Lost and forgotten streets of Manchester .......... nu 5 Bow Lane

Now I am not surprised that Bow Lane rarely features in the street directories.

These were the books which were issued annually from the 1780s up to 1969 and listed the streets, the residents and the businesses in the city.

Bow Lane which runs from Cross Street over Clarence Street and then twist on to Princess Street seems unworthy of much of a mention; although to be fair there were two listings for 1911.

And twists it does widening as it travels up from Cross Street but now just a cut through for anyone wanting to avoid the main streets. That said it does offer an opportunity to look into the Town Hall Tavern.

Location; Manchester



Pictures; Bow Lane, 2016 from the collection of Andy Robertson

The insurance clerk, the travelling salesmen and Mrs Buxton from the USA ....... a bit of Chorltonville in 1911

Now every bit of Chorlton has its own story and Chorltonville is no exception.

South Drive, 1913

Most people will know it began as a bold venture to supply decent homes at affordable rents on a plot of farm land at the beginning of the 20th century.

There had been a modest pilot scheme which had been built behind Upper Chorlton Road, but the ‘ville was the big one.

The houses were built in record time and by April 1911 the first residents were showing up on the census for that year.

They were tenants rather than owners but within a decade the association had been wound up and the properties began to be sold off.

The estate has remained a popular place to live and many of my friends have passed through or chosen to settle and bring up their families in this quiet secluded place.

Something of its history has featured in our  book the Quirks of Chorlton-cum-Hardy* .

And with that in mind I went back to the records to see just what the demographic of the estate was like back at the beginning of the last century.

It is a big task and involves trawling the census returns street by street.  So far I have been looking at South Drive, and have covered just 39 homes, from numbers 1 to 65, and 2 to 22.  There are gaps which suggest some homes were vacant and I am fully aware that this is but a small sample but it’s a start.

The Tradesmen calls, 1913

What strikes you is the number of residents who gave their occupation as a commercial r travelling salesmen.
In all there were 14 of the 39 engaged in the job, along with a number of clerks, two shop keepers, two teachers and a University lecturer.

And what is particularly interesting is that some at least of these occupations reflect the new industries.

One of our salesmen was selling telephones, another electrical cables, and a third heating, ventilation and lighting, while Ms Vera Harris of South Drive was a typist.

But amongst all this “new stuff” there were the more traditional ways of earning a living of which domestic service featured highly.  Of our 39 residents, six employed a servant and one family had two.

It will be interesting to see how this small sample compares with the rest of the ‘ville and with the whole of Chorlton.  But that is a very big undertaking.  An earlier study suggested that in total 29 households in Chorltonville employed a servant.

So, for now I will just close with the reflection that a walk down South Drive in the April of 1911 would have been punctuated by a hosts of accents including more than a few from London, as well as the North East, a few from Northern Ireland and two from the USA and two more from Sweden.

All of which makes the place as cosmopolitan as it is today.

Location; Chorltonville

Pictures South Drive, early 20th century from the Lloyd Collection 

*The Qurks of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Andrew Simpson & Peter Topping, 2017

Early morning in Library Walk ........ waiting for Central Ref to open no. 1

Now the light wasn’t so good and I still had 20 minutes to go before Central Ref opened.

So with nothing else to do I started taking pictures.

Location; Library Walk








Picture; Library Walk, 2017, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Looking for Susan on Wilbraham Road

This Susan is a ghost sign located above the Royal Cod on Wilbraham Road in a building which dates from 1933 and might be older.*

Looking for Susan beside the fried chicken, 2024

It was a bit of infill between a row of semidetached houses and what was Sunwick which became a bank and is now the tile place.

But just when Susan opened her business and planted the sign high up on the wall is unclear.

The telephone number might offer up a clue.

Manchester switched form telephone numbers using a mix of letters and numbers in the late 1960s but the sign looks newer than that. 

A ghost amongst the signs, 2024

If so the street directories which list residents and businesses will be of no help as the last published directory was 1969.

And I have to confess I don’t remember a hairdressers saloon in the building during the 50 or so years I have lived here, but then I am not the most observant chap.

If I were to make a guess perhaps the 1970s, only because the lettering on the sign has that 70s look.

Still someone will know, and be able to tell me ….. perhaps even Susan.

And just as l finished writing the piece Anthony promised to use his street directories to look for Susan but then replied "l didn't need to look it up.  It all came back to me.  Susan Smart Hairdresser.  Our next door neighbour's daughter worked there around 1974. It was on the first floor".

Nor was that all because Antony follwed up the memory with two images.

The first was drawn from his 1962 directory which shows that before Susan there was another hairdressing business operating from the same spot.

And concluded with a screen shot of the present shop with a note on how to get to Susan's.

So there you have it and in my defence 1974 was two years before I arrived in Chorlton.

Not that this should be the end.

1962

I would love to hear from anyone who worked there or had their hair done at Susan's.

2024

It might just be a ghost sign but it's history.

Location; Wilbraham Road

Pictures; ghost signs amongst the signs, 2024, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, Directory entry from Anthony Petrie, and Royal Cod courtesy of Google maps 2024, and Anthony Petrie

*A ghost sign is the name of a person or business which has long vanished.

Wishing you well ........... postcards from Woolwich, Greenwich and Eltham for the summer ..... nu 3 Plumstead

A short series with few words looking at the postcards we sent from Woolwich, Greenwich and Eltham.

Our card was sent from Charlton on Sunday August 3 in the last summer before the Great War to a Mrs Greensmith of 14 Greening Street Abbey Wood.  The sender left their name off the card, but they were pleased that “Mrs G” had sent some kind letters and were sorry that “you couldn’t get a trap they are spoken for.” 

Sill it had been “a lovely day” and there was an invitation for Mrs G to come down any tine.

Location; Plumstead, circa 1913,

Picture; Plumstead, circa 1913, Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://tuckdb.org/

Travels from Cornbrook and on into the city ……

 This is the book which every tram traveller should have.

Stories at the Stops, Book 2, Cornbrook to Exchange Square, 2024

It’s the second in the series telling the history of Greater Manchester By Tram.*

Book one covered the journey from East Didsbury to Trafford Bar and over the next brace of years Andrew Simpson and Peter Topping will cover all 99 tram stops on all of the eight routes across the 64 miles of the network.

And they confidently expect that heaps of the 42 million passengers who annually let the tram do the biz will read about “The Stories at the Stops”.

Cornbrook, the stairs and the passenger, 2024

So, at Cornbrook there is the tale of Pomona Gardens and its 1850 model of Vesuvius.

 At Deansgate, dark doings along the canal.

In St Peter’s Square the history of the church, the war memorial and that massacre.

Leaving a collection of historic stuff around Exchange Square including that “bile yellow” “thing” which passed for “the biggest toilet block in the world” and which replaced a wealth of secret alley ways with names like Back Sugar Lane, Seven Stars Court and Little Tipping Street.

And the odd idea of jacking up a much-loved historic building and later taking it apart and reassembling it closer to Manchester Cathedral.

Arriving at Deansgate Castlefield, 2023

Book two "Cornbrook to Exchange" along with all the Simpson/Topping collection is available from Chorlton Bookshop, and from us at www.pubbooks.co.uk, price £4.99

Crowds gather to greet a big yellow tram, St Peter's Square, 2024

The changing scene, Exchange Square, 2014

Location; From Cornbrook to Exchange Square

Pictures; traveling from Cornbrook via Deansgate Castlefield, and St Peter's Field to Exchange Square, 2013-2024

*A new book on the History of Greater Manchester By Tram, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Greater%20Manchester%20by%20Tram

 

Charlton in 1922

The caption on the postcard just says Old Charlton, and the date is given as 1922.

Now that’s not much to go on but it is enough to anchor the scene and allow reflection on how this bit of south east London has changed.

And no sooner had O posted the story John King offered up this view from 2017.

John has a fine collection of pictures from across London and beyond, and thank him for this one.

Location; Charlton







Picture; Charlton in 2017, from the collection of John King, and in 1922 courtesy of Mark Flynn, http://www.markfynn.com/london-postcards.htm