Clik here to view.
Chorlton Pubs and Bars ....... a book for all occasions, all histories and,...
Now to say that our new book on pubs and bars is a book for all occasions may seem boastful, but I think not.This is the story of the pubs, bars and beer houses of Chorlton covering the thirty-three...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Travelling in Greece in the summer of 1981 without a mobile, or a credit card
Travelling in CephaloniaNow I never did Greece in the 70s.That was when many of my friends travelled the islands. Back then it was all pretty much an adventure, starting with the night flight to Athens...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stories from an election, Chorlton May 1980
It was the first year into a Conservative Government and the 1980 election campaign in Chorlton was fought out on both local issues and national ones.The Conservative called on the electorate to “Stop...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bandstands ............... nu 2 back in Victoria Park in Swinton
Now I grew up with bandstands.Almost any park worthy of the title public park had one.But sadly by the time I was allowed to go off and play on my own all of the bandstands I can remember had become...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Down a narrow alley to Mortgramit Square in Woolwich in 1908
Down an alley from Woolwich High Street, 2013Sometimes Woolwich can still send you back into that past of narrow gas lit alleys, dark corners and unsafe places.So with a little bit of imagination as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Two pictures and four years of war .................
We are on Oxford Street sometime on November 11 1918 amongst the crowds celebrating the end of the Great War.Many standing there will have their own personal story of the war and for some the euphoria...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Looking for cows, farm buildings and a milkman on Brookburn Road in 1927
Now I am the first to admit that you would be hard put to fit this wooden door into the history of a farm in Chorlton.Outside the stables circa 1920sBut this is the stables of Brook Farm which dates...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Posters from the Past ........... no 11 ........ coming home
Nowthe project is simple, take a modern image of a building we all love and turn it into the style of poster which was popular in the middle decades of the last century.*Although in this case it is the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ghost signs in Liverpool
Now the blog hasn’t featured a ghost sign for a while so when Antony sent me this one yesterday I fell on it.It is, Anthony tells me on a street opposite Everton’s ground and I am intrigued by the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
This Is London ........ a unique guide to the London of 1959
Now I have no idea why I never got a copy of This Is London.*I guess that there are only so many books that you can get for Christmas, and with the Eagle Annual and the odd history book that was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Looking out from the Crescents some time before now
The caption just says Salford from the Crescent and is undated.But the artist was William Westall who was born in 1784 and died in 1850.Now that doesn’t help very much but at least I can be confident...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Posters from the Past ........... no 12 ......... something is stirring down...
Now the project is simple, take a modern image of a building we all love and turn it into the style of poster which was popular in the middle decades of the last century.*And supposing these figures...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mrs Crump of Chorlton-cum-Hardy and a piece of broadcasting history
Now this is another of those stories which has much more to offer.Back on January 1 1947 Mrs Elsie May Crump appeared on Woman’s Hour which had first aired three months earlier in October...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When the voters surprised everyone .......... stories behind the book nu 26...
An occasional series on the stories behind the new book on Manchester and the Great War*Manchester Guardian, October 1918The National Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Sailors and Soldiers...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Revisiting a favourite story from Didsbury’s past ......... Miss Bertha Geary
Now the thing about anniversaries is that they turn up all the time, from the big and momentous ones to the tiny private events.And there are plenty of people who will follow the unfolding year ready...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stories behind the book ......... a thank you
It has only been a few days since we signed off the new book on the pubs and bars of Chorlton.In the way of modern publishing it went down the wire on Thursday and just a week or so later the first...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Vine in Sale, the Ainscow Hotel on Trinity Way and a bit of a detective...
Now it started with a picture of the Vine on Washway Road, and ended with the Ainscow Hotel on Trinity Way in Salford.The Vine, 2015All of which makes perfect sense given that both are in a similar...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A car, a row of shops and a liitle bit more is revealed about the history of...
Now I like the way that a photograph can draw you in and sends you off on all sorts of new enquiriess.Mr Abbot's car on Well Hall Road, circa 1950sSo it was with this one that Kath May shared with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The continuing story of Mr Holmes's motor car in 1928
Now it is one of those things about writing and posting stories on the blog which is the way you get people wanting to take the stories that bit further. Yesterday I posted a picture of the car bought...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Revisiting favourite places with a twist of history ............... nu 3...
An occasional series which just aims to reflect old places and places with a story.Dinnertime in Florence.Picture; Florence, 2012, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
View Article