“On Edge Lane strolling by Longford Park in the early 1900s”

Now here is a picture of Edge Lane I haven’t seen before.

It dates from around 1900 and was found by my friend Sally “in an old book, that is in such a bad state, and 
pongs so badly of damp that in between scanning the pictures it has to live outside!”

She posted on that excellent facebook site Greater Manchester History, Architecture, Faces and Places which challenges that silly prejudice that social networking is trivial.*

This site and others continue to provide an exchange of pictures stories and historical investigation which would otherwise not be available and often starts an interesting debate.

Above all it reminds me that history, our history is not just the preserve of the academic and the professional historian but belongs to us all and every one of us can make a contribution to what we know about the past.

“On Edge Lane strolling by Longford Park in the early 1900s” will have been one of countless images available back then but which have long been lost.  Many were taken by commercial photographers and made their way onto picture postcards but plenty more will have been taken by amateurs and have not survived.

What I particularly like about this one is that it is a scene that hasn’t changed much in over a century and there will be many who have fond memories of taking a similar stroll on a sunny day in late spring, and early summer.

So there you have it, a little bit of Edge Lane a century and a bit ago which I guess has pretty much not seen the light of day for a long time.

And that just leaves me to hope Sally will persevere with that smelly book and share more hidden gems.

Picture; on Edge Lane strolling by Longford Park in the early 1900s, courtesy of Sally Dervan

* Greater Manchester History, Architecture, Faces and Places 

The forgotten hospital in Longford Hall

 I know l shouldn't be surprised that Longford Hall was given over to use by the Red Cross as an Auxiliary Hospital during the Great War.

Many family homes, along with schools and other public buildings were requisitions or volunteered as hospitals for soldiers  recovering from wounds and illnesses. 

Here in Chorlton l have tracked three with the promise of another, and over the years l have written about more in Didsbury, Whalley Range, Salford and across Manchester and beyond.

I just didn't think of Longford Hall but I should. It was a fine large building, formerly the residence of the  Ryland family and from 1908 it was owned by Stretford.

So at the outbreak of war it became a centre of war activity including its role as a hospital.

After the war most of these hospitals were returned to private use or continued as hospitals. 

The equipment from beds to cooking pans and typewriters were sold off and with two generations their existence had started to fade.

So l am off to do the research, starting with one of those scrap books recording photographs and comments of the hospital.

Location; Longford Hall

Pictures; pictures, undated courtesy of Bill Sumner

William Eccles …… solder of the Great War comes out of the shadows

This is the story of William Eccles, who was born in 1892 in Gorton, served in the 19th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment and died in Victoria Hospital in Stretford in 1918.

The St John's medal, date uknown

Like so many men who served during the Great War, much of his life is lost to us.

But piecing together the little we know and bringing him out of the shadows has been a collaborative venture and is as much part of the story as this 27 years old man.

He appears on the 1901 and 1911 census and lived on Woodland Road in Gorton.  The house was a modest one consisting of five rooms and was home to his parents, two siblings and an uncle. 

The house is still there today, and his grave has also survived and can be viewed in the Stockport Willow Grove Cemetery.

Other than that, there is little so far to mark his life.  I know from the 1911 census that he was a milkman and possibly worked for his father who was also a self-employed milkman.  

Whether he enlisted or volunteered is unclear, but he does not hold the 1914 or 1914-15 Star so I guess he joined up in 1916 or afterwards.

Hospital (School Hall)

But he was not married as his army record shows his pension went to his mother on his death.

And here we almost came to the end of the inquiry, because the same pension document referred to his death in Victoria Hospital, Stretford, which proved an elusive place to track down, more so because the Red Cross lists it as the Victoria Hospital Council Street.

At this point I am indebted Bill Sumner to my Facebook pal, who replied to my request for help with “It was in the Victoria Park School Henshaw St but older references were Council St probably because the houses were not completely built at that time. 

There are many references to the staff on the Red Cross Site. I have an internal photo here of the Hospital (School Hall). The school exterior view Henshaw St Pritchard St Corner”.

Victoria Park Hospital

So now we have a location and images of where William Eccles died, and in time perhaps more will come to light about the hospital.

I could of course call up his death certificate and discover whether he died of wounds, or perhaps the flu. 

Instead, I will close where I should have begun with a mention of David Harrop who acquired this young man’s medals and started the inquiry.

Amongst the collection are the two medals awarded to all who fought in the Great War, the bronze medallion issued to the families of those who were killed, and The St John's medal which has his name inscribed on the back with his service number.

Bronze Medallion, 1919

Nor is that quite the end because in the course of the research I came across a relative who may be able to furnish more.

So, as I said a story which depends on the collaboration of a group of people as history inquiries should be.

Location, Gorton,  and Stretford

Pictures; The St John's medal, date uknown, from the collection of David Harrop, and two pictures of Victoria Hospital, Stretford, date unknown, courtesy of Bill Sumner

*British Red Cross https://vad.redcross.org.uk/en/~/media/BritishRedCross/Documents/Who%20we%20are/History%20and%20archives/List%20of%20auxiliary%20hospitals%20in%20the%20UK%20during%20the%20First%20World%20War.pdf

Selling the donkey for the war ........ Mr Booker a Red Cross Fund and a day in Stretford

Now here is one of those fascinating postcards which lifted the carpet on a bit of history.

The caption reads “Mr Booker sold to aid of British Farmers Red Cross Fund at Stretford for £395. 6. 0. October 1915.”

And that is all there is.

But of course that was just the incentive to dig deeper.

The British Farmers Red Cross Fund was one of a number run by the society and part of the thousands established during the Great War to raise money for everything from Belgian Refugees to socks for men in the trenches.

"The British Farmers Red Cross Fund mainly raised money through agricultural sales. Around 1,600 were organised during the war. The proceeds were earmarked for particular schemes, such as providing motor ambulances, cars and lorries to the various battle-fronts. More than 150 ambulances were provided in this way.

Hospitals, known as British Farmers Hospitals, were supported by this fund in Belgium, France and Serbia.

The fund received a total of £1,024,808 19s 2d."*

The picture postcard has just been acquired by my old friend David Harrop who want to make it a feature of his display at the book launch in February  next year of my book Manchester Remembering 1914-18.**

But more of that later, for now it is that donkey that fascinates me and of course the event that it participated in.

Given that we have a date and a place it should not be too difficult to unearth a newspaper story.  There is nothing in the Manchester Guardian but somewhere in the archives of the local heritage centre there will be something.

And there may be a clue in the company who produced the card which was Inghams.

There is a reference in the trade directories to a J Ingham & Sons, Photographers, Withington Road, Brooks Bar, in 1911 which just might be them.

They appear to have been in business from the 1870s and into the 1930s and there is also a reference to them in Sale Through Time which records “that a local landmark was John Ingham & Sons, photographers on the opposite corner of Aston Lane and Washway Road at Winton House.”***

So with all that local connection it is quite possible that Mr Ingham & Sons  took the opportunity to wander down in to Stretford in the October of 1915 to snap Mr Booker.

Location; Stretford

Picture; Mr Booker sold to aid of British Farmers Red Cross Fund at Stretford for £395. 6. 0. October 1915.” Courtesy of David Harrop

*British Farmers Red Cross Fund, 

** *Manchester Remembering 1914-18 by Andrew Simpson will be published by the History Press in February 2017

Order now from the History Press, or Chorlton Book Shop,  0161 881 6374

***Sale Through Time, Steven Dickens, Amberley, 2013

You can come in now ........when Stretford got its new swimming baths

It is May 10, 1913 and the newspaper proudly announces “STRETFORD’S NEW BATHS TO BE OPENED TO –DAY.”

And for those that don’t know they were on Cyprus Street behind the Public Hall and served the community until they closed in 1982.

My friend Sally found the newspaper cutting and suggested I “store it up until an Esther Williams moment strikes us again” which I think has arrived.

More so because in the course of looking for material on the baths I came across a wonderful site on the Stretford Amateur Swimming Club which provides a fascinating bit of social history.*

And because I never try to reproduce what someone has done so well I will just suggest you visit it.

Picture; courtesy of Sally Dervan

*A Centennial History of Stretford Amateur Swimming Club, http://www.stretfordasc.org.uk/clubinfo/historyofstretfordasc.htm

Of floods and boat building at Stretford

The weir in 1915

Now as I promised I am back with the Duke’s Canal at Stretford with memories of floods and boat building.

As benign as the Mersey appears on a warm summer’s day it has in the past been unpredictable and dangerous.

As a late as the beginning of the last century the river could flood with little warning and turn vast areas of our farmland into a gigantic lake.

It was for this reason that the weir in the bend of the river was constructed to protect the canal from a sudden surge of storm water and the banks continually raised to create a huge natural barrier.

There are many accounts of the extent of the flooding during the 18th and 19th centuries including plenty of oral testimony.  The Chorlton historian Thomas Ellwood published graphic descriptions of the flooding and there are of photographs from the turn of the last century along with the paintings by the artist Montgomery.

Likewise Samuel Massey in his book on Stretford** recalled the memories of his parents who were born in the middle of the 19th century and remembered that

“whenever the River Mersey was in flood, there was a boat stationed near the ‘Watch House’ the occupants of which were detailed to watch the Barfoot Bridge, and heavy baulks of timber were provided to place in grooves built in the stone embankment of the canal; these were provided on either side of the bridge.  

By these baulks being fitted into the grooves the canal water would be shut off in the event of the collapse of the bridge.”**

Now this was a real threat.  In the 1840s the weir was swept away and had to be rebuilt and as late as 1915 the rebuilt weir continued to channel storm water down towards the Kickety Brook.

Boat yards along the canal in 1893

That said for most of the year all was relatively tranquil by the canal and the high light of any year were the days that Rathbone’s the boat building company launched a boat built in their yard.

There were three boat building yards in the district, of which Rathbone’s was off Edge Lane on the south side of the road bridge, with another Rathbone yard at Longford Bridge  and for a few years around 1900 the company of Fellowes, Morton and Clayton on the north side of Edge Lane by the railway station.

So for Samuel Massey “it used to be a great treat for the scholars attending the Edge Lane Wesleyan Day School when they were allowed to stand on the towing path and watch from a short distance away the launching broadside, of a canal boat from Rathbone’s yard.  

The wave would go across the towing path and well up the school wall.”**

There will be those who remember the yards and I rather think this will be a rich source of further stories.

We shall see.

Picture of the weir in 1915 from the collection of Tony Walker, and detail of the Duke’s canal from the OS map of South Lancashire, 1888-93, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/


*Chorlton Rivers, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Chorlton%20rivers

**A History of Stretford, Samuel Massey, 1976

Unloading your coal at Stretford from the canal hard by the Edge Lane Bridge

Now sometime between 1853 and 93 the coal yard by the Edge Lane Bridge at Stretford was laid out and an arm of the Duke’s Canal cut to allow boats to unload their goods.

It lasted until 1936 when the Longford cinema was built and its existence will now have now all but faded from living memory.

I have yet to uncover any photographs of the yard and apart from maps of the area the only reference is from Samuel Massey’s book, which describes “the large yard, abutting Edge Lane , having entrances both from Edge Lane and Chester Road, and equipped with offices and weighbridge, often contained hundreds of tons of coal.  The unloading of the coal and the stacking was done manually, and a daily sight was to see men wheeling barrows of coal up the plank-way.”*

Set against the great sweep of history it is  not much of a story but does point up just how something which both dominated the lives of many people in Stretford and which was so taken for granted can disappear so completely in less than a century.

That said there will be references to it including the minutes of the canal company and the lists of the coal merchants who used the yard, but all that is dependent on knowing of its existence.
Of course there will be those who say so what? And in a sense they do have a point.

This was no fine building, no great work of art was produced there and I doubt that its passing was mourned by any one.  So is a very real sense it is a non story.

But for a few short decades it gave employment to some, supplied coal to Stretford and the surrounding area and was a bit of a local landmark and will be an introduction to some stories on boat building on the canal.

*A History of Stretford, Samuel Massey, 1976

Picture; from the OS for South Lancashire, 1893, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/