Back at the Imperial Cinema on Chorlton Road

The Imperial in 1980

I am back with the old Imperial Cinema on Chorlton Road with some of Andy Robertson’s pictures.

Like so many of our old picture houses it suffered from a shrinking cinema audience although it lasted into the 1980s.

But the building has survived and Andy was able to record some of its interior which gives a hint at its former grandeur.

And as I have promised over the next few weeks it will reappear on the blog and I am hoping these pictures will encourage people to come up with their memories of the place.

Inside the Imperial, 2014

In the meantime I remember that Derek Southall in his excellent book on Manchester’s picture house quoted at least one person who thought the Imperial was a cut above the other cinemas in the area.*







Pictures; the Imperial in 1980, m09229, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass and today from the collection of Andy Robertson, with a thank you to Imperial Timber 166-172 Chorlton Rd Manchester M16 7WW‎ 0161 226 9190its former grandeur.

*The Golden Years of Manchester's Picture Houses, Derek J Southall, http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/index.php/the-golden-years-of-manchesters-picture-houses.html#sthash.K4JJYJv9.dpuf

Welcome back Wellfield ….. that impressive and historic house in Whalley Range

History hasn’t been kind to that grand old house at the end of Upper Chorlton Road close to the former Whalley Hotel.

Wellfield, 2023

Once it was home to a succession of wealthy families but for most of the last century it was the site of a series of commercial ventures, which included a laundry, a wallpaper warehouse and more recently a carpet showroom.

And to add to the indignity the property was divided into a number of self-contained flats, which were themselves subdivided over the decades.

But all that decline has been reversed by Peter Armistead and his team of architects, builders, and interior designers, and today as the development enters its final stages, 59 Upper Chorlton Road is once again an attractive place to live.

It first appears in the records in 1861 as the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hinchelwood, their four children and four servants.

Wellfield, 1894

The property commanded a rateable value of £160 which marked it out as one of the more expensive properties along the road with views across fields towards the gardens of Hullard Hall.  

Original floor, 2020

It was set in an extensive garden with two greenhouses and fronted the still private Upper Chorlton Road which had been cut by Samuel Brooks in the 1830s for his new Whalley Range development.

From the beginning it carried the name of Wellfield, and throughout the rest of the 19th century was home to merchants and manufacturers.  

Of these the McQuade family, bought the house in 1871 and stayed there until 1899 were the longest residents.

But by then the surrounding area was being developed, and the fine views towards Hullard Hall were obscured by row of semidetached properties, which included The Whalley Range Orphanage, while some of the grand houses close to Wellfield had vanished to be replaced by more modest homes. 

And by the turn of the century the Hichelwood’s former home had also undergone a transformation, and was being used as a laundry, with only part of the house occupied by a family who worked in the business.

Just when the laundry ceased is as yet unclear but the OS maps for 1933 and 1951 record the property as Wellfield Linen Works, which doesn’t preclude it still being be a laundry.

After the demolition of the industrial workshops, 2020

But in 1954 it is listed as the Paramount Wallpapers Ltd warehouse and in 1962 59 Upper Chorlton Road operated as “Linda Gay Dresses Ltd. Gown manufacturers” and 59a as "Needham F. (Shopfitters) Ltd". 

The last directory entry is for 1969 when the property was listed as “W.P.M ltd. Wallpaper mfs”.

That said in the 2000s it was a carpet warehouse, and I can attest to buying two cheapy carpets from them.

As for the house, by 1939 it was divided into three flats, and continued as such into 1962, and later still seems to have been further subdivided into 10.

It is a common enough story, which saw a once grand house converted to fit the changing needs of the 20th century when its size and decline in the use of domestic servants made it less attractive as a home for one family.

What perhaps adds a twist is its partial conversion in to industrial and retail use.

And that may have just saved it from being demolished in favour of a block of pedestrian flats which maximise the footprint to squeeze as many flats as possible onto the exiting plot of land.

That could still have been the fate of Wellfield, but instead it was acquired Armistead Property who specialise in transforming old residential properties into modern apartments while retaining as much of the original character as possible.*

Work in progress, 2020

Their work has featured on the blog over the years, including the award-winning Denbigh Villas development on High Lane and the equally impressive Carlton Terrace, at 199 and 201 Upper Chorlton Road.**

In the case of Wellfield the plan was to create 17 apartments using the existing house and an extension and creating roof top gardens.

Features like the large south facing window, and the floor tiles in the hall have been retained and any internal features which survived the brutal years of “laundry and multi occupancy”.

But modern planning regulations have precluded the retention of the barrel roof in the cellar.

That said the architect Simon Jones and the contractors have been alert to the possibilities of saving more of the original house as possible.

Added to these the original brickwork has been restored to what it would have looked like when Mr. and Mrs. Hinchelwood first took possession sometime in 1861. 

It will always remain an area of debate as to how far an old property should be saved and what the price of saving it will be.  

There are countless examples of where the conversion has been done badly and fails to honour the original building but done properly and it seems to me, we are on a winner.

Armistead conversions fall into that second category.  Witness Denbigh Villas on High Lane which was home to a famous industrialist and historian as well as a school

Finished rooms, 2023

Its survival and renovation by Armistead has done much to save a bit of our history, while the alternative would have been to see such a historic building left and sliding slowly into an increasingly parlous state till safety demanded its demolition.

That could have been the fate of Wellfield, and I am pleased it has also been saved.

And just after the story went live, Nick Turner got in touch and added, "My dad owned 59 Upper Chorlton Road in the 70s, 80s and 90s. 

It was an upholstery and soft furnishings business known as LE Swain and Turner.

 

The business was in the long warehouse. The block was offices and then converted into 10 studio apartments, I used to collect the rent from the tenants. They've done a great job on it, looks amazing!"

Location; Whalley Range

Pictures; Wellfield, 2022, from the collections of Andrew Simpson the site 1894, from the 1894 OS map of Lancashire and the 1894 OS map of South Lancashire, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/ and other  pictures by Jak Spedding, https://jakspedding.co.uk, courtesy of Armistead Property Armistead Property

Finished, 2023

* Armistead Property, http://www.armisteadproperty.co.uk/

**Denbigh Villas, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=denbigh+Villas&max-results=20&by-date=true & Carlton Terrace, 

Walking in Alexandra Park in the November of 2014 part 2

The thing about Alexandra Park is that it looks good pretty much all the year round and so here are a series of pictures from Andy Robertson taken at the end of November on a day when the sun shone and the last of the leaves had yet to fall.

I thought I would start with the lake not least because it will allow me to include one of almost the same spot taken over a century ago.

The earlier shots come from a delightful little collection marketed by the Valentine company under the simple title of “VALENTINE SNAPSHOTS, 12 REAL PHOTOGRAPHS FOR YOUR ALBUM 1/-.”

They date from 1906 and perfectly capture what the park once looked like.

Not that I want to short change Andy’s pictures which make me wish I had wandered down there myself.

The makeover has recreated a stunning place to walk and take time out from the usual busy demands of everyday life.

And of course there is much more to the park for not only has it given untold pleasure to countless generations of people but has a rich history, including demonstrations and events stretching back into the 19th century.

Pictures; walking in the park in November 20114, from the collection of Andy Robertson and the lake, Alexandra Park, from Valentine’s Snapshots of Alexandra Park, date unknown, courtesy of Ann Love

Walking in Alexandra Park in the November of 2014 part 1

The thing about Alexandra Park is that it looks good pretty much all the year round and so here are a series of pictures from Andy Robertson taken at the end of November on a day when the sun shone and the last of the leaves had yet to fall.

I thought I would start with the lake not least because it will allow me to include one of almost the same spot taken over a century ago.

The earlier shots come from a delightful little collection marketed by the Valentine company under the simple title of “VALENTINE SNAPSHOTS, 12 REAL PHOTOGRAPHS FOR YOUR ALBUM 1/-.”

They date from 1906 and perfectly capture what the park once looked like.

Not that I want to short change Andy’s pictures which make me wish I had wandered down there myself.

And of course there is much more to the park for not only has it given untold pleasure to countless generations of people but has a rich history, including demonstrations and events stretching back into the 19th century.

Pictures; walking in the park in November 20114, from the collection of Andy Robertson and the lake, Alexandra Park, from Valentine’s Snapshots of Alexandra Park, date unknown, courtesy of Ann Love

Uncovering a bit of Whalley Range history …..

Coming out into the daylight after a very long time.

Stone setts on Demesne Road.

Copland who took the picture added "I imagine the original road was from Manley Hall to the demesne farm and was probably an unmetalled lane. 

Maybe these sets were laid when S Brooks was creating his Whalley Range estate. 1870ish. Or do you think they're later?"

The road was there by 1894, along with its attractive villas, and I rather remember some research I did suggesting that the area was developed in the late 1860s, after Wilbraham Road and Alexander Road had been cut by the Egerton estate.

The OS map for 1854 suggests a lane heading in the right direction towards Dog House Farm, but I will investigate more closely.

Location; Whalley Range

Picture; Demesne Road, 2020, courtesy of Copland Smith, and one recovered from Beech Road, 2016, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

The Imperial Picture House, Whalley Range

The Imperial on Chorlton Road, 1961

Now I am of that generation who went to the cinema before split screens, multi studios and the one film programme.

Back then there were still two films, a short cinema news review and the programmes showed continuously so whatever time you went in you sat through until you got to the bit of the film you had started at and then left.

These picture houses were still theatres of dreams with thick carpets plush decorations and that distinctive smell and of course a big screen which could take you almost anywhere.

The best had been built in the 1930s when this was the cutting edge of entertainment and even in the 1950s and early 60s they offered up something special.

The Imperial in 2014

The smaller and older ones often past their best might not have been as impressive but once the lights went down they too could work their magic.

All of which dear reader will mark me out as an old fashioned cinema goer.

And so here and over the next few weeks will be a short series featuring just one picture house.

This was the Imperial on Chorlton Road which was still showing films in the 1980s.

It has long been converted into another use but my friend Andy knowing my fascination for old picture houses set about recording the place.

The Imperial in 2014

He started with the outside and then began on the interior.

So here is the Imperial as it was and as it is now with a little of its past glory revealed.

And as with all good serials there is lots more to come and who knows we may elicit some memories.


Pictures; the Imperial in 1961, A H Downes, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass and today from the collection of Andy Robertson, with a thank you to Imperial Timber 166-172 Chorlton Rd Manchester M16 7WW‎
0161 226 9190

Rediscovering the Whalley Hotel

Everyone likes a Mary Celeste story. *

Usually it involves a place in perfect condition which appears to be abandoned, with everything left as if the occupants had just popped out for a minute.

And with that comes the hint of a mystery,  or of something not quite right.

In the case of the Mary Celeste it led to all manner of additions to the story which deepened  the mystery, but sadly were not true.

Now I can’t offer up a mystery to go with Andy Robertson’s pictures of the Whalley Hotel which closed suddenly and after a very long interval morphed into apartments.

There is nothing odd about that.

Former pubs, warehouses and churches as well as schools have been transformed into residential properties, with varying degrees of success over the last two decades.

What makes the Whalley just that bit different is that Andy “got in” with the permission of the builders soon after the pub went dark, which I suppose is better described as went dry.

The curtains were still up at the windows, the pictures on the walls, and the last notices to customers were still waiting for someone to read them.

But mixed with all of these, were the bags of cement, piles of plaster board and a mix of power tools.

I didn’t go in the Whalley Hotel that often, in fact the last time I ordered a pint there was in the summer of 1975.

That said, it was a place I passed on the bus most days and more recently a place I have written about on the blog.*

More than that it was a landmark featuring in countless photographs right back into the last century and beyond.

So, for all those who never knew it, and a lot more who did, here are Andy’s last pictures, taken in 2015.

Leaving me just to make an appeal for stories, pictures or memorabilia about Didsbury pubs, which I know is an outrageous piece of opportunism.

But there are no traditional pubs in Whalley Range, and so having written a book about the city centre pubs and those of Chorlton, Peter Topping and I have fastened on Didsbury.

The book is well underway and like the others will tell the stories of pubs and the bars.


You can leave a comment on the blog or message us on facebook and twitter

Location; Whalley Range

Pictures; The Whalley Hotel, 2015, after the beer and customers had gone, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*The Whalley Hotel, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Whalley%20Hotel

Looking for clues ...... that house in Whalley Range

Now I am back with that house on Wellington Road in Whalley Range.*

It was built in 1874, and over its 144 years was home to salesmen, teachers, a Wesleyan preacher and a policeman and I suspect plenty more occupations resided at was once a nine roomed property.

But like so many big old houses it didn’t sit well in the mid 20th century.   The rising cost of living, the end of the widespread practice of employing servants and the decline in the size of families each contributed to make them uneconomic to live in.

Some lingered on, beset by neglect until they were demolished and replaced by utilitarian blocks of flats with flat roofs, steel framed windows and a clutch of anonymous residents.

Others because of their size were taken over as municipal homes for the elderly and looked after children, leaving the rest to be converted into bedsits.

These conversions were rarely done with care or an eye on the features of these grand old properties.

All of which brings me to the back of Wellington Road for it is here that we can get a clear view of one developer’s grand plan.

At some point, and I know not when, the back door was bricked up, and the cellars made into a basement flat with the creation of a new entrance.

Looking at this new door it may well has been already there in some form, possibly as a smaller exit or a window.  To this new door have been added two windows, and this may have been the moment when all the rear windows were replaced.

I wish I had sight of the original floor plan which would make an interesting comparison and shed light on how the house was transformed into three flats.

Perhaps one day I will.

Next; Searching for a floor plan and the original features

Location; Whalley Range

Picture; Wellington Road, 2018, from the collection of Lisa Ann Davison

*That house on Wellington Road ....... with a history, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2018/06/that-house-on-wellington-road-with.html

That house in Whalley Range and the grander one in Chorlton, which was Oak Bank and became Oakley

Doenberg today

Doenberg is that fine old house on Wood Road just where it joins College Road.

It was built in 1896 by Robert Rohleder and remained the family home until it was bought as the new residence for the Dean of Manchester in 1934.

And given that many of these houses were later torn down and replaced with more functional properties during the last decades of the twentieth century it is something that this one survived.

Today it has been converted into flats but was for a while left empty and forlorn which is where I left the story yesterday.

Sylvia who first asked me if I knew anything of its history thought that it might have once been a children’s home.  She had encountered a woman in the grounds searching for the site of a children’s home and thought Doenberg might have been the place.

Here then is the stuff of mystery and I wonder if the woman had herself been a resident of the home or had been drawn to Wood Road through a search for a relative.

Now a few people have confirmed that here was Cambrian House but so far that is where the trail ends.

Instead I shall return to an even bigger house which stood in the heart of had been Martledge and became New Chorlton.

The Oakley gate post

This was Oak Bank and was home in its time to the wealthy Morton family and later still the Cope’s who ran a chain of wine shops and drinking establishments in Manchester.

It stood in its own grounds which ran along Barlow Moor Road as far as Sandy Lane, and was bounded by what are now Zetland, Corkland and Wilbraham Roads.

By 1894 the estate had shrunk too little more than a pocket hemmed in by the houses on Corkland Road, Wilbraham Road and Maple Avenue and while its garden still extended west to Barlow Moor Road this too would be surrendered to housing by the beginning of the 20th century.

Today all that is left is a stone gate post with the name of the house and a bit of the old  wall.

The post gives the name of the house as Oakley and it was the Needham family who changed the name from Oak Bank.

They had moved in 1869 and stayed till the September of 1889 having changed the name to Oakley in 1883.

Oakley in 1894

To be fair the family did also leave their name which with that wonderful flair of civic imagination has become Needham Avenue although briefly in 1883 Oakley Moor Road appears in the rate books.

This seems to have referred to that stretch of Barlow Moor Road that ran alongside the estate.

A few years later and the old name of Barlow Moor had reasserted itself although there was a brief flirtation with Oakley Barlow Moor Road.

All of which seems rather nerdy but I am on a roll and will finish with Wallworth Road which again existed briefly from sometime around 1901 and was still in use in 1911.

It was that that short stretch of what is now Needham Avenue running off from Barlow Moor Road to the junction of Priory avenue where it continued as Needham.

Wallworth, Priory and Needham Avenues, 1907

Now this I tell you only because William H Wallworth had lived along here from 1901 and had owned the bakery on the north side of the avenue which is still there but has long since become home to a small set of industrial units.

This building has intrigued countless numbers of people passing along Neeedham on their way to the parcel depot.

And if you look closely there at the side of the building is our Oakley gate post, not I suspect in its original position which rather begs the question of why that wall is there.

But that is for another time.

In the meantime it is all that is left of Oak Bank/Oakley which has fared less well than Doenberg which can be still be seen and which has returned to its residential character.

Pictures; of Doenberg, courtesy of Sylvia Waltering, the gate post of Oakley from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the Oakley from the OS map of South Lancashire 1893, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/ and the OS for Manchester & Salford, 1907

When are you going to write about the Creameries on Wilbraham Road?

2014

The question arose during a conversation last week.

As it turned out I had  already done so, first in 2012 and then again in the new book the Quirks of Chorlton -cum-Hardy which was published at the end of last year.*

Added to which in the intervening years I have revisited the creameries of Chorlton and Whalley Range from time to time.

In an age before fridges milk had an even shorter life span and in made more sense to buy smaller amounts, more often and do it from locally sourced places.

2018

Once when we were a rural community that place was one of the local farms, and even now the stories of being sent for milk, cream or cheeses from the nearby farmer are only just fading from memory.

Later in the early decades of the 20th century there were plenty of businesses engaged in the trade, and just a quick glance at the street directories will show that there were plenty of them around Chorlton.

I suspect I wouldn’t have returned so quickly to the subject after the publication of Quirks, had it not been for a series of pictures Andy took last week of the The Creamery on Wilbraham Road.

1928

The building is being transformed and as ever Andy was there to record the changes since his last visit four years earlier.

And the rest as they say can be summed up in a short writing exercise entitled, the Creameries on Wilbraham Road ...... compare and contrast.

Not to be out done I have included in advert dated 1928.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; from the collection of Andy Robertson, 2014-18 and St John's Parish magazine 1928

*The Quirks of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, is available from Chorlton Bookshop or from www.pubbooks.co.uk/ or 07521557888

For the Friends of Range Road ....... and the Manchester Carriage and Tramway Company

It’s been almost a year since I wrote about the Manchester Carriage and Tramway Company and their depot down in Whalley Range.*

And I pretty much thought I done with the company and the depot, but not so because Andy Robertson was down there yesterday and took some fine pictures, of which this is one of my favourites, especially because in the previous story I featured pictures he took in 2014.

The rest I leave to you, spot the changes, and post your observations to me as a comment in the blog or social media

*On Range Road in Whalley Range with the Manchester Carriage and Tramway Company depot, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/on-range-road-in-whalley-range-with.html

What we inherit and what we pass on ..... those two houses on Upper Chorlton Road

Now I know it is not an original observation that the homes we occupy are places that we hold in trust and that sooner or later we will pass them on to someone else.

the two properties just before the redevelopment

And it really doesn’t matter whether it is a palace or a modest semi in the suburbs.

The question is how will the property fare on our watch?

Will we have left it in a better state and what will be the stories that we contribute to its history?

I can count five houses which I have called home, along with umpteen flats and bed sits.

Of the five two have been truly family homes where I was happy and where I think we made a difference.

And of these the last is the one we still occupy today after nearly forty years, and I suppose our contribution is that we are the first of the four to own it, who have had children running through the place.

The first of the two to be completed

All of which makes me reflect on the twin stories of numbers 198 and 200 Upper Chorlton Road which I have regularly written about.*

They were built in the 1870s when a large chunk of Upper Chorlton Road was still fields, experienced mixed fortunes which by the beginning of this century had left them unloved, neglected and pretty much in danger.

But they have had a new lease of life, being converted by a developer into a series of residences for the 21st century.**

I had the opportunity to wander around them during their conversion, wore the hard hat, watched as bits of unsympathetic and unsafe alterations were swept away and finally returned as the completed flats were finished.

The development has won an award and more than that has saved two grand old properties and made them homes again.

Location Whalley Range

Pictures; from the collection of Andrew Simpson

* At 200 & 198 Upper Chorlton Road, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/At%20200%2F198%20Upper%20Chorlton%20Road

** Armistead Properties, http://www.armisteadproperty.co.uk/

Coming out of the shadows ........ those two houses on Upper Chorlton Road

I think Mrs Emma Hyde and Mr John Windsor would applaud the way their two homes on Upper Chorlton Road have been treated.

Well over a century ago Mrs Hyde resided at 198 and her neighbour Mr Windsor at number 200.

By then their two homes were just a bit shy of being fifty years old and they will have still been grand properties dominating this stretch of the road.

Sadly time and the second half of the last century were not kind to either house.

Each had been clumsily converted into flats with little regard for the original design and then both had been neglected over the years to a point when most developers would have just knocked them down, and built one of those big boxes, packed full of flats and as remarkable as a cheap cheese sandwich.

But not so Mr Armisted, who instead set about saving the fabric of the two buildings and then converting the interior into sixteen modern apartments.

I have followed the story of numbers 198 and 200 for the last six months, during which time I have researched their history and some of the people who have made these two buildings their home and more recently have visited the houses at regular intervals.

And now they are almost finished.

I like the way that these two have been saved and made to suit the 21st century.  After all most of us will never live in a house with fifteen rooms, heated by coal fires and kept clean by an army of servants.

All of which begs the question of what should become of such grand old piles?

Pulling them down seems wrong and this way at least the building has been preserved and with it a bit of the history of Upper Chorlton Road.

Location; Upper Chorlton Road


Pictures; 198 and 200 Upper Chorlton Road, 2017 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and from the 1960's, by Downes A H, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass,  

*Armistead Properties, http://www.armisteadproperty.co.uk/

**At 200 & 198 Upper Chorlton Road, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/At%20200%2F198%20Upper%20Chorlton%20Road

198 Upper Chorlton Road ......... a house reborn

Tired and in need of some care, 2016

Now there will be those who think I might just have gone over the top with the title but not so.

Number 198 and its twin were built in 1871 and time and a succession of landlords have not been kind to either property.*

Once they were grand homes built when much of the surrounding area was still fields but sometime in the 1970s they were converted into flats.

The conversions were not done well and in the process some of the original features were lost including the staircases, and the elaborate plaster mouldings.

Built in 1871

The exterior brickwork, window frames and roof had been neglected and parts of the property were damp and a home to various sorts of rot.

Added to which part of the garden had been sold off in plots and long ago had been built on.

The easiest solution would have been to call time on the two and demolish them replacing these 1870s villas with blocks of flats.

This had already happened to both the buildings opposite and to an equally fine house which had stood the other corner of Upper Chorlton Road and Wood Road.

But I am glad that Mr Armistead who bought the two chose instead to save them. It has taken a year and there is much still to do but already the first of the new flats in 198 are finished and they have been tastefully done.**

There will be sixteen flats where once two families lived.  The 1911 census records that no 200 had fifteen rooms, excluding “scullery landing, lobby, closet, and bathrooms” and no 198 had twelve rooms.

Few families today would need such a lot of rooms, and the cost of heating such properties will be expensive. But back in the 1870s there were servants to keep the place clean and an abundance of coal to keep the house warm and if there were cold spots the solution was the application of another layer of clothes.

Now I won’t be alone in remembering a time when few houses had central heating, ice formed on the inside of windows in the winter and the best weapon against draughts were carpets on the floors, heavy duty curtains at the windows and equally heavy duty curtains behind the doors.

A work in progress, 2016

But the sixteen flats of numbers 198 and 200 Upper Chorlton Road are very different, offering up elegance and comfort that the first owners of the two houses could never envisage.

That said I bet they would have embraced the new features with enthusiasm reflecting on how much more comfortable the flats are when compared to what was on offer in 1871.

There is still much work to do but already the buildings are beginning to look good again, as good perhaps as they had been in 1881 just ten years after they were built.

Coming together, 2017

And that raises that interesting question of what to do with an old building.

Many, like schools, warehouses and mills long ago ceased to be places where children were taught, things were made or in the case of our Victorian workhouses,  places where misery was distributed in uncaring heaps.

The solution in the middle decades of the last century was to tear them down, and in some cases that might still be appropriate, but for many others it is about finding a new use and then carefully restoring the old fabric while making them relevant to today.

198, exterior cleaned and beginning to look like it did in 1871

So I am glad that our two houses once again to do what they were designed for, with the added bonus that more people can share them.

Location; Manchester






Pictures; 198/200 Upper Chorlton Road, 2016-17 courtesy of Armistead Properties

*At 200/198 Upper Chorlton Road, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/At%20200%2F198%20Upper%20Chorlton%20Road

**Armistead Properties, http://www.armisteadproperty.co.uk/

Be careful not to miss the changes ............... down on Withington Road in Whalley Range

Now you ignore changing Whalley Range at your peril.

By which I mean like any place you live and take for granted it is often too easy to miss how the place is changing.

It could just be the removal of a telephone box, the demolition of an old run down house which was once someone’s pride and joy.

But whatever it is its passing is another little bit of history gone forever.

Of course you can get over precious about an old fashioned bus sign or a rundown garage but sometimes even these unloved bits of street furniture and boring buildings have a story to tell.

And this was clearly uppermost in Andy Robertson’s mind when he wandered down into Whalley Range yesterday afternoon.

The sun was shining and what better subject than the old tram depot on the corner of Withington and College Road.

When he last sent me some pictures I wrote about it and have been inspired to do again given that in the space of a few years some bits have changed.*

But once it belonged to the Manchester Carriage and Tramway Company and extended along Withington Road and round on to Range Road.

The company had been formed from a merger of two transport businesses in 1880 and for over 20 years operated horse drawn tram services throughout Manchester and Salford.

At its greatest extent in 1900 it ran services over 140 route miles, using 515 trams and 5,244 horses housed in 19 depots.*

And our building was one of those depots with another close by on Chorlton Road.

But by the early 20th century local authorities were showing an interest in operating their own Corporation transport services and the Manchester Carriage and Tramway Company ceased trading in 1903.

So while in 1894 our building was one of their depots by 1911 it had moved with the times and was home to the Provincial Motor Cab Company Ltd.

And that is all I am going to say other than point you to the original story.*

Location; Whalley Range

Pictures; down on Withington Road in 2014 and again in 2016, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*On Range Road in Whalley Range with the Manchester Carriage and Tramway Company depot, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/on-range-road-in-whalley-range-with.html

The Local Elections Results 2016 Whalley Range