Masts and things.
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Location; Greenwich
Picture; Greenwich, 2017 from the collection of Jillian Goldsmith
Location; Greenwich
Picture; Greenwich, 2017 from the collection of Jillian Goldsmith
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Always look up ........ no. 20 .... from the Goldsmith Collection
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Of porcelain bathing huts, big boots and seals ....... with of course a story
Now I am quite a fan of crested china.
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These are the small porcelain objects often bearing the name and even the coat of arms of the town, city or village where they were purchased.
Not that I was always such a devotee.
With the arrogance of youth I dismissed them out of hand which was silly, because they are superb examples of our popular culture, dating back into the 19th century, and shed a light on our past.
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And that is how my fascination for all things crested and porcelain began when I was writing about Manchester and the Great War, and came across some fine examples.*
From there I went back into my own past, and remembered some of the pieces that sat on our mantelpiece, none of which have now survived.
So I was very pleased when Fred Page got in touch, and told me about his parent’s collection which included items from the Great War, along with a selection made more recently.**
One of my favourites must be the one from Wallington of what looks like an old fashioned bathing hut, the sort that allowed bathers at the sea side to get into the water without the look walk along the beach.
And as you do I went looking for Wallington and found four, one in Hampshire, a second in Hertfordshire, another in the London Borough of Sutton, and a final one in Northumberland.
Of these the most promising was a village in Hampshire, part of the borough of Fareham. It is situated between Portsmouth and Southampton near where the River Wallington enters Portsmouth Harbour and so I guess is the closest we will get to the sea.
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Not that we should be over tied to accuracy because the porcelain makers turned out the pieces in vast numbers and to distinguish a piece and make it attractive to a passing tourist or resident they carried those place names.
And there wasn’t always a direct match between the porcelain figure and the place.
So during the Great War one company marketed a battleship with the name of Manchester, to mark it out as against similar ones named after other cities.
The only problem was that during that war the Royal Navy didn’t have a battleship called Manchester.
Still it is a fine piece. In time I will follow up on the other two pieces in the story, but for now that is it.
Location; everywhere
Pictures; crested china courtesy of Fred Page
*Manchester Remembering 1914-18, Andrew Simpson, The History Press, 2017 and A new book on Manchester and the Great War,https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2018/06/a-tank-souvenir-and-soldier-far-from.html
**Of porcelain nurses, the odd tank and the battleship which showed up in landlocked Paisley, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2018/06/of-porcelain-nurses-odd-tank-and.html
These are the small porcelain objects often bearing the name and even the coat of arms of the town, city or village where they were purchased.
Not that I was always such a devotee.
With the arrogance of youth I dismissed them out of hand which was silly, because they are superb examples of our popular culture, dating back into the 19th century, and shed a light on our past.
From there I went back into my own past, and remembered some of the pieces that sat on our mantelpiece, none of which have now survived.
So I was very pleased when Fred Page got in touch, and told me about his parent’s collection which included items from the Great War, along with a selection made more recently.**
One of my favourites must be the one from Wallington of what looks like an old fashioned bathing hut, the sort that allowed bathers at the sea side to get into the water without the look walk along the beach.
And as you do I went looking for Wallington and found four, one in Hampshire, a second in Hertfordshire, another in the London Borough of Sutton, and a final one in Northumberland.
Of these the most promising was a village in Hampshire, part of the borough of Fareham. It is situated between Portsmouth and Southampton near where the River Wallington enters Portsmouth Harbour and so I guess is the closest we will get to the sea.
And there wasn’t always a direct match between the porcelain figure and the place.
So during the Great War one company marketed a battleship with the name of Manchester, to mark it out as against similar ones named after other cities.
The only problem was that during that war the Royal Navy didn’t have a battleship called Manchester.
Still it is a fine piece. In time I will follow up on the other two pieces in the story, but for now that is it.
Location; everywhere
Pictures; crested china courtesy of Fred Page
*Manchester Remembering 1914-18, Andrew Simpson, The History Press, 2017 and A new book on Manchester and the Great War,https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2018/06/a-tank-souvenir-and-soldier-far-from.html
**Of porcelain nurses, the odd tank and the battleship which showed up in landlocked Paisley, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2018/06/of-porcelain-nurses-odd-tank-and.html
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Manchester's first railway station ........... no.1 waiting for something to happen
Now when Ron shared four pictures of the old railway station and warehouse on Liverpool Road, I was transported back nearly four decades.
I visited it just after it had finally closed and British Rail had sold it to the museum.
It was hard at the time to see just how significant were these old run down buildings.
But these were the first passenger railway station and warehouse, having opened in 1830 when a group of Manchester businesses wanted a quick and cheaper way to get their manufactured goods to Liverpool.
Added to which they quickly saw the commercial advantage of using their railway trains to carry paying passengers.
So here in the pictures is the passenger buildings, beyond which is the carriage shed erected the following year.
And as with so much of the 19th century there was a strict division between those of property and wealth who travelled first class and the rest as seen in the provision of a first and second class booking hall and waiting room.
And it is worth remembering just how much the new railway company was at the cutting edge of technological change. Their steam locomotives may have been the future but tickets were still handwritten and first class carriages were essentially stage coaches placed on a set of railway chassis.
In that respect they were looking back as well as forward. And that was reflected in their choice of warehouse design, which was direct coy of the existing canal warehouses, complete with arches which allowed waggons to be taken into the building.
But unlike canal boats which can turn effortless, the railway waggons had to be uncoupled placed on a turntable and then turned 90 degrees before being pushed into the warehouse.
Originally these turn tables were all over the site but the last which was beside the Byrom Warehouse was taken away some time in the 1990's.
And tomorrow there will be more on those early warehouses, of which there were three.
The first built in 1830 opposite the railway station and the second two built the following year which stood at right angles.
These were destroyed in a devastating fire.
The surviving buildings have done well to be still with us, although they were pretty much knocked about.
But have now become part of the museum complex.
Location; Liverpool Road
Pictures; the railway station and first warehouse, built in 1830-31 as they were in the early 1980s from the collection of Ron Stubley
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| The station and carriage shed |
It was hard at the time to see just how significant were these old run down buildings.
But these were the first passenger railway station and warehouse, having opened in 1830 when a group of Manchester businesses wanted a quick and cheaper way to get their manufactured goods to Liverpool.
Added to which they quickly saw the commercial advantage of using their railway trains to carry paying passengers.
So here in the pictures is the passenger buildings, beyond which is the carriage shed erected the following year.
And as with so much of the 19th century there was a strict division between those of property and wealth who travelled first class and the rest as seen in the provision of a first and second class booking hall and waiting room.
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| the 1830 warehouse, railway side |
In that respect they were looking back as well as forward. And that was reflected in their choice of warehouse design, which was direct coy of the existing canal warehouses, complete with arches which allowed waggons to be taken into the building.
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| Inside the 1830 warehouse |
Originally these turn tables were all over the site but the last which was beside the Byrom Warehouse was taken away some time in the 1990's.
And tomorrow there will be more on those early warehouses, of which there were three.
The first built in 1830 opposite the railway station and the second two built the following year which stood at right angles.
These were destroyed in a devastating fire.
The surviving buildings have done well to be still with us, although they were pretty much knocked about.
But have now become part of the museum complex.
Location; Liverpool Road
Pictures; the railway station and first warehouse, built in 1830-31 as they were in the early 1980s from the collection of Ron Stubley
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Lost and forgotten streets of Manchester .......... nu 1 Sickle Street
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| Sickle Street from Market Street 2016 |
It is a narrow alley which seems to lead nowhere and could just be an afterthought by a careless developer.
But not so it is one of the old streets which connects Market Street with Fountain Street.
It is best approached from Fountain Street via Phoenix Street and will take you by a twisty route back to Market Street which in the 1850s offered up one of those closed courts which was best not investigated by anyone with money in their pockets.
Today it is still possible to follow the course of the street and like them find the way becoming progressively narrower until it is just a canyon between two big buildings.
And that closed court along with a pile of other buildings have gone replaced by a series of car parks and wheelie bins.
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| Sickle Street, 1849 |
But with the help of the OS map for 1842, and Mr Adshead's "Illustrated Maps of the Manchester Township, divided into Wards" made in 1850 it is possible to walk along Sickle Street and get a sense of how busy it would have been.
Not that that many of its residents managed to get a listing in the directory for 1850 and the one named court and the smaller unnamed court were even less worthy of a mention.
Location; Manchester
Next; Pool Fold
Pictures; Sickle Street, 2016, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and in 1849 from the OS of Manchester & Salford, 1842-49, courtesy of Digital Archives, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/
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Faces from a demonstration ...... no. 2 ....... wearing the badge
The three lads will now be grown up and I wonder what memories they have of that day in Birmingham.
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The year was 1983 and this was one of the large demonstrations organized by the Labour Party to call for action to reverse the growing levels of unemployment which on that Saturday stood at three million.
Location Birmingham
Picture; Faces from a demonstration, 1983, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
The year was 1983 and this was one of the large demonstrations organized by the Labour Party to call for action to reverse the growing levels of unemployment which on that Saturday stood at three million.
Location Birmingham
Picture; Faces from a demonstration, 1983, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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When Stretford removed Chorlton’s tram track ...... municipal manoeuvrings and other tales
Now it seems bizarre that one local authority in dispute with another should take the drastic step of digging up a line of newly laid tram track, but it happened.
In the winter of 1909 Manchester was in the process of extending a tramway from Brooks Bar to West Point along Upper Chorlton Road, part of which went through Stretford.
This stretch ran for just ten yards but because the Stretford Council had not been asked first, it fired off a flurry of blustering letters threatening to remove the track if Manchester continued.
And when the City laid the offending ten yards of rail, Stretford retaliated, informing Manchester “that a physical disconnection has been made” adding that, “the removed rails were placed behind the seat on the footpath leading to Chorlton-cum-Hardy beyond the [Stretford] district, convenient for reinstatement”.
The underlying reason had more to do with Stretford attempting to get a better deal for electricity it supplied to Manchester to on match days after United had relocated to Old Trafford.
Nor was this the only obstacle the city encountered in extending Corporation trams to Chorlton.
Work on the line at Manchester Road was halted after the railway company objected that the bridge over the railway line was too weak for tramway traffic.
The dispute was finally settled with Manchester paying nine-tenths of the cost of strengthening the bridge.
Such were the problems faced by the Corporation honouring its promise to the rate payers of Chorlton who voted in 1904 to join the city and thought they were getting a tram service.
These are those tiny little stories which don’t count for much in the great sweep of history, but are fascinating none the less.
As is the little known fact that from 1923 until the outbreak of the Second World War there was a facility for late night posting of letters on 14 Manchester and 7 Salford tram routes.
According to A.H. Kirby, “A posting box was carried on the rear platform of trams timed to reach the City at about 9.30 p.pm; from mid December 1923, these cars were indicated by POST CAR in place of the route number.
The Chorlton services selected were on route 13, departing from Chorlton due at Albert Square at 9.29 and on route 22 departing Chorlton and arriving Piccadilly at 9.30”, with more being added over the years.*
Now I thought I knew my Chorlton tram history but Mr Kirby has offered me a fascinating and detailed glimpse into how the trams came to Chorlton and their impact over the 39 years they rattled their way in and out of the township.
And I am indebted to Trevor James who having acquired the two editions of Tramway Review with Mr Kirby’s articles, and thinking of me, scanned and sent them down from Scotland.
I also have to thank Stenlake Publishingwho bought The Oakwood Press which published The Tramways of Chorlton-cum-Hardy and gave me permission to reproduce four of the images from the publication.
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Location; Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Pictures; trams of Chorlton from The Tramways of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, courtesy of Stenlake Publishing
*The Tramways of Chorlton-cum-Hardy – 2, A.H. Kirby, Tramway Review, Vol 18, Autumn 1989, No. 139, The Oakwood Press. Page 80
** Stenlake Publishing,http://stenlake.co.uk/?page_id=442
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| Upper Chorlton Road, 1907, before the extension and the Stretford quarrel |
This stretch ran for just ten yards but because the Stretford Council had not been asked first, it fired off a flurry of blustering letters threatening to remove the track if Manchester continued.
And when the City laid the offending ten yards of rail, Stretford retaliated, informing Manchester “that a physical disconnection has been made” adding that, “the removed rails were placed behind the seat on the footpath leading to Chorlton-cum-Hardy beyond the [Stretford] district, convenient for reinstatement”.
The underlying reason had more to do with Stretford attempting to get a better deal for electricity it supplied to Manchester to on match days after United had relocated to Old Trafford.
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| The Bridge at Manchester Road, 1907 |
Work on the line at Manchester Road was halted after the railway company objected that the bridge over the railway line was too weak for tramway traffic.
The dispute was finally settled with Manchester paying nine-tenths of the cost of strengthening the bridge.
Such were the problems faced by the Corporation honouring its promise to the rate payers of Chorlton who voted in 1904 to join the city and thought they were getting a tram service.
These are those tiny little stories which don’t count for much in the great sweep of history, but are fascinating none the less.
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| Car 901 at the tram terminus, date unknown |
According to A.H. Kirby, “A posting box was carried on the rear platform of trams timed to reach the City at about 9.30 p.pm; from mid December 1923, these cars were indicated by POST CAR in place of the route number.
The Chorlton services selected were on route 13, departing from Chorlton due at Albert Square at 9.29 and on route 22 departing Chorlton and arriving Piccadilly at 9.30”, with more being added over the years.*
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| Car 277 on Barlow Moor Road with the cinema behind, date unknown |
And I am indebted to Trevor James who having acquired the two editions of Tramway Review with Mr Kirby’s articles, and thinking of me, scanned and sent them down from Scotland.
I also have to thank Stenlake Publishingwho bought The Oakwood Press which published The Tramways of Chorlton-cum-Hardy and gave me permission to reproduce four of the images from the publication.
Pictures; trams of Chorlton from The Tramways of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, courtesy of Stenlake Publishing
*The Tramways of Chorlton-cum-Hardy – 2, A.H. Kirby, Tramway Review, Vol 18, Autumn 1989, No. 139, The Oakwood Press. Page 80
** Stenlake Publishing,http://stenlake.co.uk/?page_id=442
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Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ....... nu 30 Chapel Street sometime in the 1980s
This is another of those images from John Casey.
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Location; Salford
Picture; Chapel Street, circa 1980, from the collection of John Casey
Location; Salford
Picture; Chapel Street, circa 1980, from the collection of John Casey
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Pictures from an Eltham bus ........ no.21 ....... coming soon a cinema near you
The top deck of a London bus has to be a pretty neat way of seeing the world below.
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And when it is the same bus at about the same time every day then you have got yourself a project.
All you need is a camera and the patience each week to record the same spot and the rest as they say is Larissa Hamment’s “Pictures from an Eltham bus”.*
One step nearer to that first performance of Gone with the Wind" in Eltham since its premiere .
Pictures; the site of the new cinema, 2018, from the collection of Larissa Hamment
*Pictures from an Eltham bus, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Pictures%20from%20an%20Eltham%20Bus
And when it is the same bus at about the same time every day then you have got yourself a project.
All you need is a camera and the patience each week to record the same spot and the rest as they say is Larissa Hamment’s “Pictures from an Eltham bus”.*
One step nearer to that first performance of Gone with the Wind" in Eltham since its premiere .
Pictures; the site of the new cinema, 2018, from the collection of Larissa Hamment
*Pictures from an Eltham bus, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Pictures%20from%20an%20Eltham%20Bus
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Picture this ...........The Royal Observatory
Now I won’t be alone in thinking that Greenwich Park and the Royal Observatory are two of the outstanding places in south east London.
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The park was one of my playgrounds for as long as I can remember while the Observatory captured my imagination when I was still in short trousers.
And our Jillian’s picture of the open space between the gates and the Royal Observatory has it all, leaving little else to say.
Location; The Royal Observatory
Picture; The Royal Observatory, 2017 from the collection of Jillian Goldsmith.
And our Jillian’s picture of the open space between the gates and the Royal Observatory has it all, leaving little else to say.
Location; The Royal Observatory
Picture; The Royal Observatory, 2017 from the collection of Jillian Goldsmith.
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Faces from a demonstration ...... no. 3 .......
Today I would never think of photographing young people, but 35 years ago they were no less a valid subject than any of the thousands that attended the demonstration in Birmingham.
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The three lads will now be grown up and I wonder what memories they have of that day in Birmingham.
The year was 1983 and this was one of the large demonstrations organized by the Labour Party to call for action to reverse the growing levels of unemployment which on that Saturday stood at three million.
Location Birmingham
Picture; Faces from a demonstration, 1983, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
The three lads will now be grown up and I wonder what memories they have of that day in Birmingham.
The year was 1983 and this was one of the large demonstrations organized by the Labour Party to call for action to reverse the growing levels of unemployment which on that Saturday stood at three million.
Location Birmingham
Picture; Faces from a demonstration, 1983, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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Historians of Chorlton .......... N.Fife
One of the things I like about local history is the way it draws people in.
People who have no historical training, possibly finished school well before their 15th birthday would fight shy of claiming that they are historians, nevertheless are driven by curiosity and a sense of belonging to research, record and write about their community in the past.
In doing so they add to our knowledge and in the opinion of my old friend Ian Meadowcroft make a vital contribution to the work of all historians.
So it is with Mr N. Fife, who in the late 1970s wrote about the history of Chorlton. It was hand written and to my knowledge has never been published.
Like other historians of the township he draws on the work of Thomas Ellwood who wrote 25 articles for the South Manchester Gazette in the mid 1880s but also brings his own deep knowledge of the place. Tucked away on one page is a description of the old water pump which served the Renshaw and Bailey families who lived in a farmhouse on Beech Road. It was still there in the 1970s but has long since gone.
There is also an account of the archaeological digs carried out in the parish church by Angus Bateman and his team in the late 70s and early 80s. It remains one of the only descriptions of those excavations, and until the discovery of Angus’s own reports provided the only detailed picture of what was uncovered.
Picture; page from the manuscript “A Time to look back and think” by N.Fife from the collection of Tony Walker
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Manchester's first railway station ........... no.2 a history lesson
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| The carriage shed, 2004 |
And a few days ago when Ron posted some of his pictures of the site in the early 1980's it stirred my pot.
So here are a mix of Ron's pictures and mine from almost four decades later with a bit of a story.
Castlefield became the centre of the first railway complex in 1830.
The original site consisted of the station and warehouse, which was extended a year later to include a set of offices, passenger shed and two more warehouses.
By 1837 a second station platform had been built opposite, reflecting the growing number of passengers.
What is interesting about the buildings is the way they mirror the existing technology but also look forward to the future.
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| The 1830 warehouse, 1980 |
Canal warehouse design had been perfected during the last half of the 18th century.
The main features of the design were a series of loading points called loop holes on each floor and access points for barges to move directly into the building.
Similar loopholes were situated on the roadside of the warehouse. This enabled goods to be moved from one side to another. One of the best of these is sited opposite Dukes 92 and has recently been renovated.
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| The 1830 warehouse, 2004 |
After the great fire in 1866, which destroyed the two newer warehouses, this practice was stopped. It is still possible to see where the lines ran into the building. Turntables existed to turn and push wagons into the warehouse.
Maps of the period show these turntables all over the site. The last one was only torn up in the late 90s.
All along the rail side it is possible to see changes that have been made to the original design.
One of the arches has been enlarged and one of the loopholes adapted. It is possible to see some of the early winding gear above one of the loopholes, and the different brickwork above other loopholes can see the evidence for where others once were.
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| Canal Warehouse, 2004 |
Like the road version, luggage and the guard sat on top of the carriage.
The carriage shed, which protected passengers, has a wooden beamed roof not unlike medieval buildings but is supported by the new technology of cast iron pillars.
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| Looking up to the Byrom Warehouse, 1980 |
In just 50 years railway stations were to be transformed into graceful arches of iron and glass, with the platforms below. Central, Piccadilly and Victoria stations are only later manifestations of Crystal Palace.
The site continued to evolve, and for a long time was a pretty drab warehouse complex and after its closure could have lingered on as a neglected spot gently decaying before falling to Derek the Developer.
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| 1980 2004 |
Location; Liverpool Road
Pictures; the site in the 1980s courtesy of Ron Stubley, and in the early 21st century from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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Lost and forgotten streets of Manchester .......... nu 2 Pool Fold
Back Pool Fold is one of those twisty little thoroughfares which you think must have a rich and varied history and at sometime have offered up more than a few dark stories.
But for now it’s the name that provides a clue to how this bit of the city has changed and it all hangs on the word Back which suggests there must once have been a Pool Fold and sure enough in the late 18th century there was.
It was the continuation of Cross Street which in 1793 terminated at the corner with Chapel Walks leaving Pool Fold to creep up to Market Street past what was then the New Shambles.
And as such would have been familiar to those Dissenters who attended the Cross Street Chapel which dates from 1694 and which is the origin of the name Chapel Walks.
There will be many who remember walking down Chapel Walks past the grassed area at the rear of the chapel and clocking that this was the site of the graveyard. I
t vanished under the last rebuild of the chapel in 1997, which is the fourth place of worship to occupy the site.
The first was opened in 1694, and destroyed by a mob in 1715, its successor succumbed to an air raid in December 1940 and the replacement built in 1959 survived for four decades.
Now I bet there will be someone out there who can offer up an exact date for the moment that Pool Fold became the continuation of Cross Street.
For now I know that in 1794 it was still going under its old name, and by 1849 had been lost to history.
All of which just leaves me to mention Sam’s Chops House.
It cannot claim to have stood on its present site for that long, having opened at Back Fold Place in the 1950s although it does date back to 1872 when Mr Samuel Studd opened his restaurant under the grander name of Sam’s London Chop House.
It was situated in Manchester Chambers on the corner of Market Street and Pall Mall.
The building has long gone but once and not that long ago this corner was home to the UCP shop which for those who don’t know was the United Cattle Products Company which had a chain of 146 restaurants.
You entered from that corner, went up a large staircase into the restaurant and there amongst many cattle products on offer was tripe.
We only went in once and never bothered with the pub next door on Pall Mall. It was called the Tavern and
I can’t say it looked inviting. There was one entrance, and the windows ran in a long strip high up on the wall.
All of which may seem a long way from Pool Fold but perhaps not given the connection between the UCP, the Shambles clearly shown on the map and the many meat dishes offered up by Sam’s, but then as a veggie I think that is where I shall close.
Other than to say with all the work on Cross Street in connection with the Second City Crossing it will be interesting to see if anything new comes out of the ground.
After all earlier in the year work was slowed by the discovery of burials along the route which may have been from the Cross Street Chapel.
Next; Tasel Alley
Location; Manchester
Pictures; Back Pool Fold, 2015 courtesy of Andy Robertson, Pool Fold 1793 from Laurent’s map of Manchester 1793, courtesy of Digital Archives, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/Cross Street 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson,
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| Back Pool Fold, 2015 |
It was the continuation of Cross Street which in 1793 terminated at the corner with Chapel Walks leaving Pool Fold to creep up to Market Street past what was then the New Shambles.
And as such would have been familiar to those Dissenters who attended the Cross Street Chapel which dates from 1694 and which is the origin of the name Chapel Walks.
There will be many who remember walking down Chapel Walks past the grassed area at the rear of the chapel and clocking that this was the site of the graveyard. I
t vanished under the last rebuild of the chapel in 1997, which is the fourth place of worship to occupy the site.
The first was opened in 1694, and destroyed by a mob in 1715, its successor succumbed to an air raid in December 1940 and the replacement built in 1959 survived for four decades.
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| Pool Fold, from Market Street to Cross Street, 1793 |
For now I know that in 1794 it was still going under its old name, and by 1849 had been lost to history.
All of which just leaves me to mention Sam’s Chops House.
It cannot claim to have stood on its present site for that long, having opened at Back Fold Place in the 1950s although it does date back to 1872 when Mr Samuel Studd opened his restaurant under the grander name of Sam’s London Chop House.
It was situated in Manchester Chambers on the corner of Market Street and Pall Mall.
The building has long gone but once and not that long ago this corner was home to the UCP shop which for those who don’t know was the United Cattle Products Company which had a chain of 146 restaurants.
You entered from that corner, went up a large staircase into the restaurant and there amongst many cattle products on offer was tripe.
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| Once Pool Fold, now just part of Cross Street, 2016 |
I can’t say it looked inviting. There was one entrance, and the windows ran in a long strip high up on the wall.
All of which may seem a long way from Pool Fold but perhaps not given the connection between the UCP, the Shambles clearly shown on the map and the many meat dishes offered up by Sam’s, but then as a veggie I think that is where I shall close.
Other than to say with all the work on Cross Street in connection with the Second City Crossing it will be interesting to see if anything new comes out of the ground.
After all earlier in the year work was slowed by the discovery of burials along the route which may have been from the Cross Street Chapel.
Next; Tasel Alley
Location; Manchester
Pictures; Back Pool Fold, 2015 courtesy of Andy Robertson, Pool Fold 1793 from Laurent’s map of Manchester 1793, courtesy of Digital Archives, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/Cross Street 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson,
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At the bottom of almost every garden ...... a shelter from Mr Hitler’s bombs ..... in Lambton Road in Chorlton
Now I bet Mrs Elsie Waterworth of Lambton Road would have been pretty surprised that her Anderson air raid shelter would still be standing at the bottom of her garden, 79 years after the workmen delivered it.
Of course I can’t be exactly sure that it was one of the one and half million which were delivered to homes across the country between February and September 1939.
She might instead have been one of the two and half million other householders who received theirs during the war.
Nor do I know if she got hers for free or had to pay the charge of £7 to get the peace of mind that Mr Anderson’s shelters offered.
Those earning less than £5 a week were exempt from paying, but she worked as a telephone operator and shared the house with two other women who I guess made a contribution to the income of the household. All of which suggests hers was not free.*
The design of the Anderson, was very simple and consisted of six curved panels of galvanised and corrugated steel sheets, bolted together, with a front and a back made of the same material.
The shelters could sleep six and were six feet high, 4.5 feet wide and 6.5 feet long.
They could be buried in the ground with more soil added on top which was sometimes turned into a vegetable garden, and given that they were often underground a pump was incorporated into the floor.
The internal fitting out of the shelter was left to the owner and so there were wide variations in comfort.**
Not that sitting in one with the ever present threat of German bombs could ever be described as comfortable, and I doubt Mrs Waterworth, or her two companions were overjoyed at a night in the garden.
One day I might go looking for her fellow shelter sufferers who were the 67 years old Lily McNolorey who was blind and Alice Leeboth who was three years younger.
Despite the shelters being cold and damp, they offered better protection from blast and ground shock than the brick and concrete ones.
In the case of ours, we will never know how many times it was used, and in particular if the three sheltered there during the Christmas Blitz of December 1940.
I suspect as the war progressed and moved closer to its end their stay out in the garden became less, and as often happens the shelter became a place to deposit “stuff”.
And that became the fate of many of these shelters, for while it was expected that they would be returned so the metal could be salvaged, many paid to keep them.
In the case of ours someone decided to make it more permanent by adding a brick wall at one.
And that is all I have to say.
Location; Chorlton
Picture; Mrs Waterworth’s Anderson Shelter, 2018, from the collection of Peter Topping, and an “old and badly rusted Anderson shelter, that has in it's time been converted for use as a garden shed, on display in the courtyard of Bedford Museum, Bedford, Bedfordshire, England”, 2007, Simon Speed, and, Anderson shelter in Bournemouth in 1941,The Brit,licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
*1939 Register
*Anderson Shelters, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_raid_shelter
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| Mrs Waterworth's Anderson haven, 2018 |
She might instead have been one of the two and half million other householders who received theirs during the war.
Nor do I know if she got hers for free or had to pay the charge of £7 to get the peace of mind that Mr Anderson’s shelters offered.
Those earning less than £5 a week were exempt from paying, but she worked as a telephone operator and shared the house with two other women who I guess made a contribution to the income of the household. All of which suggests hers was not free.*
The design of the Anderson, was very simple and consisted of six curved panels of galvanised and corrugated steel sheets, bolted together, with a front and a back made of the same material.
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| The Bedford Anderson, 2007 |
They could be buried in the ground with more soil added on top which was sometimes turned into a vegetable garden, and given that they were often underground a pump was incorporated into the floor.
The internal fitting out of the shelter was left to the owner and so there were wide variations in comfort.**
Not that sitting in one with the ever present threat of German bombs could ever be described as comfortable, and I doubt Mrs Waterworth, or her two companions were overjoyed at a night in the garden.
One day I might go looking for her fellow shelter sufferers who were the 67 years old Lily McNolorey who was blind and Alice Leeboth who was three years younger.
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| The Bournemouth shelter 1941 |
In the case of ours, we will never know how many times it was used, and in particular if the three sheltered there during the Christmas Blitz of December 1940.
I suspect as the war progressed and moved closer to its end their stay out in the garden became less, and as often happens the shelter became a place to deposit “stuff”.
And that became the fate of many of these shelters, for while it was expected that they would be returned so the metal could be salvaged, many paid to keep them.
In the case of ours someone decided to make it more permanent by adding a brick wall at one.
And that is all I have to say.
Location; Chorlton
Picture; Mrs Waterworth’s Anderson Shelter, 2018, from the collection of Peter Topping, and an “old and badly rusted Anderson shelter, that has in it's time been converted for use as a garden shed, on display in the courtyard of Bedford Museum, Bedford, Bedfordshire, England”, 2007, Simon Speed, and, Anderson shelter in Bournemouth in 1941,The Brit,licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
*1939 Register
*Anderson Shelters, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_raid_shelter
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Pictures with no stories ........ no 2 the family on holiday
Now I am fascinated by stories and more than that the way that a photograph can offer up a story even when there is apparently nothing there.
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And this is another one of those.
It comes from a collection of picture postcards which were found by a friend of Ron Stubley who looked after them and recently passed them over to me.
They are a mixed bag, consisting of saucy seaside cards, more than a few of holiday destinations and some which are of a family but have no names and no dates.
Many were sent to addresses in north Manchester from resorts on the Welsh coast and that is about it.
Over the last few months quite a few of them have featured on the blog but until now I have not used those which have no means of identifying the place or the people.
And that brings me to this one. We are looking at a family snapshot and judging by the sun I am guessing it is a holiday snap taken one summer.
But that is it, leaving me to let you add your own story.
Picture; somewhere on a beach, date unknown, from the collection of Ron Stubley
It comes from a collection of picture postcards which were found by a friend of Ron Stubley who looked after them and recently passed them over to me.
They are a mixed bag, consisting of saucy seaside cards, more than a few of holiday destinations and some which are of a family but have no names and no dates.
Many were sent to addresses in north Manchester from resorts on the Welsh coast and that is about it.
Over the last few months quite a few of them have featured on the blog but until now I have not used those which have no means of identifying the place or the people.
And that brings me to this one. We are looking at a family snapshot and judging by the sun I am guessing it is a holiday snap taken one summer.
But that is it, leaving me to let you add your own story.
Picture; somewhere on a beach, date unknown, from the collection of Ron Stubley
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Lost and forgotten streets of Salford ....... nu 31 the old Ship Inn
This was the very first picture John Casey shared with me.
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John took the photograph in the early 1980s and posted it beside a story I ran on the old Ship Inn.
And any one who has recently wandered down this bit of Salford may find the contrast striking.
Location; Salford
Picture; the old Ship Inn, circa 1980, from the collection of John Casey
And any one who has recently wandered down this bit of Salford may find the contrast striking.
Location; Salford
Picture; the old Ship Inn, circa 1980, from the collection of John Casey
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Faces from a demonstration ...... no. 4 .......
The three lads will now be grown up and I wonder what memories they have of that day in Birmingham.
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The year was 1983 and this was one of the large demonstrations organized by the Labour Party to call for action to reverse the growing levels of unemployment which on that Saturday stood at three million.
Location Birmingham
Picture; Faces from a demonstration, 1983, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
The year was 1983 and this was one of the large demonstrations organized by the Labour Party to call for action to reverse the growing levels of unemployment which on that Saturday stood at three million.
Location Birmingham
Picture; Faces from a demonstration, 1983, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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Lost and forgotten streets of Manchester .......... nu 3 Tasel Alley
Now Tasel Alley is one of those places most people will pass without a second glance.
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It is the gap almost on the corner of John Dalton Street and Albert Square which with its double yellow lines which often looks dark and gloomy can’t be much of an attraction.
On the other hand for the curious that little ginnel beside New Church House on John Dalton Street suggests an adventure and if you plunge in the tunnel leads on to Tasel Alley and through a second tunnel to Mulberry Street and St Mary’s Chapel which is more popularly known as the Little Gem.
As late as 1849 Tasel Alley lay open on its northern side but within two years that open land had been built on and it became the narrow alley we know today and as these things go it didn’t even warrant a listing in the street directory.
I had thought that just perhaps because the buildings seem to date from 1851 they had missed being incorporated in the street directory for 1850, but no, Mr Slater's fine Directory for 1863 stubbornly refused to list anything for the alley.
By 1900 the alley had a set of warehouses which were mainly furniture and printing with a wine merchants and a set of offices.
So that is about it.
Location; Manchester
Picture; Tasel Alley, 2016, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and in 1849 from the OS of Manchester & Salford, 1842-49, courtesy of Digital Archives, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/
On the other hand for the curious that little ginnel beside New Church House on John Dalton Street suggests an adventure and if you plunge in the tunnel leads on to Tasel Alley and through a second tunnel to Mulberry Street and St Mary’s Chapel which is more popularly known as the Little Gem.
As late as 1849 Tasel Alley lay open on its northern side but within two years that open land had been built on and it became the narrow alley we know today and as these things go it didn’t even warrant a listing in the street directory.
I had thought that just perhaps because the buildings seem to date from 1851 they had missed being incorporated in the street directory for 1850, but no, Mr Slater's fine Directory for 1863 stubbornly refused to list anything for the alley.
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| Tasel Alley, 1849 |
So that is about it.
Location; Manchester
Picture; Tasel Alley, 2016, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and in 1849 from the OS of Manchester & Salford, 1842-49, courtesy of Digital Archives, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/
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The Goldsmith Collection ....... no. 1 on the River
Now when our Jillian offered to share her portfolio of photographs with me and the blog I jumped at the offer.
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There are some stunning pictures in the collection which makes me very proud of my little sister, but it is also that they capture so many places I grew up with but left behind over forty years ago when I left for Manchester.
So over the next few months I shall be featuring some of her photographs, and for a while at least some will mirror a set of images I took in the 1970s.
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And because if you come from south east London you never really get the Thames out of your system, here are the first two, taken in Greenwich this year.
The collection also includes some of the Kent coast and of course Eltham where we grew up and where our Jillian still lives.
I chose these two to start the series because they reflect the changes of the River over the last few decades.
The Naval College and gasometer are still a reassuring features but the sky line has altered out of all recognition from when I worked down at the food factory by the Blackwall Tunnel.
Location; Greenwich
Pictures; the River, 2017 from the collection of Jillian Goldsmith
So over the next few months I shall be featuring some of her photographs, and for a while at least some will mirror a set of images I took in the 1970s.
The collection also includes some of the Kent coast and of course Eltham where we grew up and where our Jillian still lives.
I chose these two to start the series because they reflect the changes of the River over the last few decades.
The Naval College and gasometer are still a reassuring features but the sky line has altered out of all recognition from when I worked down at the food factory by the Blackwall Tunnel.
Location; Greenwich
Pictures; the River, 2017 from the collection of Jillian Goldsmith
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Rediscovering our rural past, Thomas Ellwood and Mrs W C Williamson
Thomas Ellwood and Mrs Williamson were working at a time when the rural communities of Chorlton, Burnage, Fallowfield and Rusholme were on the cusp of disappearing.
Within a generation they had all but gone and with it was went a rich storehouse of stories and popular culture.
Today what was left is fast fading from living memory, so with in another decade I doubt that there will be any left who remember the blacksmith on Beech Road or being sent to one of the local farms to collect fresh milk and butter.
Thomas Ellwood lived here in Chorlton and during the winter of 1885 into the spring of ’86 he collected and wrote accounts of Chorlton dating back into the 17th century.
These were published in the South Manchester Gazette and are available in Central Library, but they are on microfilm which makes them a tad more difficult to read. Some of the articles reappeared in various church magazines but I have yet to find a complete set outside the Gazette.
In the case of Mrs Williamson her work appeared in a slender edition in 1888 and I have only been able to put my hands on one copy again from Central Library.
However Bruce Anderson whose local history site I have mentioned from time to time has digitized his own copy along with a number of other histories of Burnage, Fallowfield and Rusholme and they appear on Rusholme and Victoria Park Archive at http://rusholmearchive.org/
There are three maps, 1818, 1843 and 1885 that illustrate the changes during these years.”
She lived in Fallowfield with her husband, Professor William Crawford Williamson FRS. He was an eminent Victorian scientist who was appointed as the first Professor of Natural History (Geology, Zoology and Botany) at Manchester in 1851.
Williamson was one of the great Victorian naturalists who knew and actively corresponded with Charles Darwin, Louis Agassiz, T.H. Huxley and other great scientists of the day.
He also knew John Dalton and famously tended the great man during his final days, feeding him broth and other liquid sustenance. Williamson trained as a doctor and practised as an eye surgeon as well as pursuing his studies in the natural sciences.”
It is a wonderful book because it draws on the memories of those who experienced that rural life, and was a great help to me when writing my own account of Chorlton in the first half of the 19th century.*
And so for anyone wanting a vivid firsthand account of the handloom weavers of Burnage or the rush cart ceremony of Rusholme, Mrs Williamson and Bruce’s site have got to be worth a visit.
*THE STORY OF CHORLTON-CUM-HARDY, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-story-of-chorlton-cum-hardy-new.html
Pictures; Chorlton from the collection of Tony Walker, cover of Mrs Williamson's book from the collection of Bruce Anderson
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