You may remember George Shepherd our favourite Eccles photographer who held a record breaking photographic exhibition at Eccles Community Art Gallery in May 2019 that was viewed by several thousand people, well we have even more good news about him for you.

The amazing thing about the Eccles exhibition was that his daughter, Angie was aware that her father George was a keen amateur photographer and when she heard that he was about to chuck out his collection of negatives from 1963 - 1980 into the bin after being stored in a box in his bedroom, thankfully she sprang into action.

As we know, now they were saved for posterity which led to not only the Eccles Art Gallery show but George having an exhibition at Salford Museum and Art Gallery in 2021 and many of the images were purchased by the British Cultural Archive.

You can imagine my delight when last night, Angie sent me over four, colour photographs that George had taken in the early 1960s which had never been seen before.

She has since informed me that she has discovered several hundred colour prints and negatives showing everyday life in Eccles and Patricroft from 1950s right up to the year 2000 and will share some with me when she has finished collating them.

This is fantastic news, George who will be 90 at Christmas is a true gentleman. a dapper dresser in a shirt and tie, I think the world of him, and these newly discovered photos will surely merit an exhibition of their own in a local gallery and then one of the major galleries surely?

I also doff my cap to Angie for saving these photos from the bin, they are rare social documents showing all aspects of life, work and leisure in the Eccles and Salford area and I can't wait to see more of them!

If you are claustrophobic or of a nervous disposition, possibly best that you not read the following article from the Salford City Reporter, September 1923 which tells of the harrowing ordeal of Mr George Brown.

George who lived in Kirkham Street, Weaste, Salford was employed by the Manchester Ship Canal Company as a diver and  his work entailed underwater maintenance on the locks of the canal.

He was inspecting an engine chamber below the level of Barton Lock, he had been lowered from a boat in the lock and groped his way through an underwater doorway 30 feet below the surface into the inky blackness of the chamber, he felt his way along one wall and had almost finished his inspection when a sudden rush of water through the doorway, lifted him off his feet.

The force of the water left him hanging from the ceiling of the chamber with the water swirling about him, despite his efforts he could not grasp anything to hold onto and straighten himself upright, he managed to tug on his safety rope and gave the alarm signal to the men above waiting in their boat,

And this is when things start to go wrong, there was no spare diver with them to go and rescue George and they couldn't drag him out off the chamber far too dangerous, so they pumped air to him and and gave the alarm along the Manchester Ship Canal.

Another diver working at Latchford Locks heard the alarm and jumped into a boat and made his way to the stricken diver, it took an agonising three hours for him to reach Barton Locks, and remember poor George was still suspended upside down in a water filled chamber not knowing what his fate would be.

He hastily donned his diving suit and went into the chamber where he found the suspended figure of George, he wrapped a rope around him and dragged him to his feet, the two men were then hauled to the surface.

George was taken to hospital and was found to have no permanent injuries and was advised too.....take a week off work to recover!  a week? I would want at least a year in fact I would never go back.

He told the Salford City Reporter that..

"Nobody can imagine what I went through, it was terrible torture, I don't know how I managed to survive. I thought this was my last hour and this chamber was my coffin"

Mrs Brown said she would never forget the look on her husband's face when he returned home and she was always fearful of something happening to him.

I leave the last word to the reporter from the Salford City Reporter who appears to have been a master of the understatement said.

"Mr Brown a grey haired man, now appears to be little worse for his adventure"

I came across this rather sad, story in the pages of the Salford City Reporter from September 1923 and two things surprised me, the quickness of the arrest and the unbelievable harshness of the sentence considering the circumstances.

William Pender aged 22 who resided in Asaph Street, Salford appeared at Salford Magistrates Court charged with stealing a bicycle worth £3 and 10 shillings belonging to Alfred Horrocks who resided at Jubilee Street, Pendleton.

Detective Inspector Jowett told the Court that Mr Horrocks had attended the Labour Exchange on Guy Fawkes Street, when he came out a few minutes later he found that his bicycle had been stolen.

That evening Pender sold the bicycle to a licenced broker in Manchester, he was given some money on account and told to call back the next day for the balance, when he did he was arrested by Manchester police and charged with the offence to which he replied. "that is correct"

In the dock, Pender said that he stole the bicycle to obtain food for his family, saying that in the six weeks he had been unemployed he had received neither dole or relief money, he had a wife and a young child and the workhouse was staring him in the face and apologised for his actions.

Detective Inspector Jowett said that Pender was birched in 1915 for stealing two boxes of sweets and that he was dismissed from his last place of employment for doing private work in his employers time.

The Magistrate then sentenced him to 14 days hard labour in Strangeways Gaol.

Firstly not certain how the the police in those days could be so efficient in apprehending a criminal without the aid of modern day technology but somehow they did.

Secondly the sentence of 14 days hard labour seems very harsh, hard labour in those days meant you were not allowed to talk to other prisoners, given tedious manual labour jobs and fed the basics, soup, bread and water,

Surely this sentence would impact on Penders young wife and child would they have, had to go into the workhouse? Pender seems a petty criminal and receiving the birch when he was 14 years of age for the theft of sweets,hasn't acted as a deterrent to stop him committing further petty crimes.

All in all a sad tale and lets hope Pender and his wife and child were reunited and led a happier life.

Many years ago at a book fair I spotted a menu signed by all the players of Manchester United F.A. Cup winning team of 1948 who had attended a banquet in their honour held at Eccles Town Hall in August that year.

Last week I did a bit of further research and found the full story in the now defunct, Eccles and Patricroft Journal, which included a photograph of the team sat at a table in Eccles Town Hall with civic dignitaries sadly the article was on microfilm and the photo was basically a series of dots... however, I copied the article and this is very much it..

Manchester United played Blackpool in the final of the F.A. Cup at Wembley in April 1948 and won the game, 4 - 2, prior to the game, Eccles Council had sent the Manchester United team a message of support and an invitation to bring the trophy back to Eccles.

Surprisingly, Johnny Carey the team captain messaged Eccles Council and said the team and the F.A. Cup would be brought to Eccles before the new 1948/49 season began, and true to his word he did.

In the first week of August the Eccles and Patricroft Journal reported that a "gaily decorated coach" appeared on Regent Street, Eccles and the top was removed, Johnny Carey and the other players waved to the crowds lining the streets and showed off the F.A.Cup, as the coach drove through. Patricroft, Peel Green, Winton, Monton and finishing at Eccles Town Hall where the players and their wives were met by the Lord Mayor and Mayoress,.(Alderman Mrs N. Hayes and Mrs S. Watson J.P).

The  Eccles Journal reported that. 

"Hundreds of children cheered themselves hoarse, parents applauded with little less dignity, and there was more general excitement and more smiling faces since the V.E. and V.J. Day celebrations and the players were delighted with their reception"

Inside the Town Hall the Mayor said she was happy to be the first Mayor of Eccles to welcome a team which had won the F.A. Cup, and the fact that it was Manchester United was all the more pleasing because they felt that United belonged to Eccles, just as much as neighbouring towns.

moreover United had a root in Eccles, in that  their Colts were strong members of the Eccles and District League from which many young players had graduated to first class football. and added that she hoped the reception they had received today would spur them onto win the F.A. Cup next season!

Mr G. E. Whittaker a Director of the club said that he had been a follower of the club for over 50 years and these players and staff were the best he had seen, they always played good football and high hopes for next season.

Finally the team Captain, Johnny Carey stood up and said that the reception they had received in Eccles had been a "grand get together" and the players were the finest set of fellows he had ever met and hoped they would repeat their cup win and return to Eccles.

I thought it was a nice little story from an age less tainted with money and egos, as a Manchester United fan, I couldn't see the team visiting Eccles even if they won the F.A. Cup!

Has anybody got that signed menu or a photograph of that day in August 1948 I would love to see them.

I love trawling through the pages of the now defunct, Salford City Reporter both historical and quirky stories, and have uncovered some corkers over the years and this story made me laugh.

Salford in it's heyday could boast of having several breweries including, Walker and Homfrays, Groves and Whitnall and Chester's Ales no to mention some 400 pubs before World War Two and countless off-licences, clubs, theatres etc were you could buy beer.

This story from September 1923 tells the plight of Richard Gould aged 36 of no fixed abode, who appeared at Salford Magistrates Court, charged with being drunk and disorderly on Broad Street, Pendleton.

The Clerk of the Court asked him if he pleaded guilty to which he promptly replied, "Correct, Sir"

A police constable told the court that Mr Gould was seen annoying pedestrians on Broad Street, and staggering along the road, shouting and swearing.

Mr Gould took the witness stand and offered a curious explanation for his behaviour to the Stipendiary Magistrate, Mr P.W. Atkin.

"I had a drop of beer again last night, as usual, I have been out of the area for two months looking for work, I have rambled through four counties, and it seems strange to me that when I return to Salford, I always seem to fall into trouble. I don't know if the beer here is stronger than elsewhere. anyway when I am in Salford I have the misfortune to get into trouble"

The Stipendiary Magistrate showing he had a sense of humour replied.

"The worst of it is, that you pay such high testimony to the strength of the beer in Salford that I fear that unless the newspapers are reticent about what you say that the Borough will receive such fame that I shall be having more work than I care about"

"He then added that he recognised Gould's voice and complimented him on it, Gould told him that he had been a chorister for five years and still did a bit of singing to raise a few bob, he than asked him if he thought it would be a good thing if he tried to avoid coming to Salford?

"I wish I had never seen the town,  I would be better off and not have the convictions that I have against me"

When asked if Mr Gould had any convictions the Clerk of the Court replied with a single word... "Plenty"

It was his fifth appearance this year and he had four appearances here last year.

Mr Gould was fined £1 or 13 days imprisonment.

Was Mr Gould correct about the strength of Salford beer an argument that has raged for years, I have heard of Chester's Fighting Mild also Walker and Homfrays referred to as... Water for Courses... so possibly not that strong then. I do remember Boddingtons bitter in the 1970s and the beer was superb but now... dreadful stuff.

I do hope that Mr Gould took up singing and avoided Salford like the plague for his own good, he seemed a likeable enough drunk.

For me there is a simple pleasure to be had, by simply noticing things that you probably walk past every day and not even look at, take for example a few of these things I snapped on my phone today hence the quality, whilst walking in Eccles.

Decorative air bricks with wonderful patterns on them, date stones above buildings, relief sculptures, ornate brickwork especially on chimney stacks, foundation stones even decorative man hole covers.

Take a look at the outside of the Carnegie Library, Eccles which opened in 1907, it has the most stunning sculptures set either side of the windows, depicting what look like children reading and another possibly sculpting a bust of a head, cherubs set in laurel wreaths, stained glass windows, and a mosaic with the coat of arms of Eccles.

Eccles Town Hall has some really nice ornate carvings especially at the old entrance to the courts, again fluted columns, ornate air grills, stained glass windows and a stunning mosaic floor in the entrance hall, sadly the foundation stone from 1881 is obscured by a hideous looking electricity box, who ever sited it there wants a good kicking....

Joseph Holts pubs are also a good place to look for quirky ornamentations, the Edwardian examples such as The Lamb and The Royal Oak are superb examples of this again with fluted brickwork, ornate air bricks etc.

Worth a mention is the old County Bank, now The Ilirain Greek Café/Bistro which was built in 1871, this has some really nice stone carvings including the shields of The City of Manchester and the Duchy of Lancaster, stop and have a look next time you are passing, it also has a stone grotesque figure, just the one, hovering over the door of the Mobile Zone shop on Church Street.

Eccles Parish Church is a joy to look around with gargoyles, grotesques on the church roof,, a copper memorial to bell ringers high on the bell tower, stained glass windows, a sun dial, headstones lain against the church wall, we are surrounded by history, take the time to stop and look at what we have in Eccles town centre, go on educate yourself it's all free!

Today is the anniversary of the D Day landings on the beaches of France 1944, which saw combined Allied forces launch an invasion which would begin the slow overthrow of the Nazi party, I would like to share with you a story I was told by a man from Eccles who took part in the invasion and the sad consequences for him.

In 1973 I started work as a lab assistant at the Eccles Sewage Works on Peel Green Road and I have to say I enjoyed every minute, a great job working in a small lab analysing samples of waste water taken during the various progress through the treatment plant...but enough of that.

Amongst the men who worked there whose duties including maintenance work on the plant and others who worked on the filter beds and sludge tanks, not the best of jobs it has to be said, one of these men was Thomas Gubbins, a very quite, introvert loner who never mixed with the other men.

He would sit in a small pumping station and have his meals there on his own, I would pass it every day and exchange the odd greeting etc, one day the door was open and I had a look in, amongst the tools and clothing there was a collection of books, I was expecting the usual how shall we say racy literature? I was astounded to see books by Plato, Homer, Nietzche, Dickens, Proust etc not your usual fare.

I plucked up courage to speak to him and over a period of weeks I slowly gained his trust and he told me the most amazing stories of his life and what a cruel hand of cards he had been dealt.

He grew up in Frodsham, Cheshire and moved to Winton with his family in the 1930s, and worked at various jobs locally, he told me he got his call up papers aged 18 this was in 1944 and was taken to Scotland for training how to fire a rifle etc, shortly after this he was put on a train with blinds on and taken to Portsmouth and put on a landing craft heading to the Normandy beaches, prior to this his furthest outing was a day trip to Blackpool with his parents.

Telling me of the carnage that he saw on the beaches that day still affected him, he told of men being blown apart in front of him, headless men, bodies floating in the war and the constant rattle of machine gun fire and mortars exploding around him, somehow he managed to get to safety and hid in a storm drain, crying and shaking for 24 hours, he had thrown away his rifle and basically had a complete nervous breakdown.

He was taken back to England and placed in an army hospital treated and for shell shock, he never recovered from what he had witnessed that day, he was given ECT therapy amongst other things and discharged from the army a broken man, mentally and physically aged 19.

He made a slow recovery and eventually was given a job as a porter at Worsley Railway Station, a job he liked because of the relative tranquillity and he was left on his own for most of the day, he did strike up a friendship with one of the commuters, a city gent with a bowler and brolly who would say hello to him each morning, until one day the chap said goodbye to him and jumped in front on an oncoming train this horrendous sight caused him to have a further nervous breakdown resulting in a lengthy stay in Bridgewater Hospital, Eccles where he received further ECT treatment..

I left the sewage works in 1979 but kept in touch with him, he lived in Blantyre Street with his aged father, I would see him cycling around Eccles and sadly he had become a target for local children who would taunt him for his eccentricity, it has to be said that he didn't help himself by chasing them after they threw stones at him which graduated to them throwing stones through his windows, kicking his front door in, and smashing his greenhouse. 

He gained the nickname the "Mad Axeman" and his life was made a misery, his father died shortly after this and Tommy was to follow a few years later, just before he died I helped him buy a television prior to this his he would listen to a small transistor radio which was strapped to his bicycle.

Such a sad life for such an interesting man, all he wanted was to be be left on his own, read his books and potter around his tiny greenhouse, perhaps if the local kids knew about his troubled life they may have shown more respect, I would like to think so, but I am grateful that our paths crossed and I knew him for a few short years.

These days he would have been recognised as having PTSD and have received the proper care and attention he deserved and I am certain that was the case for so many soldiers coming home from World War 2, a sad reminder for this D day anniversary.

Sadly this is the final part of our 3-part series of photos of Eccles Precinct from back in the 1990's.

The Centre Manager discovered them in a drawer in his office.

We present to you the final 8 photos of some of the shops and the area around the multistorey car park.

We hope you have enjoyed this little walk down memory lane.

Following on from our second batch of the cache of photographs showing Eccles Precinct from 30 years ago which Centre Manager discovered in a drawer in his office.

We present to you another 15 photos of some of the shops which sadly many of which are no longer trading in Eccles.

We have one final batch which we shall be posting up tomorrow morning.

We hope you enjoy this walk down memory lane.

Yesterday we told you how we have been loaned a cache of photographs showing Eccles Precinct from 30 years ago which Centre Manager discovered in a drawer in his office.

We have studied the photos looking for clues to determine the year they were taken. one photo shows parked cars in the delivery bay area. one has the letter P prefix which dates it to 1996, so they are almost 30 years old!

This batch shows shops which you possibly may have used, have never heard of, or had forgotten all about, who knew we had several Travel Agents, shoe shops, furniture shops, gents outfitters, Building Societies even benches for the weary shopper to sit on and watch the world go by.

Tomorrow we shall post the second batch of photographs, once again all taken in the Precinct or on the delivery bay area.

We would love it if you recognise any of the shoppers in the photos, they could be family members, friends, etc so if you do please, please let us know and we shall see if we can get you a copy.

More than feathers were ruffled at a meeting of The Irwell Inn, Eccles Pigeon Flying Club when two pigeon fanciers fell out with painful results for both men.

Eccles Magistrates Court in January 1923 saw J.W. Robinson who resided at Queen Street, Eccles and John Griffin who resided at Worsley Road, Patricroft  in the dock, both men had summoned the other claiming assault.

Mr F.H. Watson appearing for Robinson asked for the Court to be cleared of all witnesses before the case could start, possible intimidation?

Outlining the case he told the Court that at the request of the Secretary of the Pigeon Flying Club, Robinson with two friends, approached Griffin and asked him for the return of two stop watches that he had borrowed and not returned,

Griffin then allegedly lost his temper and hit Robinson on the jaw and both men fell to the floor fighting, Griffin then got Robinson's finger between his teeth and bit it so severely that it later required hospital treatment, blood poisoning set in and the finger later had to be amputated.

Robinson said that he required the use of the stop watches and was told by the Secretary to get them from Griffin, words were spoken and a fight broke out in which Griffin bit his finger for some two minutes causing it to be amputated shortly after.

Cross examined by Mr Ogden, Robinson denied starting the fight and that he did not know that he had broken Griffin's nose and finger and further denied stamping on his face with his clogs!

Mr Donohue the Club Secretary told the Court that the stop watches did belong to him and that he had asked Mr Robinson to ask Mr griffin to return them...was he possibly scared of Griffin?

John Egan who lived at Chandlers Square told Mr Ogden that he was with Robinson when he asked Griffin for the stop watches, both men were arguing but it was Griffin who said they should go outside on Salters Lane and fight, he denied seeing Robinson stamp on Griffin's face and knowing that Griffin couldn't stand up due to him losing a kneecap in the war.

Finally Griffin gave his side of the story and said that both men agreed to a fight but owing to his knee injury he fell over and Robinson stamped on his face breaking his nose, and he bit his finger because it was in his mouth, and then added that he caught mouth ulcers by having Robinson's fingers in his mouth...shouldn't laugh but is quite ironic.

Mr Watson then reminded Griffin that he had been previously fined for assault and described him as being, "a man who set himself against all law and order"

The Magistrate Mr F.Halsall then fined Griffin, £5 and a Guinea in costs then dismissed the case against Robinson.

A strange case, I think that Griffin was possibly a hard man and a bit of a bully who met his match with Robinson, mind you stamping on his face with his clogs was a tad severe!

A Victorian house with links to Blackpool Tower has been added to Salford’s local heritage list by Salford City Council.

Cleveland House at the junction of Eccles Old Road and Lancaster Road was built in the late 1800s and was owned by wealthy businessman William Hinmers who was a member of Eccles Congregational church.

According to the Eccles Old Road website, William Hinmers (1821-1902) was born in Guisborough in the Cleveland area of Yorkshire. He came to Salford in 1837 and became a carrier – a haulage contractor who moved goods for other businesses, in this case by the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway William lived in Farnworth and Southport before returning to Salford and purchasing Cleveland House in 1878, a 14-room detached family home, By then he was a county magistrate, chairman of the Tyldesley Coal Company, a board member at Linby Colliery and Director of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. William and another director paid for Horwich Recreation Ground in Bolton which opened in 1892, mainly for the staff of the railway company’s Horwich works.

In 1889 Manchester architects Maxwell and Tuke, who designed Blackpool Tower, designed a two-storey extension to the home with an unusual tower or turret feature on the eastern elevation, with a weathervane and decorative curved tiles on its roof.

A detached stable block was also added. This part of Eccles Old Road later became known as 'Millionaires Row'.

The property was occupied by James Higson, a master painter and decorator, Salford councillor and JP from 1906 to 1926 and later by Thomas Osborne, a corn miller and hay merchant. It remained in residential use until the late 1930s when it became a nursing home. It was acquired by the local council in 1949 and remained in use as offices until 2021. It was put up for sale in October 2022.

Salford City Council adopted its local list in 2013 with eight criteria against which any building, structure or feature could be assessed to be included. These are: architectural interest, historical interest, age, aesthetic value, local interest, group value, landmark value and social or communal value. The listing will be taken into consideration in any future planning application to ensure future use remains in keeping with the character of the property.

Councillor Mike McCusker, lead member for planning and sustainable neighbourhoods, said Cleveland House clearly met the criteria and thanked the local resident who suggested it be listed.

“It’s a snapshot of Salford’s history – built in boom times just as we are seeing now, with the city rapidly expanding. It was owned by a man who came to the city to make his fortune and another successful tradesman who was local born and bred, but both gave back to their hometown and community.”

Manchester Assizes Court heard the thrilling story of armed bank robbers from Salford who thought nothing of firing their guns at bank cashiers and policemen and how they were brought to justice.

John Foley aged 23 who was living in lodgings at Browning Street, Pendleton and the magnificently named, Bartley Iago aged 26 who was living in lodgings at, Bury Street, Pendleton were charged with stealing £244 from The Manchester and Liverpool District Banking Company and shooting at Samuel Watson and Jack Bradley with intent to murder.

The court heard that on July 18th Foley who was carrying a bag hailed down a taxi cab on Long Millgate, Manchester and asked to be taken to Crumpsall, as they approached a nearby bridge, three men stood in the road and halted the cab, got in and demanded to be taken to Heaton Park Station.

At the station they noticed a police constable on duty and then told the driver to take them to Prestwich Bank, they stopped outside the bank and the four men got out, but Foley stayed with the driver, he then noticed that all four men were carrying revolvers.

The three men went into the bank and one discharged his pistol into the ceiling, no doubt to gain attention, Mr Pimlott the bank manager was ordered at gun point to hand over the keys, two men then jumped over the counter and removed money from the tills and demanded to know where there was more, Pimlott pointed them to another cash drawer, which they quickly emptied of all the cash.

The men ran out off the bank and got into the waiting taxi and drove off, however a Mr Bradley who had heard the gunshot in the bank was standing by and decided to give chase with P.C. Murray in his van, the taxi turned onto Bury New Road but because the traffic was so heavy the men jumped out and ran up Clarks Hill.

To add to the excitement Mr Bradley crashed his van into a wall, whilst giving chase he and P.C, Murray then got into the abandoned taxi and gave chase in that, they got within yards of the bank robbers when Iago started firing at them, all four men got away.

Iago and Bartley were eventually arrested on July 24th, at Newton Le Willows the other two men were believed to have fled the country.

The Prosecuting Council said that clothing found abandoned at the scene of the robbery belonged to Iago, also both men had left their place of employment the day before the robbery and hadn't returned to pick up wages owed to them.

Iago in his defence denied the clothes were his and said that he had left his job and had walked to Bolton looking for work including calling at several farms then mentioned that he had been looking for a man called Coen who owed his landlady money, hoping to get it back and had stayed the night at a unnamed, man's house in Bolton.

The Prosecutor asked Iago if he knew that the unnamed man was the President of a branch of The Irish Self Determination League, Iago denied this.

The Irish Self Determination League was a political organisation which was the voice of Irish Nationalism in the UK with many of it's members being imprisoned by the British Government in 1923 at the height of the Irish Civil War.

Both Iago and Bartley continued to protest their innocence but couldn't come up with one witness to say where they were on the day of the robbery and stated that prosecution witnesses had been shown photographs of the men before taking part in identity parades.

After a lengthy summing up the jury found the men guilty of stealing whilst being armed, but on the charge of shooting with intention to murder, that was changed with shooting to do grievous bodily harm whilst attempting to escape.

Mr Justice Acton sentenced both men to 10 years penal servitude adding that is was a most serious offence and must be met with severe punishment.

He then commended Mr Bradley and P.C. Watson for their bravery on the day.

A lot of unanswered questions remain, was the bank robbery a possible political act and the two men who evaded capture had fled overseas, presumably Ireland?

As is my wont, I love a good mooch around charity shops finding the kitsch, bizarre and sometimes a treasure, today was such a day.

I noticed in a glass case in one of the many charity shops, in Eccles, a commemorative plate, which caused me to stop and stare, hardly believing  what I could see.

A plate showing Daniel Adamson, one of the driving forces behind the inception of the Manchester Canal project.

It reads, "Eccles and Patricroft Demonstration Ox Roasted August 31st 1885, Royal Assent August 8th 1885"

I did a bit of research and found that an ox roast took place in Patricroft where celebrations took place following the passing of the Manchester Ship Canal Bill in 1885.  

The Bill gave the go-ahead to the scheme to build a canal to link Manchester with the sea, this was welcomed by towns in the Manchester area such as Eccles as the promise of future prosperity.

I think that slices of roast ox was served to people celebrating this event but doubtful they were served on plates of this quality and money raised went to a local charity.

The Working Class Museum, Salford has one in their collection which I remember seeing many years ago.

The following photograph taken on that date is captioned "A Grand Demonstration held at Eccles, 31st August, 1885. Promoted by the Eccles & Patricroft Ship Canal Committee. Chairman W S Boddington, Esq. In celebration of the passing of the Bill. (The wagon is supplied by Stephen Shawcross of Eccles).

I have no idea who donated this plate to the charity shop but I am eternally grateful for their kind deed and it has gone to a good home...mine!

Are there many more of these plates in circulation? I have no idea how many were made and if these were sold for charity, be interesting to know.

Another peep into the pages of The Salford City Reporter from December 1922 and the tale of Mrs Lynch's lodger from Hell.

Salford Magistrates Court was told that P.C. Oakley had been called to Mrs Lynch's house at Hodge Lane at 11pm on the Tuesday evening after reports that her lodger, Reginald Edgar Walker was drunk and smashing the house up.

When he knocked on the front door, Walker asked him what right he had to be there, when told that he was a Police Constable and had been called there, he replied, 

"Keep outside, you have no business here!"

Walker then manhandled him to the door and attempted to bolt it with a poker, a tussle ensued with punches being thrown and Wallace headbutting the Constable, Oakley held onto the man until police assistance arrived and he was taken to Cross Lane police station, where he was, "very violent all the way"

In the dock, Walker was asked if he had any questions, he said that he hadn't and subsequently fainted in the dock and was revived with a glass of water.

Mrs Lynch then gave evidence and described Walker as. "a man when in drink is mad and cannot control himself and I live in terror of him, he knocks me about".

Inspector Lynch asked the Magistrate to take into account another charge, that of of damaging Mrs Lynch's, Queen Anne sideboard which had cost her £27 by smashing the glass and scratching the woodwork and then added that Walker was fined 40 shillings last year for police assault.

The Stipendiary Magistrate, Mr P. W. Atkin asked Mrs Lynch what she knew about Walker, she told him that he was a Clerk but had been unemployed for a long time and had been lodging with her for two years, but when he had a drink, he would go "mad"

P.C. Oakley was next up to stick the proverbial boot in, saying that Walker had been a proper villain to Mrs Lynch and that she was frightened of turning him out of the house...but presumably taking his weekly rent money?

Last up was Mr Walbutton from Salford probation Services who said that Walker had been employed for a short time on the Salford Housing Scheme as a clerk, but had not worked for the past nine months, and had been receiving money from South Africa, and it was his wish to go back there but didn't have the money.

The Magistrate delayed Mr Walker's departure for a month when he sentenced him to one months hard labour in Strangeways Gaol, on a brighter note for him the charges against him damaging Mrs Lynch's Queen Anne sideboard were dropped.

The Salford Housing Scheme mentioned, I have heard of this before, local unemployed men were used on building new council homes as a way to reduce the numbers of men receiving state benefits or the dole as we know it as.

Photo: Shire horses passing Cross Lane police station

New Years Eve a time for celebration, happiness and making resolutions, which are never kept or as the good people of Eccles used to do on New Years Eve, congregate on Patricroft Bridge to listen to the bells and hooters from the nearby docks ringing in the new year.

However it was not all hearts and flowers as was told when, William Hamilton who lived in Aldred Street appeared at Eccles Magistrate Court summoned by Lilian Chadwick for assaulting her on New Years Eve, 1922.

Mr F.W. Ogden appearing for Lilian told the Court that up to six months ago the parties were "keeping company" but the relationship was broken off by her and this is what probably accounts for the events of New Years Eve.

Lilian who lived in Bridgewater Street told the court that she and a lady friend who was with her husband went to Patricroft Bridge to join in the celebrations and decided to call into The Packet House Inn to wish Mr and Mrs Wickens - possibly the Licencees - a Happy New Year.

She saw Mr Hamilton and went to leave by a side door when she received a violent blow to the face which knocked her through a glass door and rendered her unconscious, she did deny knocking a plate of cakes out of his hands before the incident.

P.C. Coe arrived on the scene and asked Hamilton if he had anything to say, he replied that there had been a "bit of bother" but no mention was made of cakes...

He told the Magistrate that he had been keeping company with Lilian but she broke it off and said she never wanted to see him again, but she would call to the house where he was staying three or four times a week, and on the night in question he had been out carol singing with friends and decided to carry on the reverie in the Packet House Inn.

In the pub he said that Lilian knocked a plate of cakes out of his hands on purpose and to make matters worse, somebody had put their feet through his new hat and when he saw her laughing, this angered him and he admitted striking her once in the face which he regretted straight away but pleaded that it wasn't a heavy blow as Lilian was at another party a few hours later.

Under further examination he said that one of his friends who went to the pub with was so disgusted that he struck him in the face knocking him to the floor and finally he admitted that he should have wrote to her apologised for his actions.

Mr G. Holland the Chairman of the Bench said this was a serious offence and should consider himself lucky that he was being fined only one guinea instead of imprisonment.

Time for a dip into the pages of The Salford City Reporter from December 1922 and see what stories were making the news and we start with this curious tale of the Salford publican in court for serving a pint of beer with too much in it!

Emma Spivey the Licencee of The Miners Arms, Chapel Street, Pendleton appeared at Salford Magistrates Court charged with serving over measure in beer, yes that's correct too much as opposed too little.

On December 2nd 1922, Police Constable Whitworth took a jug into the pub and asked for a pint of beer to take out, he was served and charged sixpence, he then took the jug of beer to the nearby Pendleton Town Hall and placed in a measured bottle which showed the quantity to be one and a quarter pints,

The diligent P.C. Whitworth returned the next day with his trusty jug, ordered a pint for home and when this was measured it was found to be one and a half pints, not satisfied with this he again returned and ordered a pint which when measured was, one and a quartet pints.

He then asked Mrs Spivey to show him a pint measure, she produced a pint pot which she said that she always used, he informed her that she would be reported for giving over measure she replied

"I am always afraid of giving under measure"

Sir William Cobbett appeared for the Defence and asked P.C. Whitworth if was true that he went into the off sales department which was detached from the pub and was served by Mrs Spivey, to which he agreed, he was then asked if Mrs Spivey had pulled the beer into a stamped pint pot which had frothed over and then poured into his jug, who then pulled more beer into the jug to fill it up? again he agreed with this.

Cobbett then addressed the Stipendiary Magistrate. Mr P. W. Atkin and told him that Mrs Spivey had run the pub for the past eight years since her husbands death and the pub had been in their family for some 26 years and hadn't received a single complaint against them to the authorities.

He then added that technically Mrs Spivey was guilty of an infraction of the law, but she had done it with the best of intentions to make sure that her customers got proper value for their money. and that by adding extra beer she had no intention to defraud.

The  Stipendiary Magistrate asked Licencing Inspector Ronan why the Police Constable had been sent there? he told him that he had received a verbal complaint from.....another licencee in that district.

He then fined Mrs Spivey £5.

That does seem very harsh, the poor woman and her husband had run the Miners Arms for 26 years without any trouble but the police acting on the words of a possible local licencee, had ruined her good reputation overnight, shame on them.

Their daughter, Elsie Waters took over the pub in1949 and was 72 when the pub finally closed

The pub lasted until 1963 when it was demolished on what has passed into Salford folklore as "Black Sunday",April 28th when eight pubs in the Hanky Park area of Salford closed in one night

I was delighted to see my good friend Barry Calderwood at my house today as he usually comes bearing gifts, actually things he has unearthed with a digger on various building sites and today was no different,

He is working in Peel Green demolishing an old building which has an air raid shelter on the site, when he spied this ginger beer flagon several feet down in the soil, he kindly jumped out of the digger and rescued it for me and brought it to mine in his dinner hour.

You may recall that Barry was involved in the demolition of the Unicorn pub in Peel Green, when he unearthed a small, stone ginger bottle with the name J, Batty, Swinton embossed on it, which he once again kindly gave me.

This flagon with a handle would have contained Herb Beer or Ginger beer, basically the same thing and bears the name of the company who brewed and bottled it, L. Ellis, 596 Bolton Road, Pendlebury with the instructions that it must be returned to them.

I have several similar flagons of this size in my collection but not one bearing this name, there were several ginger beer manufacturers in that area including, Edmonson's, Batty, Simpsons, Halls etc..

The address 596, Bolton Road, Pendlebury is now the site of a garage and a Tesco mini market and close to the Newmarket pub and presumably L. Ellis's company has been long demolished.

Does anybody remember the company? I think this flagon dates from the 1920s or 1930s also a lot of the flagons had the date of manufacture embossed upon them, I know many were never returned and ended up being used a hot water bottles, this was possibly what has happened here.

Once again Barry, many thanks for your continuing kindness in saving for me pieces of our local heritage which could so easily be smashed by the digger.

If you have a similar collection as me I would love to see them or if you would like to give them a new home...I'm your man!

Whilst filming the Remembrance Sunday at Eccles yesterday I met up with my old chum, Patrick Grifin who had been a guest on the Fred and Flynny Show a couple of weeks earlier, where he mentioned that he had some family postcards from World War two that I might be interested in.

We had a chat and he loaned these three postcards, printed on flimsy card sent by his Uncle John to his sister Kath who was living on Barton Lane, Eccles from Stalag XX-A a prisoner of war camp at Turun in Nazi occupied Poland.

John an Eccles lad is believed to have joined the Lancashire Fusiliers at the outbreak of war, Patrick wasn't sure which regiment, and was sent abroad to fight, he was captured by the Germans in 1941 after parachuting from a plane and sent to Stalag XX-A where he was held until the camp was liberated by Russian troops in February 1945.

Patrick tells me that John and a few of other prisoners managed to escape from the camp but where captured a few days later, beaten and brought back, and put under high risk status.

The postcards are fascinating in that they show that prisoner has only a few lines to write upon to send his message and were heavily censored for any cryptic messages, it looks like John was a talented artist looking at the cartoon characters he has drawn upon them.

The Christmas postcard is a wonderful souvenir of the camp and depicts four smiling POW's some with sprigs of holly in their caps and Santa climbing out of a sack with Red Cross parcels for them, it was drawn by a fellow POW called Thomas Burke and says printed by "The Camp" perhaps they had a printing press in there, which would have been kept under a strict observation.

I did a bit of research into Stalag XX-A and it was a series of small forts initially used for Polish POW's  In accordance with the Third Geneva Convention, POWs below the rank of Sergeant were required to work and were attached to Arbeitskommando ("labour units") mostly located in various towns and villages in the region. They were hired out to military and civilian contractors. In the case of farm work, this was often carried out on state farms. Sergeants and above could not be forced to work and if they did so were sent to non-working camps.

Also it had a couple of notable POW's held there including Sam Kydd the actor who spent the entire war there and Airey Neave who became an MP and was killed by the INLA in a car bomb explosion as he drove out of the car park at the Palace of Westminster.

John Griffin died a few years ago and was never married but what a fascinating life he led and I would have loved to have gone for a pint with him and I am delighted that Patrick has not only looked after these postcards but has let me have a look at them so I can share through Salford Media, Cheers!

Over the past few days I have been relating stories about the men from Salford who fought and died in the First World War.

Here is a rather different story about two Salford men who were to die from gunshot wounds, sadly fired by their comrades.

Herein there is friendship, false identity, and an entirely understandable desire to escape the horrors of war.

This sorry tale is made all the more intriguing by the excuse given to the father of one of the men as to his son’s death.

Read on.

24-year-old Private Albert Ingham (10495) was the son of George and Eliza Ingham, of Atherton Cottage in Lower Kersal.

Together with his best friend, 21-year-old Private Alfred Longshaw (10502), they worked as clerks at the Salford Goods Yard of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company.

They were known to be inseparable and even volunteered together, serving in the 11 Platoon of C Company in the 18th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment.

Both men saw active service on the Somme and they were due to be transferred to their Brigade’s machine gun unit for service in the trenches.

But rather than face another terrifying day of death and destruction on the frontline of battle, the pair decided take a chance and attempted to escape.

They would get as far as the port of Dieppe – both wearing civilian clothing and attempting to board a ship to take them home to England.

The men were noticed absent after roll call on the evening of 5 October 1916.

They faced a military Court Martial after their arrest, which gives a fascinating insight into their state of mind at the time.

At their trial witness were called including Sergeant H. Emnett of the Intelligence Corps at Dieppe Base.

He told the court: “About 9.30 am on 1st Nov 1916 I was on duty visiting shipping at the port and I visited the SWEDISH vessel BELLEVILLE. I there saw the accused and knowing that he was not one of the original crew I [illegible] him as to his identity.

“He said, ‘I am an American. I left America about eleven months ago.’ He refused to answer any other questions. Not being satisfied I took him to the Intelligence Office and further questioned him.

“He said, ‘My name is Sam Bostock, I am an American citizen and I refuse to give you any particulars about myself.’

About 3.15 pm the same day I again saw the accused. I said to him, ‘I want to question you again, Ingham’.

He said: ‘Alright I’ll tell you all about it. My name is Ingham and belong to the Manchester Pals Battalion being attached to a Machine Gun Corps.

Having lost most of my comrades I needed to clear out with Longshaw. When at Buire about 10.30pm on 5 or 6 October we left our billets and struck for the coast.

We hid by day and travelled by night. We purchased the clothes and been at a village and arrived at Dieppe about a week ago. Since then we have been working on the ships. No one on board knew who we were.

Further on we found some old coats and caps on the ship, which we wore, throwing the uniform into the dock.

I left with my chum firstly to see those at home and then to try and get into the Navy along with his brother who is serving there.

I was worrying at the time through the loss of my chums. Also about my mother at home, being upset, through learning bad news of two of my comrades. I plead for leniency on account of my service in France of twelve months and previous good conduct. I beg for a chance to make amends.’

The Court Martial retired to consider their verdict and after some deliberation they stated: “I recommend that the sentence be carried out as this is a clear case of deliberate desertion.

Except as regards previous character which is reported good there are no extenuating features to this case and I therefore recommend that the extreme penalty be inflicted”.

Both men were told to stand in front of a firing squad and shot at dawn on 28 November 1916.

The company Captain released this short statement: “I certify that the Sentence of Death awarded by F.G.C.M on No.10495, Private A. Ingham. 18th Battalion, The Manchester Regiment, attached 90th Company Machine Gun Corps, and confirmed by the Commander-in-Chief on the 28th November, 1916, was duly executed at 7.12 a.m today in my presence”.

Following their executions, they were buried side by side in the Bailleulmont Communal Cemetery in France: Albert in grave B.12 and Alfred in grave B.13.

In a final twist to this story Alfred Ingham’s father was told that his son had been killed by gunshot wounds and his name was added to the Charlestown Roll of Honour.

However Alfred’s comrades told him the truth about his son’s death.

He petitioned the War Office and eventually had the words, “Shot At Dawn, One Of The First To Enlist, A Worthy Son Of His Father” inscribed on his son’s headstone.

The unique inscription was his way of denouncing the official lie.

They were finally pardoned by announcement made in August 2006, along with 304 other shot soldiers

A tale of incredible bravery hit the newspapers in Salford as a local soldier was awarded one of the country’s highest honours for gallantry in war.

Sergeant A. Smith – sadly his first name seems to be lost to history – risked his life to retrieve the bodies of three killed Eccles men from a burning mine crater.

Serving with the B Company of Lancashire Fusiliers, dubbed the ‘Eccles Pals’, Sgt Smith was serving in northern France at the time.

He reportedly joined the British Army to avenge the death of his brother, the decorated Sergeant Major Smith, who died while serving with the 1st Somerset Light Infantry.

Allegedly his older brother way bayoneted to death by German soldiers as he lay wounded on the ground.

He was posthumously awarded the Medallie Militaire by the French government for meritorious service and acts of bravery in action against an enemy force.

The younger brother’s moment of glory would come on 10 December 1915 as Sgt Smith was on duty at an advanced sentry post.

A huge crack like thunder exploded below his company when the Germans detonated a mine, instantly killing three Eccles Pals and burying them under a mountain of soil, blood and debris.

The soldiers killed were just 26 years old.

Private Sam Hamer, of Parrin Lane in Winton, had only been married 18 months previously and was survived by his young widow.

Before the war Private J Street was a coal delivery driver with the Eccles Co-op Society and was living with his mother in Phillip Street in Eccles.

Their final comrade Private Holt was from Pym Steet in Patricroft.

Determined not to let these men become another ‘unknown soldier’ statistic, Sgt Smith risked his life to crawl bodily into the deafening No Man’s Land with fire falling all around him.

Progress was painfully slow as he dug through the earth with his hands to recover the bloodied corpses.

The Eccles and Patricroft Journal reported how he heard plaintive cries of ‘Sergeant’ echoing across the battlefield.

The shouts appeared to be coming from the detonated mine crater, but he was furious to discover this was a German ruse – firing flares into the night sky the opposing soldiers called out in English to lure Sgt Smith into a potential ambush.

Pressing on, Sgt Smith took a sniper’s bullet to the face for his trouble, but found his fallen Pals and using a rope tied around his waist dragged them one-by-one back toward home lines.

Without his efforts, the men’s bodies would have remained buried in the mud.

But Sgt Smith was extremely modest.

Upon hearing the news of his recommendation for the Distinguished Conduct Medal – at the time the oldest British award for gallantry – he spoke only of his fellow soldiers’ bravery and played down his own part in the rescue.

Writing to Mr A. J. Albrow, who was in charge of the Eccles Pals Comfort Fund, he said: “If Eccles folk could have seen how their men’s courage and endurance were put to the test during the period in which the unfortunate casualties occurred they would thrill with pride.”

The organisation was locally organised and sent out such luxuries as gloves, socks, chocolates and cigarettes to local men fighting in France.

He continued: “I beg to thank you for your generous appreciation of what I consider to be my duty as a soldier.

“I assure you that any member of my company would have done exactly the same as I did and I am rather afraid the affair has been exaggerated.”

Although he was born in Somerset, his experiences with the Fusiliers made Sgt Smith “a naturalised Lancashire lad”, in his own words.

He writes: “Although not an Eccles man I consider it an honour to belong to B Company whose officers and men share the same sort of grit – which is peculiarly British.”

Smith is a common name – and without a first name to check researchers are a little hamstrung – but there was a Sergeant A. Smith who served with the 7th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers.

According to the war records he was killed on 27 September 1918 on active duty in France.

His name is now borne on the Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery Memorial at Haucourt in Pas-de-Calais, France.

18-year-old Thomas George Rowland Ellis was employed in the Manchester Town Planning Department and lived at Park House in Worsley, with his mother Ellen Ellis and his father, noted Worsley architect George Rowland Ellis.

His uncle was Reverend T Ellis from Winton church, so the family name was well established in the area.

And with this more privileged background the family could no doubt have persuaded the authorities to give him a safer billet.

But had volunteered to sign up at the age of just 18 with the Royal Fusiliers.

Thomas was educated at the Central Schools, Whitworth Street, Manchester and after leaving he was employed on the office staff of the General and Fine Arts Insurance Company, Manchester.

He must have been eager to ‘do his bit’ and joined the Royal Fusiliers (Sportsmen’s Reserve Battalion), training at Leamington, Oxford and Edinburgh before being shipped over to France.

He was overseas for less three weeks before he met his untimely end.

Thomas George Rowland Ellis, Service No. 3968, died on 26 July 1916 and is buried at Doullens Communal Cemetery Extension No.1, just north of Amiens in Northern France.

In a horrible twist of fate, his mother and father received two letters on the same day: one was from Thomas which described the ‘nerve-wracking’ effect of the shell fire raining down on the trenches.

Thomas had written home several times before but his parents were surprised to hear that he was under heavy gunfire because of his young age.

The second letter was from the Army Chaplain who with a heavy heart sadly informed them that Thomas had died in the army hospital from injuries received the previous day, on 26 July 1916.

In a effort to soften the blow he assured the family that they were going to bury Thomas, “in a sweet little cemetery in town” with a cross bearing his name over the grave.

A further letter was received from the Sister of the hospital extending her sympathy that told George and Ellen that she was with their teenage boy in his final hours.

The Managing Director of General and Fine Arts Insurance Company also wrote to the family offering their condolences:

“The staff are deeply affected and have asked me to offer their sympathy in this your sad affliction.

“I had great regard for your son, who always took a real interest in his work, but, what is more, he was a good lad.”

A memorial service was held for him at Winton Church where he had been a member of of the Church Lads’ Brigade, the service was led by his uncle Reverend T. Ellis.

So a young life ended at the tender age of 18, a life that seemed to promise so much for him – that would never come to be.

In 2016, national centenary commemorations of the first day of the Battle of the Somme had been completed.

But over 100 years ago, local families in Eccles and Swinton were just entering what seemed to be a nightmare that would never end.

Catastrophic losses on both sides were met with a flurry of letters home.

Below is just a small selection of writing on behalf of local regiments and beyond.

Lance Corporal James Collinson served in the Cheshire Regiment and lived at Manchester Road in Walkden with his wife and two children.

Before he joined up James had worked at the Bridgewater Colliery.

The family had already suffered terribly when James’ brother William was killed at Gallipoli earlier that year.

His is a rather poignant story.

His wife told the Eccles Journal in July 1916 that she was concerned that she hadn’t received a letter from him since the 1st day of the month – the opening day of the offensive against German lines at The Somme.

His final missive to her would be a short letter in which he expressed hope that the war would soon be over so he could come home and see her and his two children.

Enclosed in the envelope were red and white rose petals, to express love and the hope for peace.

Private Fred Meadowcroft, 19, lived at Vincent Avenue in Monton with his parents.

He had joined the Royal Scots Regiment in 1914 and would not survive beyond day one of the Battle of the Somme.

His friend Sergeant William Black, who also lived in Monton, wrote to the family expressing his sadness.

“Your son was one of the best men I have ever had serving under me, and always steady even under heavy shelling.

“When the great advance was in progress there never was a braver lad on the field of battle, it is such as great heroes as Fred that our Battalion has won such great fame, for when the first battle was over the General with tears in his eyes thanked our gunners for their great work, saying that through their efforts were instrumental in saving a whole division of men”.

He then added as a postscript:

“Fred was killed at once and suffered no pain”.

Private William Edward Barber, 18, lived on Liverpool Road, Irlam and left his job at the CWS Works to join the Manchester Pals.

His is yet another tragic story of the waste of a young life.

William had seen in action in France and had gained special permission to return home and get married, one month earlier.

His distraught widow received a letter from a friend, which said they went into action at 8.30am on that fateful day and William fell mortally wounded within half an hour.

His comrades said his death was a great loss and he would be sadly missed.

How on earth would William’s widow cope after only one month of marriage to lose such a young husband of 19?

Private John Mason, 22, who lived at Park Lane West, Pendlebury, joined the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1914 leaving his job as a surface hand at Clifton Colliery.

John Mason had seen more action than most serving soldiers.

He took part in the retreat from Mons in 1915, fought in the battles of the Aisne and the Marne, Ypres, Armentieres and Loos.

He had been gassed on two occasions by German troops, and was once shot in the head in combat but made a full recovery.

He was last home on leave in September 1915 for a few days before going back to France.

Sadly John’s luck was to run out on 1 July when he was shot and killed at the Battle of the Somme. This incredibly brave young man died at just 22 in yet another tragic waste of life.

Private Arthur Booth, 18, lived at Bolton Road, Pendlebury with his parents, he was employed at Clifton Hall Colliery before joining the Swinton and Pendlebury Pals in 1915.

His parents were to receive the shattering news of young Arthur’s death from a letter written to them by an officer in the Lancashire Fusiliers.

“It is with very great regret that I have to inform you of the death of your son on the morning of 3 July.

“He was killed together with two of his friends by a very large shell which blew in the emplacement where he was serving his gun, he died instantly and without pain.

“I had a high regard for your son who was such a nice and cheerful and bright lad, its a cruel shame that he been taken away from you in the flower of his youth, he served his company and country with gallantry.”

Private Harold Leach, 22, joined the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1914 and left his place of employment at Dean’s Mill, he lived with his parents on Blantyre Street, Moorside, Swinton.

They too would receive a letter from his Commanding Oficer, Lieutenant Gribble bearing the dreaded news of his death.

“It is with deepest regret that I have to inform you that Harold gallantly fell in action on 1 July,” he wrote.

“He was greatly loved by both officers and men and will be sadly missed, he died a true British hero fighting for his King and country and God willed it that he should pay the supreme sacrifice, he died without pain.”

While it was perhaps to spare the family’s feelings, it would be extremely unlikely that these young, terrified soldiers would die heroically, and painlessly.

Thousands of men died in agony, hit by shelling, with no medical aid, or trapped on barbed wire in No Man’s Land.

Many were not long out of their teens, single or just married, to die in some foreign field for a cause they probably knew nothing about.

The so-called Great War threw up daily tragedies for local people with family in the Armed Forces but this story from the Salford City Reporter of August 1916 is particularly heartbreaking.

Mrs Stephenson lived at 4 Fern Street in the ‘slum-clearance’ area of Hanky Park in Salford – where Salford Shopping City is now – with her three sons: Edward, Ernest and Harold.

Edward, 36, enlisted in the Lancashire Fusiliers in April 1915 and saw action at Ypres, St Eloi and Loos where he was wounded.

He rejoined his unit and was soon back in the action but sadly was to fall on the first day of the Battle of the Somme: July 1, 1916.

The news of his death was first received in a letter from Gunner Thomas Ford who wrote to Edward’s wife to assure that her that he would be buried safely.

Ford also described some personal photographs that he found on Edward’s body and said that he would send them back to the family when possible.

At the time of his death Edward was carrying a picture of his wife and one of their six children.

This photograph made it safely back to England via a Private W Heslop.

Further bad news was to come when news of Harold Stephenson arrived in Salford.

A letter arrived stating that Harold had been reported missing, presumed killed in action on 1 July, the exact same day and battle in which his older brother Edward perished.

Harold, 31, enlisted in the 15th Lancashire Fusiliers in November 1914 and was married with six children.

He lived at Tate Street, off Ellor Street, Salford and had been employed at Messrs Pike’s on Ordsall Lane, Salford.

I haven’t been able to find out whether Harold survived the war.

I do hope so – for one family to have to endure that amount of misery is beyond belief and just shows the absolute futility of war.

The youngest brother, 25-year-old Ernest was well-known in Salford as a keen sportsman and all-round promising athlete. Before enlisting he worked at Seedley Bleach Works.

His war was no better than his brothers.

News came through that on that same day, 1 July 1916, Ernest had also been reported missing in action.

A letter from his Army Chaplain, Rev TA Lee read:

“I am very sorry to tell you that after the recent battle, Ernest was posted as missing.

“I am afraid that this means he has been killed and that his body has not been found.

“At such a time as this mere words do not seem of much use by way of comforting the bereaved, still I would remind you that he and his regiment did splendidly under very difficult circumstances and I hope that your pride in him will help you to bear his loss bravely, please accept my heartfelt sympathy”

The Salford City Reporter told that Mrs Stephenson still had not given up hope that her boys may have been captured as prisoners of war, and she continued to wait for them to turn up on her doorstep back in Salford.

Carrying on with our series on local soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Great War, we tell the story of Private Harry Hughes a Swinton man.

As the First World War continued to drag on through August 1916 the newspapers were becoming saturated with news of the deaths of local young men in France and Belgium.

This story from the pages of the Eccles and Patricroft Journal 100 years ago tells of the sad death of Private Harry Hughes who was serving in the Lancashire Fusiliers.

Harry, 28, lived at Central Buildings, Swinton and before enlisting in February 1915 was employed at the Electric Power Station in Radcliffe.

After a few weeks’ basic training he was shipped out to France along with many more young men all eager to do their bit.

He was able to survive 15 months in combat before tragedy struck.

His family received the dreaded letter through the door informing them of Harry’s death from his pal, Sergeant Dolby.

Dolby wrote:

“It is with great sorrow and regret that I inform you of the death of your son.

“He had recently been transferred to my platoon as officer’s sergeant and he lost his life whilst trying to get in touch with his senior officer.”

There was no room for treading carefully around the subject, and Sgt Dolby continued:

“He was shot through the head by a German sniper and died instantaneously, without suffering any pain.

“He was always a bright and cheerful fellow, and was well liked and respected by all the officers, NCOs and men.

“There is not a man who in the company who does not regret his loss, for he was a splendid soldier.

“He was buried on the field of battle during the night.”

He then added:

“It may interest you to know that I managed to shoot the sniper through his head a short time afterwards.”

It seems bizzare to modern ears.

At a time when death was all around, perhaps Dolby honestly believed that news of their son’s killer’s death would somehow ease his parent’s grief?

To add to the sadness of Harry’s death we learn that he had been home on leave from the frontline in January and that he had been making plans to get married on his next leave.

So Harry’s sacrifice, brave as it was, would amount to no more than becoming just another name on the Menin Gate.

A good few years ago I wrote about local men serving in all branches of the armed forces in the Great War, with Remembrance Sunday looming I thought it would be nice to share a few of these stories, with a few men each day.

We start with the sad tale of Eccles man Joe Baines.

It would be a hard slog for 21-year-old Joe Baines to be accepted into the British Army.

The pressure to enlist and fight overseas was immense if you looked healthy enough and were of around the right age.

And while recruiters often turned a blind eye to men under the age limit, for those with medical problems it was more difficult to join their friends and comrades on the front line.

When war broke out young Joe was living on Silk Street in Eccles and working at the Eccles Bleach Works.

It would be a hard slog for 21-year-old Joe Baines to be accepted into the British Army.

The pressure to enlist and fight overseas was immense if you looked healthy enough and were of around the right age.

And while recruiters often turned a blind eye to men under the age limit, for those with medical problems it was more difficult to join their friends and comrades on the front line.

When war broke out young Joe was living on Silk Street in Eccles and working at the Eccles Bleach Works.

Eccles Bleach Works Reservoir – by Bernard Wakefield, Salford Museum & Art Gallery

As scores of his friends and colleagues from the shop floor enlisted to the King’s Liverpool regiment, Joe tried too, but was discharged with defective eyesight.

It meant he was deemed unfit for military service. It turned out to be months before he could try again.

In November 1915 Joe found a way in through the Manchester Regiment, where he was accepted and started to prepare to head out into the firing line.

His position would not be to fight, or to man the artillery as a gunner, but instead to be a cook.

He would survive only six months before his wife, married the year before, received the dreaded letter informing her of Joe’s death.

Just weeks before she had given birth to a baby son who Joe hadn’t seen – and never would.

The letter from his Company Sergeant told that Joe was one of the cooks in the regiment, adding:

“He was none too strong, but he made up for that in pluck and endurance.”

The day before he was killed Joe was cooking in the camp a few miles from the front line when he asked if he could be sent to take the place of a wounded soldier who had been brought back to camp.

His request was refused.

However the next day the catering unit was ordered to form up just behind the front line.

As they were being relieved by other troops making their way back to their camp, tragedy struck.

A German shell dropped alongside their cooker, the blast downing both horses pulling the wagon, injuring two other cooks on the ride-along and tragically killing Joe outright.

His untimely death would be just one of many local men who joined up determined to do their bit, rewarded with a pointless death in a foreign land and leaving behind a devastated young family.

The annual Salford Histories Festival was held today in Swinton with over 30 stalls from various local history societies at The Fletcher Hall and four talks in the nearby St Peter's Church and it proved  to be a roaring success I am happy to say.

In The Fletcher Hall were stalls from, Buile Hill Mansion Group, Eccles and District History Society, Swinton Lions, Salford Link, Friends of St Thomas Church, Urmston and Davyhulme Postcard heritage, Salford Victoria Theatre, FRECCLES, , Boothstown Village, MLFHS, St Augustine Church, Pendlebury, Manchester Transport Museum, WCML, Irwell Valley Mining Project, Salford Local History Group, plus stalls manned by Sue Richardson, Martin Gittings, Chris Makepeace and Tom Brown Arts to name but a few.

Rebecca Long Bailey the Labour MP for Salford and Eccles presented the Frank Mullineux award to Lawrence Cassidy for his book on Cheetham Hill and Salford which was richly deserved as I have seen all the  hard work he has put into this.

Because of the popularity of this Festival two extra rooms in The Fletcher Hall were opened up to make room for the extra exhibitors and in one of them I was delighted to see The Merry Trotter room which was full of weird and wonderful memorabilia for times gone by and to be honest not that long ago, all of the exhibits, toys. games, kitchen utensils, tools, uniforms, books, children's annuals, radios you were encouraged to pick up and talk about, I was told they take the exhibits to schools, community groups, care homes etc, which is a wonderful thing to do.

Roll on next year and there is talk of it moving to a larger venue because of it's growing popularity, but still in the same area.

Finally I got the shock of my life when a lady approached me and asked if I had seen Tony Flynn in the Hall, I admitted that it was me and she told the chap with her, her Father was my Uncle Tony Yates, who I had not seen for over 60 years! and I have to admit I wouldn't have recognised him, however we are meeting up in a fortnight in Urmston for a catch up and a good chat, how good is that?

A cautionary tale from the pages of The Salford City Reporter, October 1922 when Mary Hartley appeared at Salford Magistrates Court charged with unlawfully using her house in Florin Street, Pendleton for the purpose of betting.

Alongside her in the dock were, Edward Routledge 18, John McDermott 52, and William Jewson 18 charged with making bets, all the Defendants pleaded guilty.

The case which "aroused tremendous interest" was headed by Mr H Tomson who was prosecuting for the police, he told the court that the house had been under observation for the period, 6th until 13th September when they saw numerous visitors to the house and under cover policemen laid bets with Mary Hartley.

On the 6th of September the police witnessed some 40 men, women and children enter the house via the back door, after the police constables made their bets, suspicions were aroused and they were followed by a man believed to have been a "tout" who kept them under observation for over 90 minutes.

The police returned the next day and witnessed a further 50 people enter and make bets, again they went in and placed bets with Mary Hartley, presumably different policemen, this carried on for a further six days and a decision was made to raid the premises, led by Inspector Hulmes, Sergeant Lamb and several constables.

They found Mary in the kitchen speaking to William Jewson, he told police that he had gone there to place a bet on for another man, Inspector Hulmes informed Mary that he had a search warrant, she took a purse from her pocket which contained 14 shilling, six pence and betting slips relating to that days racing and informed he had no need to search the house as she had sent all the betting slips down to the pitch, some time ago.

They did carry out a search and found £56 11s 2d, two large paying out sheets, four smaller one's, several handicap books all relating to horse racing, sporting newspaper and betting slips.

Mr Tomson then told the court that with the number of people observed visiting the house he expected to have found more betting slips but had reason to believe what Mary had said was true also the police had the name of a man with his names on betting slips who was connected in this business...presumably a legal bookie who had a licence to operate on the track.

The Clerk of the Court asked him if these people in the dock were covered by a bookmaker who is behind the scenes?, he was told that this was true and he would foot the bill and was not uncommon.

Mr Flint for the Defence said that was mere inference and there was no evidence in court to show there was anybody else involved and if the man mentioned was involved he should be involved for aiding and abetting, and as for the money found in the house, Mary was the Treasure of several "nick nack" clubs, and that she had bills to prove that £36 of the money was for footwear, also she was the Secretary of a saving clubs, but it was only in the past weeks she had been taking bets in her back yard.

Getting into his stride he told the Magistrate that the raid took place at the busiest time in a bookmakers business yet the police only found 14 shillings and a few betting slips, yes they found other money but this could be explained by the number of people visiting her house to make daily contributions to their club money and as long as horse racing continues people will make a small wager he added for good measure...he is good isn't he?

The Chairman of the Bench no doubt, tied up in knots by Mr Flint's eloquent defence decided to hand out the sentences to the Defendants.

The three men were all fined 20 shillings.

Reserving his anger for Mary he told her that he had to administer the law as it stands and fined her £25 on each of the six summonses she was charged with, a staggering £150 in all, he added that she alone would have to pay the fine, but would be allowed time to pay.

That fine was aimed directly at the mysterious unnamed bookmaker and was meant to act as a deterrent for anybody who was considering stepping into her shoes.

My Grandfather, William Moran was a turf accountant in Salford and would work on courses throughout the country and his wife, Elizabeth my Grandmother often told ms stories about back street betting and her house in Regent Square, Salford was used for this purpose and often houses would be "rented out" as a front for months at a time with the understanding if they were caught you never named the bookie and he would pay your fine, plus they got a cut off the takings.

The Betting and Gaming Act of 1960 finally legalized off-course betting

Photo: Florin Street.

Today is the final day of the dig at St Thomas's Church, Pendleton in the, "Uncovering Pendleton's Past" project, after three weeks of volunteers removing the top grass and top soil to expose the headstones which have been unseen the early 1970s, when they were grassed over to make them look, "tidier"

The project which was funded by Historic England will enable researchers from The Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service to build a profile of the people who are buried there, their place of birth, occupation and what trades were prevalent in the area, family, social issues relating to health etc.

So far 96 headstones have been revealed in two area of the churchyard, I took several photos of the headstones, plus we have drone footage and interviews with Barry and Theresa Emberton from, Friends of St Thomas's Church to come in the next few days.

Here are just a few of the names which adorn the headstones, they include Watson, Dolby, Rees, Diggle, Seddon, Hall, Holbrook, Handley, Clegg, Wright, Kirk, Mason, Cook, and Boame, are you possibly related?

It is thought that a further six months of research will be needed before the pieces of the proverbial jigsaw fall into place and then a fuller and clearer picture will emerge of these people buried and their lives, and I can't wait to see the finished article.

Thanks must be given to the army of volunteers including school children, students, interested locals, parishioners, even the local community bobby who worked through all weathers to see the job through.

Another peep into Salford's colourful past with a look at a story from the pages of the Salford City Reporter, October 1922, when a Salford woman took offence at a fellow passenger on a tram.

Sarah Helen Greenwood who resided at Robert Hall Street, Salford appeared at Salford Magistrates Church charged with assaulting Fred Barlow a discharged soldier, from Norway Street, Salford.

Fred told the Magistrates Court that he and his wife took their seats on the upper deck of a tram after an evening out, where several drunken passengers were singing at the top of their voices, he told his wife that "they were in for a musical ride"

One of the drunken chorus, Sarah Greenwood overheard the remark and gave him a punch in the face, breaking his false teeth, when he stood up she knocked him back down and for good measure gave Fred's wife a dig in the mouth, cutting it.

Fred then went to the driver of the tram and pleaded to be let off, sadly the driver refused to stop, Sarah Greenwood had followed the pair down the tram and hit him again, the tram driver stopped her from carrying on the attack and let Fred and his wife off... the next bit made me laugh.

Sarah got off with them and carried on with her attack on him, he then asked a passing Police Constable for help but he was arrested and taken to the police station were he was charged with,  "behaving in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace"

This charge was later dropped and Sarah was charged with assault.

Sarah questioned Fred in court asking him why he he called her, "a dirty swine" and that he had hit her with his walking stick, which he denied, she then said that he had called her, "a dirty dog" and hit her with his stick, but did not retaliate.

The tram guard said he saw her hit Fred three times and carried on, "battering" him after he told her to stop, two other witnesses on the tram said that they had seen Sarah attacking him, with other passengers shouting at her to stop the attack.

The Magistrate fined her 20 shillings and awarded Fred a further 15 shilling for new false teeth.

She sounds a bit of a live wire does Sarah Greenwood, hopefully she behaved herself on further tram journeys and that Fred got his new teeth.

We paid a visit to St Thomas's Church, Pendleton today to see the progress being made on the uncovering of the gravestones in the church grounds, where almost 10,000 are buried and which was grassed over in the early 1970s

The project funded by a £10,000 grant from Historic England, will help shed light on the regions working class heritage, research will be carried out on the names revealed by using census records and this promises to be an amazing insight into how Pendleton grew and it's role in the Industrial Revolution and throughout the following years.

Work will be carry on for the next three weeks and then the real work will start as the names of the people interred there will be diligently researched by teams of volunteers, already they have found about a local character who used to frequent the nearby Church Inn, recently demolished who was in court for consuming poisoned beer...

Salford Mayor, Paul Dennett called in and gave a rousing speech about the importance of the work being carried out there and thanked the volunteers and Historic England for their kindness in funding the project.