A history of Chorlton in just 20 objects number 20, the electric supply box circa 1920

When Joe Scott built his own house on Beech Road he included electricity from the outset and this is the main supply box complete with the initials of the Manchester Corporation Electricity Works.

From memory it remained in use until the 1980s.  Those in Chorlton whose houses predated electricity could take part in "the Assisted-Wiring and Prepayment-Wiring schemes, whereby consumers may have their houses wired at a small or without any initial payment.”  

Added to this there were “hiring schemes for motors, cookers, wash-boilers, and water-heaters. Hire-purchase schemes for nearly all appliances (except lighting fittings) costing £2 and over.”*


Location; Chorlton



Picture; from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Manchester Corporation 1935

The envelope that told the story of the Manchester Blitz

Now of all the records, the photographs and stories of the Manchester Blitz this little envelope is as powerful a reminder of the destruction that was heaped on the city on the nights of December 1940.

It was sent to W Marsden of 11 St Mary’s Gate but was returned to the Vicarage in High Wycombe, and the various official stamps tell the story.

It had been sent on August 20 1941 but according to the stamp the building was “Gone No Address” and to confirm the fact there was a hand written message “War Damage of property.”

Now number 11 was entirely destroyed during the Manchester Blitz along with all of the buildings opposite on the south side from Deansgate up to Cross Street.

I have yet to track down William Marsden.  I know that in 1911 the address was listed as the Union Bank of Manchester but more than that will need more research.

That said even in wartime the Post Office was more than efficient returning the letter just two days.

All of which just leaves me to go back and look at the directories for 1940 to be exactly sure what business was being conducted just before the blitz and also to look for who was living at the Vicarage.

Location;; Manchester








Pictures; from the collection of David Harrop

Now …. just what is the story behind 100 Vera Lynn 78s?

The answer is several ……… and they all start with David Harrop who bought all 100 from an auction house in Heaton Mersey.

The records come from an estate in Oldham, and while I haven’t the full list, the ones I have seen include, “Goodnight Children Everywhere”, “More and More”, “Jealousy”, “There’s A New World Over the Skyline”, "Nearest Thing to Heaven”, and my favourite “C’est La Vie”.

None of which are her famous ones.  

That said I bet "We'll Meet Again", “The White Cliffs of Dover", "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" and "There'll Always Be an England", are there, and David will find them.

In the meantime, it’s just the six, all of which he photographed and sent over in an email.  I don’t have a date for any of them and despite finding versions of them on You Tube sung by Dame Vera, neither these or the site devoted to the lyrics of each song have offered up a year.

All that is except for Jealousy which she recorded in 1942.

Of course, someone will know, and will direct me to the place where the songs and their dates are listed, so that at present isn’t the story.

Instead it’s the sleeve covers which have caught my interest, because each of the six comes from a different record shop.

This I know because the names and addresses of the shops are printed on the sleeve cover.

And so I have been going on a Cook’s Tour across Manchester, from the Talkeries at 213 Deansgate, to The Elite Gramophone Depot, at 115 Manchester Road in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, and out to 653 Oldham Road in Newton Heath, where Manson’s claimed to be “The House of Music”.

There was also A Frank’s Ltd, the Gramophone Salon, with premises at 95-97 Deansgate and 46 Market Street, and E, Pennington Gramophone Specialist who sold his records from 1164-1168 Chester Road., Stretford.

Leaving me just Mazel Record Library on London Road which some will remember, and may well have visited to peruse the “40,000 records in stock”.

And when David has compiled the full list of stockists from the 100 78s, we will have a priceless record of shops from the 1940s into the following decade.

Added to which as some of them proudly display the date they were established we can begin to track the history of the gramophone shop across Manchester

All of which can be matched against the directories which contain the names of all such businesses from the late 19th century up to 1969.

What strikes me above all, are the descriptions, running from Gramophone Depot to the Gramophone Salon and the name the Talkeries, which hint at beginnings in the early 20th century and must even by the 1940s seemed outdated.

So that for now is the story …….. not Dame Vera, or the powerful songs, which evoke the war years, but the humble record shop of which there will be more stories to follow.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; sleeve notes from the records of Vera Lynn, 2020, from the collection of David Harrop

OK ….. Chorlton’s Lych Gate is officially reopened …..

Today on a crisp sunny day our Lych Gate was officially reopened.

Looking like new after its restoration, 2025

And I know that is a tad silly since it was built in 1887, and the scaffolding came down before Christmas after its renovation, but nevertheless today our three local councillors, along with friends of the Lych Gate and former graveyard gathered to mark the completion of the work of this much-loved local landmark.

Councillors and Friends mark the completion of the restoration work, 2025

The gate and tower have featured in countless photographs and even made an appearance on the cover of John Lloyd’s history of Chorlton-cum-Hardy.*

So, it was fitting that Cllr Gary Bridges, the Deputy Leader of the Council was in attendance with Cllr’s Mathew Benham, John Hacking and Tina Kirwin McGinley to mark the occasion.

Also present was Peter Topping who along with Andrew Simpson was instrumental in setting up the Friends of Chorlton Graveyard which works to raise awareness of the importance of the former parish graveyard.**

The graveyard had its own makeover in the mid-1980s and with the passage of four decades needs a little care and attention.

The former parish graveyard, 2025

The group are interested in how the area could be improved along with the more basic need of more regular clearing of fallen leaves which obscure the grave inscriptions.

But for now a thankyou to the City Council who restored the gate and tower and to our three councillors who oversaw the project.

Location; Chorlton Parish Graveyard

Pictures; celebrating Chorlton’s iconic Lych Gate, 2025, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Lloyd, John, The Township of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, 1972

**Friends of Chorlton Graveyard, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1381914932356270

And the Town Hall challenge is ………

So, here are two pictures probably taken minutes apart sometime around 2002.

For years they had sat in a folder tucked away in another folder with the improbable description of “Manchester City Centre”.

At the time there will have been something about the configuration of the two towers that caught my attention, but I moved onto other scenes.

And now almost a quarter of a century later I wonder just where I was.

I am guessing it will be Cooper Street close to Kennedy Street, but the angle isn’t quite right.

I rater think I might have been on Booth Street before the tall glass building that straddles Booth and Kennedy Street was built.

It was still under construction in 2012, and I was there a deace earlier, so may be that’s where I was.

And that is the challenge ….. just where was I?

Location off Cooper Street

Pictures; Manchester Town Hall, 2002, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Harold William Urquhart another story from Tony Goulding

 I have written previously of Chorlton-cum-Hardy's schools which were situated along High Lane. 

The old National School on Chorlton Green – March 1959

This was, obviously, not an exhaustive list of all the local educational institutions. 

Disregarding the current collection of Local Authority and private schools, there were historically, others. 

There was The National School established on Chorlton Green in 1817. 

The present building, now converted to flats dates from 1878 and was the subject of a substantial piece on this Blog on 1st March 2024.

Less well-known is the short-lived grammar school of William Harold Urquhart, literally around the corner on Beech Road. 

The Methodist Chapel, Beech Road – November 1958

Opened on 1st October 1884, in what was supposed to be a temporary arrangement, in the former Methodist Chapel. 

The school is recorded, still there, in the township’s rate book of April 1890, however by the following year’s census Howard William had moved to Liverpool, where he was recorded as a schoolmaster lodging at 30, Gloucester Road, West Derby. 

His host family was Arthur Roper, a dock porter and his wife, Hannah; a 10-years-old son, Arthur and Arthur’s widowed mother-in-law, Ann Perkins.

The relatively short existence of Mr. Urquhart’s school may be explained by two factors, firstly that he had no formal qualifications and secondly, he was unable to obtain more suitable accommodation for his premises. Indeed, the closure of his Grammar School and his move to Liverpool may have been occasioned by the provisions of Elementary Education Act of 1891 which became operational on 1st September 1891. 

There is some very revealing correspondence which sheds some light on both these factors in the pages of the local press during August and September 1887. 

Some quite vitriolic letters criticising Mr. Urquhart’s “Grammar Schools” were published (1) signed anonymously by “A Parent”; these were subsequently answered eruditely and at length by Mr. Urquhart.

Harold William Urquhart was born during the March quarter of 1864 in Barton-on-Irwell, Lancashire. His parents were James Urquhart, a government gas meter inspector, and his wife Elizabeth Ann (née Cornford). 

He was one of six children with 3 brothers and 2 sisters. In the 1871 census the family were recorded at 9, Canal Bank, Barton-on-Irwell. At the following census of 1881 the family were at 13, Pembroke Avenue, Barton-on-Irwell. James Urquhart was by then a widower (2) and his unmarried sister, Ann, had joined the household to help with the 6 children. Harold William was recorded as a “pupil teacher” whilst his older sister, Lizzie, was a dressmaker and older brother Ridley James was an engineer’s apprentice. His three younger siblings were all recorded as “scholars” which as they were all over the age of compulsory education seems to indicate the family were comfortable financially.

“Mona Villas” in January 2025

Early in the 1880s the Urquharts arrived in Chorlton-cum-Hardy as the rate books from April 1883 show James Urquhart at 3, Mona Villas, Church Road. (3) 

The family remained in the township until the end of the decade, latterly at 57, Keppel Road. The 1891 census shows James Urquhart and three of his children (Ridley James, a patent agent, Nelly “a housekeeper”, and Herbert Sydney who was a clerk) living at Sedgley View, Bury New Road, Prestwich, Lancashire. The family were sufficiently well-off to be able to hire a domestic servant. 

 

Map of Chorlton-cum-Hardy from the 1930s showing Church Road

James Urquhart died on 12th April 1893. Harold William had already by then moved to Liverpool and following the death of the patriarch he was joined in that city by his brother Ridley James (4) and sister Nelly.  

The former married Louisa Cecilia Barton in St James’s Church, West Derby on 7th October 1897. In the same church during the December quarter of the following year Nelly married John Wolstenholme, an engineer, latterly of textile machinery for Brooks and Doxey Ltd. of West Gorton, Manchester. 

Nelly and John settled in Monton, Eccles, Lancashire and raised 3 daughters; their address at both the 1911 and 1921 censuses was 4A, Algernon Street, Monton.

Harold William also returned to Manchester as is shown in the 1901 census which records him lodging with John Glover, a brewer’s drayman, and family at 20, Dryden Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester. The return also reveals that Harold William was no longer pursuing his career in education but was working in an iron works as a clerk and a draughtsman. 

Harold William later returned to reside in Liverpool as when he died in September 1908 he was living at 15, Lavan Street, West Derby Road, Liverpool. He was buried on 12th September 1908; as recorded in the burials register of St. Anne’s Church, Stanley, Liverpool.

Pictures: - Methodist Mission Chapel, Beech Road, and former National School on Chorlton Green both by R.M. Stanley m 71948 and m 17712 respectively courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information, and Archives, Manchester City Council. http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass1930s Map and “Mona Villas” from the collection of Tony Goulding

Notes: -

1) This correspondence appeared variously in The Stockport Advertiser and Guardian and The Alderley and Wilmslow Advertiser and possibly other publications.

2) Harold William’s mother died during the March quarter of 1873 when he was still only 9 years old.

3) This “Mona Villas” address also appears on Harold William's advertisement in the Alderley and Wilmslow Advertiser on the opening of his school. It is also given as his brother Ridley James’s address in several newspapers reporting on his various patents.

As can be seen from the map above Church Road was the former name of Chequers Road

4) Ridley James became a successful consulting engineer (electrical) with offices in Clayton Square, Liverpool and Barton Arcade, Manchester.

When Chorlton nostalgia proves iffy ……….

I am looking at a picture of Chorlton in 1982 which offers an interesting take on just how easy it is to view where we live through rose tinted spectacles.

You know the line, which starts by bemoaning the amount of litter discarded across the road, runs on to call down the way the place has become a haven for takeaways, charity shops, and bars.

To be fair I do have some sympathy with the idea that perhaps there are now too many bars and takeaways, but the retail model that saw heaps of small local traders has gone, banished by supermarkets, and online shopping, and charity shops are good value, make sense on this recycling age and of course benefit those who need help.

But the image I took forty-three years ago belies that assertion that the 1980s were a haven of litter free streets, thriving traditional local businesses, and an area in want of a charity shop.

Here in 1982 on the corner of Barlow Moor and Wilbraham Roads, the litter drifts around the Nat West Bank, the Butcher’s shop is no more, and already there is a charity shop.

I know it is 1982 because the relatively new Social Democratic Party were contesting all three Chorlton seats in the local elections and had rented the empty Cash Butcher’s shop making an SDP presence in the centre of the township.

Already the decline away from those traditional shops was evident on Beech Road, which saw some close but for a while not reopen and during the 80s saw the brief appearance of an amusement arcade.

Historically the litter louts of the 1980s were not new, and a close examination of photographs from the beginning of the 20th century offer up scenes of the discarded stuff, not only on roads but also in the Rec on Beech Road.

As to the number of alcoholic outlets in the 1900s, they were still limited to few pubs, there was a very successful temperance lobby which blocked applications for new pubs and even objected to the expansion of new existing ones.

That said the trend for bars, and charity shops ahs quickened, but given the demise of that old retail model, I suspect the alternative would be empty shops.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; Chorlton in 1982, from the collection of Andrew Simpson