Stockport Road

- Kirkmanshulme Lane to Stanley Grove -



Above is 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.

Kirkmanshulme Lane to  Stanley Grove - East Side




A long block of shops runs from Kirkmanshulme Lane to Glebe Street.  In this portion was Oswalds





and Direct Fish Supplies Ltd.



I remember going in there as a child looking for wood for our bonfire.  They were happy to give us some old wooden fish crates.  Our parents were a lot less delighted about the concept of storing them until November 5th.

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Further along the block the clock of Ainsworth's the Jewelers stood out over the pavement. 





Other shops included a laundromat; Chicle, a shoe shop; Burgess, the haberdasher; and Bullocks, who sold paint and wallpaper.

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Beyond Bullocks decorating shop was a Milk Bar on the corner of Glebe Street.  This was the 50s version of a coffee bar.  Before it was a Milk Bar it was known as Papa's Ice cream parlour.  James Darlington, a former Longsight resident, says, "It was there one Sunday afternoon that my cousin and I tasted the first ice cream on sale after rationing was removed, I believe the owners full name was Vincentio Papa.

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From Sharples on the corner of Glebe Street to Frank Garner's butchers, adjacent to the Kings cinema, the line of shops is only broken by a house set back from the road. 





Along the way were: Atlas electical goods; H. Glass and Sons outfitters, J. H. Dewhurst butchers and Kenyons paints and wallpaper.

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The Kings picture house was a regular haunt for me on a Saturday afternoon for the childrens' matinee.  I was often back again in the evening with my dad to see the latest war or cowboy film.  It was originally known as The Kings Opera House opening in 1904.  It operated as a live theater for 29 years. During that period the Kings was home to drama and vaudeville. The Kings functioned as a cinema from 1933 until 1964. After closing it had a brief period as a club before finally being demolished in 1973.  Across Shepley Street from the Kings was Allendale's the greengrocers.

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Set back from the road was, and is, the Church Hotel, a pub that ran into difficulties in recent years forcing its closure.  It reopened as a furniture store.  Not far away and also set back slightly from the pavement was the Longsight Tavern.  There were a lot of pubs in Longsight in the 40s and 50s but almost all of them, including the Longsight Tavern are long gone.  Next to the Longsight Tavern was Greaves and two doors south of it the Maypole grocers.

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The final block before Stanley Grove included another pub, two shops and a bank.

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Dickenson Road to Kirkmanshulme Lane  - West Side




The corner of Dickenson Road was, and is, the location of another bank.  Today it is a branch of RBS.  Next to the bank was Timpsons Shoes, Playfair, a UCP Tripe Shop, Melias and Englands "Smart Shoes".



Beyond Englands' "Smart Shoes" was The Bay Horse pub.  The Bay Horse is one of the very few Longsight pubs still open for business in 2009.  Among the shops that were to be found further down the block were Scott's the greengrocers and Owens purveyors of childrens clothing.

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Church Road is now Mitre Road.  The corner was the location of Brooks's Furnishing Store.

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Here was another eclectic collection of shops beginning with Timothy Whites & Taylors, the chemists.  Among the rest were:  Stewarts the Jewellers; Astley & Co Off-Licence; Thomas Porteous & Co; Martins the Cleaners; the Army & Navy Store and a branch of Fred Dawes.

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Almost directly across from the Kings Picture House stood the Shaftesbury with the almost mandatory "toffee shop" nearby.  Further down the road were a number of houses, a rare feature along the road.

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In all the years that I lived in Longsight in the 1940s and 50s this corner was marked by advertising hoardings.  Aerial photographs, taken in the early 40s, show that there were buildings on this corner but they were demolished before I came along. 

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Buckley's Off-Licence - "Free from Brewers" stood on the corner and the rest of the block was taken up by a Used Car Dealer and 4 more shops including a newsagents and a pet-food shop on the corner.