Woolworths (Disappeared shops)

These photo's need no explanation.



Woolworths closed its doors to the public for the last time somewhere between 27th December 2008 and 6th January 2009.

Sadly missed (well the pick 'n' mix counter is anyway )!



Woolworths opened in Hyde in what was formerly Brownsons store.

Charabanc outing from the Red Lion.

This small snippet was in the newspaper last week.
It's funny how words go out of existence with the generations.




For those who are young enough NOT to remember a Charabanc (yay , me included) , here is a photo of a Charabanc outing from the Red Lion, which was situated on Manchester Road.


"Charabancs were a kind of early convertible bus, with a top covering which could be used in inclement weather".



"The address of the Red Lion was originally Rochfort Street , which is now Clark Way crossing the motorway. It started life around 1857 as a beerhouse and got a full licence in the 1930's.
The landlord in 1910 was George Webb who ran many charabanc outings.
The Red Lion was almost demolished for the new Hyde by-pass , but was reprieved, closing for a long period to reopen as the Hyde-away. This closed in 1981 after a few years but again the pub reopened, with its original name of the Red Lion.
Sadly ,it has now shut for good".

Thanks to Paul Taylor for the information.

Hewitt Street (was Cooper Street)

Hewitt Street was situated on the right hand side of Manchester Road, just after the canal. The original name of the street was Cooper Street, this existed until sometime around the 1940's when for some unknown reason it was changed to Hewitt Street. At the bottom left hand side of the street was the Kingston Hat Works, further down leading to Wilson Brook.
The first photo shows the left hand side of Hewitt Street in 1958, with the hat works to the right and the terraced houses on Manchester Road to the left, a nice old advert for Smith's Crisps on the end wall. The second photo shows the right hand side of Hewitt Street again around 1958. The corner shop had been a chippy but had recently closed down, next door was "Home Fittings" and then "Northern Plastics Limited", a company which is still in existence today.
Hewitt Street, after demolition of all the properties shown on these photo's became the entrance to the newly built Automasters Ltd.
A description of Automasters from a 1970's booklet is reproduced below:-

AUTO-MASTERS LIMITED


Auto-masters Ltd (engineers) were first established at Denton in 1947, and moved to Hyde in 1952, when they purchased premises off Manchester Road. By 1960 the old buildings had been replaced by a new bay on the same site, and this , together with adjacent works premises, since purchased , now total over 5000 square feet of floor area, standing on a five acre site.
Further development is planned for the future, and a start to the proposed frontage on to Manchester Road was made in 1964, when the original sites of demolished houses and shops were laid out with low walling, planted with semi-mature trees, and a large neon sign located over Hewitt Street to mark the main entrance.
The company is equipped with the latest machine tools and fabrication equipment, and a headroom of 25 feet, with travelling cranes up to 100 tons capacity, provide adequate facilities for most engineering requirements.











The area around Cooper Street (Hewitt St) in 1897


Last stages of construction of the new Auto-masters premises around 1970

Whit walks up Manchester Road.

This great photo was sent to us by Elayne Farmer who also sent us this message with it.

"This photo shows Nellie Ashworth (worked in Arthur Dane's) & her sister Cissy Leigh (who worked in the Co-op) on a wet whit walk. Unfortunately we do not know from which year". I remember showing off your new clothes to the rellies and getting 3d bits or a 6d if you were really lucky. How much would that cost today? - at least a fiver i suspect!)


Walking past the Wheatsheaf pub. Notice the distinctive windows of the shop next to Barry Hett's shop ,top right, which enabled me to identify where they were walking !


The Wheatsheaf

Hyde Schools and Services information.

 An information article about Hyde Schools and Services I found on the back of a map dated between January 1970 and February 1971.



*We had Nine Sub-post Offices.
*We only had two Market Days.
*We had a Maternity Home.
*We had a Registrar.
*We had Five Secondary Schools
*We had three different public convenience sites.

But....
*We had half day closing on a Tuesday
*Most shops closed on Sunday
*We had stricter licensing laws.

Oh,  for the good old days ! ;)

Adverts in the Reporter. 1977

Whitby return for only £3.05! It would be about £30 now.


Two scary films for the price of one !
July 1977

The Savage Bees
In this horror-drama the festive fun of the annual Mardi Gras celebration is brought to a halt when a swarm of African killer bees escape from a foreign freighter.

The Incredible Melting Man
An astronaut is transformed into a murderous gelatinous mass after returning from an ill-fated space voyage.

Sound really scary !! ha ha !


The shop is still there but I believe the owner has now retired.

T. Wall & Sons Advert

An advert on the back of an old Hyde map.
Walls as a meat product company has ceased to be - It's just the name of the product now.


In 1786, Richard Wall opened a butcher's stall in St James's Market, London. Selling meat and meat products, he gained a reputation for being a fine pork butcher. In 1812, Richard received the first Royal Appointment to George, Prince of Wales as "Purveyor of Pork," continuing to serve him through his later reign as King George IV.

In 1817, Thomas Wall was born, followed by a daughter Eleanor, in 1824. Richard's business boomed, and in 1834 he moved to new premises at 113 Jermyn Street. However, shortly afterwards Richard Wall died leaving his widow, Ann, and 19 year old son to run the business. Trading as Ann Wall and Son, Ann also died very shortly after the death of her husband.

Thomas Wall took sole charge of the business, plus the care of his 14 year old sister. After the birth of his son Thomas Wall II in 1846, Thomas Wall incorporated the business as "Thomas Wall and Son Ltd." Thomas Wall II served his apprenticeship and joined the company board in 1870, and after second son Frederick had followed the same path, the company name was changed in 1878 to "Thomas Wall & Sons Ltd." Throughout this period, the business maintained its high level standards and resultant recognition, gaining a series of Royal Appointments from Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, King George IV and King George V.

The business had always faced a problem in the summer, when sales of meat, meat pies and sausages fell, and the company was forced to lay-off staff. Now led by Thomas Wall II, he proposed developing a line of ice cream in 1913 to avoid the lay offs. But the onset of World War I put the plan on hold due to shortages.[4] Thomas Wall II decided to retire, and so sold the business in 1920 to Mac Fisheries, which itself was acquired in 1922 jointly by Lever Brothers and Margarine Unie, the founder companies of Unilever.

Now under the direction of Maxwell Holt, ice cream production commenced in 1922 at a factory in Acton, London. As ice cream grew in significance, Unilever split the company into two, T Wall and Son (Ice Cream) Ltd and T Wall and Son (Meats) Ltd. In 1959, Wall's doubled capacity by opening a purpose built ice cream factory in Gloucester, England. In 1981 Unilever merged T Wall and Son (Ice Cream) Ltd with Birds Eye Foods Ltd to form Birds Eye Wall's Ltd. Following a review of production facilities, the Gloucester factory was expanded and updated, and the Acton factory was closed ("Project Phoenix" 1983).

After the purchase of sausage and pate producer Mattessons in the early 1980s, Unilever merged the two companies to form Mattessons Wall's.

Following a review, in 1994 Unilever sold off Mattessons Wall's, the ownership to the Mattessons brand, and a licence to sell meat products within the UK under the Wall's brand to Kerry Foods.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall%27s_%28company%29

St Stephens Church

With the recent sad news of the closure of St Stephens Church we received this photo of the Altar in the church.



"Here is a Picture of the Altar at St Stephens Church in Hyde
Loaned to me by my brother Jeff and his son Mathew. Thanks, David Stafford".



I really hope that this fine church survives demolition. It is a Grade II listed building so there is a glimmer of hope.

Thanks to David Stafford & Mike Berrell for the great photographs.
Much appreciated as always !

Nelson Street

The next two photos show that very little has changed on Nelson Street in the last 40 years or so. Parts of it are one way now though.

Nelson Street early 1970's

The corner shop between Nelson Street and Travis Street is no longer there though. The Slater family used to live there when I was growing up.

Nelson Street 2010

Thanks to Angela C for the top photo, The bottom photo is courtesy of google maps.

Nags Head (Disappeared Pubs)

This next post was written by the blogs very own Paul Taylor and appears in his excellent book "The History of the Pubs of Hyde and District".






The white building in the centre is the site of the Nags Head , Asda's car park is to the left and Market Street to the right of the photo.
(Thanks to Bing Maps)


Taken by Dave in November 2010


A building is recorded on this tithe maps from 1836-51. Unfortunately no record of who owned the plot of land is recorded.

For anyone interested ,Paul Taylors wonderful book can be purchased from Harrisons Newsagents on Market Street in Hyde.

George Street Chapel.

Hyde Methodist Chapel (New Connexion), or George Street Chapel as it was more commonly known , stood on George Street just behind the bus station.
It was Built in 1858. 



In 1954 George Street united with Hyde former Wesleyan Methodist church and Hoviley Brow Church to form Hyde Central Methodist Church

Taken from "The Annals of Hyde"

In the year 1830 the (Methodist New) Connexion commenced work in Hyde, a small room in Cross Street being used for religious worship. In 1833, the Church had grown sufficiently to warrant the erection of a small chapel in George Street. The leading spirit in the movement about that time seems to have been a Mr. John Leech. A Sunday school was formed and this appears to have strengthened the church. Progress continuing, the large George Street Chapel was erected in 1858. The old schools were replaced in 1885 by the present spacious building adjoining the chapel.



Hyde Methodist Chapel


Like many other buildings in Hyde it was lost forever when the motorway came through the town, cutting it in half.


The memorial in Hyde cemetery.

Top of Joel Lane / Higham Lane

 Here is a postcard of the top of Joel Lane / Higham Lane.
I'm unsure of the date but I'm sure someone will be able to let us know.
Notice the car to the left and the telephone box behind the bench.
Such a tranquil spot. Doesn't look much different today....



Such a tranquil spot. Doesn't look much different today....


Photo taken by Dave in April.

Thanks Dave !

Best Wishes to Tom !

 Dear All,


Just to let you know that Tom is in Hospital at the moment.
I'm sure you'd all like to join me in a big...

GET WELL SOON , TOM !    We miss you ! 

I will keep you updated on his progress and I'm sure he'll be back with us soon !

Nancy

Small Workshop on Lumn Road.

 The photo below was given to us by John and Doreen Morris.
It is of a workshop that stands on the corner of Lumn Road & Townend Street. It has been here for as long as I can remember. I used to walk past it when I attended Leigh Street Infants/Junior school in the 1960/70's and it hasn't really altered at all. 
I think it is (or was) a leather works at some time.


 Circa 1990 . Notice the field to the left hasn't had Leigh Primary built on it yet.


This photo Circa 2010 shows that very little has changed.


The notice in the window still shows the old area code as 061. This changed to 0161 on  April 16th  1995. It also shows that it IS a leather works ,too!



This map from 1875 shows the building was in existence then (marked by red arrow) .

Billy Porter - Hyde United FC

Below is a newspaper cutting that shows William (Billy) Porter who played for Hyde United FC.

Billy was an English Fullback who was born in Fleetwood in July 1905. He played for Windsor Villa, Fleetwood Town, Oldham Athletic, Manchester United and Hyde United,with a few guest appearances for various teams during the Second World War. Records show that he played 274 games for Oldham Athletic...65 for Manchester United and also appeared in 121 war-time matches for Reds... Unfortunately I don't have any record of his Hyde United career. He was transferred from Manchester United to Hyde United in September 1944.
Billy was instrumental in supporting and developing Johnny Carey (Manchester United), who presented Billy with his first Irish Cap.

Billy worked at Metro Vicks during war. This was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse.



Sadly, Billy died on the 28th April 1946 in Ashton-Under-Lyne. Bert Whalley, Manchester United Footballer and later Coach of the Busby Babes who perished in the Munich Disaster, was with him when he collapsed & died . He was only 40 years of age.
He was player/manager at Hyde United at the time of his death.

He won the Lancashire Combination Cup with Fleetwood in 1925/6 & 
Won the 2nd Division title with Manchester United.
He took Hyde to Cheshire County Cup final.



The above picture shows a game between Droylsden FC and Hyde United which ended 1-1. Billy is shown on the left.

Many thanks to Nick Clarke for this cutting and "Mr Mujac" for the information.
Much appreciated.

Rowbotham Street Chapel of Rest

The next two pictures show the little Chapel of Rest building that used to stand on Rowbotham Street in Gee Cross. I'm sorry to say I don't know anything about this building despite walking past it hundreds of times.I'm not even sure who it belonged to though I was always led to believe it belonged to the Armitage family.


Gee Cross Methodist Church can be seen in the background.



A map showing the location of the building ,although the map is slightly misleading as Mottram Old Road should read Stockport Road ,I think..

Thanks to Bing & Google Maps.

If anyone knows anything about this building, please write in and let us know!

Gee Cross Brewery

Here is another Brewers jug.
This one is from The "Botanic Beer Company" in Gee Cross.
If anyone has any information on where this brewery was please contact us so we can share it.



Many Thanks to Keith Husband for allowing us to show it!

Holy Trinity Church (Updated)

Holy Trinity Church on Higham Lane in Gee Cross was founded in 1874 as a chapel to St George, becoming the parish church for parts of Hyde and Werneth in 1880. It was built by Medland and Henry Taylor,who were Manchester architects of great repute, with the tower being added in 1903.

The church was built in the early English style at a cost of £2,500. It is a handsome stone erection, consisting of chancel, nave, transept, and organ chamber, with a spire and belfry, containing one bell. The church contains about 300 free sittings. Its earliest clergy were the Rev. Thomas Burke, B.A., and the Rev. Thomas George Williams.

The following postcard was lent to us by John B. Thanks John!



View from Higham Lane.


Holy Trinity is a Grade II listed building.

Picture supplied Susan Jaleel

Many Thanks Susan !

The above are from the History Of Hyde...   by Thomas Middleton..

Postcard from Hyde

 A view of Hyde Market and the Town Hall.



You can never have too many pictures of such a beautiful building !

George Wain Article.

I came across this newspaper article from the North Cheshire Herald from 1998.
Sadly George Wain is no longer with us but he left us the legacy of his students. I'm happy to say I have an Owen Traynor painting which I received for my 18th Birthday. It still has pride of place in my house. I also have a James Fidler sketch which he gave to me when I was a pupil of his at Astley Grammar School. He was a great Teacher, I have to add.





If any of the students mentioned in the article read this, let us know if you received your work back from George - It would be great to know after all this time.