A history of Chorlton in just 20 objects number 5........ a street fire alarm 1958

A short series featuring objects which tell a story of Chorlton in just a paragraph and  a challenge for people to suggest some that are personal to their stories.

In an age before we all had telephones it was necessary to be able to call the fire brigade.  Back in the 1880s there was a dedicated phone in the Lloyds Hotel.  Later still we got these.  This was one outside the Gaumont/Savoy cinema on Manchester Road.  There was another on the corner of Manchester Road and High Lane outside Oban House.

Picture; Courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, A H Downes, November 1st 1958, M17988, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

Back with Derrick A. Lea in the Chorlton of 1955

It’s one of those odd things that we have few pictures of Chorlton in the 1950s. 

Now there are a few fine collections in the Local History archive* but nothing compared with the huge range and number from the beginning of both the 20th century and the last decades of the 19th.

So when examples come up it is as well to include them in the story of Chorlton.

And so here we have another from the pen of Derrick A. Lea who drew pictures of the area in the 50s.  As I have said before along with J Montgomery Mr Lea is a bit of a mystery.

I know a little about him including where he lived in Chorlton and that some of his pictures were turned into greetings cards and that is about it.

Now given that pictures as opposed to photographs of where we live do not turn us as regularly his collection are quite unique.

This one is of Wilbraham Road sometime in 1955 and it appears to be a warm day in perhaps March or early April because despite the absence of any leaves on the trees people are walking around without those heavy overcoats everyone seemed to wear during the period.

Of course there may be a bit of poetic license here but there is much that is just as it should.

And it is a scene that has changed.  The Conservative Club and Public Hall was still solid reminder of the fact that Chorlton elected Conservative politicians to the Town Hall  and would do so until 1986.

In much the same way the Lloyd's Hotel has not changed overmuch since it was built in 1870

But with the benefit of hindsight we know that Mr Lea’s picture captured a Chorlton that has now gone forever.  The Conservative Club and Public Hall closed earlier in the year after the Conservative Association had wound itself up and currently the plans are to convert the building into flats.

The Lloyd’s may appear superficially the same, but internally much has been altered.  The small rooms have been knocked through, and the staircase taken down.

I can’t say the changes are for the worse.  I remember it from the late 1970s and early 80s as a place waiting for something to happen.

All of which would have pleased its landlady back in the 1880s.  This was a Mrs Crabtree who by all accounts “improved the place considerably in various particulars” and it may have been her who encouraged the bowling green members to build their own club house which was open on Wednesdays during the season.

She was an enterprising woman with an eye for business and also laid out a lawn tennis court on the open land along side Whitelow Road.

By the time I had washed up in Chorlton the tennis courts had become a drab car park while going inside the pub was like stepping back into the 1950s.

Nor did much seem to improve during the course of the next decade, and sadly the place became somewhere you went to only for a quick during before eating on Wilbraham Road.

But the place has undergone a series of makeovers in the course of the last few years, and is really a fun place to drop into for a drink, a meal and soon the launch of our new book, nothing to do in chorlton, Martledge Lost and Found.

Which brings me back to Wilbraham Road in 1955.

Picture;  Wilbraham Road in 1955, Derrick A. Lea


*http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

Sunday night in the Lloyds ............ memories of the 1970s

Standing outside the pub in 1979

The first in a short series which looks at what Chorlton was like in the recent past.

Today Lorna remembers the Lloyds Hotel in the 1970s.

Back then the pub still retained its small more intimate set of rooms where if you wanted you could have one of those quiet evenings almost to yourselves with just the regular visit from the waiter who could be summoned from the bar by the push button on the wall.

Those of us who went in there will also remember the staircase which gave access to the upstairs and it was there on Sunday nights that Lorna remembers in this piece she wrote for the blog.

"I remember the Lloyds in the early 1970's when Bill Caroll was the landlord and ruled the pub with a "rod of iron". 

Sunday night upstairs in the top room was very popular and people went in early to make sure they got the best seats in order to listen to the variety of live singers (no karaoke then) who turned up voluntarily each week. 

Highlight of the night was waiting to see who would be 'top of the bill'. 

It was usually Bill, who was an ex policeman, or Jimmy Gale, who were both very good singers. 

Little Jimmy would get everyone in the swing by singing Mardi Gras where all would join in with great gusto. 

Good memories.

I should add that Sunday night always finished with the same two songs where everyone linked arms and sang together. First 'Strolling' followed by 'I'll See You In My Dreams'"

It would be nice to hear other stories about the Lloyds. I am trying to remember the name of the piano player. A Mr Quinn from Keppel Road used to step in now and again, but he was not the regular . Mr Quinn was piano player in the Royal Oak

Lorna has promised to go looking for pictures and they are important because all too often it is photographs of the inside of pubs which seldom survive.

And in the meantime perhaps it will spark off other memories we can share.

Location; Chorlton-cum-Hardy

Sunday in the Lloyds by Lorna Davies, 2015

Picture; the Lloyds Hotel, 1979, from the collection of Tony Walker

“Don’t put your daughter on the stage” …… seven years of the Chorlton Repertory Club ... part 1

The Chorlton Repertory Theatre Club is one of those half-remembered stories. 

Enjoying the theatre programme for January 15th-20th, 1951

It was where some of our well-known actors and comedians first strutted the boards including Avis Bunnage, Joan Sims, Harry Corbett and Ronnie Barker and over the years was at home in both the Lloyds Hotel and the former Conservative Cub

Cast of All The Year Round, April 7th, 1951

And here I am indebted to Ida Bradshaw who first told me of its existence, offered up a short history of the club and preserved fifteen theatre programmes from 1951-52.

She told me the “club was established in 1946and although it had no theatre of its own, offered up a weekly repertory performed by a professional company.  Initially it used a large room connected to the Lloyd’s Hotel and then moved to Chorlton Conservative Club.

It was the brainchild of two actors.  James Lovell and Arthur Spreckley.  The club played to full houses in Chorlton.  However, problems pre-empted by the sacking of Lovell began to mount and by 1951 the club was making a loss.  Membership was dissolved and blame was laid at the door of television and bad weather.  But Alan Bendle observed that ‘of the 1952 performances, perhaps only six of the 52 were successful’

A professional producer was employed in 1953 who immediately gave the company notice.

In 1954 the Chorlton Theatre Club became home to Piccola Theatre Company, which brought to Manchester  a group of young actors, designers and directors, many of whom were to leave their mark on the world of theatre.

For two seasons productions included The Women Have their way [ Frank Dunlop] and Maria Marten in the Red Barn [Richard Negri] provided an early opportunity to assess the talents of individuals who were to become more familiar to Manchester audiences”.

Drama off stage, February, 1949

And there is much more.  

The Manchester Guardian carries 131 references to both theatre companies, and it makes for fascinating reading because amongst the reviews of performances, there is the starling announcement that the club committee had “terminated the contract of the manager producer …. Mr. James Lovell”.

And if that wasn’t enough of a dramatic turn worthy of its own drama productions, just a month later  “the management committee …. was yesterday voted out of office at a special general meeting it had called to secure a vote of confidence” to rebut a call by 283 members of mount an investigation of the said committee..**

A thank you, October 29th, 1951

Now I have to say it all sounds very exciting with “some seven hundred people attending the meeting at the Princess Ballroom, Chorlton-cum-Hardy”, the revelation of huge financial losses and the possibility that the “spring programme ‘would lead to insolvency in four to six weeks’”

All of which was compounded by accusations that committee was pursuing a vindicative policy.

And with tensions mounting the Committee declared “that there was another booking of the hall and the members had to clear the furniture before leaving” , a challenge met by shouts of no confidence in the committee, a demand for a vote to replace it with a new one.

All of which I didn’t know when I began leafing through the 14 programmes, looking for references to local companies who provided props, smiling at the problems of fuel shortages and impressed by the planned  theatre improvements.

Introducing a viper, July 16, 1951

And along with various Christmas socials and fund raising activities there was the raffle for a “Beautiful Television, which may just have been a viper introduced by the club with its promise of varied entertainment in front of the fire with no recourse to a trip out on wet cold night.

A play a week, October 29th, 1951

There is so much more, but sadly I fear the Club has all but moved  out of living memory.

But if the grownups are now in short supply there may be a few of their children who went along to performances of “Christmas in the Market Place” which promised to be “A most delightful and happy Yuletide play for young and old” which were to run from Boxing Day 1952 through to January 3rd 1953.

So there is much still to do.  

Starting with the stalwart cast listed in each of the programmes, looking through all 131 references in the Manchester Guardian along with more from other Manchester papers, and finally tracking down a scrap book and perhaps the records of the club.

And as a start I know that Jean Parry the star of  All The Year Round in 1951 came from Salford was born in 1925 and died in 2005, and I have three pictures of her cast member Jean Ryder from 19159.

It's a start.

Theatre Comfort, October 29th, 1951

Location Chorlton

Pictures; selection of theatre programmes of the Chorlton Repertory Club, 1952- 1953, from the Ida Bradshaw Archive and extracts from the Manchester Guardian, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*Chorlton Repertory Dispute, Manchester Guardian, February 8th, 1949

**New Repertory Committee A Chorlton Vote, Manchester Guardian March 1949

Lunch time at the Lloyds …..

The Lloyd’s is one of those big pubs with heaps of history and a popular venue.

And on Friday there were the happy regulars who told me that they were “always here” and pointed to a picture of the Lloyd’s Three by the bar.

Added to these there was a family who had popped in for a quick half an hour before heading off on a journey with a suitcase, the woman with her phone and the man with his pint.

And as I snapped away, they were joined by a party on a late lunch meet up, bumped into Alan and watched as couples fell into the pub for a lazy drink and chat.

Location; The Lloyds

Pictures;  Lunch time at the Lloyds, 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Pictures ….. no one takes ….. the Lloyds

 And yes, there will be those who say “I know why no one has bothered with this view of the pub", but when you are recording Chorlton not every scene will be picturesque.

Location; Chorlton

Picture; the Lloyd’s Hotel, 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

A Chorlton bank and a pub ......... “no one expects the Spanish Inquisition”

It remains one of my favourite Monty Python throw away comments and it struck a chord as I came across these pictures taken by my old friend Tony Walker.

They are familiar enough places but both look very dated and are as remote from today as any one of those early 20th century postcards I often post.
But back in the the 70's I just took them for granted and then they had changed.

I used the bank from time to time and in the same way  fell across the doors of the Lloyds when we were eating at the little Italian restaurant on Wilbraham Road or for a thank you drink on election night.

Now my branch of the Midland was in town so I only used it only occasionally and of course in those days before internet banking your branch of a bank was still an important place.  The staff knew you and the bank manager was privy to your innermost financial secrets.

In the same way my local had been the Trevor where we were known, served a little quicker and on occasion when Stan felt like it allowed to stay just a tad longer after closing time.

All of which meant that the Lloyds was another place which was a different experience.  It still had the small rooms off the main staircase and a bar which from memory was quite small.

And in the way of things I didn’t expect either to change.  They were what they had always been since I arrived here in the winter of 1976.

Looking at the two pictures and comparing them with what they had looked like just sixty years earlier it is clear that they had been done no favours by the respective design teams and builders.

In 1975 the bank was just an anonymous slab from which to display its name, and the Lloyds despite the summer sun looks tired and ugly.  As Kemp's the Chemist the building on the corner of Barlow Moor and Wilbraham Roads had something while the Lloyds back in 1900 looked impressive.

Still both pictures are now history and just perhaps in another fifty years there will be those who see something about the two.  We shall have to see.

Pictures; from the collection of Tony Walker

Celebrating the history of the Lloyds ........... with that new book on Chorlton pubs and bars

Now there are lots of ways of making new friends and a book signing is not a bad one, especially if its a book about pubs and bars and takes place in a pub.

And yes this is another bit of outrageous self promotion.  The book in question is the second in the series on Manchester Pubs The Stories Behind the Doors and focuses on the 33 pubs and bars of Chorlton.

Less a guide, it is a celebration of the history of these drinking places and sets them into the bigger story of how Chorlton was transformed from a small rural community to a suburb of Manchester.

Each has an original Peter painting and there are lots of old and contemporary photographs, along with maps and much more.

Added to which the research revealed some interesting new information about many of the 33.

And that takes ne nicely to the Lloyds which was the first of our new pubs.

It was built to appeal to the new wave of residents who were moving into Chorlton from the late 1870s, who didn’t fancy sitting in the old traditional beer houses rubbing shoulders with agricultural labourers and base tradesmen.

Instead they wanted something grander and the Lloyds offered just such a place.

I have always followed the received historical knowledge which dates the pub to 1870, but in the course of the research discovered it had been granted a license two years earlier, and while it may have been originally associated with Mr Lloyd and Platt in 1873 was bought Mr William Roberts who already owned the Bowling Green.

And for the rest as they say “you will have to buy the book”, which neatly and with very little in the way of contrivance, takes me to the book signing last Saturday.

It was the first of a number which we will roll out over the next year along with a series of historic walks planned for September.

Such events are always great fun, partly because we get to meet old friends, and make new ones.

In my case it also included meeting up with Derek and Brian who I have shared many facebook conversations on topics as varied as Chorlton football teams in the 1950, Woolwich market and a remarkable set of open air concerts in Eltham Brian that I both attended in 1966.

And while I was thus engaged Peter was indulging in a series of discussuins with customers and pointing them to his new ideas for a beer which perhaps one day the Lloyds might adopt.

Our thanks must also go to Darren and the staff of the Lloyds who made us most welcome.

And Vicky from Chorlton Bookshop who did the business of selling the book while Peter and I met lots of people.

So that is all I want to say except that you can  get the book from Chorlton Bookshop.

Location; The Lloyds,














Pictures; The Lloyds, June 3 2107 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*A new book on the pubs and bars of Chorlton, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20Chorlton%20Pubs%20and%20bars

The Lloyd's Hotel, pub, fire exchange, public hall and now an exhibition

It’s the end of a little bit of the Chorlton I have come to like.  

The team that have run the Lloyd’s Hotel for the last few years are moving on and tonight will be their last.

After which the place will close until it reopens in about six week’s time.

So in recognition of the good nights I have had there and as a thank you to the team here is one of the Lloyd stories reprinted from 2012.


It was also one of the venues for that collection of Peter’s paintings and my stories which are the Chorlton History Trail.

It’s not our oldest pub in Chorlton but it has been up since 1870 and played its part in the history of the township.*

It arose out of a partnership between George Lloyd who owned the land and James Platt who built it and the partnership is recorded on a stone inset into the wall.

But once Platt died the place was renamed the Lloyd.

During the 1880s it was bought by a William Roberts and it was the landlady a Mrs Crabtree who by all accounts “improved the place considerably in various particulars” and it may have been her who encouraged the bowling green members to build their own club house which was open on Wednesdays during the season.

She was an enterprising woman with an eye for business and also laid out a lawn tennis court on the open land along side Whitelow Road which later became a car park and is now the site for the modern housing development.

For many years there was a small wooden hut just outside the hotel which was the cabman’s shelter when we still had horse drawn cabs.  Alongside it according to one story was the fire cart with a hand pump and ladder to be used in the event of a local fire.  I can’t say I would have felt reassured by this and so would have welcomed the fire phone.

This was installed in the Lloyd's In 1887 and in the event of a fire residents in the area of New Chorlton could use it and would be connected via the Withington Board Office to the Manchester Exchange who would pass it on to the fire brigade at Jackson's Row.

On the other hand, given that the emergency had to be relayed from Chorlton to Withington and on to Manchester, perhaps the hand cart wasn’t such a bad idea. Moreover the telephone link was fraught with difficulties as the manager of the Lancashire and Cheshire Telephonic Exchange pointed out in the February of that year, because it only needed “the switch at the Local Board’s offices to be left out of its proper position” and the signal from the Lloyd’s Hotel would not get through to the operator in Manchester. His solution was for the Withington Board to pay the annual fee of £30-40 to secure a line.

In its time the Lloyd’s was also at the centre of so much of the life at this end of Chorlton. For a short while the Conservative Association met there along with the Primrose League and the Clarion Supporters.  It was also where the enquiry into the great burial scandal took place and even had a body laid out after a suspected suicide on the railway in 1901.

So it is fitting that all this history should be rewarded by a new exhibition in the pub.  Peter has brought along some of his paintings and I have supplied the stories and it is another of those events from the GLAD TO BE IN CHORLTON series.

Pictures; the Lloyd’s Hotel circa 1900, from the Lloyd collection,  a new painting of the pub by Peter Topping and a preview of the exhibition © Peter Topping 2012 www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

*http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Lloyds%27%20Hotel

The Lloyd’s ............... once known as the Lloyd Platt, and home to a bowling green and tennis club and now a new picture by Peter Topping

Somebody must have a photograph of the inside of the Lloyd's before its conversion over a decade ago. There may even be the plans that were used in transforming an old Victorian pub into to a welcoming modern open plan place.

But if they exist I have yet to find them. In fact so far I have yet to come across any pictures of the inside of any of our pubs and hotels here in Chorlton. Now there must be some, after all there are plenty of the outsides of all of the pubs and these date back to the late 19th century and on through in to the next century.

I suppose pictures of the interiors of pubs fall into two groups. There are the promotional ones done by the brewery and those private snaps taken during a happy and alcoholic evening. The sort of promotional ones we are familiar with from web sites will not have survived I fear, and as for those private pictures most will concentrate on the people and not the surroundings.

So back to the Lloyd's. I remember it before its modernization. Like many big pubs of the period it consisted of smallish rooms an old fashioned bar and a wide staircase. I might be wrong but there may also still have been waiter service. But my memories of the place are a bit like that much used phrase describing the 1960s, “if you can remember the decade you weren’t there.” Which pretty well sums up my nights in the place. We often went there on election night, and the three pints in the Lloyds saying thank you to the Party workers, and then the many pints more in the Press Club after the count meant that memories of the old pub are vague.

So I was very pleased when Peter asked me to add a story for his painting of the Lloyd's. These have become a feature of the blog over the last two months with Peter painting the picture and me writing the story.

The Lloyd’s was built in 1870 and arose out of a partnership between George Lloyd who owned the land and James Platt who built it and the partnership is recorded on a stone inset into the wall. But once Platt died the place was renamed the Lloyd. During the 1880s it was bought by a William Roberts and it was the landlady a Mrs Crabtree who by all accounts “improved the place considerably in various particulars”* and it may have been her who encouraged the bowling green members to build their own club house which was open on Wednesdays during the season. I am still puzzling where the lawn tennis club she also encouraged played but it may have been on the open land along side Whitelow Road.

You can get a fine view of the bowling green from the dining area. My friend Keith has long been associated with it and speaks warmly of his evenings at the annual dinners the club has held.

Peter has his paintings on display at a number of places across Chorlton and can also be seen on his facebook site https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures

Picture; ©Peter Topping 2011 www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
*Thomas Ellwood, Chorlton historian writing in the 1886