Stockport Road

- Richmond Grove to Kirkmanshulme Lane -



Above an aerial view of the area circa 1945

Below is that section of Stockport Road in the late 1960s






Below you will see a description of each section of the road.  If you click on the link below each section it will show you an image from the Manchester Central Library Collection.  Note:  This involves accessing the Library site and sometimes it isn't available.  Once you see the opening page you can click on the image to increase its size.

Richmond Grove to Kirkmanshulme Lane - East Side


 

The block begins on the corner of Richmond Grove with the Presbyterian Church.  Next door was Longsight Motors and then the Longsight Post Office.  Outside were several phone boxes and inside a long shelf on the north wall with pens on chains.  I went here to phone my sister and to buy savings stamps with my pocket money.  A few doors along was the Victoria pub.  There were 7 shops in all ending with William Estall and Sons, grocers.

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A short terrace of shops, including Coes, precedes the Ivy Chapel. 



The twin spires of the chapel sat on each corner of the front, set back from the road within a boundary wall.  The Ivy Congregational Chapel opened its doors in 1853. In its heyday it was Longsight's most fashionable church but declining congregations led to its closure in 1933.  The building found a new home as an amusement center but later a modern extension was added to the front of the chapel bringing it out to the pavement.  The extension housed an Auto-Union car showroom.

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At the Lime Grove end of this block was a large detached house that had become James C. Broome, Undertakers.


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The BP petrol station which stood on this corner in the 50s was replaced over the decades by other variations on the theme.

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On the small "island" between Newton Avenue and Kirkmanshulme Lane stands Overton House with a high wall curving around the corner.  Once the home of a succession of doctors, Overton House is a care home today.  As children we speculated on what exotic things were beyond the high wall.


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Richmond Grove to Kirkmanshulme Lane - East Side




This little clutch of shops and businesses was an eclectic mix even in the 1950s including green grocers and up the steps a feed merchant selling hay and straw.



photograph above shown with the permission of Chetham's Library

 




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At the corner with Birch Lane stood the Waggon & Horses pub seen here in its fake half timbered phase.  This was without doubt the most historic and famous of the Longsight pubs. It seems that there was a pub on this site as early as 1690. The pub that stood here in the 60s was not there at that time, although part of the original cellar existed and the mounting steps, you can just make out at the far corner, were thought to be 200 years old. The pub was a coach stop for travelers heading south out of the city. It is also connected with at least one of the explanations of the origin of the name Longsight. As the story goes, Bonnie Prince Charlie and his invading Highlander army stood outside of the Waggon and Horses and declared, while looking in the direction of the city, "What a long sight it is to Manchester."

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Set back somewhat from the course of Stockport Road on an "island" position was the Longsight Free Christian Church. It dates back to the 1880s and for a while was associated with the Rev. William Gaskell, father of the author Elizabeth Gaskell.  After the church closed it was converted by the BBC into a garage for its outside broadcasting vehicles,


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This triangular shaped block started with W. E. Astill's shop.



Further along the block was Highways toy shop and the the Ducie Arms pub.   I also seem to remember that there was a barber shop near Highways.  My Dad took me there for haircuts which usually involved me getting into trouble for fidgetting too much!  Only the Ducie Arms remains but it is board-up.


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Longsight Hall dominates this block. 



It performed a number of municipal functions. 



Behind the main hall was Longsight Public Library.  The library moved to a new building on Stockport Road.  Today the Hall is a Youth Centre and ironically the library has moved back into the hall while the new library is renovated.

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A large Gothic Westminster Bank building sat on the corner with Toll Gate Lane. 



Beyond it was a long terrace accommodating a number of businesses and shops.  This included:  Castells; Wood's florists; Burgeon's grocers; Edwards the butchers; Janets; Coombes, the cobblers; and Jowett's taxis.


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The adverts on this page date from 1952 and were donated by Bill Bullock