Leigh Street Infant School

This charming photo is a school photo from Leigh Street Infant School circa 1969/70. It was sent in to us by Mark Shaw ,who is on the back row , second from the right. Don't they look little angels !! The teachers are , if my memory serves me correctly , Miss French on the left and headmistress Mrs Woodley on the right !
I recognise quite a few of this class as I think I was in the year above (maybe two).
If you recognise anyone on this photo (maybe yourself) then please get in touch so we can add your name. When I have a list of names I shall update this post..




I can think I can recognise ,in no particular order, Anne Broadhead, Paul Williams, Roy Ward, Alan Saville, Robin Morgan, Shirley Williams? Tracey Catlow, Jean Oldham ,Loretta Lomax? Nigel Bridge ?  Luisa Shelenko , Elizabeth Parsons ... I'd love to know the rest of their names.

From Hyde To Wanganui

We have been contacted by Alan and Brenda Maddocks from Wanganui New Zealand, and this is what he has to say:

I enjoy browsing your website.  My wife Brenda and I lived at 3 Cleveland Avenue, Hyde, 1962 -69, An electrician I worked for Hyde Corporation for a few months during 1966, then for Godley Footwear until 1969. Brenda at one time worked part time at Walls and for a company at Gee Cross that sold paper products but we cannot remember it's name.  Early 1970 we moved to Denton and in 1973 emigrated to Wanganui New Zealand. Our son and daughter were both born at Aspland Home. One thing I enjoyed about living in Cleveland Avenue, a short walk along Alexander Street and there was the canal, a great place for a walk along the towpath.

I have a collection of postcards, including the one above, it is unused and I cannot remember how I acquired it.  I hope your readers could date the photograph, maybe even recognise some of the people.

I took this photograph 2 evenings ago, we are in winter now in NZ but we are having a few days of clear weather, bright sunny days but cold at night.  The peak on the horizon is Mount Taranaki, about 60 miles away as the crow flies.

 





Thanks again to Dave Williams for these pictures of Cleveland Avenue

Church Brow Gardens

This postcard shows the allotments that used to be behind St Georges Church. They were known locally as Church Brow Gardens. I believe there are still a few in existence.

Up-dated with pictures 29th July 2011
 by Dave Williams 

Dave says:

Here's a couple of photos I took today. The first one's from just in front of where the church is in the picture, and I had to lift my camera up above a fence to see what was on the other side. The second photo is from near the end of Woodend Lane just before the railway bridge, and looking back towards the church. It looks pretty desolate, but there's what looks like a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig and some hens (and I seem to recall a duck or two when I've passed previously) on one of the allotments.

Hyde Grammar 'Golden Jubilee' Magazine

The Staff 1952

Back row – left to right

Mr. W.T. Hurst, Mr. K.B. Saxton, Mr. E. Martin, ?, ?, Mr. F. Bottomley, ?, Mr. H.L. Collis, Mr. G. Wain, ?, ?, Mr. D.A. Norwood, ?, Mr. G.S. Orchard, ?, ?, M.  Houelbecq, ?, Mr. W.J. Wood, Mr. C.A. Blackwell, Mr. P.F. Boardman.

Front Row – left to right

?, Miss Westerman, Miss Boucher, ?, ?, Miss M.D. Plowe, Miss N. Barker, Miss M. Dives, Dr. F.C. Couzens, Headmaster, Miss E. Armstrong, Headmistress, ?, ?, ?, ?, Miss Grimshaw, ?, ?, Miss D. Bates, Miss M. Whitely, Miss Kenyon, ?

Hope you find this useful.

Thank you to Gillian Meakin from Canada who kindly sent these in

Hyde Grammar Views

Early Views

The building in Clarendon Road cost £12,000 and was opened on September 17th 1912, by Sir George Dixon, chairman of the County Council. Large extensions to the building were made and opened in 1929 and at that time the name was changed to the "Hyde Grammar School". The building is now Hyde 6th Form College.

View from the 1930s

Pictures and information from Paul Taylor's "A Pictorial History Of Old Hyde On Photo CD".  

The History of Hyde Grammar School part 1

Below is a brief history of the beginnings of Hyde Grammar School as written by George Wain, a former teacher and pupil of the school.





The original Hyde Grammar School building on the corner of Edna St and Henry Street.(Complete with naughty schoolboy loitering) :)



Hyde Technical School was at the side of the library building on Union Street.

Last service at St Stephens Church.

 Last weekend saw the last service and subsequent closure of St Stephens Church in Flowery Field.
Here is an article that was given out at that service explaining the sad news and their move up to St Mary's.
It's always so sad to see the closure of a church.

Union St Congregational Whit walk.

Here is a delightful photograph that was given to my Mum by a Mrs D Burdekin who lived on Norfolk Street.
It shows Zion Congregational Church walking up Market Street  in the Whit Walks. I believe Mrs Burdekin is the lady looking after the children.



It took a lot more than a spot of rain to spoil the walks. as you can see by the huge turnout!
I have no date for this photo yet so if anyone out there can help , please leave a comment below.

Thanks to D Burdekin for the photo.

EDIT


We were contacted by Gordon Burdekin who tells us that he believes the photo was taken in 1960 and it was Zion Congregational not Union Street Congregational, which I have amended. His Mother is holding the hand of his sister Pamela who is aged about 3.
Many Thanks, Gordon. :)

Hyde Town Hall

This photograph shows Hyde Town Hall with the chimney from Greenfield Mill in the background.
Is this part of the Sunday night promenade where "respectable" Hydonians decked  in their finery to demonstrate married 'felicity'  (married bliss)  to all and sundry? Promenading usually included a walk up to Godley Arches or the like, acknowledging contemporaries on the way. No pubs !

Zion Sunday School Pantomime.

Here is a newspaper article about a pantomime that was presented by Zion Sunday School. Unfortunately we dont have a year for it so if there's anyone out there that can help us, please get in touch  .Zion successfully ran pantomimes between 1948-60 which were very well attended.

24th November 1991

It is almost twenty years since Clarendon Square Shopping Centre opened its doors after a huge makeover. The following article was featured in the local paper along with an itinery for the opening .....

Up-date with the following 3 picture from Paul Taylor

Tesco's... who recalls the escalator



Changes clothes shop on the left, and Hyde Music Centre centre.

Hyde D.C.M.

Hyde D.C.M.’s

Investiture by the King

Two Hyde men, who both gained the Distinguished Conduct Medal, attended an investiture at Buckingham Palace. They are Sergeant Harold Smith, 2 Great Norbury Street, Hyde and W/O Stanley Howe, 56 Edna Street, Hyde.

Sergeant Smith’s award was for his fine work in defending his position from sharp attack by the enemies armoured cars during the Italian campaign. Towards the end of the engagement, an anti-personnel bomb exploded by the Sergeant’s gun pit wounding two of his gunners, and very seriously wounding himself in the chest. Despite the fact he was already in great pain and could only talk and breathe with difficulty, Sergeant Smith continued to maintain complete control of his detachment.

Presently he started towards the gun position nearest his own, to obtain help, and find out about the ammunition situation, which as far as he knew, was not re-assuring. However, the heavy smoke from two burning haystacks nearby, and the smell of the cordite overpowered him, and he collapsed before reaching his objective. Fortunately he was speedily found, and taken to the nearest casualty clearing station. Throughout the action he thought only of his duty, and his detachment, he conducted himself in a manner which was inspiring by its selflessness and heroism.

Sergeant Smith served with the Royal Artillery for 13 years. He was demobilised, and found employment at Redfern’s Rubber Works. Hyde.

Son of Last War D.C.M.

Son of a last war winner of the D.C.M. W/O Stanley Howe, whose wife and two daughters live at 56 Edna Street, was awarded the D.C.M. for outstanding bravery during the fighting in N.W. Europe. Thomas Howe, of 15 Gibraltar Lane Denton, gained his award in the 1914-18 war.

On August 12^th, 1944, near La Plessis, the 9^th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry, was ordered to attack a feature. W/O Howe’s company was the forward company. The objective was strongly held and throughout the advance the company was heaverly shelled and mortared. W/O Howe displayed personal courage and powers of leadership of the highest order during the entire action, and it was due to his initiative that the company gained and held it’s objective.

Mr. Howe, was born in the house where his parents still live on Gibraltar Lane. As a boy he went to Haughton St. Mary’s School, and played in the school’s football and cricket teams.

He was accompanied to London by his wife, daughters, father and his mother-in-law, Mrs. Maidment. They arrived at the Palace about 9-45 a.m., and were shown into a fine room in the right wing of the Palace, where about 280 Servicemen, including Hyde’s ex-Sergeant Smith, were waiting to be received by His Majesty. The King spoke to each man as he passed.

Sergeant Smith is a member of Hyde Botanical Club, and came in for many congratulations at a 

party at the club, when over 100 ex-servicemen and women were “Welcomed Home”

The Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) was (until 1993) an extremely high level award for bravery. It was a second level military decoration awarded to other  ranks of the British Army and formerly also to non-commissioned personnel of other Commonwealth countries.

The medal was instituted in 1854, during the Crimean War to recognise gallantry within the other ranks, for which it was equivalent of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) awarded for bravery to commissioned officers, but the DCM ranked well below the DCO in precedence.

Although considered to be the army's second ranking gallantry award, the DCM was almost always seen as a "near miss for the VC"

I'd like to thank Lynne Quirk for sending in the newspaper cutting the above posting came from.
Lynne says: 

"Thank you for the post about my Mum's book. I am sending you this cutting about the DCM double award in Hyde after WW2. Stanley Howe, one of the two recipients, was the childhood friend my mum mentioned in the book "Where's Our Lizzie". She describes him as a neighbour and school friend. You can see from the article that he lived at number 15 Gibraltar Lane, Haughton Green as a lad. She lived at number 11. From the article you can see that his father won it in WW1. In my mum's book she says how the father, Tommy Howe, worked down the pit with her Dad. Although miners were exempt from call up, Mr Howe senior insisted on enlisting in WW1 and won the DCM for bravery . She goes on to say that her childhood friend Stanley also won it in WW2. He had obviously moved to Hyde by this time. I found this newspaper cutting among her "treasures" when she died in 2008. She had kept it all those years"

  Where’s Our Lizzie

Back Lane / Lumn area article.

Here is an article about the Back Lane and the Lumn area of Hyde that was written by Ron Braddock and featured in the Reporter some years ago.

"The Queen Street junction, which is located some 219 yards from Smithy Lane, was originally an entrance to a cul-de-sac.

In 1872 it was called "Queens Dock" and contained seven houses which were sited near a gasometer. They were demolished to make way for the factory extension which was built along Back Lane.

The name Queens Dock was partly retained when the existing road was extended to Market Street. The new road was called Queen Street and recent demolition has deprived it of many houses.

Opposite the Queen Street junction is a corporation signpost which indicates the routes to Stockport and Sheffield. The post is sited on the east side of Lumn Road, close to a new apartment block.

The row of old stone cottages on the west side of Lumn Road which exited from Queen Street to a point near Wood Street were built before 1841. Until quite recently there was a reservoir behind theses houses called 'Stone Row'

Beyond 'Stone Row' is the Gardeners public house which can be traced back to 1833. It is located on the corner of Wood Street and Lumn Road. In 1841 when the place was held by the trustees of the late Joseph Horsfield and occupied by Jesse Howarth the rateable value was £28. Other publicand were Thomas Platt 1835, Lucy Wild 1838 and Lucy Hawarth 1865.

In 1891 the Gardeners Arms was owned by Margaret Horsfield of Longlands ,Godley and the licensee was Charles E. Barber. The pub was a freehouse and there were 2 beds for travellers and accomodation for supplying refreshments for 30 persons. Provisions of stabling consisted of a stable with two stalls and the Gardeners Arms was described as being a "good house".

Birdcage Walk Flowery Field

Black and White picture provided by Grant

Birdcage Walk Lodge Lane End

Birdcage Walk is a footpath that goes between Lodge Lane and Bennet Street...   The entrance to Floweryfield Train Station in off this footpath by the Bennet Street side. I'd like to know how it got it's name.... can you help?

Roof Top Views

I was lucky to have been given a couple of books and a disk of photo's by Grant. When I get the disk I was more than pleased with the content and Grants pictures will be featured now and then over the few weeks. Grant tells me pictures were all taken in the 1990's. This one shows the roof top views and was taken from the Town Hall.

Municipal Building

This fine looking building was on on the corner of Water Street and Greenfield Street, the sign in the picture says 'District Offices'. I never went in the building and never knew what went on in there... yet I would have walked past it many times on my way to Greenfield Street School... The Building was back to back with the Old Fire Station...  If you know more about what went on in there... when it was built or pulled down please let us know. What a shame such a building as this was lost for what is now a car park. I wonder where those columns and stone work ended up... 

Pictures By Dave Williams 

View across Baron Road Fields.

This shows the view looking down Baron Road Fields towards Hyde Chapel.

The factory in the foreground has now been demolished and the houses on Orchard Rise stand in it's place..It was originally named  "Nether Hey" Works according to the old maps of 1910.

Thanks to Jack and Doreen Morris for the great photo !