A "GOLDEN CLUSTER" OF HERITAGE
Edgar Wood’s Middleton home, Redcroft (1891), is been painstakingly restored as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund THI scheme run by the Council and Middleton Heritage. The work is being overseen by conservation surveyors Alan Gardner and Rupert Hilton under the watchful eye of the Council’s conservation officer, Sue Oakley, and is being funded by…
Baguley Hall, Wythenshaw – Roger May, Wikimedia Commons
Here is a selection of refurbishment news for Greater Manchester’s heritage. Just click on the links…
Historic Baguley Hall loses out on £1.5m of funding as agency withdraws cash offer
Urban Splash reveals plans for Stubbs Mill
Manchester’s oldest construction firm moves to Ancoats landmark
Chorlton Library to get major refurbishment
March start for £4.6m Bury Met revamp
You can now download the full tree ring dating report on Ye Olde Boar’s Head P.H. from the Middleton Archaeology Society web site https://middletonas.com/tree-ring-dating-of-the-old-boars-head/
Saving a Century – Victorian Society Exhibition The Victorian Society’s photographic exhibition Saving a Century, curated by noted architectural historian Gavin Stamp, is on show free of charge at The John Rylands Library, 150 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3EH, from 8 January – 24 March, daily during Library hours. Using archive photographs and material from over…
A collection of documents and photographs about Edgar Wood’s Arkholme, 1 Towncroft Avenue formerly belonging to the Taylor family is to go to the Edgar Wood Middleton archive, thanks to historian Geoff Wellens. The collection is a crucial source of information on what is Edgar Wood’s very first flat roofed design. It was erected in…
Manchester Evening News report on Ye Olde Boar’s Head tree ring dating – Click Here
This exhibition about the last 150 years of the Manchester Architects Society has been running since December 2015 but closes on 18th March 2016 – so don’t miss it! OPENING TIMES – FREE ADMISSION Monday – Friday 10am – 4pm Thursday 10am – 7pm (term-time only) Saturday 12noon – 4pm (term-time only) Location – Special…
Photos show progress of £4.9m project to reopen River RochThis visionary project for Rochdale town centre is nearing completion and is shortlisted for an award. Click Here for the report and aerial photos.
The photo-montage opposite combines a Victorian photo of the river with the modern scene and was one of the early illustrations of the potential of the river reopening.
Archaeologists are using Environment Agency laser mapping data to rediscover hundreds of kilometres of ‘lost’ Roman roads.
Since 1998 the Environment Agency has used lasers to scan and map the English landscape from above to help with work such as flood modeling and tracking changing coastlines. But these LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data are also publicly available and have been used to help with everything from building virtual worlds to managing forests. In particular, it is helping to find lost Roman roads across the north of England. Click Here for the article.
The ‘Toast Rack’, Photo by Mikey aka Gene Hunt
Long maligned as eyesores and an offence to human values, modernist architecture is enjoying a passionate upsurge in interest. Edgar Wood admirer and all round modernist, Eddy Rhead, features in an excellent overview of Manchester’s brutalist architecture. Click HERE to read the article.
The garden was given its annual cut back and tidy today, in readiness for the growing season. At the same time the pavement on Long Street is being improved. The blocks are being taken up and replaced with stone flags…
Painting by the late Colin Gilbert
We had a great meeting on the evening of Thursday 11th, with an excellent turnout. Fortified by pizza, cheese and biscuits and cake, we worked through the upcoming activities and plans, not least the planning of September Golden Cluster Month. With the establishment of the not-for-profit company, tACT (the Arts & Crafts Trust) last year, Middleton Heritage is now developing new areas of community heritage activity, conservation and research. Rupert Hilton gave us an update on the Redcroft restoration, which is finishing very soon. As the scaffold is wrapped in plastic sheeting, we can’t wait to see the result when it all comes off. We also discussed some of the other up and coming THI grant schemes, not least the one for the Middleton Edgar Wood Centre, at the former Long Street Methodist Sunday School! Because of the excellent communication among group members, we are moving to a quarterly formal meeting to free up time for these new things.
The second meeting was a great success. If you are interested in getting involved or giving us a helping hand, just leave a reply at the end of the post. Here are the minutes… MIDDLETON HISTORY RESEARCH GROUP Meeting Old Boar’s Head, 30 Jan 2016 Thirteen researchers came with apologies from the Edgar Wood and…
The first results of the Tree ring analysis are in and those who attended Middleton Archaeological Society’s Thursday lecture got the full details as well as a tour. Click Here for the Society’s post…
CLICK HERE for a wonderful set of photographs of the restored studio, opposite the Watts Gallery (illustrated), which became the home of Victorian artist Frederic Watts and his wife, designer Mary Watts, in 1891.
Work on a new £3m million wing for Gorton Monastery is to begin next month.
It is hoped the new eco-friendly front wing will be complete by the end of this year, allowing The Monastery of St Francis & Gorton Trust to expand and extend its facilities.
Under the title of ‘New Life Planned for Towns Historic Old Labour Club‘, Middleton Guardian reports that a new application to convert the building is being considered by Rochdale Council Planning Committee on Thursday 28th. Milton Street is the only listed Independent Labour Club in the country and was designed by Edgar Wood. The Edgar…
A statue of the suffragette activist, Emmeline Pankhurst, who was born in Moss Side, is expected to be unveiled on International Women’s Day in 2019 – she is the first woman to receive the tribute in Manchester for more than 100 years.
Alkrington Garden Village was a world pioneer in garden city planning and whether parts of it should be made a conservation area have been mooted a few times in recent years, especially among heritage enthusiasts.
Middletonians are not the only ones looking at such places and a street in Cambridge is now pressing ahead to get conservation area status after an initiative by its residents.
Compare the photos of the street in Cambridge to Alkrington’s streets. You may be surprised at how well Manchester New Road, Alkrington Green, Mount Road (pictured) and the two crescents compare to the Cambridge street. Which is better? You be the judge! Click Here to View the report and photos.
The new Middleton Historic Research Group had a successful first meeting with 30 local historians, archaeologists, and heritage enthusiasts coming together at the picturesque Ye Olde Boar’s Head P.H. Middleton. Geoff Wellens gave an illustrated talk about the breadth of history and heritage in Middleton and the need for research, recording and publishing. After the…
