HYDE CHESHIRE

Harry Rutherford's
Festival of Britain Mural




Wednesday 26 January 2011

Godley Arches

The first postcard shows a factory through the Arches which could be Otto Monsted's Magarine factory depending on the date of the postcard.
(Thanks Tom and Dave for the info below).
On this site originally stood the Olive Tree Public House before the site was redeveloped for Monsted's factory.

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Looking towards Hattersley

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How it looks today

Otto Monsted was a Dane went into partnership with local man John Broomer, operating a margarine factory at Godley, (in an old hat factory) near
Hyde. Broomer sold his share of the business shortly after but is credited for having established the first margarine works in Britain.

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Looking towards Hyde centre

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Todays view
The Godley works was closed in 1921 and shortly afterwards taken over by Walls then its various successors (Birdseye Walls, Mattessons Walls, Kerry Foods)and at some stage the original building was demolished.

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Aerial view of Godley Arches and the remains of the site of the original Otto Monstead Factory.

Great updated pictures by Dave :)

11 comments:

Tom said...

Is that the old Otto Monsted Margerine works in the first picture? If so I think I'm right in saying it was the first one in England .. set up over here because Denmark placed a ban on the export of Margarine. Before that the building was either a Cork or Hat works... I must check that as I'm not sure which.
Great pictures Nancy... we could do with some more about this area..

Tom said...

Otto Monsted was a Dane went into partnership with local man John Broomer, operating a margarine factory at Godley, (in an old hat factory) near
Hyde. Broomer sold his share of the business shortly after but is credited for having established the first margarine works in Britain

Dave Williams said...

It is that factory Tom, and it WAS previously a hat factory (according to something I found on Google). The Godley works was closed in 1921 and shortly afterwards taken over by Walls then its various successors (Birdseye Walls, Mattessons Walls, Kerry Foods)and at some stage the original building was demolished. You can still see the site of it on Google Earth at the corner of Godley Hill Road. So who's it was in the photograph depends on the date the photo was taken. Incidentally, can you see what look like 2 swept-wing jet fighter planes on the second picture? I think they're part of the trolley wires you can see in the first picture.

Tom said...

Well spotted with the Jets/Wires... ha! I thought we'd got ourselves UFO's then... ha!

Tom said...

Great update with the Aerial View... not seen that one before.

Anonymous said...

Hi
Can I ask where you got the Information that John Broomer started this factory. I am tracing my Broomer family history.

Tom said...

Hi there Anon.. I think the information would be from the book The Annals Of Hyde by Thomas Middleton.... it can be down loaded.. drop me a email and I will sort out a link for you.

Anonymous said...

Hi Tom I have 3 postcards of the Otto Monsted Margarine works - do you know of anyone who is a collector?

Anonymous said...

I worked on the demolition of the birds Eye Walls, Mattessons factory.

I remember our boss Mike Kehoe taking some photos of the building standing. Also when it was demolished.

If you contact Powell demolition Liverpool i am sure they could send you a photograph or two.

One thing i remember about the day it came down, under the stairs of the entrance, the one with a lot of staircases going up, phew that was some journey climbing them.

Well any how' a safe was inside a small room on the ground floor.It wasn't until that last day when a demolition machine cracked it open, a few photos was inside and they were given to the manager of the factory at the time.

Sorry I cannot remember his name its been a long time.

Anonymous said...

One thing that sticks in my mind about the factory was the pleasant staff that worked there.

Another is that when up on the roof once on a summers day, we could see in the distance a fox hunt.

I took my little breaker gun and fired hopelessly at the hunt, after all it was only powered by an airline and was used to break concrete.

Be sure to contact Powell demolition, and thanks for your informing blog.

Daisy said...

Hello - lovely site! Do you know if there was a ever a house/houses under Godley Arches? And if so what street it would have been on? I'm looking for a family by the name of Bentley who apparently lived "Under Godley Arches" in the 1940s/1950s.