That house on Tib Street ………………… with a long history and uncertain future

I can’t say I ever really noticed no. 88 Tib Street, but I wish I had.

February 2018

It stands almost on the corner with Whittle Street and already its neighbour has vanished, leaving it shrouded in scaffolding next to Gullivers.

It has been empty and boarded up from 2008, and probably much earlier, and despite passing it many times, I only clocked its existence last week when the Manchester Evening News ran a story on its uncertain future.*

And that article, reminded Andy Robertson that he had taken a picture of the place last February, all of which prompted me to go looking for its story.

The MEN, referred to it as “one of the last remaining weaver's cottages in the city centre, dating back to the 18th Century”, and a quick look at the maps of the period show that it was there by 1794, and is clearly marked as a workshop of some description on Adshead’s map of 1851.

January 1851

Just when it stopped being a workshop and indeed a weaver’s cottage is unclear.

In 1849 the Rate Books show that it was occupied by a Thomas Higgins, and the annual estimated rent for the property was £18.

Now I  can follow Thomas Higgins around the city, in the years before and after 1849.

He appears on Whittle Street, Long Millgate, Sutton Street, Hanover Street, Reather Street and Portugal Street, with guest appearances also in Hulme , and Chorlton-on Medlock, which clearly suggests we are dealing with more than one man.

So, the historian in me advises caution in linking number 88 to any one man, but the romantic makes me lean towards the Thomas Higgins who described himself as a handloom weaver in the 1851 census and who was living with his family on Portugal Street.

May 1959

A year later a Thomas Higgins is listed in Whellan and Co’s Directory of Manchester, as a tailor in the firm of Waite and Higgins at 10 Reather Street, which was off Oldham Road.

It is possible that a handloom weaver in a shrinking and dying industry might have branched out into a tailoring business, or we might just have the wrong Mr. Higgins.

Either way, our house appears to sever its links with the textile trade, and for the rest of the nineteenth and 20th centuries becomes a shop.

In 1861 it was home to a Benjamin Leigh who was a beer seller, a decade later it was occupied by a printer, and more recently was a florist in 1959, and ten years on, a toy dealer.**

All of which would appear to be almost the end of the story.

We shall see.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; number 88 in 2018, from the collection of Andy Robertson, in 1959, L. Kaye, m05812, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass 
and Tib Street in 1851, from Adshead’s map of Manchester, 1851, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

*'The city I love is crumbling around me'...anger as 200-year-old Northern Quarter building looks set to be demolished, Steve Robson, December 1st, 2019, Manchester Evening News, https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/the-city-love-crumbling-around-17328242

**Sources, Manchester Rates Books, 1849-1900, census returns 1851-1871, Whellan and Co’s Directory of Manchester, 1852, Slater’s Directories of Manchester  and Salford, 1850-1911

Shop fronts I have known …………… Beech Road

An occasional series recording the changing face of the art of dressing a shop for Christmas.

Now, the idea is obvious, but there is a bit of historical thought behind the project, given that the Christmas display is a transient one, soon to be replaced by the January sales and pretty quickly by Easter bunnies and chocolate eggs.

So, with that in mind, over the next few days, I shall indulge my love of Christmas and feature festive shop windows.

This one belongs to  épicerie Ludo on Beech Road.

Location; Chorlton

Picture; épicerie Ludo on Beech Road, 2019, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

The cranes of today …………….

What ever you may think about the headlong race to build ever more tall buildings across the city, Andy Robertson has captured the development.

As they rise ever higher these new buildings dwarf those of earlier centuries which were perceived at the time to be giants.

Location; Manchester


Pictures; cranes and buildings, 2019 from the collection of Andy Robertson

India past and present ......... on the wireless

Now this is one to listen too.

India past and present,  offers up a discussion on that excellent new book on the East India Company by William Dalrymple, along with contributions on the Amritsar massacre from Anita Anand, and Kashmir by Professor Sumantra Bose ........ Radio 4 at its best

"Corporate rapacity and government collusion are at the centre of William Dalrymple’s history of the East India Company. 

He tells Amol Rajan how the company moved relentlessly from trade to conquest of India in the 18th century. 

But Dalrymple warns against the distortion of history both by those in Britain nostalgic for an imperial past, and Hindu nationalists in India.

2019 marked the centenary of the Amritsar massacre in which more than a thousand Indians were killed by British soldiers. 

Although the events leading up to the atrocity are now well documented, Anita Anand has uncovered the extraordinary story of revenge which led to the shooting in London of the man responsible for the massacre.

In August this year the Indian government revoked Kashmir’s special status, sparking protests in the Muslim-majority valley. 

But why has this region - once a princely state, until the end of British rule - become such a flashpoint for violence? Professor Sumantra Bose explores the consequence of the Indian government’s latest actions.

Producer: Katy Hickman"

Picture; Coin, 1835, East India Company, courtesy of National Museum of American History


*India past and present, Start of the Week, Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000bvw5

Clocking the changes on Wilmslow Road ........

I am on Wilmslow Road on that short stretch from the Library to the old Scala cinema.

It was a place I knew well in the late 1960s and early 70s.

Back then, the row of shops between the Victoria and the Albert were the traditional ones you could see on any high street.

What is now Fuel was  Fed Dawes Television Dealer, and Toast, was Exchange Travel Agency, while back in 1911, Moor and Rivers, fruiterers occupied Fuel and Mrs Maria Ann Metheringham dispensed beer and cheer from next door.

Leaving me just to reflect that in the more recent past, the two premises have had different stories

So, starting with Toast, the story of the premises is a varied one.
Back in 2008 it was Prestige Locksmith Ltd, becoming Dania by 2012, Creative Café in 2015, and Toast by August 2017.

By contrast its neighbor, Fuel where we ate on Saturday, has served up interesting food since at least 2012, and pretty much retained the same exterior  décor, with red window frames, and just a slight change from yellow to blue for the brick work.

Location; Withington

Pictures, Toast & Fuel, Wilmslow Road, 2019, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Walking the Rochdale Canal …………. 40 years ago

Now 40 or more years ago, armed with a new camera, and more than a sense of adventure I walked the Rochdale Canal from Princess Street down to the Castlefield Basin.*

At the time the stretch was still wild, neglected and few people ventured along it.

Today it is a popular walk, ending at spot inhabited by Dukes 92, the Wharf and Barca.

None of these were there back in 1978, and it’s hard now to think just how derelict, and a little threatening the place could be.

So here 40 and a bit later are a collection of the pictures, I took, they are in no particular order, and the purists will shout they follow no logical sequence.

But where would the fun be in that?  For those that want to. they can retrace my steps, putting the images in order.

Most have appeared before and will do again, but now over the brace of a few days they are all together.

Location; the Rochdale Canal

Pictures; the Rochdale Canal, circa 1978, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Pentax K100, the camera you could drop, and it would pretty much just bounce, and which would perform in the deepest cold of winter, and blistering hot days travelling the Greek islands.

Making stories out of our histories ... part 5 .....the celebration .......

The community writing project which led to the book ....The Stories of Our Lives has been a great success, and to celebrate that success the book will be officially launched on December 14th.

So with an outrageous and unprincipled move I will just lift their launch leaflet and quote Jolene,  "This year, Chorlton Good Neighbours and I teamed up to lead an experimental group in Chorlton.  

It drew together people who all shared the same belief. We agreed that, given the chance, people with life experience have such interesting and valuable things to say that their stories should be heard and recorded in some way.   

Older people with memories and stories to tell were connected with locals with an enthusiasm to listen and varying experiences of writing. Additional volunteers helped in different ways, for example by editing and designing the layout of the finished stories. 

We also received enough donations from helpers to get the book printed.  It was with true team effort that this community group shared, recorded and compiled over 50 stories – enough to create a book that celebrates each of the significant lives glimpsed within it. 

The group would now love to share this finished book with you, to speak of what it was like to be part of and reveal some of the background of how it was put together as a community.  Come help us celebrate our efforts and learning at Chorlton Library on the 14th December from 2pm until 3.30pm.  

If you arrive at 2pm, you will see a short presentation, then there will be time to have a cuppa and chat with some of those who were involved.  

The event is free but if you would like to buy a book, a donation of £5 or more in cash is very welcome.  CGN and I are continuing the story telling club on a monthly basis next year so all money donated goes towards future publications produced."


To find out more contact me jolenesheehan@live.com or 07939566148. 

Jolene Sheehan www.joyethic.com