Ghost signs in Didsbury

I have become fascinated by ghost signs.*

They crop up on buildings advertising traders and products and often survive long after the people of the product have long gone, but they are slowing fading from sight.

In some cases they have been deliberately painted over leaving just a feint hint of what was there.

In other cases they are slowly disappearing as the paint peels away.

Over the last few months I have featured the Chorlton signs and have pretty much shown them all.  So while out in Didsbury I came across this in one Warbuton Street.

Now Warburton Street is a place I haven’t been too in ages.  I used to come regularly to Morton’s bookshop but somehow just got out of the habit which is a shame because it is a delightful place.

And on what might be the last bright sunny Saturday of October I so was Warbuton Street which is one of those narrow little roads with interesting looking buildings on both sides.

Back in 1911 the last building on the north side was the Midland Railways stables which is a reminder that at the bottom of the street was the railway line which again has been pressed into service as the tram line.

So back to the ghost sign which announced R. Oldfield and a Trade I can’t make out, but out there in Didsbury there will be someone who knows, of that I am convinced. And as I hoped Joanne Newbery has posted that it was a B. Oldfield Cycles. And there he was in the telephone directory from 1934 to 1955 as B. Oldfield Cycles, 2 Warburton St, Didsbury

Picture; from the collection of Peter Topping

*http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/ghost%20signs

Painting Salford .................

Now sometime ago Peter began a series of paintings of Salford.

It began with a view of Salford Quays, and went on to some very fine paintings of Salford pubs.

And here is another dating from 2012.




Location; Salford

Painting; Painting Salford, © 2012 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,

Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

A day in the Quays ......... celebrating Salford

There may be some who mutter this isn’t really Salford, not the one I remember, and that will be true.

But all places change and reinvent themselves and Mr Muggins in 1760 may well have reflected that the grand Victorian buildings that rose on the streets of Salford weren’t to his taste.

So here are some of Andy Robertson’s pictures of Salford taken on a bright sunny day in 2017.

Location; Salford

Pictures, Salford, 2017 from the collection of Andy Robertson

Those Towers in Didsbury ...............

Now I am back with the Towers on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury.*

For most of the last century it was called the Shirley Institute and it is a building with a lot of history.

It was built between 1868 and 1872 by John Taylor who founded the Manchester Guardian in 1821.

Here in 1882 the decision was taken by a group of businessmen to build the Manchester Ship Canal and in 1920 it was bought by the British Cotton Industry Research Association and renamed the Shirley Institute after the daughter of one the main contributors to the cost of buying it.

Now I have always wanted to get into the Towers but have always missed the open days.

So I was pleased when Barbarella sent over a collection of her recent pictures of the place.

And as ever in old buildings it is the detail that fascinates me.

Location; Didsbury

Pictures; The Towers, 2020, from the collection of Barbarella Bonvento


*A building called the Towers, the Ship Canal and a certain animation company, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2016/04/a-building-called-towers-ship-canal-and.html

Pictures from a backroom, on a moment of self-isolation ..... two from Ann in deepest rural France

I like the way that the series has gone international and from Chorlton we have zipped across to Italy, moved on to Cyprus and and today are in France.

The added bonus is that we have two pictures, one of Ann's washing and another from her upstairs window.

Wednesday was the "first day I was able to hang out washing out this year!  

Yesterday was glorious sunshine, today it's all grey and cloudy, but lots of spring flowers".

And that is how they do self isolation in rural France.

Leaving me just to add that Ann lives in Southern  Brittany, and that they "are  about half way between Rennes and Nantes.

Our nearest neighbours are about 200 yards away, we wave occasionally!
As we are regarded as 'at risk' we are not, in theory, allowed out of the house/garden, but I do go for a walk around the fields with Sophie the dog.

The spring flowers in the hedgerows are glorious" .

Location; Brittany, France

Picture, Washing line with dog and Morris, and View from upstairs window, 2020, from the collection of Ann Love

Cometh the hour …. Cometh the people ……………. Etchells of Beech Road

It goes without saying that our medical staff, and emergency services are the heroes of the moment.

And along with these there are the staff in the supermarkets and the lorry drivers bringing the food, and many others.

More than once I have highlighted the friendly and efficient service offered by Beech Road Pharmacy, and today I will add Etchels, the newsagents and local store on Beech Road.

They have been our newsagents since the  1960s, and last week they announced their intention to deliver essential supplies of milk, bread and eggs to those who can’t get out.

And as we have been self isolating for a fortnight, Barbara and Craig, dropped off our first essential “shop”.

C & W Etchells, 44 Beech Road, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M21 9EL, 0161 881 1764

Location, Chorlton

Painting; C & W Etchells, 2017, Peter Topping, featured in The Quirks of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Andrew Simpson, & Peter Topping, 2017

In the company of the Salford Bees ..... no.2 in the Lowry

Now I am the first to admit that Manchester isn't the only city to have bees.  

Salford also has them on their coat  of arms.

So here are some more of Ron's bees from the Upper Mall of the Lowry ..... more to follow.

Location;Salford













Pictures; Salford Bees, 2018 from the collection of Ron Stubley