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Proposals to Demolish Properties

We would be pleased to hear from anyone who has old photographs of buildings such as the Bleeding Wolf, Hale which may be substantially altered following planning applications. We are also interested in pre-1920 photographs of Altrincham and its 'suburbs' to add to our collection and which we hope to make available to the public in the future. These old photos help to establish the history of the area and often get thrown away.

St. Anne’s Home, Bowdon

The hospital closed on 19 December 2004. The original house ‘Beech Grove’ goes back to 1837 and Joseph Sidebotham lived there in the 1870s and early 80s. He sold the house to the Manchester Hospital for Consumption and Diseases of the Throat for £5,000 with a donation of £2,000. The name became 'St Anne’s Home' after his late wife Anne. In the 1880s and 90s the Crossley Engineering brothers Frank and William donated funds for its expansion. Sue Nichols has spent three years researching the buildings, has published their history and hopes to save at least some from demolition.

Labour Party History

Colin Graham is researching the history of the Labour Party in Altrincham and is seeking information on the following people:
WS McCann of Victoria Terrace, 254 Manchester Road; an engineer, elected to the UDC in 1905, and chairman in 1910.
WG Taylor of 63 Lock Road; a turner, elected in 1909 and chairman in 1919.
JT Pinfold of 15 Park Avenue; an iron miller, elected in 1919 and chairman in 1924.  
Lavinia Beattie of 10 or 11 Sinderland Road; described as a housewife she was in the Womens' Labour League and the Coop, and was a candidate in the early 1920s but didn't get elected.
If you are related to any of these people or have any even minor knowledge, Colin would appreciate feedback via our email address.

Dunham Farmsteads Project

The Greater Manchester Archaeological Unit (GMAU) run by our President Dr Mike Nevell has won the contract to carry out an archaeological study of eight to ten of the 26 farmsteads in Dunham Massey owned by the National Trust who are encouraging local involvement in the project. The archaeological recording will be through photographs, plans, elevations, sections, collated with existing NT documentation and the project will be completed by March 2008. AHS has been invited to join the project to extract the history of the farmsteads to back up the archaeological work. The committee has agreed to assist and it will be a very interesting project. The first eight farmsteads and those currently investigating are Littleheath, Bollington Hall, Redhouse, Sinderland, Home Farm, Dairyhouse, Brookheyes and Stamford. The project was initiated on 31 October 2007 and investigation will involve going to Local Studies in Sale to identify farmers’ names from street directories, maps, field names etc; John Rylands Library for tenement numbers, rentals/leases; and the Chester Record Office for Hearth Tax, Poll Tax and Land Tax records. Jill Groves will be supplying details of wills and inventories for the 17th and 18th centuries from her forthcoming book on Dunham Massey Wills.

Victor Bernard

A correspondent is seeking information on Victor Bernard who had been a fairly well known figure in the show business world in the early 1950s, but by 1958 had set up a company called Thomas Industrial Automation based at Station Buildings (now Stamford House), Altrincham. In 1964 Victor Bernard became chairman of Stockport County Football Club. Any information on the company or Victor Bernard would be appreciated.

Please email the Secretary at althistsoc@btinternet.com if you have information or photos on any of the above.

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