A tram and the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Brotherhood

I suppose that old W.C. Fields line, “Never work with children or animals” could be adapted to include never write stories about trams because they have a habit of taking over.

I never realized just how those old bone shakers can still attract people.

The last ran in Manchester in 1949 and the last to clunk and sway its way into the township was even earlier.

But people like looking at them so here is another.

We are at the junction of Barlow Moor Road, High Lane and Sandy Lane sometime in the early 20th century.

A generation or so before and this would have been known as Lane End or by some as Brundrett’s Corner which was its popular name dating back to the grocers shop run by the Brundrett family.

I like these old unofficial names for places which spring from people’s experiences.  If you had taken the tram back down Barlow Moor Road it would have brought you up at Kemp’s Corner named after Harry Kemp who owned the chemists on the corner.

Well into the 1960s it was one of the recognized meeting places in Chorlton, all but forgotten now and superseded by its title of  Four Bank Corner or just the Four Banks, which means more I suspect than the official name of Chorlton Cross.

This picture has all that charm of early photography when people still posed in front of the camera.  But what attracted me to the picture, is the sign in the grounds of the church announcing the business of the PSA Brotherhood.

Now I had come across the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Brotherhood back in the 1970s in Ashton Under Lyne.

They were what they said they were an organization designed to provide a pleasant afternoon with a Christian slant on a Sunday.  The first seem to have sprung up in the mid 1870s and their first national conference was in London in 1906.

Now this is another of those areas I want to dig deep into.  There was a political dimension  “The long standing relationship between political Liberalism and Nonconformity brought active Liberals into the movement. 

In the early twentieth century key Labour and Trade Union leaders became actively involved in the PSA/Brotherhood Movement. Labour MPs Arthur Henderson and Will Crooks, and the Liberal MP Theodore C. Taylor were all present at the founding of the National Association of Brotherhoods, PSAs etc in London in 1906. 

Keir Hardie, was also actively involved, he was a main speaker for a Brotherhood Crusade in Lille in 1910. Arthur Henderson MP was elected National President in 1914. The National Adult School Union’s ‘One and All’ journal reported 7 out 9 ‘adult school men’ who stood for parliament were successful in 1910.”*

And there appears to be a Temperance aspect so there is a lot to play for and find out.

I had not thought they had a presence in the south of the city but they were here.  Harry Kemp’s Chorlton Alamack for 1910 listed

“The P.S.A. (Men’s Meeting),  Macfayden Memorial Church.  Sundays, 3 p.m. William S Bradshaw, 4, Beechwood Avenue. & P.S.A. (Men’s  and Women Meeting), Wesleyan Mission Hall. Sundays, 3 p.m, Secy., E.H. Astle, 34 Reynard Road.”

And all this and a tram to.  Well worth the read.

* The Early Adult School and Brotherhood Movements in the West Midlands: Adult Education, Evangelism or Social Activism?, European Social Science History Conference, Glasgow, April 14 2012

Picture; from the Lloyd collection

Mr Emerson's ghost sign in Stockport and the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Brotherhood

The Emerson sign, 2014

I am back with that ghost sign in Market Place, Stockport.

It is a fine example of a street advert that has survived long after the business has gone.

I fell across it purely by chance a few months ago and it has intrigued me ever since.

And I am not alone, my friend Sally has written about it and it regularly evokes comment from people I talk to from Stockport.

I know the firm was there by about 1905 but had never gone much deeper by crawling over the street directories, and then by chance I discovered an advert for Mr Emerson from 1895 and my interest has been set off again.

The Emerson advert, 1895

But today it was the book from which the advert came that set me off because it was a copy of the 1895 Heaton Mersey PSA Magazine.

And as you do

Now I had come across the P.S.A,or to give them the full name, the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Brotherhood back in the 1970s in Ashton Under Lyne.

They were what they said they were an organization designed to provide a pleasant afternoon with a Christian slant on a Sunday.

The first seem to have sprung up in the mid 1870s and their first national conference was in London in 1906.

Now this is another of those areas I want to dig deep into.  There was a political dimension  “The long standing relationship between political Liberalism and Nonconformity brought active Liberals into the movement. 

Market Place, 1905

In the early twentieth century key Labour and Trade Union leaders became actively involved in the PSA/Brotherhood Movement. Labour MPs Arthur Henderson and Will Crooks, and the Liberal MP Theodore C. Taylor were all present at the founding of the National Association of Brotherhoods, PSAs etc in London in 1906. 

Keir Hardie, was also actively involved, he was a main speaker for a Brotherhood Crusade in Lille in 1910. Arthur Henderson MP was elected National President in 1914. The National Adult School Union’s ‘One and All’ journal reported 7 out 9 ‘adult school men’ who stood for parliament were successful in 1910.”*

And there appears to be a Temperance aspect so there is a lot to play for and find out.

The Emerson shop and sign 1895

I had not thought they had a presence in the south of the city but they were here in Chorlton.
Harry Kemp’s Chorlton Alamack for 1910 listed  “The P.S.A. (Men’s Meeting),  Macfayden Memorial Church.  Sundays, 3 p.m. William S Bradshaw, 4, Beechwood Avenue. & P.S.A. (Men’s  and Women Meeting), Wesleyan Mission Hall. Sundays, 3 p.m, Secy., E.H. Astle, 34 Reynard Road.”

And now I find them in Heaton Mersey which I suppose shouldn’t be a surprise, and along with Mr Emerson give me more research opportunities.

Picture; Parish Church and Market, from the series Town & City, by Tuck & Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/  the ghost sign of J. Emerson from the collection of Andrew Simpson and advert for Emerson’s Tailoring from the P.S.A., Magazine, 1895 courtesy of David Harrop

** The Early Adult School and Brotherhood Movements in the West Midlands: Adult Education, Evangelism or Social Activism?, European Social Science History Conference, Glasgow, April 14 2012

Playing a good tune with the Oldham P.S.A. Orchestra ..... sometime around 1913

 I am looking at this picture of the Oldham P.S.A Orchestra, which I think dates from sometime around 1913.

Now I had come across the P.S.A. or the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Brotherhood back in the 1970s in Ashton Under Lyne.

They were what they said they were an organization designed to provide a pleasant afternoon with a Christian slant on a Sunday.  

The first seem to have sprung up in the mid-1870s and their first national conference was in London in 1906.

Over the years I have written about them and now I have come face to face with a group of them.*

So far, I have yet to track down the Oldham orchestra, but it will only be a matter of time, although it will involve a trawl of local newspapers for the period.

That said I have come across a reference in the Manchester Guardian for 1896 for a meeting in Manchester of the Federation of P.S.A. Organisations in the Lesser Free Trade Hall at which “selections were given during the evening by the United P.S.A. Orchestra, conducted by Dr. H. Watson and Mr. Rushton gave the solo ‘For Behold the Darkness,’ with Mr. R.W. Cunliffe accompanying on the organ”.**

The romantic in me wonders if any of the men in the photograph attended that evening, while the historian in me has made note of the name on the card, which is a G E Rowland of Oldham.

In 1911 a George Rowland was living with his mother and two sisters at 80 Market Street, Shaw in Oldham.  The family ran a greengrocer business, and it is just possible that selling and perhaps even producing picture postcards was a side line.  

If so, he must have been a busy chap given that at 21 he was working for the local Co-operative Society in their Grocery and Provision department.

And that just leaves me Dr. H. Watson Mr. Rushton and Mr. R.W. Cunliffe  who may prove promising leads.

There will be more, but sadly not yet.

Location; Oldham

Picture; the Oldham P.S..A Orchestra, circa 1913, courtesy of Tony Goulding

* The Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Brotherhood https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Pleasant%20Sunday%20Afternoon%20Brotherhood

**Federation of P.S.A. Organizations: Meetings in Manchester, Manchester Guardian, November 16th 1896

"Away, away with rum by gum"* ..... The Temperance Movement .... today on the wireless

Now I have always been ambivilent about the The Temperance Movement., and have said so.*

Spreading the message,Temperance Meeting in Manchester, 1910

One side of me joins in with silly, and cheap jibes at people who don't share my love of a fine wine, and a night out in the pub. 

But I recognise they were not kill joys, but were acting on a real concern at the destruction caused by excessive drinking, especially in working class areas. 

We shouldn't forget that it was still the cuustom at the end of the week to pay workers in pubs, with all the dangers for their wages to be lost in an alcholic night. 

And for many of those "Temperance People", it was also a revulsion at the huge profits made by the brewing industry, so we shouldn't be surprised that amongst the ranks of the campaigners were many who were in "progressive politics.

 

Temperance Demonstration, undated

All of which is an introduction to the Temperance Movement, from the In Our Time series on BBC Radio, which will be broadcast at 9 am today and then is available to listen to later in the day. 

"Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the momentum behind teetotalism in 19th Century Britain, when calls for moderation gave way to complete abstinence in pursuit of a better life. 

 Although arguments for temperance had been made throughout the British Isles beforehand, the story of the organised movement in Britain is often said to have started in 1832 in Preston, when Joseph Livesey and seven others gave a pledge to abstain. 

Temperance Billiard Hall, Chorlton, 1958

The movement grew quickly, with Temperance Halls appearing as new social centres in towns in place of pubs, and political parties being drawn into taking sides either to support abstinence or impose it or reject it. 

 

With Annemarie McAllister Senior Research Fellow in History at the University of Central Lancashire James Kneale Associate Professor in Geography at University College London And David Beckingham Associate Professor in Cultural and Historical Geography at the University of Nottingham Producer: 

Simon Tillotson" 

Pictures; Band Of Hope, Open air Temperance Meeting in Manchester, 1910, m68996, Temperance Demonstration, m18044, Temperance Billiard Hall, Chorlton, November 1958, A.H. Downes, m18044, Courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council,  http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*"Away, away with rum by gum,"* signing the pledge to forgo the demon drink, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2018/04/away-away-with-rum-by-gum-signing.html

**The Temperance Movement, In Our Time BBC Radio4,, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0013zl8 

Badge of the week no.1 .......... the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Brotherhood ..... Edinburgh

A new series featuring badges from the collection with a bit of a story.

This is the badge of the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Brotherhood.

It is an organisation I written about before.*

I had come across the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Brotherhood back in the 1970s in Ashton Under Lyne.

They were what they said they were an organization designed to provide a pleasant afternoon with a Christian slant on a Sunday.

The first seem to have sprung up in the mid 1870s and their first national conference was in London in 1906.

Now this is another of those areas I want to dig deep into.  There was a political dimension  There was a long standing relationship between political Liberalism and Nonconformity which brought active Liberals into the movement.

And in the early twentieth century key Labour and Trade Union leaders became actively involved in the PSA/Brotherhood Movement. Labour MPs Arthur Henderson and Will Crooks, and the Liberal MP Theodore C. Taylor were all present at the founding of the National Association of Brotherhoods, PSAs etc in London in 1906.

Keir Hardie, was also actively involved, he was a main speaker for a Brotherhood Crusade in Lille in 1910. Arthur Henderson MP was elected National President in 1914. The National Adult School Union’s ‘One and All’ journal reported 7 out 9 ‘adult school men’ who stood for parliament were successful in 1910.”**

Location; Edinburgh

Picture; PSA badge, Edinburgh, courtesy of David Harrop

*Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Brotherhood, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Pleasant%20Sunday%20Afternoon%20Brotherhood

** The Early Adult School and Brotherhood Movements in the West Midlands: Adult Education, Evangelism or Social Activism?, European Social Science History Conference, Glasgow, April 14 2012

Singing Asleep in the Deep with the Oldham P.S.A. on Saturday March 2nd 1907 in Bismark Street

I just wonder how the Tea Party and Concert staged by the Oldham P.S.A. Society went down on Saturday March 2nd 1907 in the Wesleyan School on Bismark Street.

Now I had come across the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Brotherhood back in the 1970s in Ashton Under Lyne.*

They were what they said they were an organization designed to provide a pleasant afternoon with a Christian slant on a Sunday.

The first seem to have sprung up in the mid 1870s and their first national conference was in London in 1906.

There was a political dimension  “The long standing relationship between political Liberalism and Nonconformity brought active Liberals into the movement. In the early twentieth century key Labour and Trade Union leaders became actively involved in the PSA/Brotherhood Movement. 

Labour MPs Arthur Henderson and Will Crooks, and the Liberal MP Theodore C. Taylor were all present at the founding of the National Association of Brotherhoods, PSAs etc in London in 1906. 

Keir Hardie, was also actively involved, he was a main speaker for a Brotherhood Crusade in Lille in 1910. Arthur Henderson MP was elected National President in 1914. 

The National Adult School Union’s ‘One and All’ journal reported 7 out 9 ‘adult school men’ who stood for parliament were successful in 1910.”***

And so back to that tea party and concert.

Judging by Asleep in the Deep I doubt that I would have been entertained by the afternoon.

The song was written by Arthur J Lamb and composed by Henry W.Petrie and had the rousing chorus

“Loudly the bell in the old tower rings,
Bidding us list to the warning it brings. Sailor, take care! Sailor, take care!
Danger is near thee. Beware! Beware! Beware! Beware!
Many brave hearts are asleep in the deep, So beware! beware!
Many brave hearts are asleep in the deep, So beware! beware!"***

But perhaps I am being a tad harsh.  I dare say I would have been intrigued by the “Humorous Section.”

It was after all a serious attempt to challenge the power of the pub.

And the Oldham P.S.A. at least had an eye to how to get an audience, for the reverse of the card had a very striking image of Miss Nina Severning.

Now she was I think an actress but all I have turned up is another picture postcard sent in 1904, but there will be someone who can offer me some more information.

In the meantime I shall return to that magical afternoon in 1907, and the promise that  I shall go looking for the Oldham P.S.A. and its secretary Mr J Mcintosh.

At least Bismark Street in Oldham is still there.

It is a narrow street off Park Road, close to Alexandra Park and back in 1890 was dominated by the Trinity Chapel.




Picture; Oldham P.S.A. invitation to its Tea Party and Concert, 1907 courtesy of David Harrop

*The Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Brotherhood, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Pleasant%20Sunday%20Afternoon%20Brotherhood

** The Early Adult School and Brotherhood Movements in the West Midlands: Adult Education, Evangelism or Social Activism?, European Social Science History Conference, Glasgow, April 14 2012

***Asleep in the Deep, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE7LQv9Gj2w