George and Robert Stephenson ..... on the wireless ... one to listen to

Now this is one I missed back in 2018, so it's a wonderful opportunity to get to hear it two years on.

Along with pictures I took of the Planet and the Blue Boxes.**

Planet, 2008

"In a programme first broadcast on April 12th 2018, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the contribution of George Stephenson (1781-1848) and his son Robert (1803-59) to the development of the railways in C19th. George became known as The Father of Railways and yet arguably Robert's contribution was even greater, with his engineering work going far beyond their collaboration.*

Robert is credited with the main role in the design of their locomotives. George had worked on stationary colliery steam engines and, with Robert, developed the moving steam engine Locomotion No1 for the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. 

They produced the Rocket for the Rainhill Trials on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1829. From there, the success of their designs and engineering led to the expansion of railways across Britain and around the world.

with 

Replica Blue Boxes, 2008

Dr Michael Bailey
Railway historian and editor of the most recent biography of Robert Stephenson

Julia Elton
Past President of the Newcomen Society for the History of Engineering and Technology

and

Colin Divall
Professor Emeritus of Railway Studies at the University of York

Producer: Simon Tillotson.

This programme is a repeat"*

1st Class Booking Hall, 1860

And yes, I know the pictures of Planet and the Blue Boxes are replicas, are replicas, but they are all I have.

Added to which wikipedia tells me, Planet was "the ninth locomotive built for the L&MR, it was Stephenson's next major design change after the Rocket. It was the first locomotive to employ inside cylinders, and subsequently the 2-2-0 type became known as Planets. 

On 23 November 1830 No.9 Planet ran the approximately 50 km (30 mi) from Liverpool to Manchester in one hour.

It only lasted in service about ten years; having been rebuilt in 1833, it was withdrawn circa 1840–1841.

A working replica was built in 1992 by the Friends of the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Manchester, and is operated by volunteers to provide rides for visitors.[4] When not in steam the locomotive is on display in the museum's Power Hall. Planet has visited several other Heritage railways including Shildon Locomotion Museum.

The replica was used as an on-screen stand-in for itself in an episode of the ITV/PBS television series Victoria".**

Railway Station and Warehouse complex, 1842

Pictures; Greater Manchester Museum of Science & Industry, 2008, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, The former station on Liverpool Road, S. Langton, 1860, m62891,  courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass Liverpool Road from the OS map of Manchester and Salford, 1842-49, courtesy of Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/


*George and Robert Stephenson, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09y6zfr

****Planet, (locomotive), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_%28locomotive%29

Walking the city in the company of those Bees

Now I didn’t start out to photograph the bee installations ...... it just happened.

And as I went from Exchange Square gown to Deansgate, other people were doing the same, except they had come prepared with maps showing the locations which left me at a disadvantage.

Still I got a fair few, and over the next week and bit I will share them.

For now, here are four to sample, taken in Exchange Square, St Ann’s Square, Albert Square and St Peter’s Square.

Location; Manchester

Pictures, the bees in Manchester, 2018, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Pictures from a backroom, on a moment of self-isolation ..... the view from Warsaw ...a Christmas tree, a balcony and nobody in sight

Now, our Saul lives and works in Poland, but the plans to go over and visit him have taken a bit of a back seat.

Warsaw is a very cosmopolitan city and along with the plans to visit the sites and take in some excellent vegetarian restaurants, there was the promise of going into the forest to sample the forest skills he teaches through his business.*

But like the rest of us, all is very quiet and with not a lot to do, but catch up on reading, and box sets, he took up the challenge to take a series of pictures from his balcony.

So, here is Warsaw, on a sunny Monday.

And yes they keep their Christmas tree on the balcony .......... after all, where would you decide to park it during the year?

Location; Warsaw

Pictures; view from a Warsaw balcony

*Pines Forest School, https://www.facebook.com/pinesforestschool/

Another ghost sign on Burton Road, West Didsbury

Now as ghost signs go I concede this isn’t one of the most exciting.

It lacks a name or any interesting detail which could lead you off to find out more and all I can say is that it is on the gable end of a group of shops on Burton Road

But it is a ghost sign because the newsagent and stationary has long gone.

Back in the early 1970s I lived just off Burton Road and may well have bought a paper there but I can’t remember and I suppose that is the importance of ghost signs.

They have long ago vanished and most of the businesses have been forgotten so these painted adverts are all that is left of a little bit of our history.

In time I will go looking at the street directories and see if I can locate the date when this one operated and who it belonged to.

In 1911 there was a James Bancroft at number 116 who was listed as a stationer, but his shop was in the middle of the row and while he may had had the commercial gumption to take up space on the side of the block I cannot be certain.

Now there may well be someone out there who will be able to date the sign from the style of lettering, stranger things have come my way over the last few years of posting stories on the blog.

In the meantime I shall just content myself with a reflection on the changing nature of Burton Road.

I remember it as a typical south Manchester Road with shops which dealt with essentials.

Apart from the Charcoal Pit most were your everyday shops specialising in groceries, fruit and vegetables, bread and a mix of hardware produce ranging from paraffin to oil sheets.

A decade later it had begun that transformation into what you see today with clothes shops interesting and quirky design things and of course plenty of bars and restaurants.

In that sense it predates our own Beech Road, and prompts me to that observation that if you want a piece of Victorian antique lace here is the place to buy it, but don’t come looking for a Ib of apples or carrots.

But that is a tad unfair, there is a Co-op store opposite and a convenience shop on the corner of Nell Lane.

And of course the pattern of most people’s shopping has changed.  We might yearn for that local green grocer’s and bewail the absence of an independent bakery but I suspect will still do a weekly shop at a supermarket.

I lasted longer than many continuing to shop on Beech Road buying all our fruit and veg from Murial’s and almost everything else from Bob’s Italian deli next door.

In the case of Murial this extended to a weekly account and a cash back service long before most shops on Beech Road took card payments.

That said few can now make a living from the traditional retail businesses of food, hardware, and even selling newspapers which leaves the shops open to other services.  And as much as I lament the passing of those traditional shops on Beech Road and Burton Road at least the premises are not empty and what they deal in is interesting and fun.

And by the next time I am on Burton Road I hope I will have tracked down our Newsagent and Stationer.

And within a few minutes of this story going up my friend Sally added "the newsagents as I remember it was called Gibsons. That was in the 70s . Bancroft's was further up towards Nell    Lane and I remember Mr and Mrs Bancroft very well . Their shop was on the same side as Gibsons , opposite the bakers Lyngrays"

So even a ghost sign can come back to life, ... well sort of.  Thanks Sally.

Picture; from the collection of Andrew Simpson

The Ever Open Door: 150 years of the Together Trust ..... our first review

Now, the world of publishing can be a little fraught, and having planned two book launches for the new book on the children’s charity, The Together Trust, that dread virus has meant they have been postponed.

The book was commissioned to coincide with the 150th centenary of this charity which began as a refuge for destitute boys found on the streets of Manchester and Salford but with in a decade had expanded into a range of activities designed to help young people.

So it is with a profound sadness that I have to report the first two events planned to publisice the book will not happen

But every dark cloud has a silver lining, and today I received notice of the first review of the book, which is by Trevor James, the Editor of The Historian, and will appear on the Historical Association’s web site and in their journal, the Historian.

Modesty forbids me from quoting the review at length, but I can’t resist quoting Mr. James who wrote “I did thoroughly enjoy reading it”, and leave you with this short extract,

“From its earliest beginnings in Manchester 1870 as a ‘Night Refuge for Homeless Boys’, through being transformed into the ‘Manchester and Salford Boys and Girls Refuges and Homes’ and then the ‘Boys and Girls Welfare Society’, what is now known as The Together Trust has an exceptional record within the charitable and voluntary sector. This organisation has evolved over 150 years, developing its role in response to changing needs, with strong and persistent charitable support from within the business and wider community.

What Andrew Simpson offers is a chronological analysis of exactly how this evolving organisation moved about the area, including how it came to occupy in present modern-day base in Cheadle, all the time explaining exactly what social, economic and physical challenges were being confronted. It is a very interesting survey of how exactly the Trust has responded so positively to the changing needs of communities facing economic hardship and physical challenge”. 

* The Ever Open Door: 150 years of the Together Trust, Andrew Simpson, The Together Trust, 2020, 140p, £14-99. ISBN 978-1-5272-5671-2. You can obtain copies of the book from, books@togethertrust.org.uk But given the current circumstances there may be a delay in getting books out in the post to people.

Trams in Eltham a rattling good read

Trams and I mean those old stately early 20th century trams have a fascination for me.

Sadly I am too young to remember them although it is just possible my father took me to see the last one clattering into the New Cross depot in the summer of 1952.

But I would only have been three so if I was there I have no memory of the event.

All of which is why Mr Kennett’s book on the Trams in Eltham is such a wonderful read.

“For forty-two years from 1910 to 1952 Eltham residents had the benefit of travel by electric tram which was part of a transport revolution that hastened the creation of the London suburbs already given an impetus in the nineteenth century by the coming of the railways.  

The first route to Eltham linked the village with Woolwich and following the First World War direct journeys by tram could be made to Lee, Lewisham and London.”

Now I am hoping that the Eltham Society and Mr Kennett will give me permission to quote from the book and use more pictures in future blogs about Trams in Eltham.

None of which should stop people buying the book itself which costs £4 to members and £5 for non members, plus £1.50 for post and packaging.*

For this you will get an extensive description of the history of trams in Eltham, plenty of memories of travelling by tram and lots of wonderful pictures many of which I have never seen before.

*Eltham Society, http://theelthamsociety.org.uk/

Pictures from a backroom, on a moment of self-isolation ..... the balcony, the breakfast and a spot of opera

This is Lyn's balcony in Barcelona, where she "steps outside to have breakfast on the balcony some mornings".

But Saturday was too cold and so like all of us, Lyn was forced back inside and to other things.

Which in her case includes means "lots of opera being streamed from the Met and Vienna and Berlin".

The upside for me is the fine view down on to the patios, which Lyn says "are private although the one in the middle is the roof of a gym so is occasionally used in normal times.

The part with artificial turf is the gym. Bottom right is the playground of a nursery ( for toddlers...by 3 they are at preschool), that is actually the only part with " life" during the week".

Location; Barcelona

Picture, the Barcelona balcony and the view below, Barcelona, 2020, from Lyn Shepherd