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The Second Peterloo .............. in New Cross on the evening of August 16 1819
The events on the evening of August 16 at New Cross doesn’t even merit a footnote in books on Peterloo.A comment on the events of Peterloo, 1819Of course compared with what happened earlier in the day...
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Celebrating 127 years
The sign in the window announced that the hotel was celebrating 127 years of offering a bed, some breakfast and a welcome to the weary traveller stopping off for the night in Lugano.And on that warm...
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Thinking back to that house on Beech Road
Now I was fully prepared for the interest about Mr Daniel Sharpe’s houseon Beech Road.*It had stood beside the old Wesleyan chapel and the smithy for over 180 years.More recently it had fallen on hard...
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One hundred years of one house in Well Hall part 13 ........... breakfast in...
Well Hall and Manchester, 1916This is the continuing story of one house in Well Hall Road and of the people who lived there including our family.*Now I rather like the fact that our house would have...
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That lost picture of the Royal Oak in 1902 with young Thomas Kelsey
This is a picture of the old Royal Oak I have never seen before.The caption gives a date of 1902 and refers to “the boy Thomas Kelsey, son of the landlord of the inn at the time.”Now it is very unusual...
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Annot Robinson ........ revisiting a remarkable woman
I have decided to revisit Annot Robinson*.Annot before her marriage to Sam RobinsonI first came across her in an excellent account of her contribution to Manchester politics in the early 20th...
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Doing the DNA and pondering on who I am related to ........................
Now I have yet to take that DNA test which I suspect is not for the faint hearted.A shed load of ancestorsEach time I look at the ad from ancestry I am reminded of that warning “be careful what you...
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One hundred years of one house in Well Hall part 14 ........... the Mission...
This is the continuing story of one house in Well Hall Road and of the people who lived there including our family.*Now I like the way that what seem to be totally random bits of the past come...
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In search of Whitelegg's on the corner of Manchester Road and Oswald Lane
Now I am no nearer discovering the story behind nu 61 Manchester Road which many will remember as Whitelegg’s the grocery shop.I have a vague memory it was still trading here when I first washed up in...
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Walking in the north of the township in to Martledge in the summer of 1847,...
Barlow Moor Lane, north to Martledge, a journey which will take in some great houses, a shop, farms and a pub as well as cottages of wattle and daub and brickBarlow Moor Lane is a long road. Standing...
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A kiss is just a kiss ......... postcards from Italy 1918
Now I have been thinking of the contribution made by the Italian community here in Manchester to the Great War and remembered this postcard from the collection of David Harrop.It was sent by Fred to...
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In Beresford Square in the summer of 1978
Woolwich in 1979Now I know I have posted this picture before, but I took it and I like it.So that is enough for me.But putting aside that demonstration of brash arrogance it is a candidate for that...
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Back at that shop on Manchester Road
I wonder how many people remember visiting Whitegg’s the grocer’s shop after its makeover in 1961.Now I am fairly confident that there will be quite a few people given that yesterday’s story about the...
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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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Ten minutes in the life of a holiday jet
We were waiting at Alghero airport for a flight home to Milan, and with little else to do I tracked the first ten minutes after this holiday jet landedPictures from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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Woolwich in 1915, a Manchester soldier and a love letter from Chorlton
The Herbert Hospital circa 1900“Arrived safely today. No settled address at present. Best wishes George.”Now at first glance there isn’t anything special about George’s message to his wife Nellie even...
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Pound Day Collections at the Mixed Dept at the Day School ......... stories...
An occasional series on the stories behind the new book on Manchester and the Great War*Now I know there is a story here I just don’t really know what it is.My old friend Ida came across this entry in...
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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...
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Alex Park ......... the people’s park ........ remembering a century and bit...
It was Keir Hardie who called Alex Park “the people’s park” in 1893 and I rather think that remains a pretty good alternative name for the place.*Expressing free speech, 1980On any day of the week at...
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The old church on the green in 1933
This is one of my favourite pictures of the old parish church.It was taken by F. Blyth and appeared in A Short History of Chorlton-cum-Hardy written by J. D. Blyth in 1933.Now at present I don’t know...
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