Altrincham Heritage

This expansive aerial view of Altrincham town centre from the south shows it as it was before the major interventions from 1963 onwards.

Working from the top downwards, all the major buildings are still in situ including the Georgian Springfield House (later the Liberal Club), the Hippodrome and the Railway Inn on Stamford Street. Off George Street are the 1941 Stamford Hall, the Technical Library and School, the Bus Station and the Axe and Cleaver Hotel with its turret The curved roof of the Billiard Hall and the Manchester and Equitable Cooperative building can be seen on Station Road (now the back of the former Rackhams).

On Stamford New Road, the large Altrincham Picture Theatre and the 1901 Jubilee Baths with its chimney are there but the buildings in between, including Police Street, have been cleared. Altrincham and Bowdon Station still has its late 19^th century cast iron canopy and is yet to be developed as a full interchange.

To the bottom left, Grafton Street and the Woolpack on the corner of Regent Road are still there, both replaced by the The Graftons development in 1968. Goose Green is still residential, and the former Bowdon Terminus demolished in 1971, which became the depot for the 1500 Volt DC electric units introduced in 1931, is at the bottom of the photo. The Victorian houses on Denmark Street to the right, are still in place.

At the top left is the Altrincham Picture Theatre which was open from 1913 until 1966, when it was demolished to build the Station House high rise office block. South of that is the arched shape of the Temperance Billiard Halls on Station Road. This road was built in 1881 to link the original centre of town at the top of the hill to the new combined railway station at a lower level. The Stamford Quarter shopping area replaced it in the mid-1970s.

Further south again is the brewery building and its chimney, after which the modern service area street is named. Station Buildings stands as a proud landmark, as it does today. The cast iron canopy in the station forecourt is still in situ.

On the railway sidings on the other side of the tracks, coal and gas by-product wagons are on the line to the right, linking the station and the gas works via Moss Lane. In 1925, steam engines had replaced horses-drawn trams, which in 1872 had in turn replaced horse-drawn wagons from the canal.

At the top right-hand corner is Oakfield House which was built in 1897 as a corset factory, then taken over by John E. Thornton’s Photographic Film Company. In 1911, it became and indoor roller rink with a maple floor. In was bought by the Council under a CPO then demolished in around 2010 to make way for the frequently stalled Altair development of shops, restaurants, leisure and housing which seeks to expand the primary town, rather than consolidating it.

(Photo by N. S. Roberts by courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council M67882)

This excellent view was taken looking down from a window of Station Buildings to the south of the station. To the left set within a garden, is the fine clock tower which was built in 1881 at the same time as the station itself. The cast iron canopy to the right was erected later, at the end of the 19^th century.

Both motor and horse-drawn vehicles wait for passengers coming along the train lines from Manchester to the north and Chester to the southwest of Altrincham. Billboards for well-known local companies such as Burston and Nixson and W. T. Jones can be seen.

In the distance to the left, on the corner of what was Station Road can be seen the Manchester and Equitable Co-operative building. The Jubilee Baths built in 1901 with a small turret are further along, with the large Altrincham Picture Theatre built in 1913, beyond that.

This view from the building opposite, shows the revamped 1881 Altrincham and Bowdon Station, with its new bus station and a concrete pedestrian bridge to the right built in 1977, linking the transport interchange to the new Stamford Quarter pedestrianised shopping precinct set on a redesigned George Street.  

Parked in the bus station are examples of the BeeLine Buzz Company’s handy, high frequency minibuses, which operated in the Greater Manchester area in the late 1980s.

(Photo by courtesy of Norman H. Spilsbury)

By the late 1960s the overhead line equipment and rolling stock of the electric service which had been introduced in May 1931, were reaching the end of their working lives. British Rail started gradually converting the 1500V dc line to the 25kV ac overhead system from 1968 over a three-year period. It meant that the final switch could be done over the weekend starting 30th April 1971, with the first trains running on 3rd May 1971.

This photo shows the D4144 by the Altrincham North signal box at the Crossings near Altrincham and Bowdon Station, with an overhead wiring train laying new cables in preparation for the conversion. The line to Chester now runs through the site of this box, since the arrival of the Metrolink service to Manchester in 1991.

For a more detailed description of the conversion see the Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation Society.

(Photo by courtesy of Norman H. Spilsbury, 20th December 1970)

Every time a train went to or from Manchester ‘The Crossings’ had to be closed, causing tailbacks of traffic on both sides of the track. The route used to be the turnpike road from Stockport to Altrincham.

To the left is the North Altrincham Signal Box. The newly-built office block of Station House dominates the street scene at the centre. To the right is the pub then known as The Barrington.

(Photo by Ian Gee)

This was the main turnpike road between Altrincham and Stockport which was cut across by the railway when it arrived in Altrincham in 1849. With the increase in traffic from the 1950s onwards, ‘The Crossings’ were described in a 1983 Council consultation document as follows: ‘Not only is there a conflict between pedestrians and vehicles, but also between different forms of transport. The congestion caused by the closure of the crossing gates especially at peak periods, creates much frustration and delay.’ They were closed soon afterwards with an overhead pedestrian crossing put in their place.

(Photo by Basil Morrison)

This view was taken from the steps of new pedestrian bridge over the railway line to and from Manchester. The bridge replaced the railway crossings closed in the 1980s due to the traffic delays they caused. To the left are the houses of Grosvenor Road.

(Photo by Ian Gee)

On the other side of the railway line to the left can be seen the Pickford’s Storage building, with the Bridge Inn and row of houses to the side of it, in one of which Bill Speakman V. C., was born. In the centre to the right of the billboards, is the former 19th century Halemoss Works for velvet making. Denmark Street winds it way back to the town centre. This area was demolished and became a large supermarket in a metal-clad building set upon on stilts over a car park, which was opened in 2002.

(Photo by Ian Gee )

Taken from the newly built Grafton Tower office block, this photo shows to the right in the distance the Post Office Sorting Depot, the first of several modern big box buildings to be built either other side of the railway line. These changed the character of the area and cut residential links with the town centre. In 2002, the site became the parking area for a large supermarket.

To the bottom right are the late 19th century houses of Goose Green, with their front gardens still in place.

(Photo by Ian Gee)

This photo captured the depot of the 1500-v DC electric trains, with their infrastructure. They had first come into service on 11 May 1931. See the Souvenir of the opening on the Historic Publications and Documents page.

(Photo by courtesy of Norman H. Spilsbury, 30th October 1966)

This is another view from the Goose Green bridge, showing what remained of the former Bowdon Station and terminus, soon after demolition. The curved roof extension still seen here, had been added after 1931, to form workshops to the depot for the 1500-volt DC electric units.  

(Photo by courtesy of Norman H. Spilsbury, 3rd October 1971 )

This photo was taken from the building on the corner of The Downs and Ashley Road. To the left is the long-established commercial stretch of Railway Street, which formed part of the Lower Town in the 19^th century. In the middle distance on the corner with Regent Road, was the Woolpack Inn, demolished in the late 1960s to build The Graftons with its high-rise office block and small domed mall beneath.

To the right is the row of shops built in 1895, to cope with demand for retail space in the then expanding town. When this photo was taken, the businesses were well-supported but by the 1990s were in decline and all of the Victorian shopfronts had been modernised. They were demolished in 2013 to build the new Altrincham Hospital.

(Photo by Douglas Rendell)

This is a view of the shops taken from the Grafton Tower car park of the east side of Railway Street. At the centre is what was once a purpose-built photographer’s studio built as part of the parade of shops in 1895. It was at first occupied by William Peters, followed by Ada M. Cavell in 1905 then Jessie Barnes and Kate Dunsmuir in 1907. The light entering its north-facing windows would have been affected when the 1907 bank building to the left was put up. Note the sign to the ‘Goose Green Conservation Area’. This stretch is now the location of the new Altrincham Hospital opened in 2015.

(Photo by Ian Gee)

To the left is the former 1883 Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank building, the upper floors of which were home to film director Ronald Gow as a boy. His father was the bank manager. Next to it is the entrance to the picturesque square known as Goose Green, due to it once being the resting point for geese being brought to Altrincham market from Hale Moss.

To the right can be seen the low parade of shops which had been built with a fancy roofline in 1895. By the 1980s it had become dilapidated and was known locally as ‘shanty town’. In 2013, the buildings were demolished and by April 2015, the newly relocated Altrincham Hospital providing continuous and additional healthcare services for local people, had emerged from the site. It is built in Saint Bee’s sandstone.

(Photo Sue Nichols, 27th June 2012)

In this view looking to the south from the Travelodge Hotel, at the centre is the entrance to Lloyd Square. It has potential to be a picturesque open space and connecting route, rather than its current use as an informal car park. To the top right is the tranquil but underused green space of the historic bowling green. In the far distance can be seen the spires of Saint John’s and Trinity churches with leafy Bowdon beyond.

(Photo by Sue Nichols, 27th June 2012)

Under the 1936 Housing Act, Altrincham Urban District Council had bought some of the early 19th century small terraced houses called ‘cottages’ in Albert, Chapel and New Streets and Lloyd Square leading off Regent Road. The small and cheaply built houses were set directly on narrow, airless and dark streets and courts and had only shared yards to the rear. After WWII in the 1950s and 60s, they were demolished. The irregular shaped Regent Road car park formed a tarmac expanse out of the space created.

At the same time, the three sets of flats on New Street were built, providing housing with modern facilities with plenty of light and green open spaces. They were built mainly for those aged 50 and over, with other former residents provided with new housing in the Broomwood Estate in Timperley.

The photo was taken from the Grafton Tower office block while it was still under construction. 

(Photo by Ian Gee)

In the centre right is Saint Margaret’s Church School, with the closest building dating from the 1840s. The setts of Albert Street which led to it can still be seen. To the left is the bowling green behind The Downs hotel. This whole area has been redeveloped under two separate schemes, which include housing, workspaces, a multi-storey car park and landscaped spaces. 

(Photo by Ian Gee)

The low shops in the foreground date from the early 19th century, when Regent Road was narrower and called ‘Chapel Walks’ after the Wesleyan Chapel. The latter was located at the entrance to Chapel Street, to the right of the black and white Grapes pub seen in the far right. Chapel Street was famous and respected for the high number of 161 volunteers who signed up to fight at the start of WWI. A newly formed Chapel Square has been created as a memorial, forming part of the major redevelopment of the car park site.  

(Photo by Sue Nichols, 27th June 2012)

The red brick of Grade II Listed Saint Vincent de Paul’s church which was built in 1905 can be seen in the distance. The location of the previous church building was tucked away behind two houses in New Street, which had been joined to form a school and presbytery. Beyond Saint Vincent’s in the distance is the square tower of Saint Margaret’s church which had its spire removed in 1927 because it was unsafe. 

(Photo by Sue Nichols, 27th June 2012)

In this view from north side of the Travelodge Hotel, the foreground is George Street, with the overhead service road above. To the top left is Altrincham General Hospital, before its relocation in April 2015. All of the buildings in the complex have been demolished but with the original 1870 façade on Market Street designed by Peter Pons rebuilt, brick by brick. The new 4-storey building is of high quality and built of brick, glass and York stone. It houses the Altrincham Health and Wellbeing Centre and two local G.P. surgeries, which have relocated. Altrincham Library has also found a new home on the handier ground floor.

The Grade II Listed Market House is seen in the distance to the right, with the spire of Saint George’s Church seen on the horizon.

(Photo by Sue Nichols, 25th August 2012)

This photo was taken shortly before the covered market extension was built to provide more protection for the stalls, to the south of the 1879 Market House.

The long, rectangular building with a flat roof, to right of the Market House, is the former 1816 Unitarian chapel on Shaw’s Road. It became a Salvation Army Hall and then in 1910 it was the Central cinema, known fondly as ‘th’ bug hut’. This closed in 1933 after a poor fire safety report. To the south of it the courtyard and stable block of a cab company, located on what is now New Market Square (formerly Central Way). Stone sets related to it were exposed in 2013 and STAG undertook a survey and collected finds, during the creation of the new public space. See the Local History Publications page. 

To the bottom right is George Street, south of the Bricklayers Arms. Altrincham General Hospital and Dispensary is to the bottom left, with the 1914 rear extensions and its brick corner towers by local architect Frank Dunkerley.

At the top of the photo on Dunham Road is the Unitarian Chapel built in 1872 to the designs of Thomas Worthington, with the then Police Station also in a Gothic style, seen on the other side of the road.

(Photo by N. S. Roberts by courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council M67879)

The Causeway to the north of the new Grafton shopping mall was still a mixture of workshops and overgrown gardens, when this photo was taken from the Grafton Tower.

(Photo by Ian Gee)

To the mid-left, the black and white house and shop designed by Tate and Popplewell in 1881 holds its ground amongst later development. The Causeway at the centre has become an open and underused service area, but has the potential to become a much needed open green and active space in the centre of the town. In the distance is Manchester city centre. The photo was taken from the Travelodge hotel which was formed out of the Grafton Tower office block. 

(Photo by Sue Nichols, 25th August 2012)

At this time, George Street was still open to cars. Woolworth’s is still trading from its 1937 purpose-built store. The photo was taken from the service road bridge leading to the 1968 Grafton Tower office block. 

(Photo by Ian Gee)

Another view taken from the Travelodge Hotel shows in the centre, a fine example of a Montague Burton gentleman’s outfitter building. This was opened in 1936 as a plaque on the building indicates. For many decades on the opposite corner was Eustace Parker’s jewellery shop.

The numerous and incongruous bollards inhibiting pedestrian flow, have now been removed as part of an enhanced public realm scheme by Planit-ie of Altrincham, with further tree planting; a high-quality paving design on widened pavements and the introduction of the concept of a shared streets.

(Photo by Sue Nichols, 25th August 2012)

This is a photo taken from the Travelodge Hotel, which was formerly the Grafton Tower office block. It shows the fine parades of shops which were built over a 20 year period along Stamford New Road from 1881, when it was newly created at the same time as the combined Altrincham and Bowdon Station. Most were designed with living accommodation ‘above the shop’ and many are now being reconverted back to this use once again, bringing footfall and vitality to the town centre.

Station Buildings, built as a grand steel-framed office block in 1905 with shops and services below, can be seen during its recent restoration and conversion of the upper floors to apartments. The Silver Blades Ice Rink, the other side of the railway line, is to the right.

(Photo by Sue Nichols, 25th August 2012) 

The historic urban grain of the original Market Place area is displayed well. At the centre is the distinctive shape of the original 1290 market location with its set width burgage building plots coming off it. This was the central focus of the town for centuries. By 1928 however, the main activity of the town had expanded and shifted away down towards the suburban railway line stations which terminated in Altrincham in 1849 and across to the south where a new civic quarter was formed around the 1870 hospital, 1879 Market House and 1901 new Town Hall.

In 1928, there was still town centre housing on High Street and Earney Street, seen to the bottom left. The turreted Axe and Cleaver pub is at the bottom middle of the photo and was replaced by the some of the new shops in the Stamford Quarter.

(Photo by N. S. Roberts by courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council M67881)

The width of Groby Road lined with polychrome brick villas winds it way to the left, with Saint Vincent’s Church just visible. To the right is Lyme Grove laid out and built in 1867. The ancient route of The Narrows is to the far right of it, leading from Altrincham town centre to the original parish church and graveyard at Bowdon. In the mid-right is New Street still with all of its modest terraced housing. All lead northwards into Regent Road.

Further north, the buildings of Altrincham General Hospital can be seen between Market and Greenwood Streets. Beyond that it appears that the new covered market building is under construction beside the 1879 Market House.

(Photo taken 17 April 1927)

Groby Road is to the left and still has potential building plots being used as market gardens. Bentinck Road is to the right. At the junction of the two is the red brick and terracotta church of Saint Vincent de Paul and its Presbytery, completed by 1903-05 to designs of notable architect Edmuch Kirby, a student of E. W. Pugin.

The main Dunham Road can be seen in the top left-hand corner.

(Photo taken 17 April 1927)

The rears of houses on New Street and Wellington Place can be seen to the bottom left. In the centre is the historic bowling green and to the left of it is Saint Margaret’s School, playground and outside toilet. Further north is what was to become the eating and drinking hub of King’s Court. In the top left-hand corner, the Graftons office building and shopping mall is under construction.

In the top right-hand corner is the original 1849 Bowdon Terminus which by this time, was used as an engine shed. Goose Green is still housing. 

(Photo by D. Walker, 6th October 1967)

The polychrome brick shops with housing above on east of The Downs and on Oxford Road were built in 1869. The detached white brick houses to the far right of the photo were built soon after.

Some terraced houses on Peter Street in Newtown remain but many more have been demolished. Denmark Street is still intact, seen here to the top left.

(Photo by D. Walker, 6th October 1967)

Newly-built houses from the 1920s can be seen in the far left corner on Cavendish Road.

At the centre, Trinity Presbyterian Church opened in 1872 sits on the newly put through Delamer Road. The stone church in Early English style was designed by architects Speakman, Son and Hickson of Manchester for the Scottish residents of Bowdon. It has recently been converted for residential use. Some of the tall white brick houses so typical of the area, such as those on the corner of Upper Downs and Delamer Road, were designed in 1866 by Russian-born architect Peter Pons who lived locally.

Further afield on Woodville Road is the 1908 telephone exchange which stands proud. Opposite it are the buildings and spacious gardens of Saint Anne’s Home consumption hospital.

(Photo taken 17 April 1927)

To the far south runs Cavendish Road. Albert Square which is named after Prince Albert, lies to the north and was laid out in the mid-1840s with merchants’ villas. The zigzag boundary of Altrincham and Bowdon Townships runs through it.

Beyond is Saint John’s Road with the Vicarage designed by J. Medland Taylor in 1870-71 at the centre with the church school and parish rooms to the right.

Beyond is The Downs, Wellington Place and New Street. The greenhouses of an extensive plant nursery can be see top left.

(Photo taken 17 April 1927)

The church of Saint John the Evangelist seen here with its spire on the corner of Ashley Road, was built in 1865-66 to serve the residents of the dense housing on the angled streets of Newtown to the top right. It also anticipated the need of an increase in population due to the arrival of the commuter railway to Manchester in 1849.

To the bottom right, market gardens can still be seen behind the late Victorian houses to the south of Hale Road.

(Photo by N. S. Roberts by courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council M67880)

When the large stone house in the foreground was first built in the early 1860s, it was a boarding school for young ladies called Culcheth New Hall. In 1880 it closed and the building was divided into two houses. The southern half became a school again in 1891 under the Lang sisters, who took over the whole building in 1903. Known as Culcheth Hall School, it closed in 2011 and is now home to Bowdon Preparatory School.

The late Victorian and Edwardian semi-detached houses on Portland Road are to the top left of the picture. At the back of them runs the ancient footpath to Springbank Park, which also forms the Township boundary between Altrincham and Bowdon.

(© English Heritage (Aerofilms Collection). For permission to reproduce please email airviews@english-heritage.org.uk)

Taken from the practice fire tower, the photo shows the new fleet of fire engines in the yard of the new station. The road leads to the junction of Manchester Road and Barrington Road.

(Photo by Ian Gee)

The Linotype Company was established in Manchester in 1889, to exploit an invention by a German watchmaker which had been developed in America, in the form of a print composing machine. It made it easier for type to be set; used less staff and space and saved time. It particularly improved the newspaper and periodical industries.

In the late 1890s, the company developed a very large factory south of the canal at Broadheath to make far more of the machines. It followed the setting up of the Altrincham Electric Supply Company on the north side of the canal in 1895.

The Linotype Company bought some 40 acres of land, which were mainly used for a high-quality housing estate and amenities including sports grounds, a children’s playground and allotments. This was in order to attract and retain skilled workers and their families. Rents were set at half of those locally and there was a profit-sharing scheme and works committee. The streets were named after the directors of the company, including the main influencer, the publisher Sir Joseph Lawrence M.P., who had introduced the Linotype in 1889 and was chairman of the company from 1895 until his death in 1919.

The then Earl of Stamford was opposed to any industrial development south of the canal but as the estate of 172 good-sized houses took up most of the site, it ensured that not many more noisy and polluting factories could be built.

In 1903, the company became known as the Linotype and Machinery Company Limited (L & M), when it amalgamated with the Machinery Trust. Sales were world-wide, as their machines could be adapted for printing in many scripts.

The cricket ground for the workers at the factory is in the foreground. In the distance to the left, is the ridge of the hill at Dunham, where the Earl of Stamford had his seat at Dunham Massey Hall. To the right is the Bridgewater Canal.

In 1896 the Linotype company bought about 38 acres of farmland south of the Bridgewater Canal from farmer and developer Andrew Curtis Sparkes and Oldfield House resident James Grimble Groves. This was much to the annoyance of the Earl of Stamford, who wished to keep the factories north of the canal away from newly created residential areas. Initially only 4 acres were used for factories, with the remainder used for the Linotype Estate of high quality houses designed by Stott and Sons. These were for the benefit of workers at the factory with rents half that locally. Cricket and other sports grounds along with allotments were also part of the scheme, with the existing mature trees kept as part of the garden suburb concept.

To the right of the photo is the new Woodfield House factory built on the former cricket ground alongside the canal. It was designed before the war, but not completed until 1948 due to a shortage of materials and labour. This was demolished recently and like much of the south side, the site is now residential, returning to Lord Stamford’s original vision.

(Aero Pictorial Ltd Airview)

This view takes in the area to the south of Park and Langham Roads along with that around the parish church on the hill, leading along The Firs towards Altrincham and Stamford Road down towards Hale. The green belt land south of Timperley can be seen in the far distance.

These buildings lie between Bowdon Road and Higher Downs in the area known as Bowdon Downs. To the left is the Altrincham Grammar School for Girls built as the County High School for Girls in 1910, on the site of an 1835 merchant’s villa called Bowdon Lodge. To the far left, the stable block of the old house with its turret on Bowdon Road which became part of the school.

To the far right are the four early Victorian houses built of polychrome brick on Beechfield. Like the houses on Higher Downs, they were put up in the early 1850s when agricultural land became more valuable as housing, due to the arrival of the railway in 1849.

Bowdon Downs Congregational Church built in 1847 can be see at the top with a glimpse of Saint Anne’s Home beyond.

Taken from the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, perhaps during its demolition in 1968, this view north takes in the spires of Trinity Methodist Church (before its lost its tip) and Saint John’s parish church. The former was closed on its 150th anniversary in December 2016.

(Photo by Mike Arron)

At the centre is the impressive Wesleyan Methodist Chapel of Saint Paul’s designed by Brakspear. It was completed in 1880 after 6 years of building works and became known as ‘The Dome’. The building was demolished with a great deal of effort in 1968. The associated stone Manse to the right of it on Enville Road still remains. The building behind it was the Sunday School.

The white brick house and its extensive grounds to the far left between Enville and Belgrave Roads was called Mountlands. It became a Christian Science Home but was demolished and replaced by four detached houses.

In 19th century Bowdon, croquet lawns were very popular especially with girls and women who could easily play the game in their cumbersome gowns. By the time this photo was taken, tennis courts were more common in the still spacious grounds of the houses of Bowdon.

(By courtesy of Trafford Local Studies)

To the left is the Assembly Rooms with Bowdon Croquet Club and Saint Mary’s Road behind it. The courts and green of Bowdon Bowling and Lawn Tennis Club are further beyond. In the distance is Enville Road with Winton Road leading off it.

(© English Heritage (Aerofilms Collection). For permission to reproduce please email airviews@english-heritage.org.uk)

This is one of a set of aerial shots of Bowdon taken by Airviews Ltd in 1949. It looks down upon the church rebuilt to the designs of William H. Brakspear in 1858-60. At the time, there was much opposition to the demolition of the smaller and earlier Medieval church of 1320 with its 1510 Tudor extensions. However, it was needed because the population in the immediate area had increased greatly over the previous 15 years, due to the arrival of the railway to Manchester in 1849. Bowdon’s character had changed dramatically from that of a rural hamlet with market gardens to a wealthy commuter suburb with grand Italianate villas and formal grounds.

(© English Heritage (Aerofilms Collection). For permission to reproduce please email airviews@english-heritage.org.uk)

To the left is Church Brow with its 18th century cottages, next door to two sets of semi-detached grand merchants’ villas dating from the 1850s.

(© English Heritage Aerofilms Collection. For permission to reproduce please email airviews@english-heritage.org.uk)

The open shape of this flat area at the top of Bowdon hill, may reflect the urban grain of the ancient settlement of Bowdon dating back to the 7th Century. It was recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as ‘Bogedone’ meaning a bow-shaped ‘dun’ or hill.

(© English Heritage Aerofilms Collection. For permission to reproduce please email airviews@english-heritage.org.uk)

To the far left is Bowdon Church School which was built in 1856. Closer to the church is Stamford Cottage built in the 1830s. It was the home of church officials for many decades.

(© English Heritage Aerofilms Collection. For permission to reproduce please email airviews@english-heritage.org.uk)

Over 40,000 people from as far as way as Ashton-on-Mersey, Baguley and Bollington have been buried here over the centuries, as the original parish of Bowdon was much larger. With the growth in population due to the new commuter transport links in the former countryside southwest of industrial Manchester in the 19th century, 17 new parishes had been carved out of the original single one by 1911. Details of burials and inscriptions on gravestones can be obtained from the Saint Mary’s church archivist and the Friends of Bowdon Churchyard.

In the distance can be see Bowdon Vale and the Bollin River valley.

(Photo by Sue Nichols, 16th June 2012)

On the left is the Pavilion, which is attached to the Stamford Arms pub named after the local Lord of Dunham Hall. The white building is The Griffin, with its name taken from the coat of arms of the Stamford family. Both pubs have origins in the 17th century.

(Photo by Sue Nichols, 16th June 2012)

To the left is a pair of semi-detached Italianate villas built in ‘white brick’ dating from the early 1860s, typical of the area. The first housing developers on streets like Richmond Road, East Downs Road and Vale Road built their houses in white brick in the 1840s. Later on from 1859, the 7th Earl of Stamford specified in many of his deeds of sale that the houses should be built in ‘white brick’, following an already established fashion.

To the right is The Firs, known in the past as ‘Burying Lane’, due to it being the last section of an ancient funeral route from the market town of Altrincham to its then parish church in Bowdon.

(Photo by Sue Nichols, 16th June 2012)

To the left is the 1930s Arts and Crafts house called Windyridge by local architect F. H. Brazier. It is currently Bowdon’s vicarage. In the middle, picturesque brick cottages wind their way down Church Brow. Above them is a pair of grand semi-detached merchants’ villas, built in the 1850s. To the far right in the corner, is the old Police Station built in yellow brick.

(Photo by Sue Nichols, 16th June 2012)

This view from Bowdon Church tower, looks over the top of Church Brow and beyond to Green Walk. The latter was put through as a private coach road from Dunham Massey Hall to the church in 1760 by Lady Mary Booth, Countess of the 4th Earl of Stamford, at the same time the northern New Park was built. From the 1860s, land was sold off either side of it from the Stamford estate for the building of grand stone villas in large gardens, with the density, rental value and building material specified in the deed of sale. One such villa is Heather Lea, seen in the distance to the right.

(Photo by Sue Nichols, 16th June 2012)

The primarily agricultural show was held on the Devisdale on the top of the ridge in Bowdon from 1895 until 1966, with breaks during the World Wars. It was the largest one day show of its kind in the country. For more pictures of the Altrincham Show visit the Events page.

At the bottom left is the grand stone mansion of Erlesdene on Green Walk, with The Woodlands (Heather Lea) and Enville House (demolished) to the right. Behind are the courts and pavilion of Bowdon Lawn Tennis Club. Since this photograph was taken, the green public space of the Devisdale has been reduced through the building of houses and school buildings with playing fields.

(Photo by N. S. Roberts by courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council M67883)

Langham Road sweeps around the contour of the land. Bowdon Vale is on the south side of it and leads down to the Bollin River valley. On the north side is the area known as Rose Hill since it was developed in the 1840s by Victorian house builders on land sold by Thomas Assheton Smith. 19th century Bowdon College can be seen in the bottom right corner. It became home to Altrincham Preparatory School from 1936 until 1997.

(© English Heritage (Aerofilms Collection) taken 28th September 1975. For permission to reproduce please email airviews@english-heritage.org.uk)

In the distance to the left is the 1897 clock tower of the Linotype and Machinery Company, with its Woodfield House works completed in 1948, to the right of it. Some of the model houses of the Linotype Estate built especially for the factory and office workers and their families, can also be seen in the far distance.

The large building to the right backing onto Weldon Road, is the original Altrincham Ice Rink opened in 1960, away from the town centre. The photo by was taken by local, professional photographer Ian Gee, when the new Fire and Ambulance Station was opened.

(Photo by Ian Gee)

The fine church of Saint Margaret’s on Dunham Road was built by the 7th Earl of Stamford and completed in 1855. It was named after the Earl’s late sister. The building was set at the end of the vista of Saint Margaret’s Road, which was a grand avenue newly put through and lined with white brick and stone villas in spacious grounds built at the same time as the church. After WWI, due to an increase in worshippers, an extension was started at the west end but never completed as the lady who was funding it passed away and left her fortune elsewhere. The spire was demolished in 1927 by steeplejack George A. Quayle, as it had become unsafe. Parts of it are scattered around local gardens.

At the east end, the vicarage can be seen. It was demolished in the 1960s. The WWI memorial is still in its original prominent location in the centre of the junction, before it was moved in the early 1960s to the more tranquil memorial gardens opposite the church.

The school established in 1912 as the Altrincham County High School for Boys, was built on what became Marlborough Road, to the southwest of Hale village. It followed on from the County High School for Girls in Bowdon in 1910 (later Altrincham Girls Grammar School). In 1903, Cheshire County Council had been made responsible for education in the area and several schools and colleges were set up.

The original building built in red brick with the low tower and turret, is to the left of the photo. Later extensions were built to the rear and sides of it over the years.

At the time this aerial photo was taken, the school was still mainly surrounded by market gardens and wasteland, with Blenheim Close to the far right and the new playing field to the bottom left, yet to be in place. The new gymnasium and 1963 sports pavilion were built soon afterwards, in the area around the Metalwork

Department building, to the far right of the site.

Two cricket matches are underway. In the grounds at the top left is the Boy Scout Hall built in 1932, seen behind the sight screen.

This stretch of Ashley Road in Hale, southeast of Hale Station, was first built as residential but in the 1920s, the front gardens of the houses became the widened pavements of a new shopping street, to serve the rapidly expanding area. The top floor of the late Victorian houses with their polychrome brickwork, can be seen in the photograph. It was taken by professional photographer and local historian, Douglas Rendell, who had his shop on the left-hand side. To the very far left is the flag of the Drill Hall, built in 1876 as the Bowdon Skating Rink Limited during a national roller-skating craze. It was soon turned over to military use. The Tudor style building in the middle, on the corner of Westgate, housed Wares dairy and café, famous for its vanilla ice cream.

(Photo by Douglas Rendell)

This view taken from Saint Margaret’s Church tower is looking across the houses of Oldfield. The chimney of the Lintotype and Machinery Company Ltd can be seen in the distance, with further factories at Broadheath beyond that. To the left are the playing fields which were excavated in the 1960s to reveal a section of the Roman road of Watling Street. This ran from Chester to Manchester and passed to the west of what was later to become the settlement and market town of Altrincham. It is not known when the spur was created to go to Altrincham, which was set higher on a gentle hill.

(Photo by Douglas Rendell)