Tuesday 26 May 2015

Along The Derby Road

This map of 1719 is reproduced from "A Pocket Guide To The English Traveller". The route is from Warrington to Manchester and onwards to Derby. The road through Furness Vale had not been built at that time so the route follows Buxton Old Road through Longside. Yeardsley Hall and Jodrell's lands are marked as are Disley, Lyme and Whaley Bridge although some of the spelling may seem unfamiliar.
The maps were engraved by Thomas Gardner, based on John Ogilby's strip maps of 1675


Sunday 17 May 2015

Ollerenshaw Farm

Jane Butler is researching her home, Ollerenshaw Farm on Eccles Road.  She would appreciate any help that might be available in aiding her quest for more information. Please contact her through the History Society email address furnesshistory@gmail.com

Jane writes:

We were fortunate enough to meet with Jimmy Hodgson, in the early 90’s,  whose family farmed here for generations, he was a ‘shooting pal’ of my fathers (we’ve been here nearly 24 years) he told us  anecdotal family stories and let us copy some of his photos. His ancestor was Hodgson Hodgson, a sheep drover from Halifax, who met a maid from the Hall and settled here, their child, conceived out of wedlock  ( so Jimmy said!) was born blind and this was born out in the census records showing him as blind from birth. (Peter Hodgson, Jimmy’s nephew  lives at Cadster).

Ollerenshaw Farm in 1910.



Maps dated 1606 showing the location of Ollerenshaw Farm. The lands shown in yellow were subject of a dispute between the Attorney General and the Jodrell family.

Horwich End Shops


Jane Butler has sent an interesting list of Horwich End shops.  I

I wondered if you’d be interested in the attached document (I feel the need for it to be stored somewhere where it can be both appreciated and shared).
It was complied a few years ago by my Mum, Blanche Ford (nee Prior) and her neighbour Eric Mason, who both lived on Reddish Avenue in Whaley. Sadly they both died in the last year, mum was 87 and Eric was in his 90’s. They listed the shops they could remember for the 1930’s and 1940’s

Kind Regards
Jane Butler (nee Ford)


Shops in Horwich End, Whaley Bridge in the 1930s and 40s
As Recalled by Eric Mason and Blanche Ford
Chapel  Rd

Board Inn
Public House
Byrne
Butchers
Bill Sadler
Fish (hand cart, visited other villages)
Worsley
Chip shop
Shoe repairs hut
(Now RSPCA hut?)
Fred Jarvis
Barber
Bentley
Poulterers  and Fish
Gas Showrooms
 (Now Seymour Silks)
William and Deacons
Bank


Cooper and Pearson
Grocers (now antique clock shop)
Andrews
Butchers (now Colman’s)
Jarvis
Ladies hairdressers
Tommy Bagshaw
Confectionary and homemade ice cream  (now Chinese takeaway )
New Road

Pheasey
General dealers
Horwich End Supply
Corn Merchants
Buxton Rd

Colliers
Joiners
Palfryman
Newsagents
Fred Hulme
Radios and electrical
William Hulme
Coal Merchants (On corner, next to traffic light and railing)
Macclesfield Rd

RD James
Joinery (also petrol pump)
Howes
Bakers
Hardings
Grocers
Lower Macclesfield Rd

Haigs
Green grocers
Oscroft
Confectionary
Lockets
Decorators DIY
Colliers
Chip Shop (next to the ‘Owlers’
CoOp
Grocery (now ‘kitchen showroom’)
CoOp
Butchers (now flats, next to traffic lights)
Irene’s
Haberdashery
Buxton Road

White Horse
Public House
N and F Smith
Post office
Morten’s
Grocers
Coats
Chemist
Bradbury
Bakers
O’Reilly
Fruits
Potters Garage and Taxi

Park Cafe

My Tompkinson
Barber (dentist surgery above) (now Jane’s sewing/alterations)
Bank



38 Macclesfield Road



Furness Vale Rose Queen

Shirley Bowker has sent some photographs of the village's Rose Queen Parade.  The date is not known although the vehicles must give a clue. It is interesting to see lorries in the liveries of local businesses. Whaley Bridge and Buxton Co-op became part of the Manchester and Salford Society in 1968 so the photographs are before that date.







Wednesday 6 May 2015



Furness Vale Brickworks

Here is Knowles lorry parked at the brickworks, perhaps 1960's. It is loaded with firebacks, one of their products ready for delivery.  A close up section from a photo in our archives


Beard and Bugsworth Colliery - Lady Pit

Lady Pit, owned by the Beard and Bugsworth Colliery Company stood at the corner of Ladypit Road and Dolly Lane. It closed in 1909.  I had never seen any photographs of the mine and assumed that none had survived. It's surprising what can be found when studying and enlarging an old photograph. One picture from our archives features Bangs Bridge, the footbridge over the canal near the water treatment works. Look in the background and there, behind a very long goods train is Lady Pit.  At that distance it is a little bit misty but all of the buildings can be clearly seen.





The chimney survived long after closure only to be demolished in the late 1940's by a lightning strike which scattered the bricks a distance of 100 metres..