A "GOLDEN CLUSTER" OF HERITAGE
I went to a fascinating evening event in Manchester centre Wednesday, 10th June, about the new neighbourhood planning process and how it is working with regard to heritage and Liverpool city centre, especially the Baltic Triangle and Waterfront areas. The session was led by Dave Chetwyn who is managing director of Urban Vision Enterprise, as…
Maureen is hard at work cleaning, in preparation for tomorrow’s soiree by local micro brewery, Wilson Potter. She will enjoy a pint after all the effort!…
Despite the weather the dig continues every Tuesday… the latest on the excavation is here…
Wilson Potter Brewery have again produced a special beer for us, this time to celebrate our revolutionary architect Edgar Wood. The previous beers were ‘Nod to Nowell’ and ‘SBA’ in honour of Alexander Nowell and Sam Bamford. We now need to think of a name for the Edgar Wood beer, do you have any suggestions? Please let…
The May Middleton Archaeological Society talk was given by Dr Adrian Maldonado of Chester University. It covered the widespread use of early medieval crosses in the UK. About 20 people attended and many were eager to question Adrian on what was a fascinating talk. It included recently discovered evidence of sword marks at the base…
A miscellany of heritage and architecture news over the past month… Greater Manchester… Four town centres in the Rochdale borough are at risk of losing their charm, according to Historic England Hands off our Tudor treasure crest! – George Shaw of Saddleworth Future of Ellenroad Steam Museum hangs in the balance after unexpected £7,000 water…
This was our ‘wrap up’ meeting with Locality expert Zoe Goddard. She took us through the income streams which will form part of the Trust’s business plan for the Edgar Wood Centre. The meeting was keen to press on with enhancing the Lecture Room and to write to the Heritage Lottery Fund about our recent…
Seventeen members of the Art section of the Oldham University of the Third Age visited the Arts and Craft Church (Long Street Methodist Church and School Rooms) this afternoon. Following a introduction about the building and the importance of Edgar Wood to the Arts and Crafts movement, they set off to explore other buildings by…
Today (20th May), we met up with our surveyor and Jubilee to discuss further the possibility of holding weddings and receptions in the Edgar Wood Centre and what is needed to make the interiors more appropriate. It was a good meeting and we concluded that the Lecture Room was the best option to develop first…
On Sunday 17th May, seventeen members of the public turned up for a guided walk around Middleton’s Edgar Wood buildings. They were led by an official Manchester tour guide and Edgar Wood enthusiast, Elizabeth Sibbering (Sibby). The group visited the Arts and Craft Church (Long Street Methodist) as part of the tour. For more information…
On Saturday 9th May, The hall at the Edgar Wood Centre became the venue for the Wilson Potter Brewery ‘Saturday Soiree’. As well as enjoying a range of craft beers, brewed here in Middleton, guests had the opportunity to look around the Arts & Crafts Church & school buildings and learn about Middleton’s revolutionary architect,…
The ‘Old Boar’ is one of the ancient buildings of the Middleton ‘Golden Cluster’ but nobody quite knows what is was built for originally, before it became a public house in the eighteenth century. The archaeological society has therefore set up a work group to try to understand the building, discover more about its early…
On Thursday (30th April) Middleton Archaeology Society hosted a fascinating and entertaining talk by Glen Atkinson about the building of the Manchester Ship Canal,entitled “The Big Ditch”. Using original Victorian glass slides he highlighted the contrasts between building methods at the end of 19th century and now. There were no strict Health and Safety rules,…
A miscellany of April’s heritage news items……
Twenty members of the Family History Group descended on the Edgar Wood Centre, Long Street for their first meeting at the venue. They had a quick tour of the wider buildings, including the Arts & Crafts Church, as part of the meeting. We hope they find it suitable for their needs…
Alkrington Hall, Middleton was built by Giacomo Leoni (1686 – June 8, 1746), an Italian architect born in Venice. He was an enthusiastic pioneer of the eighteenth century Palladian style which swept the English speaking world. Due to numerous demolitions over time, his buildings are now extremely rare. Tragically, one of the best, Clandon House,…
Tuesday 28th April was one of those busy days at the Arts & Crafts Church buildings when several activities came together at the same time. While the Methodists were having their usual Tuesday meeting in the church, next door there was a steady traffic of people. One group was moving the Middleton History Library over…
Middleton Archaeological Society’s study of Ye Olde Boar’s Head P.H. is making good progress. A large part is due to the contribution of the architect who oversaw the building’s restoration in 1981. Douglas Newton has provided a series of photographs of the building when under repair, including hidden parts in the roof and areas where…
After several days of hard work, it is good to stand back and admire the results. The ‘cutting up room’ is ready for use and the deadline has been met by a days…
It was a warm evening (too warm, perhaps – we contemplated changing rooms) but there was a relaxed atmosphere at yesterday’s Middleton Heritage meeting (Tuesday 6pm, 21st April). The Family History Group joined us as we worked out details and options of how best the society could use the facilities for its weekly meetings. There…
