite people to submit their own copyright free iconic image.

Location: Salford

Painting; Trelfall’s Brewery, © 2020 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures, from a photograph by Andrew Simpson, 2018

Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk 

*Posters from the Past, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Posters%20from%20the%20Past