Marple Local History Society Programme 2018/19

[MLHS]

‘The Towers Estate’ with Diana Leitch

Monday 15th April

As the season of talks draws to a close, Diana Leitch will run through the history of ‘The Towers Estate’ aka ‘The Shirley institute, in Didsbury’. Looking in particular at its role in the making of Manchester and the scientific discoveries made there. The house was built for John Edward Taylor, founder of the Manchester Guardian, and was sold in 1874 to the engineer, Daniel Adamson. The decision to build the Manchester Ship Canal was taken in the drawing room of the house by Adamson and a group of associates in 1882. The house and its estate were bought in 1920 for the use of the newly established British Cotton Industry Research Association.But why the Shirley Institute. Don’t go wandering of now, to find out, leave it until the evening!

(Diana is Trustee of the Catalyst Science Discovery Centre and Museum, Widnes)

The architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner called 'The Towers' “the grandest of all Manchester mansions”.

The talk will be preceded by a short AGM. The evening will end with cake to accompany tea and coffee.

The meetings take place in Marple Methodist Church on Church Lane, Marple.  Postcode: SK6 7AY
Visitors are welcome to attend at a cost of £3.
Doors open 7:15pm ready for the meeting at 7:45.
Access is via the main entrance on Church Lane (opposite Mount Drive) and the meetings will be held on the church ground floor.
http://www.marplelocalhistorysociety.org.uk/society-meetings.html

[MLHS]

Elizabeth Raffald  by Suze Appleton

Monday 18th March

The Experienced English Housekeeper by Elizabeth Raffald, 12th edition, 1786

The seventh ingredient of the 2018 -2019 MLHS season's recipe is a night to learn of Elizabeth Raffald.

Elizabeth who? you may well ask.

Elizabeth was an author, innovator, entrepreneur and benefactor, an extraordinary woman of hard work and enterprise. She contributed hugely to the development of Manchester in the 18th century. Although now largely unknown her endeavours are remarkable.

Suze Appleton will be with us on an evening in March to tell the tale of this forgotten domestic goddess from the 18th century. Living from 1733 to 1781, Elizabeth set up her first confectionery shop, a kind of deli, in Manchester's Fennel St and soon became renowned for her catering knowledge and skills.

Doors to the Methodist Church open at 7:15 pm ready for the meeting to start at 7:45. Afterwards you can indulge in refreshments and a little light conversation.

The meetings take place in Marple Methodist Church on Church Lane, Marple.  Postcode: SK6 7AY
Visitors are welcome to attend at a cost of £3.
Doors open 7:15pm ready for the meeting at 7:45.
Access is via the main entrance on Church Lane (opposite Mount Drive) and the meetings will be held on the church ground floor.

http://www.marplelocalhistorysociety.org.uk/society-meetings.html

[MLHS]

‘‘Adlington Hall’ with Anne Woods
Monday - 18th February

Designated a Grade I listed building on 25 July 1952, Adlington Hall, was built on the site of a Saxon Hunting Lodge in the Forest of Macclesfield . In February, Anne Woods will visit the Society to describe one of the most beautiful homes in England.
The Legh family has lived in the hall and in previous buildings on the same site since the early 14th century. Two oaks, part of the original building, remain rooted in the ground supporting the east end of the Great Hall. Between the trees stands an organ which was played on by Handel and is still operational today. The hall is surrounded by a landscape park and woodland, covering in total about 160 acres. Anne has been a guide at the hall for over 15 years, not only will her talk cover the history of the hall but also that of the more prominent and colourful members of the family.

The Leghs of Adlington and the Leghs of Lyme are connected, surely?  You may wish to ask a friend, aka a Mr G. Oogle, or test your patience and wait until the evening of Monday, February 18th, to answer that question.

The meetings take place in Marple Methodist Church on Church Lane, Marple.  Postcode: SK6 7AY
Visitors are welcome to attend at a cost of £3.
Doors open 7:15pm ready for the meeting at 7:45.
Access is via the main entrance on Church Lane (opposite Mount Drive) and the meetings will be held on the church ground floor.

http://www.marplelocalhistorysociety.org.uk/society-meetings.html

[MLHS]

‘STORM OVER MELLOR  - with Bob Humphrey-Taylor
Monday - 21st January

STORM OVER MELLOR is an illustrated talk about how the €7.2M EU funded project is looking at the effects and mitigation of Climate Change on our Cultural Heritage. This will be a non-technical talk presented by Bob Humphrey-Taylor, Chair of Mellor Archaeological Trust.

The meetings take place in Marple Methodist Church on Church Lane, Marple.  Postcode: SK6 7AY
Visitors are welcome to attend at a cost of £3.
Doors open 7:15pm ready for the meeting at 7:45.
Access is via the main entrance on Church Lane (opposite Mount Drive) and the meetings will be held on the church ground floor.
http://www.marplelocalhistorysociety.org.uk/society-meetings.html

[MLHS]

‘Belle Vue - A History’ with Brian Selby
Monday - 10th December

People queuing for the Bobs Coaster at Belle Vue Gardens, Manchester, 1968 (Photo: Marshall Collection / Chetham's Library online archive)

Memories will be stirred but not shaken. Such is the promise of an evening of Belle Vue to the members…..and visitors.
 
Brian Selby will doubtless tell of the circus, speedway, boxing, rollercoasters, fireworks, zoo – from 1848 Belle Vue attracted visitors from all over the north with its unique combination of leisure activities.

Originally Belle Vue Zoological Gardens, the brainchild of entrepreneur and part-time gardener John Jennison, were meant to be an enjoyable pastime for the middle classes; however they very quickly became one of the North West's biggest attractions. At its peak, Belle Vue occupied 165 acres and attracted more than two million visitors a year, but the zoo closed in 1977, due to financial difficulties, and the site was finally cleared in 1987.

The meetings take place in Marple Methodist Church on Church Lane, Marple.  Postcode: SK6 7AY
Visitors are welcome to attend at a cost of £3.
Doors open 7:15pm ready for the meeting at 7:45.
Access is via the main entrance on Church Lane (opposite Mount Drive) and the meetings will be held on the church ground floor.
http://www.marplelocalhistorysociety.org.uk/society-meetings.html

[MLHS]

‘A 1920s Bleaching, Dyeing and Weaving Mill’
Judith Atkinson
Monday - November 19th

The society has been in holiday mode for the last two couple of months, dreaming of airships and postcards. But it is now time to come down to earth and return to work in the mill. In November, Judith Atkinson will return to the Society, having relived the story of the Manchester Ship Canal, in March 2015. This time Judith will describe the operations that took place at the Burgess Ledward mill at Wardley, near Walkden. As with the meeting of last month, ‘What to do with 323 postcards’ the basis of November’s presentation is a ‘discovered’ album. Judith retrieved an old volume of photographs, destined for destruction, showing in graphic detail all the operations taking place at the Burgess Ledward mill, in the 1920s, and converted these old prints into digitised images. This bleaching, dyeing and weaving Mill dates from the 1860s. At its peak in 1922 it had a dyehouse and 1,500 looms. Decline came in the late 1950, weaving ceased in 1968. An industrial and social facet of the Roaring Twenties is to be revealed, a common experience of millions of workers during that era, not least in Marple.

'The Big Ditch': March 2015
http://www.marplelocalhistorysociety.org.uk/society-meetings/meetings-2014-2015/205-16th-march-2015-the-big-ditch-the-building-of-the-manchester-ship-canal-2.html
'What to Do With 323 Postcards ?': October 2018
 http://www.marplelocalhistorysociety.org.uk/society-meetings/meetings-2018-2019/386-oct-18-julie-bagnall-what-to-do-with-323-postcards.html

The meetings take place in Marple Methodist Church on Church Lane, Marple.  Postcode: SK6 7AY
Visitors are welcome to attend at a cost of £3.
Doors open 7:15pm ready for the meeting at 7:45.
Access is via the main entrance on Church Lane (opposite Mount Drive) and the meetings will be held on the church ground floor.

http://www.marplelocalhistorysociety.org.uk/society-meetings.html

[MLHS]

‘What to do with 323 postcards’
Julie Bagnall
Monday - October 15th

Cissie and Bella, two working-class girls from northern England, left a legacy in the form of a collection of post cards.

As workers in the two major fields of female employment – domestic servant and mill girl – they tell of work and time off, of family life, of love and romance and every-day experiences. Their words range from girly chit-chat to heartfelt despair. They show that over time some things change and others remain the same.

That Cissie and Bella’s post cards survived is one thing. That they have enabled two ‘ordinary’ women to be brought out from under the cloak of invisibility which so often shields previous generations of working-class people, is quite another.
Marple features towards the end of the story when, during the 1920s, Cissie was employed at two homes as a domestic servant.

Julie will tell the background story of how the post card collection, on which the book is based, was acquired .

A slice of social history to enjoy on the evening of Monday, October 15th.

The meetings take place in Marple Methodist Church on Church Lane, Marple.  Postcode: SK6 7AY
Visitors are welcome to attend at a cost of £3.
Doors open 7:15pm ready for the meeting at 7:45.
Access is via the main entrance on Church Lane (opposite Mount Drive) and the meetings will be held on the church ground floor.
http://www.marplelocalhistorysociety.org.uk/

[MLHS]

'Hotels in the Sky: The History of Zeppelins’'
Michael Ogden
Monday - September 17th

In the opening presentation of the season, using both photographs and film of the period, Michael Ogden will tell the fascinating story of a lost technology, and a long forgotten way to travel the world

During the early years post the First World War,  very few thought the aeroplanes would ever develop into a safe, efficient and affordable way to travel long-distances. The first airliners had only a short range – 500 miles at most – though that was probably plenty for the passengers because they were uncomfortable, cold, noisy, far from reliable -- and not very safe either.

What a contrast with airships, especially Zeppelins! They could cruise for thousands of miles, carrying more passengers in far greater comfort than aeroplanes. They had kitchens and toilets and, on trans-ocean flights, cabins and showers as well. They were a little slower than airliners but, more importantly, they were two or three times faster than the ocean liners they were competing against.

Come along on Monday 17th September, enrol and be enthralled.

The meetings take place in Marple Methodist Church on Church Lane, Marple.  Postcode: SK6 7AY
Visitors are welcome to attend at a cost of £3.
Doors open 7:15pm ready for the meeting at 7:45.
Access is via the main entrance on Church Lane (opposite Mount Drive) and the meetings will be held on the church ground floor.

http://www.marplelocalhistorysociety.org.uk/

[MLHS]

Marple Local History Society Programme 2018/19

Marple Local History Society generally meets at Marple Methodist Church on the third Monday of the month from September to April, apart from December, when the meeting is then held on the second Monday of the month.

Doors open 7:15pm ready for the meeting at 7:45. Access is via the main entrance on Church Lane (opposite Mount Drive) and the meetings will be held in the church itself on the ground floor.

The church includes a hearing aid loop system which is most effective for people sitting near the side walls and in the rear pews of the church.

Here is the programme for the 2018 / 2019 season:

17th September: Michael Ogden – ‘Hotels in the Sky: The History of Zeppelins’

15th October: Julie Bagnall - ‘What to do with 323 post cards?’

19th November: Judith Atkinson– ‘A 1920s bleaching, Dyeing & Weaving Mill’

10th December: Brian Selby - ‘The Story of Belle Vue’

21st January:  Bob Humphrey-Taylor- ‘A STORM over Mellor’

18th February: Anne Woods – ‘Adlington Hall’

18th March: Anne Hearle – ‘The water powered mills of Mellor and Ludworth’

15th April: Diana Leitch– ‘The Towers Estate’

To learn more, visit the Society's own web site: http://www.marplelocalhistorysociety.org.uk/

[MLHS]

This thread is for the current Marple Local History Society Programme of Meetings.