Godley School Classes From The 1920's

This photograph is a wonderful insight into school classrooms in the 1920s. The school shown is Godley School on High Street.

This picture was sent to us, with some others, from Stephen Burton who tells us that his mums older stepbrother is in the photo and sadly he passed away not many years later.

Many thanks to Stephen

Zion Whit Walks

Here is a  photo showing the Zion Church Whit Walks circa 1966.

Me and my older sister Jane are the little girls in matching dresses, Linda Shepley is the little girl next to us and she is walking with her Mum, Aunt and little brother John who is in the pushchair. Gladys Hodgson is the lady in the hat at the front leading us. A lovely lady, who was one of the Sunday School teachers.

Williams Glyns Bank can be seen on the corner next to Greenwoods Mens Outfitters and the Town Hall is to the right of the picture.

Adverts from another era

Further to the cast iron crane plaque shown on the blog the other day, here are two adverts for Adamsons, one showing the type of work they did.

The firm of Joseph Adamson was established in 1874 by Joseph Adamson in partnership with Harry Booth, who retired in 1887. Adamson's two sons were then taken into partnership in 1902. The business was carried on by the sons after Adamson's death in 1920 until 1925, when the partnership was dissolved leaving the eldest son, Daniel, as sole proprietor of the business, assisted by his two sons, G.H.Adamson and J.Adamson

 

Thanks to Jeffrey Stafford for the information.

Thanks to Elsie Dee for the adverts. 

Much appreciated ! :)

Tranquil spot.

 With all the upheavel with the market being redeveloped, I just thought I'd show this shot which shows the Cenotaph on Werneth Low overlooking all the mayhem !
Such a place of tranquility !

 

As Tufty Club said, if you're not from Hyde you might have trouble spotting it, so I've zoomed in :)

Hyde Chapel Postcard

The history of Hyde Chapel goes back to before 1708, when the congregation built the first Christian place of worship in Hyde. A new church replaced the former building in 1846. This second chapel is still in use today, its high steeple, a noted landmark, is also a Grade II, listed building.

Beatrix Potter's mother and aunt were both married at Hyde Chapel. The Rev. Charles Beard married her mother, Helen Leech, and Rupert Potter in August 1863, while her aunt, Elizabeth Leech, married Walter Potter in May 1862. The Potter family grave is in the churchyard.


Thanks to http://www.unitarian.org.uk/ecu/HydeChapel/

Joseph Adamsons.

Perusing Ebay this week,  I saw this interesting article for sale.

As Joseph Adamsons played a huge part of Hyde's past history I should imagine this will be extremely collectable. ....

LARGE CAST IRON PLAQUE FROM WORKS CRANE .

DATED 1942.

Joseph Adamson and Company were, at one time, known all over the world for their engineering skills and products. Boiler making was just one of their specialities.. 

Joseph's uncle, Daniel Adamson, was the founder of the Manchester Ship Canal. Adamsons was a big employer at one time, but, like a lot, it fell by the wayside and it has now been split into units, shops and a transport yard which are now collectively known as Adamsons Industrial Estate.

Gower Hey Wood.

 Here are a few recent photographs of Gower Hey Woods showing the ongoing work that is being done by the Gower Hey Conservation Group. They are doing a great job with the new pond and the woods look so much cleaner and nicer.


Any idea what species of tree this is? The bark is quite distinctive .


The new pond is looking good. Such an improvement on the dank, dark wetland that stood there before the pond was made.



The entrance to the woods via the Trans Pennine trail between Stockport Road and Apethorn Lane..

Last year , after visiting the woods to see the important work done by the Conservation Group, MP Jonathan Reynolds said  

"Members of the Gower Hey Wood Conservation Group have worked hard to ensure the local community can fully appreciate the natural and industrial heritage of the Gower Hey Wood area. And their commitment and effort should be congratulated."

...and so say all of us !

A big thank you to everyone for their continued sterling work ! :)

Leigh Street Infants.

A couple more photographs from Joyce Pattison here.
Leigh Street Infants circa 1965/1966.

I recognise a few old friends on these including Christine Worthington, Martin Pattison (r.i.p.) , Christine Lanigan, Susan Aris, Sandra Lee and John Hampson.

I will endeavour to list them all when I have some time (and help) !




Mrs Shaws classroom in the background.

I loved her class. She gave you sweets for reading the cards without any mistakes (probably why I learnt to read so early and easily) and there was always a little fire burning in the grate. I even remember my coat peg symbol which was an umbrella !! Aww...happy days !

Many thanks, Joyce . Great to see them again. :)

This week we received these photos and this letter off Meglet....

"Hi All @ Hydonian Blog

This is more of an alert rather than a trip down memory lane.

But, this is a 'Heads up' I think all those who visit the blog should know about.

I've known for a number of years Kerry Foods have been in negotiation with Tameside Council, to create a new access road for their factory at Godley.

No one who knows Godley Hill Road, can deny they desperately need it.

The narrow, curved, single lane, they have at the moment has been inadequate for decades, and the precarious traffic light system they operate from the security lodge is problematic at best.

Well, now planning permission has been given the go ahead, and groundwork has already started, but the plans approved means that one of the least known, but possibly the most awe inspiring, remaining buildings of Hyde's history is about to be demolished.

I know Godley Hill Road, and the current access road have been captured by 'Google Street View', but the old railway sheds on the car park approach can only fleetingly be seen.

So, I have included some quick snaps I took recently, and one from Godley East Station from 1979, where the side of the sheds can be seen in the distance.

I must admit that I know really nothing of the building other than what is seen in the photos.

The building was part of the old railways sidings and marshalling yards of the long closed Godley East Railway Station, and as you can see, it stretches the full length of the Kerry Foods car park approach road, about 100 meters in length.

To me it looks very much like a fortification, with it's tightly packed small stone blocks construction, and so, gives off a wonderful aura of indestructibility and history. So, I was not surprised at all when I spoke to a very old Walls' (now Kerry Foods) employee who told me, that when he was a young lad at the factory he was told that the building was used, during both World Wars, to store munitions prior to transportation.

It's generally considered by those I have asked that the building was built around 150 years ago, which I feel also.  It's roof is in very poor shape, and it has evidently had some repairs done with standard bricks over the years, but it is still very awesome to look at.

At the moment (July 2012) the only work that has commenced is the clearing of trees around the building, as can be see in one of the photos.

I believe work is due to begin proper in October 2012, and the whole project will take 12 months to complete, as the access road is planned to carry on through and up towards Hattersley.

If this building is to be razed then I will try and get as much video & photos of it as I can from all sides, but I'm not sure how much access I will be able to get.

I think the inside will be well off limits, and dangerous, but I would love to explore it.

If anyone is in the vicinity, I recommend you take a look in person, it is a magnificent structure.  There is no problem walking up the road, but walking into the car park around the back of the sheds is not advisable, as they are under CCTV.

Anything on the building true history and function would be fantastic to know, I will update about the demolition process when it happens."

 



Many thanks for letting us know, Meglet. :)

If anyone else knows anything else about the demolition of this building or any other building around the Hyde area , please let us know !!

The Fountain on Hyde Market

As most Hydonian will be aware, the market is in the middle of a revamp.
Here is a photo showing how the market looked in the 1970's - complete with fountain, stone built seating and planters.
The Town Hall can be seen in the background.

I have very fond memories of this market.



Many thanks to Martin Leigh for the photograph .
Much appreciated, Martin !! :)

Leigh Street School photos

The following Four photos were lent to us by Joyce Pattison.
They show various classes in Leigh Street Primary School circa 1950



Front Row:
Brian Hill, Alan Chadwick, Billy Burgoine, Barry Charlesworth, Roger Andrews, David Mellor, Michael Smith, Tony Crompton, Michael Horsefield, Brian Preston.
Middle Row:
Anne Lacey, Joan Leigh, Joan Mullins, Hilary Walker, Hilda Turner, Marjorie Wilson, Cynthia Wrigley, Norma Wilkinson, Dorothy Mather, Sylvia West, Irene Taylor, Pamela Harris, Celia Bromley.
Middle Row:
Frank Crompton, Roy Bennett , Marjorie Ashworth, Amy Barlow, Davina Knowles, Valerie Holland, Maureen Mansfield, Margaret Andrew, Joyce Smith, Jay ?, Ann Hayward, Pat Bramwell, David Hood.
Back Row:
Alan Ralphs, Susan Slater, Irene Rhodes, Gillian Parry, Audrey Etchells, Brenda Warhurst, Gordon McConnell, Joan Butterworth, Barbara Austin, Ann Handforth, Hilary Bellis, Irene Berry, Colin Howarth.

Mr Renwick is the Headmaster & Miss Lee's, the Teacher. Circa 1952


Hyde United's football stand can be seen in the background.




Mr Drewitt (?) is the Teacher and Mr Renwick is the HeadMaster.

Thanks very much, Joyce :)

Postcards from another time.

 An assortment of old Postcards.


Dowson Road


Newton Station


Green Lane


Compstall. Not technically Hyde but show the other side of Werneth Low


The Isolation Hospital and a view of Werneth Low before the Cenotaph was erected.  

 (Pre 25th of June 1921).

OLD HYDE CRICKET CLUBS By Jeffrey Stafford.

  Here is another wonderful article written by Jeffrey Stafford.

Above are two maps showing the location of the first home of Cricket in Hyde, at Newton Bank Cricket Club.  The first map is from 1887 and the second one is present day.

Many Thanks, Jeffrey ! :)

Zion Whit Walks

 The following email and photos were recently sent to us by Susan Jaleel.
They show the Zion Congregational Church Whit Walks.
The photos were taken on 2nd June 1968.

"The attached photos were loaned to me earlier this year and I've just got round to scanning them!  They belong to my lifelong friend, Margaret Gilson, who appears on two of them as the [then] young lady in the pink dress.

Pictures 1 & 3 are taken at the corner of Croft Street and Market Street, and clearly show Bradley's the outfitters.

Pictures 2 & 4 are taken further up Market Street near the Union Street junction and we can see two posh kids' clothes shops Bo-Peep and Bentley's.  In Picture 4 we can just about see Timothy White and Taylor's, Chemists, which was next door to Bentley's.

Pictures 2,3 & 4 are of Zion Chapel members.  On Picture 2 the two ladies walking just in front of the men are Mrs Marion Yates and Mrs Jessie Mateer [Barlow as was], both aunts of Margaret Gilson."

 


 
 Bo Peep was next door to the Cheshire Cheese pub on Market Street

 

Thank you so much, Susan.  :)

The story of Garbetts Shoes by Jeffrey Stafford

Here we have an article written by Jeffrey Stafford
It is about Garbetts Shoe shop and the Garbett family.












Garbetts Shop "Comfort Corner" on Newton Street / Manchester Road

The Unity Inn on the corner of Croft Street and Oldham Street









Many thanks to Jeffrey. As always, a great account. :)