PAST EVENTS

Zoom talk by Charlotte Coull

Charlotte Coull Magic and Science in the Stone(s) of Alderley Edge . Alderley Edge may be a Site of Special Scientific Interest, but it has also inspired a number of fantastical myths. Its geology has been exploited by mines since the Bronze Age, and studied since the nineteenth century, but the unusual rock formations have also given rise to a rich variety of interpretations that have been woven into local folklore. How can a place be half magic and half science? How can we reconcile these two different ways of understanding an area?

Covering people and organisations from Victorian archaeologist William Boyd Dawkins to modern day fantasy author Alan Garner and the Derbyshire Cave Society, and drawing on psychogeography and phenomenology, this talk explores Alderley Edge as a place where imaginative subjectivity meets scientific objectivity. There’s also a wizard, a stone with a golden aura, and the devil himself to add to the mix. So, can we unpick this chaos to explain why Alderley Edge has been the subject of this enduring fascination?

Charlotte Coull is an independent scholar and public historian with a PhD from the University of Manchester. Her thesis examined the agency of stone in the development of British archaeological practice in India and Egypt and her research interests include  materiality, environmental history, colonial knowledge creation and public engagement. Find her on Instagram @drcharlottecoull and YouTube @appliedhistorian.

A group of our members shared a visit to The National Co-operative Archives in Manchester with Tameside Local History Forum.  There was a huge amount of interest in this visit but numbers were limited so we are planning to hold another trip some time soon.

Twenty members of Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society took a behind the scene visit to Wythenshawe Hall. The tour guides we Ingrid Holden and Liby Edwards both from Friends of Wythenshawe Hall. Lawrence Gregory was on hand to supervise!!

This was a visit to the Manchester Art Gallery to view the Old Manchester Collection under the guidance of curator Hannah Williamson. The Collection was formed by a sub-committee of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society for an exhibition at the Queen’s Park Art Gallery, North Manchester, in 1909, comprising archaeological finds, prints, drawings, medals and curios which told a story of Manchester from the Romans to the industrialists. The Committee donated the objects to the city and they remained on display for over 40 years.  The Gallery is reviewing the collection in 2024-26, asking how these objects can help us to understand the ever-changing city of Manchester, and is looking forward to welcoming today’s antiquarians (or antiqaries if you prefer) to the Gallery to help to answer this question. Hannah provided a behind-the-scenes introduction to the collection, followed by light refreshments.

If you look at manchesterartgallery.org under 'Taking Stock' and then at the 'Old Manchester Collection', it's exciting to see our name on the mighty Manchester Art Gallery website! There are a few examples of items from the collection illustrated there, but the curators are looking for volunteers to help with researching and re-cataloguing  the complete holding: https://mcrvip.com/volunteers/opportunity/10218596.

Hannah and her team were enthusiastic about the collection and eveyone felt the time allowed was too little.  Hannah was persuaded to agree to give a Zoom talk on this collection, which will take place in 2025, and another visit has been promised as soon as possible.

Many thanks to Hannah and her team for making this a memorable day for the Society.

Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society – Annual Conference 11^th May 2024

On Saturday 11^th May we held our Annual Conference at The Friends Meeting House in Manchester. It was a huge success and very well attended.  We had a full room and had to bring in chairs from the foyer.

Our President Mike Nevell opened the day by thanking all the speakers and for everyone coming along from Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society plus our friends from Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society.  We did have some guests who had paid the £12 fee and Mike offered those people a chance to upgrade to membership of LCAS by paying an extra £8 for the annual membership of £20.  As far as I could see everyone took up his kind offer and we now have several new members, great.

The morning session focused on historical talks.  We started off with Ian Mitchel and his talk on Mantles and Myths which was about Browns of Chester c 1780-2021 and gave us an insight into retail life at that time.  Next came Helen Corlett and her fascinating talk on The Cooper at Old Bridge End discussing Finding a Place in Early 19c Manchester all of which was supported with lots of slides.  Finally, just before lunch we were introduced to John Marsden by Hilary Hartigan both from Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society.  John talked about the huge projects that their society regularly undertake into the lives of local people.  The society holds over 3.5 million records which have been gathered from so very many sources and available online to members.  They have 15  volunteers on a rota basis manning the desks at Central Library and over 100 transcribing old records.  John gave us an insight into the workings with slides.

The morning session went really well and we all trotted out in to Manchester to get a sandwich and a drink and to sit  in the beautiful spring sunshine. Enjoying the fresh air and sights of bustling Manchester 2024.  A far cry from the discussions of the morning.

The afternoon session was devoted to archaeology.  First out of the trap was Normal Redhead with Castleshaw Roman Fort, Saddleworth.  It was an illustrated talk on the 1^st Century AD fort that has been uncovered.   He showed slides of various stages in the dig and explained what was going on to great effect.

Next came Neil Coldrick with his talk on Medieval Ironworking in Holcombe Valley where evidence has been uncovered of ironworking in the 13^th and 14^th centuries.  Again we were shown some amazing slides and Neil, entertainingly, explained the whole process and how iron was recovered and all the stages it went through to make it a workable commodity. He also explained about how they need to be careful where and when they dig in Holcombe because it is used by the Ministry of Defence for practice.

Last but certainly not least came Kelly Griffiths and her talk, Scuttled -   Excavations on the Historic Canal Basin in Rochdale. As an industrial archaeologist Kelly had been asked by her company to check out the site before work could start on building new houses.  What was discovered was nothing less than amazing.  Boats that had been scuttled were still in evidence, hence the name.  Kelly talked about  life on the canals and how they played a vital part in the role of manufacturing in the area.  There was a whole tale to tell with some brilliant slides.  This project has aroused so much interest that an Audio Drama has been produced which will be narrated by Christopher Eccleston, our own Salford lad. Once we have more details I will post them on FB.

Joanna Williams - The Great Miss Lydia Becker: Suffragist, Scientist and Trailblazer. Zoom 7pm 3rd April 2024

Lydia Becker was brought up near Manchester in a middle-class family as the eldest of fifteen children, she broke away from convention, remaining single and entering the sphere of men by engaging in politics. Lydia addressed innumerable audiences, not only on women's votes, but also on the position of wives, the abuse of women, and their rights at work. She battled grittily to gain academic education for poor girls, and kept countless supporters all over Britain and beyond abreast of the many campaigns for women's rights through her publication, the Women's Suffrage Journal. Steamrollering her way to Parliament as chief lobbyist for women, she influenced MPs in a way that no woman, and few men, had done before. In the 1860s the idea of women's suffrage was dismissed as ridiculous and unnatural. By the time of Lydia's death in 1890 there was a wide acceptance that the enfranchisement of women would happen, sooner or later.

Andrew Hobbs gave a talk about the History of Cheshire Life and Lancashire Life

These two familiar magazines began publication in the 1930s (for Cheshire Life) and 1940s (Lancashire Life) and attracted a massive readership. They tell us a lot about county identities, social class, people’s sense of place and attitudes to the countryside while giving us a picture of the changing nature of the “county set”.

Lucy Evans gave the Morris Garrett Memorial lecture: “A True Lanky: the Life and Circles of William Edward Armytage Axon (1846-1913)”

Lucy has written a biography of W E A Axon, an important figure in the history of the Antiquarian Society and an almost unbelievably prolific writer and social reformer. Lucy has tracked down over 1000 books, pamphlets, articles (including many in our Transactions), obituaries, poems, translations, stories and dialect pieces so anyone interested in the history of Manchester will have come across him at some point! He came from a difficult background, born illegitimate he was adopted by the Axons and was self-taught, including learning many languages, and had many jobs including as a librarian at Manchester Central Library and a journalist for the Manchester Guardian.

Brian Groom  spoke about his new book titled Made in Manchester: The story of a city that shaped the modern world. This was a historical narrative of Manchester’s history of sport, music, literature and ideas, an account of the city from Roman times to the eras of Emmeline Pankhurst, Anthony Burgess, Oasis and New Order.

Catherine Nevell spoke about ‘The New Learning: Schooling in the North-West during the long Sixteenth Century’ on Zoom, based on her Ph.d research.

Salford Histories Festival

Lawrence Gregory and David Lannon was presented with the award by a member of Salford City Council

Terry Wyke, the Manchester historian, led a walk round St Ann’s Square in Manchester on 17 September for the Society as part of the Heritage Open Days events. The group was able  to visit St Ann’s Church and see the brass name plates indicating ownership the pews by Manchester’s elite. Terry then traced the evolution of the square from upmarket housing to smart shops with stories about the square’s landmarks such as the Cobden statue, Boer War memorial and the Exchange building.

A small group was shown round Central Library by Jane Parr of Manchester Local Studies and Archives, and enjoyed the chance to see the stacks and some interesting items form the archive collection. The group were especially interested in the records of Prestwich Hospital and the Goad fire insurance plans with their detailed information about the occupiers of property in the city centre.

Mike Nevell led a group round Park Bridge, between Ashton-u-Lyne and Oldham, on a very hot day. Park Bridge Ironworks was a thriving family business for nearly 200 years and exported iron all over the world. Now it’s a picturesque rural hamlet, the remains of the ironworks and other buildings being left as “recognisable ruins” as an early example of conservation of the industrial past. This walk was jointly arranged with Tameside Local History Forum and was part of the Heritage Open Days events.

2023 was the 140th Anniversary  of the formation of our Society.  Lanashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society was formed in Manchester in 1883.

To mark this occasion we produced a double edition of Transactions which was launched at the Central Library in Manchester on 5th September.

The event was well attended with wine and nibbles served to the guests.

As a society we are eager to raise our profile and we gained many new members on the day.

Mike Winstanley, a “retired” Senior Lecturer in History at Lancaster University, spoke about Edwin Butterworth, Lancashire’s forgotten historian (1812 - 1848). Well-known in the Oldham area Edwin and his father James are largely forgotten elsewhere. Edwin was also a reporter for the Manchester press and worked for Edward Baines on his History of Lancashire (1836).

Our President, Mike Nevell, talked about Park Bridge at the Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre. Park Bridge, an industrial hamlet near Ashton, was well known for its ironworks which supplied rivets for the Eiffel Tower (among other things!).

Bernadette Hyland talked about Mary Quaile, a Manchester trade unionist. Bernadette is an activist and writer whose interests include women, class, culture and history. Her publications include Northern ReSisters Conversations with Radical Women, Dare to be Free and the blog Lipstick Socialist. She has transcribed the minute books of the  Manchester and Salford Women’s Trades Council which have been donated to the Working Class Movement Library and are also available on a website. Mary Quaile (1886 1958) became involved in trade union activities while working at the Clarion Cafe in Manchester. In 1911 she began working for the Manchester Women’s Trades Council and rose through trade unionism to sit on the General Council of the TUC. She was involved with the General Strike and had trips abroad including to the Soviet Union. Bernadette is a founder of the Mary Quaile Club which was set up to hold discussions on working class history.

Paul Newman, Archives and Local Studies Manager at Cheshire Archives, talked about the exciting new plans for archives in Cheshire. A huge Heritage Lottery Fund grant has been approved to create two new centres in Chester and Crewe allowing better preservation of Cheshire’s collections, the expansion of learning and outreach activities and the improvement of research facilities.

The Morris Garratt Memorial Lecture featured Andrew Walmsley talking on 'The Mexico Disaster and the St Anne's Lifeboat Monument: Identity, Memory and Nationhood' which was based on his PhD research into this striking piece of public sculpture. The monument has been an important part of the landscape at St Anne's since its unveiling in 1888 and the talk explored its significance over time. At various times it has been an important symbol for the promotion of this seaside resort, a focus for local belonging, and an embodiment of nationhood in a local setting.

Terry Wyke led a walk round Manchester statues. Public statues have been in the news, so this was an opportune moment to look at them again and be reminded of the historical contexts which led to the commissioning and siting of some of the city's most prominent statues and monuments. Not all public memorials and statuary have survived so consideration was also be given to those many memorials which have been removed. We began in Piccadilly Gardens considering the statues raised on Joseph Paxton's esplanade before making our way towards Albert Square via St Peter's Square.

Melanie Giles talked about Bog Bodies.The well-preserved bog bodies of northern Europe have fascinated archaeologists, poets and film-makers, yet their discovery often concerned the communities who found them. In this talk, Dr Melanie Giles (University of Manchester) shared the latest thinking about the phenomenon: explaining the science behind their preservation and the challenges this creates for museum curators, as well as discussing the ethics of displaying such remains. She situated them back within the bogs, mires and mosses from which they came; asking us to think differently about these landscapes and what they meant to prehistoric communities, as well as interrogating different ideas behind their often violent death and deposition in the bog. Amongst the cauldrons, weapons and foodstuffs also ‘offered up’ to the bog, she argued that some of them take their place as part of powerful exchanges with sacred entities but that others represent the ‘right place’ to inter those executed for crimes or dying mysterious or troubling deaths. Ending with the tale of Manchester’s own bog head – Worsley man – she tried to unpick the life and death of this bog head, whose story must be placed within that of the Roman occupation of northern Britain.

Brian Groom, a former senior editor at the Financial Times and editor of Scotland on Sunday, spoke on Northerners, from the Ice Age to the Present Day, based on his forthcoming book Northerners, A History. He laid out the dramatic events that created the north - waves of migration, invasions, battles and transformative changes wrought on European culture and the global economy, with a focus on how the north's people have shaped Britain and the world in unexpected ways.

Professor Nick Mansfield of UCLAN spoke on Thomas Ferriar, Mancunian South American liberator. St Ann’s Church in central Manchester contains a memorial to the Ferriar family. This includes Thomas Ferriar (1785-1821), who was mortally wounded while commanding the British Legion at the crucial battle of Carabobo, under the eyes of Simon Bolivar – ‘the Great Liberator’. This victory secured independence from Spain for Venezuela. Ferriar’s statue figures prominently in the Campo Carabobo national monument. Why did a Mancunian play such a prominent part in the South American liberation movement?

On Saturday 31 July 2021 Antiquarian Society members enjoyed a walk round All Saints in Manchester led by Terry Wyke. From Grosvenor Square to All Saints. 

The making and remaking of  a Georgian Square showed us the origins of the area now transformed by the MMU campus. Though planned as an upmarket address fr the prosperous encroachment by industry from the city centre soon changed the type of people who were living there, but there were imposing public buildings - All Saints Church, two Presbyterian chapels, the Chorlton-on-Medlock Town Hall and the Manchester School of Art. Terry also showed us the mile marker used by cab drivers to establish the distance to the city centre (now preserved in the School of Art) and the remains of an old synagogue hidden behind Oxford Road.

On Sunday 22 August 2021 Mike Nevell led a walk at the Bridgewater Canal. We met at the Bridgewater Monument on Worsley Green in Salford in brilliant sunshine to go round the village. Mike described the recent excavations on the Green and we saw the surviving workers housing around the village, the canal infrastructure including the grain warehouse, dry docks and the lime kiln. Mike was able to explain the rather strange sculpture at Worsley Delph where he described recent conservation work. It was an illuminating account of the transport system of the Industrial Revolution.

Edge of Empire: Recording the Romans; Wigan, 5 October, 2019

Visit to Bolton Museum, 9 May 2019

Keeping up with the past; 12 May 2018

Catholic history day; Saturday 12 November 2016

Visit to Wardley Hall; Thursday 3 November 2016

Manchester in the Age of Mrs Gaskell; Saturday 28 November 2015

Visit to Clayton Hall;  Saturday 9 May 2015

Members will be sorry to have heard recently of the death of Morris Garratt which occurred on September 5th.  Morris will be chiefly known as the long serving Secretary of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society (L.C.A.S.), but during his membership he held several other offices. He joined the Society in 1975 and became Secretary in 1979, a position which he held for 34 years until 2013. While continuing the work of Secretary he added those of Editor, or sometimes Assistant Editor, of the Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society. He was elected President of the Society for 2012-16 and on the occasion of his 80th birthday in 2017 his contribution to the Society was recognised by his election as an Honorary Vice-President.

Morris was born at Warrington in 1937, and grew up at Thelwall nearby, attending Lymm Grammar School. After working at Stretford Library for a time he took up a post in Stafford. In 1962 he married Eileen Hill, who will be remembered by many of our members, but sadly died earlier this year. In 1969 they returned to Cheshire, settling in Cheadle Hulme.  Morris then took up an appointment at Middleton Library, where he stayed, holding various posts until his retirement.

His work with our Society continued, adding the task of organising meetings and excursions on many occasions, and for a time he was Treasurer and Membership Secretary. He also became a committee member of the Lancashire Local History Federation and represented the L.C.A.S. on the committee of the Cheshire Local History Association, to whose journal, Cheshire History, he was a contributor. He chaired the Middleton Civic Association, and with Eileen was a member of the Friends of Bramall Hall and Park. He wrote several books and articles, including Samuel Bamford: portrait of a radical, and books on Middleton and Stockport; he was a member of the Stockport Local History Society.

It would be hard to find a member of our Society who has done so much over so many years for his own and other societies as Morris. We will miss his energy, his resourcefulness and the unfailing warmth of his friendship.

A full appreciation, together with a bibliography, will appear in the Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society due for publication later this year.