Clik here to view.
What has taken the place of my Eltham, number 1 the ABC cinema
As we move effortlessly to the end of the year I got thinking of the Eltham I knew and how the passage of time has pretty much changed much of my landscape.So here over the next few days are some of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Classic Slum and other books by Robert Roberts ........... on the place he...
I first came across Robert Roberts and the Classic Slum in 1973.Waterloo Street, 1893I can’t remember if it was recommended to me or I just found it on the bookshop shelf.Either way the phrase“poverty...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A history of Chorlton in just 20 objects number one ...... a bridge across...
Now this will be a short series featuring objects which tell a story of Chorlton in just a paragraph and is also a challenge for people to suggest some that are personal to their stories.They are in no...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Who remembers working at the Overbridge and Springfield Mills in Salford?
Sometimes you just get drawn into a picture and from it begins a story.So a few days ago Andy Robertson was on his way back from leaving his car serviced when in a side street he saw the tall brick...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Out on the highway in Orilia, Ontario in the summer of 1942
There is something iconic about this image to anyone who grew up in a city in Britain in the 1950s.We are in Orilla, Ontario sometime in 1942, and with very little imagination it is the sort of place...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wishing you were here.......Eltham in the past, Nu 2 looking west from the...
Now if you don’t know Eltham or like me have been away from the place for a long time, there is always Google Street maps which will place you at the same spot and allow you to do your own...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On Chapel Street with a pub question ................ another Salford pub story
Now I don’t do pub quizzes.The Rovers Return, 2014I get stumped at even the easiest of challenges like“what connects Chapel Street in Salford, with an English Admiral and a long running and much loved...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A history of Chorlton in just 20 objects number two ........ the tram...
A short series featuring objects which tell a story of Chorlton in just a paragraph and a challenge for people to suggest some that are personal to their stories.I have chosen the tram terminus...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How we lost Martledge, discovered the Four Banks and still miss “Kingy”...
Now as I often say every place should have a historian, and everyplace should have a festival so its good that we have both.During the last century and a half a whole shedload of people have put pen to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A little bit of Australia in the 1930s
I am in Australia gazing across at the Sydney Harbour Bridge, or at least a bit of it.The year is 1930 and the bridge has been under construction since 1923. Now I am indebted to my friend for both the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Remembering the lost names of Chorlton-cum-Hardy......................
I have never lost my fascination at the way place names so familiar for centuries can fall out of use and within a generation become so completely lost that it is as if they had never existed.Pretty...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bits of London Road Fire Station you may never have seen nu 1
Now I know I will open myself to accusations of being a nerd, the withering wish that I should get a life and perhaps be offered the four volume guide to British match boxes, 1899-1902.Well so be it....
View ArticleClik here to view.
That other Lord Nelson on Chapel Street ........................ a sad tale...
Now some bits of the legacy of Admiral Lord Nelson and that historic battle at sea in 1805 are still preserved by a grateful nation.HMS Victory is still there to see at Portsmouth and the pigeons can...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Down on Powis Street in Woolwich in 1905
It is one of those images of Woolwich which pretty much speaks for itself.We are on Powis Street in 1905, although our card was sent three years later to a Mrs Warrington of Cromewell Road,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A history of Chorlton in just 20 objects number 3........ the tithe map 1845
A short series featuring objects which tell a story of Chorlton in just a paragraph and a challenge for people to suggest some that are personal to their stories.The tithe map perfectly captures a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The story behind the letter sent home in 1916
Now sometimes you come across a story which you know will fascinate people, partly because of the subject matter but also because of the way it came about.Honour envelope from Hubert, May 1916So here...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Just when you thought it was safe to go out and stop worrying about ghost signs
Now it has been a while since we had a ghost sign so I was very pleased that Graham came across this one on Stockport Road today and sent it across.I don’t really think there is much more to say other...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Looking for the story of the Casablanca Mill
I pretty much took the textile mill for granted.When I first came up to Manchester in 1969 they were still a big part of the landscape especially on the east side of the city and in Ashton-Under-Lyne...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bits of London Road Fire Station you may never have seen nu 2
Now I know I will open myself to accusations of being a nerd, the withering wish that I should get a life and perhaps be offered the four volume guide to British match boxes, 1899-1902.Well so be it....
View ArticleClik here to view.
In just two decades, the development of Old Chorlton
Now you might be forgiven for thinking this is not much of a story, but it is one of those little insights into the development of Chorlton.The north end of the township had undergone pretty rapid...
View Article