HYDE CHESHIRE

Harry Rutherford's
Festival of Britain Mural




Monday 13 September 2010

Brewery At Matley

Photobucket

Photobucket



I know nothing at all about this place, where it was or what the brewers were called... if you have any information I'd be more than pleased to add it to this post.

8 comments:

Dave Williams said...

I've found a reference to the Matley Spring Brewery in the Ashton under Lyne Registration District, 1871 Census Street Index but, so far, nothing beyond that.

Dave Williams said...

I've been doing some more ferreting around on this. Matley is at the Stalybridge end of Matley Lane, around the Blundering Lane area. To the south of Matley Lane near there - off Harrop Edge Road - the A-Z shows a Silver Spring Farm, and close by is a compound which appears to be a builder's yard type of place with a collection of buildings and hard-standing. A sign at the start of the lane leading to it shows it to be Golden Spring Gardeners Supplies (which I can't find in any of the local telephone directories). Possibly the 'spring' concerned is also the one which gave Matley Spring Brewery its name - they'd need a source of water for the brewing - and the brewery itself was on the complex which is now Golden Spring Gardeners Supplies.

Dave Williams said...

I should have said that my observations on the Golden Spring Gardeners Supplies are gleaned from what I can see on Google Earth.

Tom said...

Great start here Dave..
I know Golden Springs Gardening Supplies... it's at the very very top of Matley lane... take the last turn right off Matley Lane before the junction.. follow the road up and there's another road leading off to the left.. this climbs up a steep hill to the Gardening Supplies.. its one of the highest spots around... looking at these pictures I do not think it would have been there... as the pictures shows hills behind them..
I would have thought it could have been near to the farm half way up on the right of Matley Lane.. I walked this road last year as well.. should have paid more attention... I also think that there's quite a few houses around this area that are still spring fed.. I know of some on Mottram Road Gee Cross that are spring feed... One of the objections to the Mottran By Pass is it will effect the underground water table and certain homes could possibly loose their supply.. So I should think Matley would have a few of these springs/well about.
Thanks for helping out Dave.. I'll check some maps tomorrow if I can.. Matley Spring Brewery as a nice ring to though.. ;o)

Brian Robertson said...

Having visited the site of the brewery yesterday, I certainly didn't see any sign of a garden supplies centre on the site.

Opposite where Mottram Old Road joins Mottram Road is the start of Blundering Lane. Walk down this narrow lane (It seems to have been roughly surfaced at one time) and you will pass a couple of houses on your left. The nearest to the lane gives the game away by being called Brewery House. A very gracious lady from that house told me that the brewery workers lived there at one time. The brewery was closed in the 1830s and demolished in the 1950s according to this lady. The business became Gartside's Brewery at Guide Bridge (Eventually bought and destroyed by Bass).

The brewery was behind these houses and the site has been partly covered by Bardsley Gate Avenue. However, at the back of the houses some remnants of what I assume to be the brewery remain. A stone pinnacle with a weather vane on top of it is the best.

Fascinating stuff.

Tom said...

i Brian
fantastic stuff.... as soon as I'm up to it I'll stop by and take a walk about.... thank you for taking the time to update this...
Tom

Woody said...

I was searching for Blundert Mill, Matley when Google referred me to this post.

Cheshire County Council has constructed a free website on which you can access tithe maps in the 1830s/50s. There are also ordnance survey maps for 1875 and 1910, and aerial photos for 1970. Any two of these maps can be viewed side-by-side for comparison.

The map for 1850 clearly shows Blundert Mill at the Mottram Road end of Blundering Lane. By 1875 the mill has become Matleyspring Brewery and its location is the little valley directly opposite the Dog & Partridge pub. The old cobbled road connecting Blundering Lane to Mottram Road at this point is now a public footpath.

The Cheshire tithe maps website can be accessed through Google by searching for ‘e-mapping Victorian Cheshire’ and selecting the ‘twin maps’ option. You’ll need your postcode to find the maps for your own house. The postcode for Blundering Lane is SK15 2ST.

Thanks for publishing the photos of the old mill/brewery. They’re exactly what I was looking for.

Tom said...

Hi Woody...
We do now use the above maps as reference but I didn't know of them when I did this post last year... I must find the time to up date with the maps. If you think we can be of help again please feel free to get in touch