Gee Cross Methodist Memorials

Gee Cross Methodists Church stands on land which was once part of Ralph Fold. Originally, Stockport Road Wesleyan Methodist Church and founded in 1882, when the Primitive Methodist Chapel on Joel Lane closed in 1969 the two congregations merged as Gee Cross Methodists Church.

This Memorial Stone was laid by Mrs John Blackwell of Godley July 28th 1888. This is six years after the church was founded and is by the entrance to the Sunday School.

These tablets were rescued from Joel Lane and re-erected here.
1914. THE GREAT WAR 1919.

This Tablet
IS ERECTED AS A MEMORIAL
TO THE YOUNG MEN OF THIS CHURCH AND SUNDAY
SCHOOL, WHO RESPONDED TO BRITAIN'S CALL AT
THE CRISIS OF A GREAT NATIONAL PERIL

THE FOLLOWING PAID THE SUPREME SACRIFICE
THOMAS SAMPSON | HERBERT BRELSFORD
FRED ROBBINS. | HAROLD W WARDLE
JOSEPH J WARDLE | JOHN H WALSH
1939. 1945
ALBERT RICHARDSON

***

THESE FLOWER VASES
WERE ERECTED BY THE
FAMILY AND CONGREGATION
IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF
ALBERT C. WILSON

BORN 25th DEC. 1874,
DIED 29th DEC. 1947,
WHO FAITHFULLY SERVED THIS CHAPEL
AND SCHOOL FOR 60 YEARS.

This tablet commemorates men from Stockport Road Wesleyan Methodist Church. It reads:
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
IN HONOUR OF THE MEN OF THIS CHURCH,
WHO SERVED IN THE GREAT WAR, 1914-1918.
AND IN EVER ABIDING MEMORY OF THE UNDERMENTIONED WHO FELL
---
HARRY COLLINSON | NORMAN H STAFFORD
GEORGE SHELMERDINE | WILLIAM HILL
FRED BARTON | TOM TWEEDALE
SAMUEL SOUTER | JOHN H BRADDOCK
"GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS"

IN MEMORY OF
Pte NORMAN H STAFFORD
7th ROYAL WELSH FUSILIERS
WHO DIED AT PORT SAID
25th OCTOBER 1919.
---
RAISED BY OFFICERS AND MEN OF HIS REGIMENT

Sacred to the Memory of
- JOHN BUCKLAND -
WHOSE SERVICE IN CONNECTION WITH THIS CHURCH
AND SUNDAY SCHOOL EXTENDED OVER A PERIOD OF
40 YEARS. DIED AUGUST 4th 1917.
- AGED 73 YEARS -
A GOOD NAME IS RATHER TO BE CHOSEN THAN GREAT RICHES.

WILLOUGHBY WILDE. HYDE.

IN MEMORY OF
ABEL STAFFORD
WHO WENT TO THE HOMELAND - FEB 21st 1910
AGED 58 YEARS
---
THIS TABLET IS A LOVING EXPRESSION OF THE FAMILY AND
FRIENDS OF THE HIGH APPRECIATION OF HIS
UNTIRING DEVOTION TO THE BEST INTERESTS OF THIS CHURCH.
HE HELD FOR MANY YEARS THE POSITION OF SUNDAY
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT SOCIETY STEWARD AND SEVERAL
OTHER OFFICES: AND AT THE TIME OF HIS TRANSLATION WAS
STEWARD OF THE WOODLEY CIRCUIT
-----
"He being dead yet speaketh."

Views of the outside of the church can be a found on Hyde DP Xtra.

A view of the inside of the church and its organ can be found on Hyde Daily Photo.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

Cheshire Cheese, Gee Cross, 1982 and earlier

This is the Cheshire Cheese on Stockport Road in Gee Cross. The photograph was taken by Janet Howie in 1982.

It is not to be confused with the Cheshire Cheese in Newton, nor the Cheshire Cheese in Broadbottom, featured today on Hyde DP Xtra.


Janet also sent me scans of two much earlier photographs (dates unknown) from her collection. As can be seen here, the left hand side of the building was originally a separate grocery shop.


See how it looks in 2010 on Hyde Daily Photo.

For more C posts visit ABC Wednesday

Clock Tower on Stockport Road

Janet Howie sent me this old photograph of houses and a clock tower on Stockport Road, Gee Cross.

I'm informed that these once stood on the site now occupied by the Smith Knight Fay car dealership at the top of Apethorn Road.

You can see the current day photo on Hyde Daily Photo.

Gee X Mill 1984

A photograph of the Peak Forest Canal taken by Janet Howie, Easter 1984.

Gee X Mill in the background has since been demolished and replaced by a modern residence with lawns down to the canal.

See how it looks now on sithenah.

For weekend reflections around the world visit Newton Area Photo.

Rowbotham Street 1984

Photograph © 1984, 2010 Janet Howie.

This is the top of Rowbotham Street at its junction with Stockport Road in 1984.

See how it looks now on Hyde Daily Photo.

Look further down the street on Hyde DP Xtra.

Big Tree 1983

The original "Big Tree", which stood at the corner of Lilly Street and Stockport Road by the Diamond Row reservoir, traditionally marked the boundary between Hyde and Gee Cross.

The reservoir was covered and the nearby Diamond Row cottages were demolished, to create an open space.

In 1983 a new "big tree" was planted as a memorial to sacrifices made in Northern Ireland and the Falklands.

Janet Howie's photograph was taken in September 1983; compare it with my own photograph from 2007 on Hyde Daily Photograph.

The CDPB theme for today is Wood. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Travellers Call No More

When I published a 100 year old photograph of the Travellers Call, I was asked if I had a photograph of the modern building.

Well I've not yet had the chance to get up there and take a recent view. I do however have this photograph taken by Janet Howie in 1982. So far as I recall it looks much the same now.

Waiting at the Travellers Call

The Travellers Call was a public house on Joel Lane just above Slateacre.

Who they are and what all these people were waiting here for some 100 years ago, I cannot say.

Neither do I know when the pub was converted to a private residence.

Waiting is the CDPB theme for today; click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Alfred Woolley in his Shop Doorway

Denys Meakin sent me this photograph of his wife's great grandfather, Alfred Woolley, sitting outside his grocery store at 284 Stockport Rd, Gee Cross, around 1900.


This second photograph is probably ten to twenty years later and shows the premises on the corner of Knott Lane. Denys' wife lived next door at 286 Stockport Road until their marriage in 1959.

With two-foot-thick walls, it dates back to around 1750 and was one of the earliest buildings in Gee Cross. At one time, it was apparently a pub, The Beeston Castle.

In the forties and fifties, the shop was Johnny Graham's barber shop.


This third photograph is © Denys Meakin and taken in 2003. Compare it with my own photograph from 2008.

Today the CDPB theme is Doorways: Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Orlando Oldhams Cork Cutters Factory

Janet Howie's photograph from 1984 is of the Orlando Oldhams cork cutters factory, latterly Ashworth's bag factory. The white building on the right is the Queen Adelaide.

The factory has since been demolished and an estate of modern houses, called Queen's Close, has been built on the site, as can be seen on Hyde Daily Photo.

More O posts at ABC Wednesday

Queen Adelaide 1982

Another of Janet Howie's photographs from 1982.

See how it looked in

• 2001
• 2006
• 2008

Whittaker's Whim

About a hundred years ago in the old quarry below the Werneth Hotel on Stockport Road was found what was known as Frederick Whittaker's Whim.

I've been unable to find much out about this, but it is mentioned in an obscure, rambling spoof poem by James Leigh.

...
Just take a walk up o'er Werneth Low, and there you will behold
That grand and noble structure at the foot of yonder hill
An ever lasting monument of architectural skill.

We then besieged the palace of King Frederick the Great.
That tumble-down old building on the Back Bower Estate
But not a Godl(e)y soul we found in that ungodly place,
So we razed the building to the ground and left of it no trace

We then marched through the city of Gee Cross, but, strange to say,
The city's ancient glory has long since passed away;
The only ancients that we saw, beside old Freddie's whims
Was Robin and his brother Jam, the famous Gee Cross twins.

We halted on Mount Pleasant, and as we gazed around
We felt that we were standing upon historic ground,
For the foot of Treacle Hill stood gloomy, dark and grim,
The ruins of a temple, His Majesty's first Whim.

Each warrior bowed his crested head above Stone Pit wall,
And thus each one soliloquised upon the city's fall.

Oh, city of the ancients, we gaze upon you now,
Shorn of thy former glory how desolate art thou;
Thy Market Hall, without a roof, is crumbling to decay
Thy public park and pleasure grounds have long since passed away

But soon we noticed that the sun was sinking in the west,
And weather it was time or not, of course the sun knew best,
But we ourselves were very weary, though only half-past nine,
The heat is so oppressive in that Oriental clime.

We sought a refuge for the night at Doorbar's famous inn
...

Stone Pit is a reference to the reservoir now used for fishing and Doorbar's is a reference to the Grapes Hotel.

Now the old quarry is full of modern houses which you can see on Hyde Daily Photo and the quarry wall can be seen on Hyde DP Xtra.

Grapes Hotel 1982

This photograph of The Grapes was taken by Janet Howie in 1982.

Compare how it looked in

• 1910
• 2003
• 2007
• 2008
• 2009

Gee Cross Post Office 1982

Another photograph by Janet Howie showing Gee Cross Post Office at the corner of Stockport Road and School Lane.

It is no longer a Post Office, falling foul of the general closure of numerous sub-offices, despite a concerted campaign against it. When I posted a photograph of the former Post Office someone asked "Is the new one near?". Well no you have to go all the way into town to the Main Post Office.

Someone else remarked "At least they kept the post box." In this shot the post box is behind the two ladies. It has since been moved round the corner into School Lane.

One thing hasn't changed - there is still a newsagents next door.

Contrasts on Joel Lane

This is another photograph from Janet Howie showing Joel Lane in 1983.

The white stone cottage was built in 1738 and whilst it has been modernised it still stands as can be seen from the photograph I took in 2008 which you can view on Hyde DP Xtra.

The later brick-built house below it in Janet's photograph has however been demolished and replaced by a newer property although I don't have a photo of that to show you.

The CDPB theme today is "Contrast": Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Aspland Maternity Home

I recently acquired some scans of photographs taken in the 1980s by Janet Howie.

The first I am posting is of Aspland Maternity Home on Higham Lane.

It opened in October 1931 and closed in November 1973.

According to an expats page on Manchester OnLine

The building on Lower Higher [sic] Lane, Gee Cross, was presented to the town of Hyde by the widow and son of Arthur Palmer Aspland, a leading figure in the industrial and social life of Hyde. The grounds were formally opened as a public park on 29th July 1922 before the house was converted into the maternity hospital. Staffed by a matron, two midwives, laundress, cook, two domestics, and a caretaker, there were only two small wards and 14 beds. ... The building was demolished in 1987 and the land sold to make room for private housing. Two stone pillars, which once stood on the driveway to Aspland were donated to Werneth Low Country Park, and were erected on the drive at the entrance to the park.

One of the stone pillars can be seen on a photograph I posted in April 2008 of the wall at the entrance to Lower Higham Visitor Centre.

I'll be posting several more of Janet's photographs over the coming weeks and months.

Hyde Chapel 1708-1846

These images are from The Annals of Hyde.

In 1708, on an estate belonging to an ancestor of the Thornelys, the original chapel at Gee Cross was built largely under Presbyterian influence. The district at that time contained only a few scattered farmers, and there was no other place of worship in the township. For nearly 100 years the chapel remained the only place for public worship in Hyde, until in 1814, the Independent Chapel was built on the site now occupied by the Mechanics' Institute.

The original Hyde chapel was a low building of stone with a small flat gallery entered by an outside stone staircase. "It was fitted up," says Mr. Hibbert, "with wooden benches without backs, standing on an earthen floor, which in wet weather was covered with rushes." Among the first trustees the following names occur : Thornely, Shepley, Ashton, Brook, Mottram, Hegginbotham, Harrison, Sidebotham, Gee, and others, showing the ancestors of the principal Hyde families to have been concerned in the erection of this old and interesting place of worship. That the chapel flourished in its earlier years is evident from the fact that a return made in 1715 states that "at Hyde, John Cooper had 674 hearers, 10 gentlemen, 39 tradesmen, and 70 yeomen, including 65 voters for the county."

The present chapel is built of stone and is of most beautiful appearance. Its style is partly early English and it consists of a nave with north and south aisles and chancel, and a fine tower and spire rising to the height of 145 feet. The nave is divided by rows of clustered pillars from which spring moulded arches which support the clerestory. The chapel took two years to build and cost £7,500. Upon a stone tablet over the north door is this inscription :

This House of Prayer, standing near the site of a chapel built A.D. 1708, was erected A.D. 1846 by the descendants of the founders, and dedicated to the worship of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the protection of that Act of Public Justice, 7 and 8 Vict. c. 45, which secures to non-subscribing dissenters peaceful possession of the Chapel and Endowments of their pious forefathers.

The top image is a copy of the painting of the 1767 church which can be seen inside the church.

Compare the present print from the 1890s with my photograph from early Spring, 2009.

In George Wain's footsteps

George Wain's 1947 film Much Ado is probably the only moving memory we have of the area of Gee Cross where it was filmed.

Now seftonwallet who was responsible for transforming George's film into video-format was been revisiting the locations featured therein with Ken Richards and has produced this new fascinating video.

If you haven't seen the original I suggest you watch that first (link above) and then watch the new film.

Prince Henry in Hyde

On Thursday 6th February 1930, Prince Henry, third son of George V, visited Hyde.

He was met at Pole Bank by the Mayor, Alderman Middleton.


Crowds lined the route along Stockport Road and Market Street all the way from Gee Cross to the Town Hall.

The entourage of dignatories proceeded to Beeley Street where the Prince was presented with a gold key which he used to open the new Hyde Lads Club. There he was treated to a gymnastic display.


The procession then made its way to the Town Hall where, after a presentation, lunch was served to 300 guests which included the Mayors of several neighbouring towns.

Afterwards the Mayor and the Chief Constable accompanied the Prince to Broomstair Bridge where they handed him over to the Lord Mayor of Manchester.

Potter Family Grave

This is the Potter family grave in the grounds of Hyde Chapel where lie buried the parents and grandparents of Beatrix Potter.

Click on the photograph for an enlarged view.

Beatrix was the daughter of Helen and Rupert and was born on 28th July 1866 at their London home. Her paternal grandfather, Edmund Potter was a successful cotton manufacturer with mills at Dinting, near Glossop, a radical MP, and a friend of Cobden and Bright. Her maternal grandmother, Jane Leech was from another prominent local Unitarian family, the Ashtons of Hyde and was the sister of Thomas Ashton of Pole Bank Hall and the first Mayor of Hyde. She married John Leech in 1832. They had eight children (two of whom died in infancy) and it was their daughter Helen who was Beatrix Potter's mother.

See Hyde Daily Photo for a view of the tombstone in situ.