Gerrards

Pictures From Susan Jaleel & Paul Taylor

Junction of Dowson Road and Stockport Road at Gerrards

Before Dowson Road came into being there was a valley which started near to Gee Cross village, and towards the end of the 1800s at the side of Gerrard's Cross were 12 cottages in the valley which was called Gerrards Hollow. You got to these from Gerrard Street or Apethorn Lane. Gerrard Street was the name given to the stretch of road from The Grape's Hotel to Gerrards Cross. These cottages were lost when part of Gerrard's Hollow was filled in to carry Dowson Road. Gerrards, Apethorn and Gibraltar are steeped in history and have changed through the centuries... from farms and folds, to cotton mills that ran by water power from the stream that now barely trickles through the valley today. The canal was cut and an aqueduct built, at Gibraltar a weir was built in the river Tame to provide another source of water power. Later two railway lines were added and more of the valley was filled in. Walking around there today you can still see clues to how it must have looked back then. The second picture shows all the fields as they were before the top end of Knott Lane was built up.... I'm sure that bench is still around there...