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A chip shop, a posh block of flats and stories of a haunted house .............
I was talking to one of my Canadian cousins last week and the conversation got around to fish and chips as of course it would do.Chris was the one who sent me a parcel of Canadianmaple syrup products...
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Angel Meadow ........... reading the book by Dean Kirby
Now Angel Meadow is one of those places which draws you in and offers up a slice of the darker side of life in Manchester.The bookFor many it has become a byword for life lived on the margin standing...
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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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Net curtains, venetian blinds and that horseman on Brookburn Road .............
More than anything it’s the detail that draws you in to this photograph of Annie and Nelly outside 67 Hawthorn Road in the spring of 1930.It starts with those net curtains which had been a badge of...
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Walking with history down at Hough End Hall and getting a bargain ..............
It has almost been a year since the launch of Hough End Hall The Storywhich is the first book to describe fully the history of this much loved building.*The offer, 2016The hall began as the fine new...
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Down at Parrs Wood Court with some bombs, a few stories and an electric lift
Now as landmarks go Parrs Wood Court is a pretty bold statement of design and until recently dominated the junction of Wilmslow Road and Kingsway.Back in 1939 when it was built it offered all that you...
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Over the bridge on Wilbraham Road reflecting on almost a century of change
Now it was something Andy Robertson said when he sent me these pictures of Wilbraham Road about KINGBEE RECORDS that got me thinking about the two parades of shops just over the bridge.I remember...
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One big House on the High Street
2015Now I have written about Cliefden House on several occasions, and will go back again in due course.*In the meantime here are three photographs over a full century and a bit and each has it’s own...
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Discovering the names of those who served in the Red Cross in Eltham during...
I have moved just a little closer to some of the men and women who served during the Great War.And it comes from an exciting new project by the Red Cross which is putting on line its recordsfrom the...
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A building called the Towers, the Ship Canal and a certain animation company
The Towers is a building with a lot of history.It was built between 1868 and 1872 by John Taylor who founded the Manchester Guardian in 1821.Here in 1882 the decision was taken by a group of...
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Monks Hall ......... another bit of history about to be revealed..............
So here is a place I never knew existed. It’s Monks Hall in Eccles and is another of those pictures that Andy Robertson took on his trip round Eccles.And right at the outset I have confess all I know...
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Beech Road in the summer of 1932
We are on Beech Road in the summer of 1932. Judging by the shadows and the activity it must be sometime in the morning. The manager of John Williams and Sons looks on as his assistant sweeps the...
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“Influenza is still spreading in Manchester and the death rate is...
An occasional series on the stories behind the new book on Manchester and the Great War**All deaths in Manchester, November 1918Now however you play with the figures the flu epidemic of 1918 was an...
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So were you in the Eltham Hill Gaumont on Sunday September 12 1965?
Now you pretty much know it’s time to get a life when you go looking for the date for a film listing for the Eltham Hill Gaumont.Eltham Hill Gaumont, 1998The listing was posted recently by Kath May and...
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Just what is in David Harrop's collection?
Now what connects this pub sign, a hospital and a porcelain money box?It is I know a question which will tumble from the lips of people across Greater Manchester and beyond this Friday evening.And the...
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Down on Barlow Moor Road with a bit of my past .............. Manchester...
2015Now I still think the decision of the City Council to establish a Teachers Centre on Barlow Moor Road was a bold and progressive thing to do.It was a place where teachers could meet, advance their...
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See better days and do better things ........ the Crown Theatre ......... the...
Looking at the Crown in Eccles that line “See better days and do better things” comes to mind.It is again a building I knew nothing about until Andy Robertson took a series of pictures.According to...
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I never thought of Plumstead ............. taking the horse out for a jolly...
Now there is nothing better when a story gets a second lease of life.*And so here we are back with those soldiers somewhere not very far away from Well Hall.I had at first thought we were in Woolwich...
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"over the Mersey at Jackson’s Boat and on to Baguley Moor and Hale Moss and...
Call me lazy but I have chosen to return to the amazing story of Richard Buxton who was born into a poor rural family, grew up and lived in the equally poor area of Ancoats in the early 19th century...
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Ghost stories on Withington Road ..............
Now ghost signs come in many shapes and sizes some with a history that can be easily revealed and others which sit forgotten and obscure challenging you to find their story.And for those puzzled by the...
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