Living in interesting times ……..

Now there is not an inevitability to that simple observation that we are a two-party democracy, or for that matter that any political party is guaranteed to last forever.

The SDP office, Chorlton, 1983

The Tories split over the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846, the Liberals over Irish Home Rule in 1885 and split gain over Lloyd George’s decision to form a coalition to fight the 1918 General Election, and The Labour Party copied them in 1931 over Ramsey McDonald’s austerity package which was meant to solve the economic mess which followed in the wake of the Wall Street Crash and the onset of the Depression.

The upshot for each of the political parties was a period in the wilderness, with the ever-present threat that they would be marginalised for all time.

Election Poster, 1929

Some like the Tories and the Labour Party did come back.  In the case of the Labour Party their electoral success in 1945 ushered in major social and economic changes which benefited large section of the populations.

But others didn’t, and while the Liberals and the Lib Dems mounted a sort of come back at local level, this was never translated into a significant Parliamentary present and theirs remained a series of false dawns.

I was born just 49 years after the foundation of the Labour Party and experienced at first hand the departure of the Gang of Four who formed the SDP and counted close colleagues in those who joined that political party.

Briefly in the early 1980s they were seen by many as a serious challenge to the Labour Party, and for those of us who were engaged in the 1983 General Election, the main preoccupation was not whether we would win, but the chances that we might come third behind the Tories and the SDP.

Election poster, 1966

And what I also remember was the level of animosity towards those who had left, which was mirrored in the 1931 Labour split.  I grew up against a backdrop of comments about “that traitor McDonald” and remember seeing trade union banners carrying the faces of Keir Hardie and Ramsey McDonald which  had McDonald’s eyes cut out.

All of which brings me to an interesting program on Radio 4 yesterday on the history of party splits from 1846 onwards.

When to Break Up the Party*, reflected that “as the consequences of the creation of the Independent Group of breakaway MPs play out, Brexit continues to put extraordinary pressure on the cohesion of Labour and Conservative Parties alike.

Professor Steven Fielding draws on the few examples from our history of party splits to dissect what forces cause them, and why some are bigger and longer-lasting than others. 

He assesses the significance or otherwise of what’s happening now against the background not just of the birth of the SDP in 1981, but all the big splits since 1846.

Labour's 1983 Manifesto

With: Laura Beers, David Davis, Angus Hawkins, Clive Lewis, Martin Pugh, Chuka Umunna

Producer: Phil Tinline” *

Now, I am well aware that some might find the program shallow, and others ask, “but where was the Class analysis?”  I found it an interesting survey of how each party split, and the consequences of that split.

 As to where we are going, that has yet to be seen.

Pictures; the SDP office, Chorlton, 1983, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, posters and manifesto covers, 1929-1983, 






*When to Break Up the Party, BBC Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00035ng

Favourite Election Posters ........ 1931

An occasional series about my favourite election posters drawn from all the political parties over the last two and bit centuries.

Picture; Sacrifice, The Labour Party, 1931

Watching the coronation procession in Didsbury on June 22 1911

It is June 22nd 1911 and we are in Didsbury watching the coronation festivities for King George V and Queen Mary.

Along with countless other communities across the country Didsbury celebrated the event with a procession, and a series of events at the local park.

The day was captured on a camera and later reproduced in a slim volume by the local historian Fletcher Moss.

The book, along with the event and some of the photographs from the day have featured on the blog already but today I decided to focus on two pictures which I guess were taken fairly close together.*

The captions on the two images record that the procession was on the way back and was heading towards the Playing Fields.

And so we have them as they have reached the point just past the old Methodist College hard by the green in front of the old Cock and Didsbury Hotel.

Now this was obliviously a central point for people to gather and so amongst the crowd are two photographers and a mix of people who in the time lapse between the two pictures are more to watch different parts of the procession.

Our woman in white watches as the Didsbury Lad's Club wagon prepares to swing round past the lamp post and as it moves out of sight back up Wilmslow Road begins a conversation with her companion dressed in black.

The woman in the shawl having finished talking to the man beside her turns also to watch as the procession moves on, leaving the smartly dressed young lady by the lamp post to turn her back on the events and stare off into the distance her attention caught by something off camera.

And my attention in turn has been caught by that Didsbury Lad’s Club wagon.

The movement began in the later 19th century and was part of the attempt to keep young boys off the street and channel their energies and interests into activities which could be fun, character building and help them later in life.

It may well be that the movement had a strong part to play in eroding the dominance of the gang culture of the twin cities of Manchester and Salford.

The Scuttlers as they were popularly known had a brief but terrifying hold on young men in our inner city areas lasting from roughly 1870 till the end of the century.

Not unsurprisingly then the Lads’ Clubs tended to be in the poorer areas which raises fascinating questions about the presence of a club here in Didsbury.

Now so far all I know is that it later became a scout group but as to who set it up and when it made the transition is as yet unclear.

But there will be someone who does and if they get to me before I do the research I shall let you know.

Pictures;  from Didsbury Coronation Festivities, Fletcher Moss, 1911

* The 1911 Coronation Festivities in Didsbury, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%201911%20Coronation%20Festivities%20in%20Didsbury

Looking out from Salford .......... the afternoon sunlight

Now I don’t claim that any of the following short series of pictures of Salford are magnificent photographs but I liked them.

Location; looking out from Salford










Picture; the bridge and the building, 2013 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Making fun of the unthinkable ……….. badges we wore

Now, one response to a dark moment is humour, and back in the 1980s there was plenty of that.

The election of a Conservative Government in 1979, and its reelection again and again, through the next decade and beyond was for many a series of disasters, which saw unemployment rise to record figures, squeezes on public spending and a worsening of the Cold War.

One response was the "Don’t Blame Me" campaign, which sat beside the the other very successful campaign  run by the Labour Party, carrying the slogan “Upset Her ……..… Join the Labour Party”, which appeared on badges, posters and t-shirts.

The campaign emerged fairly soon after the 1979 general election.

I am not one for personality politics or leadership cults, and while Mrs. Thatcher was an easy target to mount a more general campaign against the Government, it hid the bigger forces at play who saw deregulation and unemployment as useful tools in advancing the interests of one section of the population.

But the badge was fun and sat beside scores of responses from community groups and individuals, and of these one of favourites was the Dog Lovers Against the Bomb.

I am fairly convinced it was produced here in Chorlton.

Leaving me just to add the badge I know originated here, in Chorlton because it was produced by Chorlton Labour Party.

How many of these are now still knocking around would be fun to find out.



Location; Chorlton








Pictures; badges from the 1980s, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

A sunny day, a camera and Harbour City ....... number three the view from the bridge

Now it is very easy to take a place for granted, even when the place is Salford Quays which seems to be constantly in a state of flux, with new developments rising from the waterside almost daily.

All of which will make Andy Robertson’s photographs a very important source for historians, former residents and workers and of course the curious.

Over the last decade and a bit Andy has been recording the changes to the twin cities, starting with a derelict building and returning over the months to chronicle its demolition, the clearing of the site and its replacement.

And I am grateful that he shares them with the blog.

Location; Harbour City

Pictures; Harbour City, 2017 from the collection of Andy Robertson

Falling into the Workhouse ...part 2 the Chorlton Union and Chorlton-cum-Hardy

Reflecting on the New Poor Law and how it impacted on one small rural community 4 miles from Manchester

The Meadows on the edge of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, 1979

Hated as these Poor Law Bastilles were many people accepted that circumstance might force them to seek relief at some point in their lives.

One such inmate was Thomas Taylor who was in the Withington workhouse in the April of 1861 but later was living with his daughter.

After a lifetime of hard work, struggling with low wages punctuated by periods of unemployment and ill health, many were forced into the workhouse as a last resort.

So it was for Ellen Warburton who in that April of 1861 was 98 years old and seeking assistance inside the walls of the workhouse.

Sutton's Cottage, 1750-1894

Her story may be typical. She was born in the township in 1776 and retained her independence well into her 60s, running a home which she shared with her teenage grandson.

By 1851 the situation had changed, and Ellen aged 75 was living in the home of her now married grandson.

A decade later the family had moved to Manchester and Ellen was in the workhouse.

She was by now a very old woman, and the new home in John Street, Chorlton on Medlock was a one up one down terraced house inside the loop of the River Medlock, hemmed in on all sides by chemical works, timber yards, and a brewery.

Ploughing Row Acre, 1894

But it is only when we peel back the figures and begin to follow the Guardian’s own policy of segregating the inmates by gender that the full picture of who carried the biggest burden emerges.

In the summer of 1841 the single largest group were adult women who as we have seen often entered the workhouse with children.

Many may have been there as a direct result of the emigration of their husbands. In the June of 1842 the Morning Chronicle reporting on the slump in trade wrote that “Chorlton Workhouse is filled with the wives and families of men going or have gone to America in quest of employment......Emigration is going on extensively.” 

The village green, 1979

This was a policy that was actively pursued by the Poor Law Commissioners with parochial aid or assistance from local landlords. The Commissioners reported that over 2, 000 had gone to Canada in 1841 which was an increase on the year before, and that assistance was also being given to move to Australia and New Zealand.

But there was also a trend of “men quitting England and procuring a passage to the United States, leaving their families to be forwarded to the country by the parish officers or private individuals.” Not unsurprisingly the Commissioners’ expressed “our strong opinion of the inexpediency of rendering the assistance to the families of persons so circumstanced which is the object of the parties to obtain the desertion of their families.” 

Extract from The Story of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Andrew Simpson, 2012

Picture; The meadows & the village green, 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, ploughing Row Acre, 1894, courtesy of Mr Higginbotham from the Lloyd Collection, Sutton’s Cottage, Chorlton Row, Barri Sparshot, 2011 from a photograph, 1894