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Walks I wish I had taken, from Lane End down towards Hough End Hall in the...
Lane End circa 1890A wheelwright, a notorious pub, another block of interesting cottages, two farms and Park Brow.Now the weather will soon be closing in so with that in mind I think it is time for...
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Visions of a better world .......... nu 1 the protest march
This is a short series which explores and records popular protest and the demand for change.The date is 1980, the place Liverpool and the demonstration was against the actions of the new Conservative...
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The lost shops of Queen's Road, New Cross…..more stories from Chris Taylor
In the 1950s, there was a parade of shops along Queen's Road, east and west of its junction then existing with Dennett's Road (which ran southwards, parallel with Lausanne Road). Hair tonic advert...
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A little bit of Naples in 1890 ..... part 3
This is the third of those pictures of Naples at the close of the 19th century.*In a city where people lived outside as much as inside their homes here are vivid pictures of life in a southern Italian...
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Visions of a better world .......... nu 2 the campaign badge
1985The campaign badge has been around a long time.It is one of those instant bits of political activity which makes the point cheaply and effectively.A round bit of cardboard, some sticky tape and a...
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Leaving your mark, the lot of my family in the 19th century
How easy we take writing our name. Even in an electronic age we still sign for things at the door, commit to a legal agreement and perhaps even sign a letter.Mark of Maria Lowe, wide of George Lowe,...
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Passing Burton's on Well Hall Road to the sound of Betty Everitt and Judy Street
Now I have fond memories of the old Burton’s at the top of Well Hall Road.It was here that I bought my first suit, more than a few shirts and the odd tie, although I do confess it ran a poor second to...
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Echoes of the past ............ Higginbotham’s farmhouse and yard from the...
Now that I seem to be in posting pictures of Chorlton from the air I thought I would go back to my old friend Tony Walker’s collection of pictures he took around 1975.*I featured one of my favourites...
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Discovering the less than honest side of family history ............ new...
Now I have always maintained that searching out your family history should come with a Government Health warning.All too often the rather fascinating exploration of your past comes up against the not...
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Poverty, TB, and a declining trade ........... Derby 1848
“The poor you will always have with you” Jane Lowe, circa 1870sSo might have begun any one of countless sermons in churches across Derbyshire in the summer of 1848. Its message would not have been lost...
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Threshing by steam at Higginbotham’s farm on the green
I was talking to Alan Brown this week. His memories of Chorlton go back to the 1930s and he casually threw into the conversation his memory of a steam driven threshing machine which regularly visited...
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Goodbye to the ABC in the High Street .................. 1972
Now this picture postcard of the old ABC cinema in the High Street has a lot going for it.For a start there is that simple observation that few of us send picture postcards today.Mobile phones with...
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In Naples where “poverty busied itself”*....... street scenes from the 1890s...
Now over the last few years I have looked at plenty of street scenes of Manchester and Salford during the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century and I am always drawn to those showing...
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Finding one of those rare relatives who had the vote in 1832 .................
Now if you want to find out if your ancestor voted in the 1830s then the Poll Books and Directories are the first port of call.James Brundrett, a man with a voteThey are the records of all who were...
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V Bombs over Peckham and Nunhead ..............a story from Barney
The V1 was one of Hitler’s secret weapons which he had told his generals would turn the war.Rolling out a V1, 1944The V1 was first launched against Britain in June 1944, just one week after D-Day.The...
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That house on Northenden Road ........... the end of the story
Nothing sums up the end of that house on Northenden Road than this pile of rubble, with its fallen decorated stone lintel and bits of broken brick arch.Andy Robertson came across it just before...
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A little bit of Naples in 1890 ..... part 5
I cannot resist street scenes from the 19th century and so here today is another from Naples.The caption says he was a fruit seller and you still get them wandering the beaches in high summer.Our...
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Crossing the Thames at Woolwich on the Will Crooks
This is one of the old ferries which plied the crossing taking thousands to work and not a few just to see north Woolwich.The crossing is still one of those things I like to do although it is usually...
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One hundred years of one house in Chorlton part 61 ............ replacing the...
Thecontinuing story of the house Joe and Mary Ann Scott lived in for over 50 years and the families that have lived here since.*Old leaky and tiredI hope Joe and Mary Ann would approve of the project...
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In Ontario with our cousins ................ exploring a landscape and a...
Now there is something about looking out across a Canadian landscape that one of your family might first have encountered a century ago on first arriving as a British Home Child.And even more so when...
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