8.45pm December 22nd 1940.

Whilst reading last weeks letter pages in the Tameside Advertiser one letter in particular caught my eye... it concerned the night Hyde was the victim of a bombing. It is thought that a German Bomber had most likely missed it's drop zone and decided to drop what bombs it had left as it flew over our town.  As you will see below it is hard now to get details and facts from that time... but Ernie as been researching into that night and finding out about a family member who died as a result of the bombing.... Violet Doreen Gardner

I contacted Ernie who wrote the letter,  and offered our help...  if anyone out there as memories or heard story's about this incidence please write in or leave a comment.

   "List of Civilian Deaths Due to War Operations" copied from the archives.   It lists them:-

Doreen GARDNER, 3 Hawthorn Grove, Hyde. Hyde 22/12/40 relative Mrs. Gardner - mother - 35 Nelson St
Frank S SHARPE, 2 Green Street, Hyde. Hyde 22/12/1940. relative Mrs Sharple, 2 Green St
Ernest  H WADDINGTON, 328 Market St, Hyde. Hyde 22/12/1940/ relative Nellie Waddington, Widow, 328 Market St
John J SUDLOW, 124 Dowson Rd., Hyde. Hyde 22/12/1940. relative William J Sudlow - son - 11 Arnold Ave
Margaret A SUDLOW, 124 Dowson Rd. Hyde 22/12/1940. relative          "             "          "       "     "       "
Norman HINCHLIFFE, 56 Newton St., Hyde/ Hyde 22/12/1940. relative John M Hinchliffe - father - 56 Newton Street.

Ernie writes that:

Apparently a family story is that there was a bomb crater (confirmed by the Chief Constables report which mentions the Gas Board being called to attend to the gas leak) and that Violets father was seen in the bottom of the crater as the gas was escaping.  Not sure how true this tale is?

Below is a letter written by Albert Proctor. It describes the bombing that took place on Church Street on December 22nd 1940. Albert went to to be a very well respected photographer in Hyde.

"A short account of damage done by bomb dropped in Hyde December 22nd 1940

by Albert Proctor".

"Church Street , about 1/4 to 8 on Sunday, after the raid had been in progress 1 hour, the town of Hyde was suddenly arroused by the screaming of bombs, followed by a terrific explosion. Within half an hour I learned that it had scored a direct hit on some houses facing St Georges School and that several people had been killed. On visiting same on Christmas day was sad to see what harm the bomb had caused. The house on which the bomb had exploded was completely destroyed and both houses on either side were damaged far beyond repair. The wall round the schoolyard bears remaining evidence of the flying shrapnel in the form of large cranies and peices of stone chipped from the surface. At the time this happened,I was home in Nelson Street within 200 yds of the fatal spot. All except 2 of our windows remains. In an area of 300 yds practically all the windows were blasted out. The vibration was dreadfully terrific and at our house we thought it had only dropped a few yds from our house".

Here are 2 photos showing the marks left by that bombing raid almost 70 years ago.

Thanks to Paul all his help in this post.

Extra information on that fateful night.

War memorial to those who died located in St George's Church, Hyde, Cheshire.

 

Killed While Returning From Church

Incidents of Air-Raid in North West

While occupants of some houses which were struck by bombs during an air raid in the North-West of England during the week-end escaped uninjured, people who were returning from a church service were killed. When houses in the middle of a row received a direct hit two children named Harold Leah, aged 3 and his Brother Thomas Leah aged 5, were buried amid the debris and their bodies were not recovered till some hours afterwards. A little girl who had been in the house playing with them was uninjured

"The news item is not very informative. It mentions that people had been killed while returning from a church service, but it doesn't give their names or location, although it does give the names some children who were killed in a different unspecified location. That was all the newspaper was allowed to print. The Herald was printed a quarter mile from the scene of the tragedy. Its reporters would have known all the details, perhaps personally known those killed, but the censor did not allow them to print the information.

The censorship of the time was an attempt to deny information to the enemy, but, post-war, it makes it difficult to obtain details of air-raid casualties. Perhaps this is why only a small percentage of the civilian bombing casualties are mentioned on war memorials, in contrast to those who died on active service where a great deal of effort was made to ensure that all were recorded".  - Carl Rogerson.

The above information was found here .

 http://www.carlscam.com/hyde/georgemem.htm

Thanks to Carl Rogerson for his invaluble information.

Below are pictures From Tower Street that Dave took for this post.

Ernie writes that two little boys aged 5 and 6 years named LEAH did die that night in what appears to have been a separate bomb which fell on/or demolished  their home at 5 Tower Street, but the records show their deaths as the 23rd, as their bodies were not recovered until the next day.    Other members of the household may have been injured in some way, but they are not shown as having been so serious as to have resulted in their death.

 The burials of the deceased appear to have taken place on the 28th Dec; that of the boys was at St George's Church and was reported in The Reporter of 3rd Jan '41 in the column alongside that of Violet Doreen.

What I have found so far on Violet Doreen GARDNER, is that she was born at New Mills on 29^th March 1923, the daughter of James GARDNER¸ a native of North Lancashire and his wife Mary Catherine nee HIBBERT, formerly of Glossop, who had married at Ulverston in 1903. At the time of her death she was a Glove Maker, at Messrs R. Ollerenshaw, Hyde, and I was interested to read through the company logo/adverts on your blog but couldn’t see one for them.  The family appear to have been residing at 3 Hawthorn Grove, Hyde, although when identifying the body at the Mortuary her mother was shown as being at 35 Nelson Street, Hyde? 

I have found her grave in Hyde Cemetery – section 2-917 – but unfortunately all that remains is a large concrete cross which does not have any inscription.   Records of Tameside Burials on-line show that buried with her are both parents and an aunt.   Just too once again show what a small world we do live in, this aunt was recognised by my wife as a near neighbour of her family when she was growing up on the outskirts of Buxton during the 1950’s

All four of the team have pulled together on this posting, I hope others can add to it with there memories or stories told by parents. If anyone as memories of Violet Doreen, or any of the victims we'd like to hear from you...  

UPDATE
The following photo and information was sent to us by Vernon Handforth.

"With reference to the fatality of Violet Doreen Gardner. She was a bridesmaid at my parents wedding ie , Mr John Handforth & Miss Eva Beck on 7th December 1940. Violet was killed just a few weeks later in the bombing. She was a very good friend of my mum's who was also a glove machinist at Ollerenshaws. I attach a wedding photo which includes Violet and Raymond Armitage who was best man".

Thanks Vernon for sharing these with us. Much appreciated.

Gower Hey

Another great photo sent to us by Sean Mayall.
"Gower Hey Woods swing park. The date is unknown. Me and my brother Alan on the slide"



This photo brought back many memories for me as I grew up close by and still live near. Such a shame that all the swings and roundabouts were removed but I suppose that is a sign of the times. If my memory serves me correctly , there was also a "witches hat" roundabout, a smaller roundabout and a sandpit. I cut my knee open on the slide once as it used to be locked up on a sunday but i would insist on climbing on it still!
Ahh , happy days :)



Aerial map from the 1970's showing where the swing park was situated. You can just make out the roundabouts by the circles. Stockport Road runs down to the right of the map. The land was originally owned by John Boardman according to Tithe maps from 1836-51

Various Zion Church photos.

The following photos were kindly sent to us by Sean Mayall.

The first one  shows the Zion Whit Walks on their way down King Edward Road circa 1974.
Pictured is Phyllis Kempster ,who was a lovely lady, and Sean and Ian.




Zions Sunday school outing, Aug 1976, place unknown.
(Possibly Blackpool,looking at the Pier).
 
from left to right, Unknown, Andrew Wilson, Janice Wilson, Alan Mayall, Jackie Slater, Darren ?, Linda Wilson and Gary Wilson.

This next one shows  Zions 1974 whit walk, up Lilly St / Backbower. Unfortunately, its difficult to make out who's who, due to poor photo quality ... an evocative photo nontheless!


I love how the children are holding on to the ribbons surrounding them :)


Karen Mayall playing snooker at Zions youth club.
She made a 50 break and the Reporter heard about it and came and took this photo !

Thanks Sean - brilliant photos, as ever!

Greenfield Street cross country team

Hi Tom /Nancy ,Just to make a change from Leigh street pics here's one from Greenie. It's of the cross country team about 1979/80.It was made up of different years so cant remember all the names.



Back row --?-- --?-- Derek Poland --?-- --?--
m/row Paul Cleary, Derek Casey, Dean Panter, Tuna Mia, Riza Mohammed, Graham Casey, Mike Yeats,Andrew Derbyshire.
f/row --?-- ? Young, --?--, --?--, Steven Fekete.

Sorry to anyone whose name is spelt wrong. regards Ceecee

Joel Lane Primitive Methodist Church

These rather wonderful photos of Joel Lane Primitive Methodist Church were loaned to us by Mike Berrell.



The front of the church on Joel lane


Inside the church

Sadly , The Chapel was closed in the late 1960's and, after its demolition, a new Close named Buckley Close was built on the site, named after one of the layers of the Chapels' original foundation stones.

Photos are Copyright of Mike Berrell
http://tamesidefamilyhistory.co.uk/hydechurches.htm

Many Thanks, Mike !

Garbetts Shoe shop (Disappeared shops)

This super account and two wonderful photos were sent to us by Trish Mullineaux. She wanted to share her memories of her familys shop, which I remember very well !

"I read the comment from Susan Ollerenshaw regarding the picture of boarded up Rumblelows. Susan mentioned Martin Middletons Music Shop in the sixties. I also remember this shop fondly as I bought many a single/EP/LP from here in the
sixties. The shop had booths where you could listen to the record before
you purchased it.
I also wanted to add a disappeared shop and street that will be fondly
remembered by many older people in Hyde. The shop was Garbetts Comfort
Corner Shoe Shop on the corner of Manchester Road and Newton St Hyde. This
was my family's shoe shop for many years..."


Float for Garbetts original shoeshop on George St Hyde, picture taken
outside the Unity Inn on Oldham Street Hyde for the carnival of 1923.



"My Great-Grandad William Garbett ( a shoemaker originally from Dawley Ironbridge Shropshire) and his two sons Frank and Jack opened a small shoe shop on George St to begin with, but this soon proved to be too small for the popularity of the shop.
So,in the mid 1920s they purchased the corner shop on Manchester Road,
which had previously been Oultons. They called their new shop Comfort
Corner and as each shop next door became empty they bought it until they
eventually had six display windows and a Mens,Ladies and Childrens Dept
(complete with popular rocking horse!) My Dad, Leonard Garbett also worked
at Comfort Corner and I remember it fondly as I helped out on
Saturdays.
The shop became compulsory purchase in 1971 to make way for the
sliproad to the motorway. (glad Great-Grandad didn't see this happen!)"

Thanks for sharing with us,Trish !



This last photo was sent to us by Susan Jaleel - This seemed the ideal opportunity to use it, along with Trish's memories !

Thanks Susan - Much appreciated as always !

Slaters Shop.(Disappeared shops)

The following was sent to us by David Stafford.

"This is a picture lent to me by my Auntie May Smith of her father outside his shop at 209, Ashton Road , Newton ,Hyde.
His name was Walter Slater and his wife‘s name was Mary. They had 4 children ,Ernest, Walter, William and May. They lived in the shop from August 1917 until 1938. The shop next door was a butcher shop run by the Stafford family and before them it was run by the Mayer’s family.
According to what my auntie tells me ,both buildings used to be a school before they were set up as shops.

May is now 94, alive and well & living in Hyde. A picture of her is on this blog - Flowery Field school 1929."





This building still stands today , as seen on Google street maps.



Many Thanks ,David!

Memories of Zion Church

This next photo and the memories were sent to us via email by Sean Mayall.
He also sent us some memories of The Ritz which I will post soon.



"I went to Zions Sunday School between the 1975-83. I have attached a photo of the Whit Walk, the photo was taken in the mid 70s.
The lady on the far left dressed in a white hat and coat was called Phylis and she was one of the delightful Sunday School Teachers. In the late 1970's , me and the rest of the Sunday School children actually restored the games room, which was located under the Church itself. It had a full sized snooker table, half sized one too, table tennis, darts to name but a few, the Sunday School ran a club where we would attend and play games on Monday nights........btw I'm the blonde headed lad in the Whit Walk photo"

The Zion is still thriving although the snooker table et al sadly long gone.
I can recognise Joanne Williams, Katie Carr, Marie ? and one of the Inglefield girls on this photo.... great memories.

Thanks Sean, much appreciated.

More Leigh Street School Photos...

Leigh Street Junior School - Mr Armistead is the teacher.
Looks like a sports team of some sort. Not a pair of trainers between them just "white" pumps! Happy to see more United shirts than City shirts even then :)


Leigh Street Infant school
Mrs Adams is the teacher and Mrs Woodley the headmistress on this photo.

Here is another picture from Leigh Street the year is 1976,



Back Row:-Paul Bakison, Andrew Ninnies, Richard Croft, Theo Chapman, Mark Lomax, Michael Hill.

Third Row:-Nicholas Miles, Mark Cox, Michael Griffiths, Simon Gill, James Deldulychade, Antony Spencer, Tony Mitchell.

Second Row:-Catherine Stoll, Pamela Heathcote, Ann Loyd, Susan Peploe, Tracy Walker, Heather Wilkie(RIP) Brian Hargreaves.

Front Row:-Joanne Parsons, Stacey Noden, Liza O'rielly, Jane ?, Joanne Quigley, Jane Taylor, Jennifer Dodds.

The teacher is Mrs Adams and the head is Mrs Woodley.

Thanks to Jean for the last photo :)
Please contact us if you can recognise yourself (or anyone else) as we are always happy to put a name to a face !

Top and Bottom Rows, Godley

Top & Bottom Rows were two similar rows of terraced houses, situated in the triangle consisting of Commercial Brow, Sheffield Rd (before it was cut short at St John's Church) and High Street, Godley. They were built for the mill workers in the nearby Godley Mill on Bottom Street. Godley Mill was said to have been built around 1784 by Thomas Turner.

The area around the mill and houses was subject to severe damage in 1906 during the "Great Flood". The 2 rows were demolished around the 1960's. Any other information about them would be greatly appreciated.

Bottom Row (Top Row in distance)

Top Row

Rear of Bottom Row

Flood damage on Sheffield Road, Bottom Row in distance

=============

Maps showing how The Rows evolved through the years. 

Tithe maps showing their existence in 1836-51 when They were owned by John Turner.

A map from 1875 shows they were known by slightly different names.
"Lower Mill Row" and "Higher Mill Row".

On this map from 1910 they are known as Top and Bottom Rows.

This aerial view from the 1970's shows they no longer exist.

This is the view today after the M67 motorway cut Hyde in half.

Clarendon Place

Clarendon Place in the late 1950's with coaches taking people on their *Wakes holidays.

The buildings on the left were replaced  quite some years ago now and the road was pedestrianised . The corner shop was called Stowells Off Licence - this is now the Bradford and Bingley building society . If I remember correctly the large shop in the foreground was a shop that sold prams and cots etc. It is now a furniture shop.

*Wakes were originally religious festivals that commemorated church dedications. During the Industrial Revolution the tradition of the wakes was adapted into a regular summer holiday particularly, but not exclusively, in the north of England and industrialised areas of the Midlands where each locality would nominate a wakes week during which the industries would close down for a week. The wakes holiday was an unpaid holiday when the mills and factories were closed for maintenance. In 1906 an agreement on unpaid holidays was reached which became the pattern for the wakes holidays in the Lancashire mill towns. It was implemented in 1907. The expansion of the railway network led Blackpool to become a seaside resort catering mainly for the Lancashire working classes. Southport catered for the slightly better off and Morecambe attracted visitors from the West Riding textile towns.

Present day

The tradition still exists in some parts of England, although its significance has declined in recent decades. It was commonplace for schools to allocate a one week holiday coinciding with wakes week in lieu of holiday time elsewhere in the year;— typically the May half term holiday or the end of the summer holiday in August. Schools began to discontinue the wakes week holiday after the introduction of the National Curriculum and the standardisation of school holidays across England, and it rarely exists today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakes_week

Smithy Lane View

Thank you to Jean for making this post possible.

Jean tells us the following: 

Found this picture of Smithy Lane, to the right of the picture is where the smithy was, this is now a car park to The Ring "O" Bells .To the top of the right hand side is where The Blue Window Club was. The top house on the left lived The Bentleys, when Smithy Lane was demolished they came on to Mansfield Road., next door to them lived two brothers. The road at the top is Lumn Road and to the right of this is Mansfield Road.

Updated 02/08/2011

By Dave Williams

From the Market Street end.

From the Lumb Road end.

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