Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ...... nu 45 Queen Street .... a car park and a gravestone

Now this is one of those stories which I know will require a lot more research and will I suspect also lead to a few cross words.

The Gravestone in the carpark, 2016

We are a car park where Clement Chapman came across this gravestone and was moved to comment, “Check this out Andrew --------- ‘And the only car park with a tombstone? 

Why, that would be close to the bargain of Greengate car park on Queen Street where a handwritten notice advises us it's £3.90 all day (£2 on the weekend). 

This cleared site was formally the Bible Christian Church whose preacher the Reverend William Cowherd in 1809 persuaded his congregation to give up meat which indirectly led to the creation of the Vegetarian Society, which is still based in Altrincham, South Manchester. 

Close to the entrance to the car park there are still gravestones visible."

I suspect there will many like me who feel at the very least a sense of unease that a once treasured headstone to a loved one has been left in the corner of a car park.

The Church and graveyard, 1849

I fully accept that we need car parks and certainly this bit of Salford has got its fair share but there is something not quite right about how this one has been treated.

I think I will have to follow Clement’s picture up and try and translate the inscription and the name if only to research this discarded record of a life.

In the meantime if anyone is down there perhaps they could help Clement and I out.

Depending on the date of the headstone we might be able to track them on a census return and perhaps go looking for the burial records of the church.

It is a project in progress and I would argue a very worthwhile one.

In the meantime I have Elaine Craven to thank for adding a comment.

"Andrew,  when I was a kid, I lived in Hopwood Street, our back entry was the graveyard, Blake’s Motors used it as a breakdown site. 

There was 4 high walls surrounding it, Queen Street, Gravel Lane Croft which was Trinity Church, ,King Street and our back entry. 

The gravestones were about a storey up, underneath was the coffins on plinths, all rotted, (surrounded by the four walls)Mr Hesford was the caretaker, we used to dare each other to run underneath the gravestones, one lifted up at one end of the site and another lifted up at the other end, if Mr. Hesford caught you, you were in trouble.

I only ran through once, it was very scary. 

Hopwood Street and Linsey Street were demolished and used as car parks now I think, but I can’t see how the graveyard is used as a car park, it was too high up, unless that’s been demolished too, but where will all the coffins have gone. Hope this helps".

And it certainly does, thank you Elaine ...... another bit of our history is revealed.

Location; Salford

Pictures; discarded gravestone in the former churchyard of  the Bible Christian Church, 2016 from the collection of AntonyMills, and detail of Queen street and the church and grounds in 1849, from the OS Map for Manchester & Salford, 1844-49, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Down at Christ Church that church in the fields

Now I have to say that Christ Church in West Didsbury has rather been ignored by me.

Christ Church in 2014

As Andy Robertson says “the old main gate and old main entrance are now only about 2 metres from the kerb of one of the busiest roads in Manchester.”

Not that it was always such for back in 1881 it was still surrounded by open countryside standing on Christ Church Avenue which was a wide tree lined avenue leading from Barlow Moor Road down to the Rectory and church which had been built in 1881.

And given its location it was known as Christ Church in the fields.

I have come across a few pictures of the church but this one of the Barlow Moor Road and the arched gateway to Christ Church Avenue about 1925 fascinates me.

The lodge is to the right and a for sale sign to our left.

The gateway in 1925

In 1932 Princess Parkway was cut south of Barlow Moor Road as the main link to the newly developing estate of Wythenshawe, and it was built over Christ Church Avenue and eleven fine looking houses with gardens were built from the corner of Barlow Moor Road down to the church.

So Christ Church Avenue had a short life, just a matter of 51 years, which means that I will have to do some more digging.

Christ Church Avenue in 1894

I am hoping that there will be people with memories of the church in the years just before and after the new road was cut.

And it maybe that there will some more photographs of the building and surrounding land.

I hope so.

But in the meantime here is Christ Church Avenue in 1894 courtesy of the OS map for South Lancashire.

Picture; Christ Church in 2014 from the collection of Andy Robertson, the arched gateway from the Lloyd Collection, and map detail from the OS for south Lancashire, 1888-93, courtesy of
Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/

New Wakefield Street ...... the one with history .... but catch it while you can

New Wakefield Street is one of those little streets which most of us will never go down unless you have business there.

New Wakefield Street, 2017

It runs down from Oxford Road, to Great Marlborough Street and is dominated by the tall and sweeping brick viaduct that carries the line from Oxford Road Railway Station to Piccadilly.

A sniffy visitor might comment that there is nothing of note amongst the buildings, save the tiled entrance to what was once J & J Shaw.*

But that is to ignore the fascinating mix of different properties, some newer than others and pretty much all of them have a chequred history of different owners and different uses.

New Wakefield Street, 2019

I have always liked walking down the street, which I first discovered when visiting the site of Little Ireland, that notorious slum, which Dr. Kay and Mr. Frederick Engels described in their accounts of housing conditions in the 1830s and 1840s.**

And Andy Robertson shares my interest in the place, having also wandered down it over the decades, recording the changes.

Back in 2017 his pictures show that the developers had yet to become interested in New Wakefield Street, but within just two years the red brick building and the one next to it have gone.

The lost buildings, New Wakefield Street, 2017

The red brick one was Sound Control and the one next had been H & J Quick, motor agents and dealers in 1969.

And at one end of the street and surrounding it new buildings have gone up which are in direct contrast to the old ones in both style and height.

So, while the existing ones had pretty much conformed to the century’s old height, the new ones reach up to the sky.

Bakehouse Street, 1844

All of which was a perfect opportunity to delve back into the history of the street.

It is there in 1851 but was known as Railway Street, and petered out before reaching Great Marlborough Street, while its near neighbour on the other side of the viaduct didn’t exist, and access to the three streets beside what is now the Salisbury was just a patch of open ground.

That said judging by the OS map of Manchester and Salford dated 1844, nor did Railway Street.  It too was open ground with a road which is now lost running parallel to Oxford Road and Great Marlborough Street.

This was Bakehouse Street, which was home to Oxford Road Rectifying Distillery on one side and a Machine and Tool Manufactory on the other.

Whitworth Street West, 2020

And that is about it.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; New Wakefield Street, 2017 & 2019, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and detail from the OS map of Manchester & Salford, 1844, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/



*Doors I have known .............. now that’s a zippy title, 
https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2017/08/doors-i-have-known-now-thats-zippy-title.html

**New Wakefield Street, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=wakefield+street

That ghost railway station in Didsbury

Now you would be forgiven for missing the entrance to Withington and West Didsbury Railway Station.

But this little stretch of road off Lapwing Lane was the well beaten path to the train that took you into Central Station or off to the Peak District.

It opened on January 1st 1880 and was closed to passenger traffic in 1961.

And now the line is open again for business but instead of that steam loco it will be the tram that whisks you into the city or out to  East Didsbury.

Sadly East Didsbury is as far as you can go, and if you want that tram you will have to walk a bit further to the new metro stop.

All of which is a reminder of what you can discover if you go looking for it.

So a thank you to Andy Robertson who came up with the pictures and that wonderful site Disused Stations which has lots more information and pictures on the railway station which is no more.*

Pictures; off Lapwing Lane looking for a railway Station, 2015, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Disused Stations, http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/w/withington/index.shtml

Seen from the train ....... the ghost sign

It's the one Ryan sees from the train

"Normally  just a blur  as the train goes past  but fortunately  today I am stuck at a red signal  awaiting  departure towards Eltham via Victoria Railway Station".

Location; the train from Victoria to Eltham

Picture; ghost sign, 2020 from the collection of Ryan Ginn

Pictures from a backroom, on a moment of self-isolation ..... Aldan PA …. Philadelphia

Now I notice it has been a month since the last of the series of Pictures from a backroom, on a moment of self-isolation, and as we ease away from full lockdown, I rather thought the stories had run their course.

But not so, because Paul Wright sent this one from Philadelphia.

He like me, comes from Peckham, but while I headed north to Manchester, Paul crossed the Atlantic.

After a brief conversation recently, he agreed to join the backroom picture club with this one which he calls, A view from a window: Aldan PA (Suburban Philadelphia).

Location; Aldan PA (Suburban Philadelphia)

Picture; A view from a window: Aldan PA (Suburban Philadelphia), 2020, from the collection of Paul Wright

Walton Cottage in Whalley Range ….. stubbornly fails to reveal all its story

Walton Cottage or what passes to be Walton Cottage is the one you can see from the bus, half hidden behind the trees and bushes.

Walton Cottage, 2020

Like Andy Robertson I have seen it over the years and wondered what its story was, but unlike Andy I never bothered to take any pictures.

Not so Mr. Robertson who sent a batch of them over, adding “I noticed this building looking forlorn so I thought I'd better clock it.

In 1961 and 1969 it was occupied by the British Red Cross.

In the early seventies it was bought with money donated by Vanessa Redgrave and became The Nello James Centre. The trustees are the Walton Cottage Education Trust”.

Walton Cottage, 130, 2020

What puzzled both of us is that the “Notice the stone ‘Walton Cottage 130’, but 130 is now part of a row of shops so I am wondering if 130 was demolished and the stone moved near to 136, or perhaps 136 was renumbered from 130?”

Now after an extensive trawl of the directories maps and census returns, it appears that Walton Cottage was in 1911 listed as 130 Withington Road, and it was occupied by George Henry Wood.

He had married Emma Ann Richardson in September 1890 and after a spell living in Manley Road they were in residence at Walton Cottage by 1901.

And there they stayed until sometime in 1911, because while they appear on the directory issued at the start of the year they had moved by the April and had moved to Youlgreave near Bakewell.

Walton Cottage Red Cross Auxiliary Hopsital, 1914

Leaving a gap in the timeline until September 1914 when Walton Cottage had become a Red Cross Auxiliary Hospital.

There are references to it in the media, and it could accommodate fifteen patients, but by 1916 it had been closed and removed to larger premises at Sunnyside, College Road.*

All of which brings me to Mr. Percy Henry Marriott who is listed on the Red Cross records at Walton Cottage.  He was engaged as “Commandant. Assistant County Director”, and his duties were “Commanding Detachment Treasurer & Assistant Country Director”. **

At present I can’t access the directories for the period between 1911 and 1914, but it maybe that he moved into the property after Mr. and Mrs. Wood had left for Bakewell.

Walton Cottage, 1961

And as so often happened at the outbreak of the Great War he appears to have handed over the house to the Red Cross.

The first reference to Walton Cottage and the Red Cross comes in the Manchester Guardian on August 22nd, 1914, which reported that Mrs. Marriott was a member of the District Committee of the organization.

And this was just a few weeks after Mr. Marriot had been engaged by the Red Cross as a Commandant.

There is very little more in the historical record about Mr. Marriot.  I know that by 1911 be had retired, that he had been a “manufacturer of cotton goods” with an office at 16 Princess Street, and a factory in Stockport, and is listed as “Khaki, Manchester”.  He died in 1938 in Colwyn Bay leaving £2,934.

There will be more, but just not yet.

The cottage in 1961

And that is pretty much all there is on Walton Cottage as a Red Cross property.  Andy found a series of pictures from the Manchester Local History Collection from 1961, and the building looks similar to his photographs.

The Manchester & Salford directory still lists it as belonging to the Red Cross eight years later, but by 1971 it has become the Nello James Centre, offering “free evening studies teaching basic English, modern dress and fashions, motor mechanics and political Studies”.  And there were plans open a child nursery and adventure playground in 1972 …… and it was hoped to make the centre, which at present relies on donations financially self-supporting by opening a second had furniture shop and a Sunday morning food market and artists’ market.”***

Within a year it had expanded its role as a community education centre, describing itself as “free university” and had seen “600 people attend the free legal advice  centre on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, when half a dozen local solicitors give up their time to explain everything from the Rent Act to the rights and wrongs of maintenance orders.”****

It was named after C.L.R. James the “revolutionary Socialist [who] is a West Indian who was involved in the Labour Movement in the US in the twenties and was a Guardian cricket and correspondent and West Indian political activist in the thirties … and now teaches in Washington DC and is helping organise the next Pan-African  Congress in Tanzania”.****

The origins of the centre were in a “protest against police brutality …. [in 1967] and like Topsy it just grew”.

Walton Cottage, 1893

But the centre is now closed, and according various reports the building is in a series state of disrepair.

I haven’t yet discovered when it closed.

There is a Facebook page, a you tube clip, and a  short film made in 1980 along with references to it on various blogs, and a petition to stop the building from being sold by the trust who administered the building, and that is.

The Manchester Evening News ran a story in 2015 on the continued efforts to stop the sale, but as Andy’s pictures show, it remains empty, and forlorn. *****

Leaving just the puzzle over the building and its origins.  It shows up on the 1893 OS, but appears to be two properties, which by 1933 have become one, and eighteen years later have been joined by a series of small buildings in the grounds, which have now gone.

Location; Whalley Range

Pictures; The Nello James Centre and stonework, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson, the building as a Red Cross property, 1961, listed as no. 136, m40928
& m40929, Landers, A E, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass and Walton Cottage marked in red from the OS map of South Lancashire, 1893 & the OS map of Manchester & Salford, 1951

Walton Cotttage, 1951

*East Lancashire Red Cross Branch, 1916

**British Red Cross First World War Volunteers,  https://vad.redcross.org.uk/

***Free studies centre, Manchester Guardian October 23, 1971

****Nello Come in , Martin Walker on a Moss Side community centre, the Guardian, Jul 1, 1972

***** Campaign launched to save Nello James community centre in Whalley Range, Helen Johnson, March 11, 2015, Manchester Evening News, https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/campaign-launched-save-nello-james-8818838

And one to read ; The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution, C.L.R.James, 1938