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Uncovering the story of Joseph Thomas of Chorlton born 1894, died 1917 on the...
It began with this postcard and as so often happens it set me off on a journey which led from a small house in Chorlton to the grand offices of an accountancy firm opposite the Town Hall and ended on...
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Back at Pomona Docks, look carefully they may not be with us for much longer
Now I am back at Pomona Docks with more pictures by Andy Robertson.I never knew the docks when they were busy workaday places but something of the size can still be got from these photographs.I thought...
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Remembering Skillman's ............. 108 years of selling ukeleles, nails and...
Now when I was last on Woolwich High Street number 108 was an empty shop, and despite a coat of black paint the front still displayed the name of Skillman & Sons, which was where my friend Jean...
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"Dear Miss J".............. a message from the 8th Manchester’s at Garstang...
Now there is a lot going on in this picture.Church parade with the 8th Manchester's circa 1911We are at Garstang camp with the 8th Battalion of the Manchester’s which was a Territorial unit based at...
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The story that began with a painting and ended with Richardson's the bakers,...
At the Corner, 2015Now here is one of those stories that just went off in a direction I couldn’t have predicted.The spot is familiar enough to generations of people who have bought cakes and bread from...
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Salford buildings that tell a story ........ part 4 of things yet to come
Now strictly speaking there are no buildings to tell a story but I suppose that in a sense is the point.There was once and there will be again. Andy Robertson’s caption for his pictures reads,“two...
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As others saw us ........... Eltham in 1858 according to the Melville & Co's...
Front cover of the Directory“Eltham is a small ancient but pleasant town and suburb of London adjoing Lee, eight miles S.E.from London, in the lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, Blackheath hundred, union of...
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1816 .... the year without a summer
1816 should have been a good year, it was after all the first year of peace since Waterloo, the battle that had ended the long wars with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France which had run with only a...
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Uncovering one of our local photographers, A H Clarke .............where...
Now I have been fascinated by Harold Clarke who was one of our localcommercial photographers.*Barlow Moor Road, circa 1926During the 1920s and 30s he recorded many scenes of Chorlton and they are a...
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On holiday with Mrs Fisher
We never went to a holiday camp which was nothing to do with the idea it was just we never did.That said I often felt just a little envious of my friend Jimmy O’Donnell whose parents always went to...
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When Salford went to Shrewbury
Now I am intrigued by this postcard sent by Ellen to Miss Mullins who was living at Hook – a- Gate near Shrewsbury.Now I can’t be sure where Ellen was in October 1907 but it wasn’t Salford because the...
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At Ordsall Hall with a water trough from Pendleton and thank you to Eddie Smith
Now I have become interested in those water troughs which may well soon rival my obsession with ghost signs.They were once a common feature of all our cities and towns and were usually positioned at...
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Celebrating our Municipal Town Halls part 3 .......... Woolwich Town Hall
It is all too easy to become cynical about public service and the achievements of local government.Back in the 19th and early 20th centuries local government more so than Westminster was at the...
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A pub, a message of love and a club ........... on Cooper Street
Now this is Cooper Street and this impressive stone building has stood on this spot since 1863.Waldorf House, 2015Once a long time ago Cooper Street ran all the way from Booth Street across Princess...
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Outside Beech Road Police Station ........ revealing a little of the life of...
This is Police Constable Frederick George Ross standing with his colleagues outside the police station on Beech Road.Now I can’t be exactly sure when the picture was taken but one source has suggested...
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Looking for a glimpse of the 1970s from Piccadilly Railway Station ...... a...
Now if you are of a certain age this will be a pretty familiar scene.It is one I saw countless times as I walked down from the station towards Piccadilly Gardens.At first glance it isn’t that different...
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So what was going on at All Saints in Weaste on July13 1912?
Now here is a mystery worthy of investigation.We are at All Saints Church in Weaste on July 13 1912 and it would be fun to know exactly what was going in.Of course the most obvious suggestion would a...
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A new park for Chorlton?
It’s not much of a story really but it does point to the changes that had been taking place in Chorlton over the last two decades of the 19th century.Before the rapid development of housing in and...
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Shopping on Well Hall Road in the summer of 1907
Well Hall Parade in 1907Now I am back with two more from Greenwich’s collectionof old photographs.They are both of Well Hall Road and are separated by just eight years.Of the two the first offers up...
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The day Salford came to Southport
Here is another of those examples of the long reach of Salford.On the evening of August 21 1909 Mabel posted a message from Southport to her friend Miss Wingman of Churchtown in Southport.It was a...
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