Gee Cross Methodist Stockport Road
Chris Lawton playing the Wadsworth organ inside Gee Cross Methodist Church, Hyde:
At the side of the Gee Cross Methodist and the door leading to the hall.
The Memorial foundation stone.
This was sent in by Susan Jaleel who wondered why the sign said "Methodists Church" instead of "Methodist Church" ? Anybody know?.
I think some history would be good here! This chapel, formerly Stockport Road Methodist Church, survived when the former Primitive Methodist Church at Joel Lane was demolished, possibly in the late 1960s. The photos shown are quite old, I would say, as the building looks to be in better repair than it is today. I am not the right person to give an historical account of Methodism in GX, but hope that someone else reading this blog will, as it is interesting. What amuses me is the information board to the right of the church door which is there today and announces Gee Cross Methodists Church! Can someone explain why the 's'.
ReplyDeletei used to go to this church when i was little with one of my neighbors but since then the church hall was rebuilt some years ago i remember the old church hall being quite old and run domn
ReplyDeleteThe car in Baron Road in the first photo has a 'Y' registration, which was issued between 1 Aug 1982 and 31 Jul 1983, so it looks as if that photo may date from the mid-1980s. As far as 'Methodists' is concerned the only way it would make sense is if there were an apostrophe at the end of the word (Gee Cross Methodists' Church) - alternatively it could be called The Church of the Gee Cross Methodists. To have an 's' at the end of the word all depends on whether you want to call it a Methodist church or a church belonging to Methodists. There are two other Methodist churches in Hyde, neither of which use the 's' at the end: Hyde Central Methodist Church and Rosemount Trinity Methodist Church.
ReplyDeleteThere's also the problem of whether or not to use apostrophes with churches belonging to Saints. There are six in Hyde, three of which use an apostrophe and style themselves: St George's Church, Hyde; St Mary's, the Parish Church of Newton; and St Paul's Catholic Church. The other three are: St John the Baptist, Godley; The Parish Church of St Thomas the Apostle, Hyde; and (sadly no longer with us) The Parish Church of St Stephen, Flowery Field.
There is, by the way, a history of nonconformist churches in Hyde (at least up to 1932) in Thomas Middleton's History of Hyde and can be read on pages 369 to 400 of that book.