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Exploring that lost building on Barlow Moor Road
Now if like me you have wandered out of Max Speilemann’s and wondered what once stood on that bit of open land next door, Mark Flynn’s picture helps supply an answer.Barlow Moor Road, circa 1960s ©...
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Remembering the meadows in the 1940s ..... the power of oral testimony
The Meadows as they were“I was interested to hear what you said about the way the Corporation tipped rubbish on the meadows. You see I was at school in the 1940s and we did our cross country runs from...
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Out on the Thames by Woolwich
I have never lost my love of the River Thames.Even now I never feel fully at home till the train pulls out over the bridge from Charing Cross heading towards Waterloo.As a child I played on that sandy...
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The places I usually don’t photograph ...................nu 1 that other...
It was September 2014 and I was on my way to meet up.Location; Mr Thomas’s St Ann’s AlleyPicture; Mr Thomas’s St Ann’s Alley, 2014 from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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Four slices of bread a day, giving up the stuff for the war effort...
An occasional series on the stories behind the new book on Manchester and the Great War.*In Honour Bound, 1917Now here is a jolly poster I have never seen before.It dates from March 1917 when food...
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The places I usually don’t photograph ................... nu 2 from behind
It was September 2014 and I was on my way to meet up.Location; St Ann’s SquarePicture; St Ann’s Square, 2014 from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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Remembering St George’s in Hulme
Now I have a fondness for St George’s Church in Hulme.My old friend Jack Harker was christened there although I never asked him when.That was the sort of question you never asked, partly because you...
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That familiar row of shops on Wilbraham Road
I don’t have a date for this picture but I am guessing we are sometime in the 1920 or 30s.Of course I am well aware that someone out there will recognise the make and manufacturer of the the...
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The magic of Well Hall half a century on
Now I have been thinking about what made Well Hall and the Progress estate such a magical place when I was growing up in the 1960s.It started with the roads that led off in all sorts of directions...
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Reflections on International Women’s Day and Mrs Jane Redford, Manchester's...
I have been staring at this picture for some time.It was taken on October 7th 1911 at the opening of Chorltonville, and somewhere amongst the worthies is Mrs Jane Redford.She had been born in 1849 so...
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Herstory, more for International Women's Day
National Union of Teachers Badge mid 1980sIt’s that week again and I think it’s worth recalling that while the Suffragettes quite rightly have been acknowledged for their part in campaigning for...
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Home thoughts from abroad nu 3 ................. lost in the woods in the...
An occasional series on what I miss about the place where I grew up.*Now I say lost but that would not be strictly true but thinking back to that summer of 1964 I might as well have been.This was the...
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The places I usually don’t photograph ................... nu 3 the cut through
It was September 2014 and I was on my way to meet up.Location; ManchesterPicture; Manchester, 2014 from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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What were the 3rd Battalion of the Manchester’s Pals doing at Alex Park in...
An occasional series on the stories behind the new book on Manchester and the Great War.*The entrance to Alexandra Park, 1907Now this is one of those stories that started off full of promise with just...
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The mystery of that parade of shops on Barlow Moor Road
Now not that long ago I wrote about Audrey’s which sold everything from the best new frocks to all sorts of fine haberdasheries.*Barlow Moor Road circa 1950s-60sIt was on the corner of Barlow Moor...
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Things I remember from being a kid ................... eating the crusts and...
Now there is nothing that really brings toasted bread crusts and brylcream together other than they belong to my childhood.Raphael, 1993Dad ate his toast cold which is how I still prefer it and he also...
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“Dear Husband, we are just off to Aunties” .............. a postcard from...
In age of emails, facebook and the mobile the sending of a message on a picture postcard seems so anachronistic and yet I rather like the idea.Of course it helped that the frequent collections and...
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The story of Chorlton Good Neighbours with a background on some of its...
The prime mover in establishing Chorlton Good Neighbours* Care Group was Mrs. Edith Marian Lundy. Edith was born Edith Marian Killick, around 1924 and raised, in Chorlton, by Alban and Flora (nee....
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Stories, people and events ................. Manchester History Festival June...
I have always been a great fan of the Manchester History Festival which will be back this June.A selection of memorabilia from the Great War“The festival takes place over 10 days with events held at a...
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Arguing for peace in 1937 with Alice McIlwrick in Platt Fields
I shouldn’t have been surprised that Alice McIlwrick was involved in the Manchester and Salford Peace Week of 1937.She was “socialist by conviction and anti establishment by nature”* who had stood nine...
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