The recently restored Jubilee Park Staircase was officially opened today by the Mayor of Rochdale Borough, click here for more.
Asides
The Edgar Wood and Middleton Townscape Heritage Initiative grant scheme for the school is now almost ready to run. Click HERE for the latest details.
Ancoats Dispensary – Good News! – The Ancoats Dispensary Trust has secured a £300,000 grant towards the restoration of the building. There has been a flurry of reports in the media. Here are three with photos…
The Edgar Wood Society had a successful day out on 12th August and have posted a nice set of photos of Pownall Hall HERE
Manchester city centre heritage pubs – Here are eight city centre pubs singled out by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for their wonderful heritage. Are they the ones you would have chosen?
New footbridge over the River Irwell – Part of the Ordsall Chord project, the bridge takes you into Manchester’s railway past and provides a view of the Stephenson Bridge. It is almost complete but not yet open to the public. Photos and report HERE
Listing of Jodrell Bank is extended – Manchester University’s own space station has had another six of its amazing structures listed by Historic England. Photos and report HERE
Manchester’s six best churches – Click Here for the six best churches in the City of Manchester as selected by New Manchester Walks expert, Ed Glinert.
Edgar Wood’s First Church of Christ Scientist is one of them; and how different it is to all the others!
Manchester’s London Road Fire Station – latest
Good news for those following the progress of Manchester’s London Road Fire Station, a grade II listed building at risk. Planning permission has been approved for it to be refurbished and expanded for an hotel and spa, restaurants, bars, flats and offices.
Edgar Wood’s First Church of Christ Scientist for sale
First Church of Christ Scientist has been used as a religious centre for the past decade or more but is now on the market for a new owner and a change of use.
The agent Canning O’Neill has been appointed to market the 6,000 sq ft building in Manchester’s Victoria Park. Details are HERE.
CLICK HERE for a post on an Edgar Wood Society study on Edgar Wood’s very first houses on Manchester Old Road, Middleton.
Just a quick update of the Edgar Wood film… Anthony Dolan is currently filming in the sunshine at Edgar Wood’s retirement home at Porto Maurizio, Imperia, Italy.
Castleton Library Restoration Begins
It is so good to see work beginning to save Castleton’s wonderful Carnegie Library, so long neglected. The Rochdale Online report is here…
News for grafters everywhere…
Here’s an interesting project by Helping Britain Blossom for all those interested in grafting fruit trees…
https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/138/community-news/109152/how-to-turn-twigs-into-cash
Middleton Conservation Area Shops given a facelift
It’s good to see the local council continuing to support the shops of the conservation area… article HERE
Since the discovery that Ye Olde Boar’s Head opened as a public house in 1623 and has been going strong since, people are wondering whether it might be the oldest pub in the country. This depends what you mean. It is certainly not the oldest pub on a particular site but it just might be the oldest pub building in continuous use. Here is a Daily Telegraph article on the competition… note the one in Bolton, which looks a little bit like the Old Boar.
As if to conclude the Middleton Archaeological Society’s in depth study on Ye Olde Boar’s Head P.H., local artist Steve Whitworth has produced an illustration of how it looked when it was first built… which is surprisingly like it does now! CLICK HERE to see the picture and post.
Middleton Archaeological Society has completed two reports on recent activities at Hopwood Millers Cottage 2015 and the pavement investigation at the Old Boar’s Head 2016. CLICK HERE to download them.
Download Ye Old Boar’s Head P.H. Tree Ring Report
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/
Tests show iconic boozer dates back to early 1600s
Manchester Evening News report on Ye Olde Boar’s Head tree ring dating – Click Here
