Gee Cross Motors

This picture was sent to us by Lizzy.

She wrote

The man who used to own Gee Cross Motors only ever had two coaches and he was called Mr Utley. He used to live in the cottagey type house on School Lane by the triangle bit and he used to keep the coaches in a yard that was sort of behind the house but you had to get to it from Rowbotham Street. The livery was green and yellow; this was the bigger one, the other one had only about 20 seats.

He made a lot of money at Hyde Wakes Week when the coaches would all be lined up outside the Queen Addy to take the workers away. His was the only company who had a private hire license for Hyde, and the Joint Board (SHMD) could not use their buses and so they had to loan them to him and advertise that they were on loan to GX Motors. There used to be about 20-30 coaches lined up to take people on holiday; you wouldn't think that there were that many folks in GX in those days.

Dowson Road

This picture (date unknown; click to enhance) shows Dowson Road at its junction with Stockport Road.

So far as I know, Dowson Road was built in the 30s to bypass Gee Cross. The bus appears to be Stockport bound.

Stockport road comes in from the right and sweeps round with the tramlines towards Gee Cross. There is a clear view of Hyde Chapel and a group of men are sitting on a bench by the corner.

Compare with this a recent photograph shown on Hyde Daily Photo.

Cart & Tram

This picture (circa 1910) is of the Market Place in the area that is now pedestrianised.

Hyde Chapel

This picture by Frank Bennett and reproduced here with his permission, first appeared on the Images of England site.

This photograph of Hyde Chapel is from May 2000.

Built in 1846-8, designed by Bowman and Crowther. Snecked stone with slate roof. Nave with clerestory, aisles and west tower and chancel with vestry. In plan and style similar in nearly every way to a parish church. Weathered plinth, sill band, coped gables and cross finials. 6-bay nave and aisles and 2-bay chancel have weathered buttresses (angled at corners) and 2-light windows in each bay with geometrical tracery and hoodmoulds. Porch in bay 2. Paired lancet clerestory windows. 4-stage tower has angled weathered buttresses, octagonal stair turret, 3-light west window, paired 2-light belfry openings and a broach spire with lucarnes. Interior: nave arcade has clustered columns with moulded bases and capitals. Hammer-beam roof with braced purlins. Carved timber pulpit, font cover, and west organ. Stone altar table on columns with foliated capitals all with rich stencilled decoration. Memorial plaque to Lord Ashton of Hyde. A fine example of its type; said to be the first Noncomformist copy of a building for the Established Church.

Hyde Chapel has featured several times on Hyde DP

• 10th April 2006
• 10th December 2006
• 25th July 2007
• 5th August 2007

Theatre Royal Open Days

There is a new website now for Hyde Theatre Royal Onward, the company set up to save this historic theatre for the town.

The theatre will open on the 7th & 8th September 2007 as part of the Heritage Open Days.

Photographs from the 2006 Open Day can be found at http://www.geraldengland.co.uk/gx/royal.htm

Apethorne Farmhouse

This picture by Frank Bennett and reproduced here with his permission, first appeared on the Images of England site.

This was taken in May 2000 and shows the farmhouse on Apethorne Lane.

Originally 15th century but with external walls and other features of the C17 to C19. Cruck-framed with brick and squared rubble walls and a graduated stone slate roof. Originally a 4-bay cruck-framed open-hall house (probably a long-house) but with a floor inserted in the C17 and other alterations during conversion to cottages.

The elevation consists of a small gabled wing in bay 1, and a second bay both of which are in stone. The other 3 bays are in brick and have 3 doors relating to their use as a shippon. One ridge chimney. The east elevation, again with 3 bays in brick and the remainder in stone has 3 dormer windows rising from the eaves, one of them gabled. The gable onto the road has one ground floor window and a sash window above.

It is an important example of an early house-type few of which remain in Greater Manchester.

near the Dye Works

This old street taken approx 50 years ago lay to the East of the town, near the Dye Works which is now home to ABC Wax.

The houses were demolished by the 1970s and the ground covered by the M67 Motorway.

About the only thing still standing is the factory chimney. It would have been dirtier then and not carrying mobile-phone relay masts!

Hyde Town Hall 1907

This 1907 picture of Hyde Town Hall appeared on Old Wom Tigley's Wiggers World blog together with a poem by Joshua Bradley about the opening of Hyde Town Hall Clock and Bells, October 18th 1884.

Today's post at Hyde Daily Photo shows how the Town Hall looks one hundred years later.

Old Hyde

Old Hyde is a companion blog to Hyde Daily Photo.

As its name implies, it will feature non-contemporary material, old photographs, prints &c.

Anyone who has material suitable for inclusion here is cordially invited to contact us. There are contact details on my personal website included in the links on the side-bar.