Ashton-under-Lyne to Oldham (A627) Part 1.

 

This 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 buildings and features were that are now long gone. At the bottom right hand corner of the NLS overlay screen are various coordinates, including those of the Ordnance Survey grid system. The numbers change as you move the cursor around. For instance, the grid reference for the Albert Memorial in Albert Square, Manchester, is SJ838 981.

Grid references are given for many of the places that I describe in this blog. This will enable the reader to find them on maps, or to locate them accurately via apps on your phone while out and about. If you don't know how to use the grid system, click on this link. Grid System. 

Original monetary values are shown, with the approximate modern value in brackets. For this calculation I use the Bank of England's inflation calculator.

• “The open road is a beckoning, a strangeness, a place where a man can lose himself.” – William Least Heat-Moon, Blue Highways: A Journey into America.

The road between Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldham is a part of the A627, a route that runs from Hazel Grove to Rochdale. At the Rochdale end the road includes a section of motorway that is designated the A627(M). There has long been a road between Ashton and Oldham, but the original route would have consisted of a series of winding lanes, the shape of which would have been dictated by factors including the location of farm settlements, topography, and safe crossing points over water courses, particularly the Medlock. There are several traces of the old road still in existence, a fine examples being Taunton Road just outside Ashton, and Primrose Hill Road, just south of Oldham, but the original route cannot be walked throughout. In times of bad weather and flood, the old road must have made travel very difficult.

The modern road started life as a turnpike road, and was run by a trust for profit. In return for that profit, the trust was tasked with building, maintaining and improving the road. The various toll houses were let to the highest bidders at auctions and these sales were regularly advertised in newspapers. There was a toll house in Ashton as early as 1810, but this was probably in connection with the road from Manchester. The first mention that I can find of a toll house at both Ashton and Hathershaw is from 1826, so this is probably the rough date of opening of the turnpike road to Oldham.

We will now set off on the journey from Ashton towards Oldham. Starting from the Metrolink stop in Ashton (SJ935 992), we head over Wellington Road and find ourselves with Ikea on our left, and a row of retail units on our right. The site occupied by Ikea was once a goods yard and warehouse operated by the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR). The retail units on our right are built on the site of a larger goods warehouse operated by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR). There was also a coal yard on the site and a tramway ran north east from here to Broadoak Colliery (SD944 008 and SD950 008) (Closed in 1904). I had always believed that no trace remained of this tramway, but there is one bridge left over a disused railway that looks as if it was shaped by the need to accommodate the route (SJ938 998). 

We now pass over the routes of two railway lines located within yards of each other. The first is the present railway, built by the L&YR, and opened on April 13th, 1846 to Ashton. It was extended to Stalybridge on October 5^th of the same year to a station located where the fire station now stands. The bridge over the railway was rebuilt recently to accommodate the electrification of the line. A girder from the original bridge was saved and is now displayed by the side of the road. 

The second railway that we cross over was jointly owned by the L&NWR and the Great Central Railway (GCR) and was called the Oldham, Ashton and Guide Bridge Railway (OA&GBR). There was a station called Ashton (Oldham Road) located on the right, between Boodle Street and Cranbrook Street (SJ935 994). This railway opened for passengers on August 26^th, 1861, and for freight trains on February 1^st of the following year. Passenger trains were withdrawn from May 5^th, 1959, with total closure following on May 22^nd, 1967.

An old railwayman who worked the OA&GB told me that after closure the station, including a massive station clock of a similar size to the one outside the buffet on Stalybridge station remained untouched for a while. Then one day he went to shunt the goods yard with an, ‘Austerity’ class steam engine and the station had been wrecked from end to end by vandals. Even the clock was destroyed. He said that it was a sight that will remain with him forever.

Between here and Oldham there was an intermediate station at Park Bridge (SD939 022) where a viaduct spanned the Medlock valley. When this viaduct was demolished, any chance of the line ever being reopened was lost. This is a shame as it would slash traveling time between Rochdale, Oldham, Ashton, and Stockport. Sections of the railway are now used as a footpath and bridleway.

Before we move on, Cranbrook Street hides some interesting secrets. On the corner is an impressive building with a clock tower. This was once the Hop Pole pub, owned by Bass Charrington in my youth. This pub took its licence from a pub called the Church Inn that once stood on Taunton Road. New licences were often refused by the licencing magistrates and breweries had to sacrifice an older pub in order for the licence to be transferred to a new one.

Cranbrook Street was also once the access road to Lord's Field Colliery (SJ936 997), located where Cranbrook Gardens now sit. Sinking of the shafts for this pit was commenced in August 1856. Difficulties were soon encountered and at 64 yards deep the excavators hit a deluge of water that was estimated to produce 18,000 gallons an hour. Two large engines had to be installed to pump the water out to enable digging to continue. To put the volume of water into perspective, Audenshaw reservoirs hold 1,200,000 gallons, meaning that the spring tapped into at Lord's Fields could have filled them within three days.

At a depth of 140 yards the miners came upon a seam of coal that was 6 feet thick and of good quality. On January 27^th, 1858, the first loads of coal left the mine for sale, and the colliery was expected to make a great difference to local trade. Previously businesses had had to go to Dukinfield to buy coal, but now it was on their doorstep. Lord's Field Colliery closed between 1875 and 1880 (Sources disagree).

During its years of operation Lord's Field Colliery saw its fair share of tragedy. On May 26th, 1855, while the pit was still being dug, a collier named William Wild was crushed by a roof fall, and on June 25^th. 1860, Thomas Brierly, 26 years old, fell victim to another roof fall. He was alive when pulled out, but died early the following morning at his home, 2 Kent Street, Ashton. The inquest was held at the Nelson Tavern, Wellington Road, which stood between the tram stop and the Prince of Orange,

In 1859 the colliery was in the news when the Street Improvements Committee served a notice upon Lord Stamford, the owner of the land, because mud from the colliery was blocking the local sewers. I wonder what remedy was found? Collieries can be great polluters, and many of them continue to be so long after closure. Often settling tanks have to be created to allow pollutants like iron oxide to settle before the water is allowed to enter rivers and streams. There is such an arrangement near Park Bridge to protect the Medlock.

Years after closure, the site of the colliery became the scene of what one newspaper rather understatedly called, ‘A Shocking Case’. On February 10^th, 1894, Mary Carter, a married woman from Heywood, had been visiting her daughter in Waterloo. She then walked towards Ashton to meet her husband. When she was passing the Hop Pole she was abducted, and dragged along Cranbrook Street to the site of the colliery by a number of assailants. They pulled off her boots, gagged her, filled her eyes and ears with mud, and 5 of the gang took it in turns to rape her. They were disturbed by a passer by and ran off, but they were well known to the police and were soon brought before the magistrates. The prisoners were remanded to the Manchester Assizes and on March 2nd, 1894, 7 of the 8 were found guilty of feloniously assaulting Mary Carter. They were sentenced to 4 years penal servitude, which meant imprisonment with hard labour.

In the V formed by Oldham Road and Taunton Road there was once a ‘National School’ (SJ934 995). These institutions were established in the first half of the 19th century as a means of offering children from poorer backgrounds an education. The school taught on the principles of the ‘Monitorial System’, where the older and abler pupils assisted the teachers. One of the advantages of this system was that it allowed for greater class sizes. The idea apparently came from village schools in southern India.

To continue our journey we will walk along both the straight new road, and the much older Taunton Road (Known for a while as Oldham Old Road). Either way, we pass Christ church, also situated in the V of these roads. Christ church was built in 1846-8 by Dickson and Breakspear for the Church Commissioners at a cost of £3000 (£300k). It was part of a push to increase pew numbers for the working classes in the expanding towns. The church was intended to accommodate 850 people, and the whole site, donated by Lord Stamford, comprised about 2 acres. The church was consecrated by the Bishop of Manchester on the Evening of Saturday, June 17, 1848. Other commissioners churches in the area include St. Peter's, at the west end of Ashton, and St. Stephen's at Guide Bridge. The parish church at the east end of Ashton is much older and, some believe, was even mentioned in the Doomsday book, though there are doubts about this claim.

The graveyard of Christ church has been landscaped and a part of it built on, but some of the more notable monuments remain for us to reflect upon, which leaves me wondering about the lives of those resting beneath our feet. There are always stories to tell.

One of the most remarkable monument that remain, certainly for scale, is also the least decretive. An enormous, thick slab of pink granite marks the last resting place of  Thomas Walton Mellor, MP for Ashton from 1868 to 1880. Thomas was a cotton manufacturer and Justice of the Peace. He died on February 17, 1902. Thomas obviously planned ahead and had secured a plot close to the church where a vault was built and where his wife had already gone to her eternal rest. Unfortunately, by the time that Thomas joined her, parliament had passed legislation banning further internments close to churches. It was therefore necessary to buy a new plot and to build a new vault. Thomas and his wife now rest in peace, but not together.

Staff Sergeant
Stanfield Mather

There are a number of war graves to be found, including that of Staff Sergeant Stanfield Mather of the 181st (Ashton) Brigade Royal Field Artillery. As tragic as a death in battle is, it seems somehow more unfair for a soldier to come through the horrors of the trenches, only to succumb to something as mundane as "a chill". Mather had survived a minor wound to his head which was treated in France, but he started to suffer from abdominal problems and was sent home to the Smithton War Hospital, Greenock, Scotland. While there, he caught a chill and suddenly weakened. His father, Samuel Mather, a butcher from Oldham Road, Waterloo, travelled north and was with him when he passed away on April 18, 1917, aged just 27. Mather was buried with full military honours. His coffin was draped with the Union flag, and a firing party and buglers attended from Ashton barracks to sound the Last Post. Many local people attended to pay their respects.

Of course Sergeant Mather was not alone in surviving the trenches and then dying of something unconnected with his military service. In 1918 the so called Spanish flu arrived in Europe, and an estimated 500 million people were infected worldwide. Millions died, many of them having survived the horrors of the trenches.

Another impressive monument is in the shape of a more traditional cross, raised to the memory of John Eaton, a local architect. John was born in 1810 in Brechin, Scotland. In 1834 he married Margaret Stuart. Five years later he moved to Ashton-under-Lyne, possibly for work as a stone mason. He was a contributor to the fund to build Christ Church, so it is appropriate that he rests here. He is also commemorated by two stained glass windows in the church, donated by two of his daughters after his death.

Eaton was responsible for several works in Tameside, including the stables at Park Bridge that now serve as the visitor centre. However, the importance of Eaton to Tameside can only be appreciated when you realise that he was the architect of the tower that sits upon Hartshead Pike (SD960 024). The tower was completed in 1863, and above the doorway is an inscribed stone that reads, "This pike was rebuilt by public contribution 1751 and re- erected by public subscription to commemorate the marriage of HRH Albert Edward Prince of Wales to HRH the Princess Alexandra and to restore the ancient landmark of Hartshead Pike".

John died on April 21st, 1876. His wife, Margaret Stwuart (sic) joined him on March 19th, 1899. They were followed into the family vault by their daughters, Agnes, Georgina, and Margaret Marjorie, on February 26th, 1913, April 22nd, 1916, and February 16th, 1927 respectively.

There was once a pub called the Gardener’s Arms (SD931 000) on Taunton Road that had pleasure gardens at the back if it. Pleasure gardens were popular attractions in the 19^th century, notable local examples being Belle Vue, and Pomona Gardens, but there were many other smaller ones, including at least three in Ashton. There was one called Victoria Gardens on Ashton Moss, another behind the Snipe Inn, and this one behind the Gardener’s Arms (sometimes called Whitehall Gardens). These venues, some more ambitious than others, hosted various events: brass bands played, dances were held, garden produce was exhibited, and sporting events took place. They were often created from what were originally working farms. After the 1830 beer house act that allowed almost anyone to covert their house into a pub upon payment of a small fee, many farms diversified into opening beer houses. These often proved more profitable than farming, so bringing people into the drinking part of the business became the priority. Prior to the opening of the Gardeners there was a building called 'Two Gates' on almost the same spot, and this was probably the original farm.

On September 18^th, 1858 the Gardener’s hosted a ‘Grand Apple and Horticultural Show’, where prizes were awarded for the best apples, potatoes, onions, etc. The show appears to have been an annual event. The landlord during this period was called Jonathan Hulme.

Jonathan was obviously an enterprising chap. In 1859 he was advertising, “A grand exhibition of insects, birds, and curiosities”. The Ashton Standard of July 2nd, 1859, spoke glowingly of the pub saying that the landlord had, "...beautified the grounds with their walks and bowers and pretty places." The newspaper spoke of the exhibition of curiosities as if it might be intended as a permanent feature, even calling it a museum. "There are very many objects of interest in the museum - local curiosities and remembrances, war-trophies, home and foreign specimens of birds, pieces of ingenious mechanism, and many other "what-nots" sufficiently interesting to repay the visitor for his trouble." For some reason, Jonathan left the licenced trade in 1861 and became a roller maker. He died in 1877 at the young age of 48 and left an estate valued at just £300 (£31,316 in 2024).

A subsequent landlord of the Gardeners, James Mc.Evoy had in mind an even more unusual exhibition to attract custom. In the Ashton Reporter of March 31st, 1866, he "...informed the inhabitants of Taunton and surrounding neighbourhood, that as the GYPSY TRIBE, in great numbers, were encamped in his field, contiguous to the Bowling Green, and will be accompanied by their Majesties the King and Queen of the tribe, who are leaving the Alhambra Palace, London, for the purpose of joining their loyal subjects, they will be open to receive visits from the loyal subjects of her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, from twelve noon until five o'clock daily, to inspect their tents, mode of life, &c." 

In 1866, and again in 1879, the Gardeners was up for sale by auction. The notice in the newspapers of 1879 clearly marks the business out as being far more than just a pub with a bit of land at the back. It offers us a fascinating insight into how large and complex an operation the Gardeners must have been. As well as the pleasure gardens, there was a large dining and dancing saloon (14 yards square and able to accommodate 300 people at diner), stabling for four horses, a shippon for five cows (with a loft above it), vineries, greenhouses, a bowling green, flower garden, kitchen garden, and four fields. The house was said to contain a bar, parlour, a tap room, kitchen, private living room, cellar, large clubroom, and three spacious bedrooms.

Leaving the Gardeners, I think that it would be shame if we didn't take a little diversion and head along Newmarket Road, a part of the old road to Oldham. A short distance up, opposite Taunton Hall Close, is Taunton hall itself (SD926 004). This remarkable survivor contains some elements from  the 17th century and it is Grade II listed. Even more remarkable is the building next door, Old Hall Fold. This is a medieval cruck framed structure contained within an 18th century wall and roof. This rare survivor is Grade II* listed. Notice also the gates and garden wall to Taunton Hall which are Grade II listed in their own right.

We now return to Taunton Road. To ensure that all traffic went along the trust’s road, ancient roads were often blocked off or made impassable to commercial traffic. For instance, although Taunton Road had been a part of the original toll road, when a new section was built, the north end of Taunton Road seems to have been closed off to traffic because it would have bypassed the toll booth which was located on the north east corner of Oldham Road and Wilshaw Road. Sometimes turnpike trusts went to great lengths to protect their monopoly. For instance, at Saltersbrook, near Woodhead, there is a packhorse bridge that is far too narrow to accommodate a loaded packhorse. The trust actually reconstructed the bridge to narrow it.

At the top of Taunton Road you may notice a brass plaque that tells a little of the history of Waterloo. It informs us that a gentleman called Harry Bernard Allen was born nearby in 1911. Unfortunately, this appears to be wrong. All other sources give Harry's birthplace as Denaby in Yorkshire. However, he was brought up in Waterloo and lived on Oaken Clough. When he left school, Harry worked in the transport department of the Park Bridge iron works. Later he became a bus driver for Ashton Corporation. He married in 1933, divorced in 1962, and married again in 1963. He ran a pub in Middleton called the Woodman Inn( Now a HMO), and went on to run the Rawson's Arms Hotel opposite Farnworth Station, and the Junction . From 1964 he worked as a security guard in Blackburn. The newly married couple then moved to Fleetwood where Harry found employment as a cashier at Fleetwood pier.

An ordinary life well lived, but there was more to Harry than this, for he had a lucrative side line. From 1941 to 1964, Harry was an assistant executioner and then head executioner, for the UK government a job that took him to many parts of the UK. In all, Harry sent 29 souls to meet their maker, and assisted in 53 other executions. he conducted the last ever execution at Shrewsbury prison, which is now open to the public as a tourist attraction. The condemned cell and the drop are still intact and it is a sobering experience to visit them.

We now return to the south end of Taunton Road so that we can investigate the 'new' Oldham Road. We will take a small detour down Atlas Street to visit a site once occupied by a cotton mill.

The Atlas Mill, showing Smallshaw Brook and
the Reservoir.

In 1898 a group of six Ashton businessmen, known locally as the Ashton Syndicate, came together to build the Atlas Mill (. Atlas Street was the access road to the mill. This was the syndicate's third mill building project, the previous ones being the Minerva mill on Whitelands, and the Rock mill, adjacent to the Atlas site. They went on to build four more mills. The syndicate moved quickly and by August 27th they had already let contracts, The general construction of the mill went to Messrs. J. Partington and Son, of Middleton Junction, the boilers were to be constructed by Messrs. Tetlow Bros., Hollinwood, and the steam engines and mill gearing were to be manufactured by Mr. George Saxon of Openshaw.

An example of a mill engine now preserved at the
Ellenwood Steam Museum, New Hey, Rochdale.

George Saxon is worth getting to know a little better. He was born in 1821 and was apprenticed to one of the greatest engineers of the 19th century, William Fairbairn. He set up his own business in Openshaw in 1854, specialising in repairing mill engines and producing gears and shafting for mills, Around 1860 he started manufacturing his own engines. During his lifetime, he made many improvements to the steam engine. Sadly, he died in 1879 at a relatively young age. His sons carried on his work, and the start of the 20th century represented the heyday of the business. However, the advent of the first world war marked a turning point. Work ebbed away and the company appears to have ceased advertising around 1930. What was possibly their last engine was built in 1928 and went to a print works in Chinley. None of the company's engine survive, but I have included a photograph of a preserved mill engine that is still running. Pleasingly, the works in Openshaw seem to survive, albeit boarded up and facing an uncertain future.

Atlas mill provided much employment in the Waterloo district of Ashton. This stimulated the building of new houses and schools. The commencement of operations at the mill did not go uncelebrated. On 26th of May, 1900, the engines were run for the first time as a trial. Later that day, a number of drays set forth from Park Parade goods station carrying the first 50 bales of Egyptian cotton for the mill. The drays, pulled by powerfully built horses, paraded along several of the streets in the town. On the side of them was written, "Success to Atlas mill".

Another ceremony took place almost a year later when the engines were 'christened'. The fact that this event took up two and a half columns in the Stalybridge Reporter of May 18th, 1901, testifies to the importance of the mill to the local economy. The engine house was, the newspaper tells us, "decorated with plants, and everything was beautifully clean. The mill had been in full work during the day, and the heat of the engine-room was more than many of those present could bear with comfort." Glasses of champagne were thrown over each engine in turn by the wives of the chairman and vice chairman. The engines were then given the names of these two ladies, "Hannah" and "Sarah". The party then retired to the offices for refreshments. Afterwards they were then taken on a tour of the various operations of the mill. The mill contained 74,000 spindles spinning Egyptian cotton.

The gentlemen - not the ladies - then retired to the Pitt and Nelson, Ashton, where the toasting, eating and speeches continued. Captain Wainwright proposed a toast to, "The town and the trade of Ashton." He opined that in Ashton they could manufacture almost anything that was possible with the aid of machinery. With the 19th century behind them, and the 20th century stretching out before them, the future must have looked full of promise to the businessmen of Lancashire.

In 1912 the UK cotton industry reached its peak and produced 8 billion yards of cloth, but WWI brought the glory days to an end when imports of cotton were disrupted. The industry never recovered and, after a series of takeovers, Atlas Mill eventually became a part of the Courtauld's group. Closure came in 1990. Despite efforts to sell or repurpose the building, it was demolished four years later.

Anyway, a lot of words for not a lot of distance. We have barely left Ashton, and we have so much further to go. We will continue our journey in another article.