The Greater Manchester History Blog

 Chepstow House and Sam Mendel Chepstow House sits at the corner of Chepstow Street and Great Bridgewater Street in Manchester. It overlooks the famous Peveril of the Peak pub on one side, and the start of what was once the Manchester and Salford Junction canal on the other. The building is not of a regular shape, because the available land would not allow it, but this does does nothing to detract from its graceful beauty. Before it was built, the land was occupied by coal wharfs, so this must have been no small improvement. This was a very industrialised area at one time with large engineering works. Buildings were often designed to make a statement about a company. In the Victorian era business was largely conducted face to face, so first impressions were important. In this case though,  I cannot help but think that Chepstow House was intended to be a statement about a man. Sam Mendel, the owner of Chepstow House, was immensely wealthy. He lived in a grand mansion in Whalley...

  T his is the first of three Blogs that will cover an imaginary journey taken between Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldham. Along the way we will meet people long dead, look at places long gone, and observe events that took place in times long past. If anyone has any pictures, corrections, or additional information that they wish to share, please feel free to do so either in the comments section at the bottom of this Blog, or wherever you found the link. This is not intended to be a dry history lesson: it is simply a wander through a small part of Greater Manchester. My desire is to encourage people to do further research themselves, and to enjoy their environment more. The most ordinary of landscapes can reveal fascinating snippets from the past. I will be relying heavily upon maps held by the National Libraries of Scotland. NLS maps can be viewed in a number of ways, including side by side with modern maps, or as a layer on top of a modern map. This makes it possible to locate where b...

Here I am again, kicked out of bed by my bad chest in the early hours, and I am rather glad that I was, because I have discovered one of those historical buildings that rather tend to hide in plain sight. It's almost as if they are playing hide and seek with us, delighting in the fact that we miss them for years. On an old OS map I noticed a coal mine in Ashton-under-Lyne called the Borough Pit. Walk up Cow Hill Lane, pass St. James Church, and on the left a few yards further up are some bungalows. The mine was basically behind these dwellings There were actually two shafts, but one is not labelled as such on the map. Information about Borough Pit is thin on the ground, but it was certainly supplying coal to the town for many years. In December 1858 four colliers from this pit were in court charged with leaving their place of work without notice (1). And in the following year a banksman from the pit and a coal dealer were charged with stealing 2650 lbs of coal from the owners, J. ...

This Blog is an extension to my already hugely successful Facebook group, Greater Manchester History and Architecture . Created in January 2014, the group took off during 'lockdown' and, as of 23/08/2024 has a total membership of 11, 843 and growing. This begs the question, why create a Blog? The answer is simple. I would love to write books and articles about local history, but I have a problem. I opted out of school when I was 13, a decision that I have never really regretted. However, missing out on further levels of education meant that I lack the research skills that are essential for writing. So the intention of the group was to build my skills and to increase my confidence while also having fun. I feel that it has done its job. I would now like to move on to writing longer pieces. I find Facebook totally unsuitable for that purpose. By contrast, a blog is just what I am looking for. That doesn't mean that I will be abandoning the group, but I will mostly be posting l...