Village Faith

Now where the clinic is in Old Hall Road there used to be a little row of cottages and next to them was the Congregational Chapel built in 1777. It had a graveyard where most of the people who lived in Gatley were buried. A funeral in those days was a very sad affair, the people in the village would all draw their blinds and the coffin would be carried on a bier and taken from the top end of Gatley to the Chapel. Most of my relations are buried there. Now all the gravestones have gone and the graves are covered by grass.

They used to have some good concerts in the schoolroom next to the chapel. Lighting was by gas and the heating was by coke. They always had a caretaker who's wages were about 60/- a week. Then it was all pulled down and a new church built in Elm Road before the War. One of the stained glass windows from the old chapel was put in the new church. The organ was given by Mr. and Mrs. Worthington of Gatley and was taken from the old to the new churches.

My church is called St.James, the church on the green, a very nice church. It seats about 200 worshippers and has a very nice organ built by Wordsworth. There used to be a boy who pumped the organ and was paid 40/- a quarter! Now the organ has been moved to the back of the church. The belfry is about 60 feet high and the bell was a steel pipe that was hit by a hammer on a long rope. Now there is a modern loudspeaker system that was presented by Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox in memory of their son.

The stained glass altar windows were given by the Campbells of Highfield, a large house at the top of Schools Hill, and the two stained glass windows in the church that face you as you walk in were given by Mr. Fred and Mr.M.G.Taylor who lived in Oakwood avenue and were builders. Over the altar the ceiling was painted to represent the night and the storm. There used to be about 25 in the choir, men and boys, no women!! One kind old lady who lived in Oakwood Avenue named Mrs. Reynolds would give all the choirboys a shilling at Christmas. There was also a choir trip to Southport every year, but only for the day! It went from Northenden Station to Southport and we had a nice tea at Rowntree's Cafe.

The pulpit was built of stone but that has now been pulled down and a wooded one has replaced it. This one is made of oak. Choir practice was in the vestry every Thursday at 8 o'clock. The weather vane is a cock and weighs 60lb. It is about 80 foot above the ground.

During the First World War the vicar had it covered up because he thought the Zeppelins coming over from Germany would see it and be able to bomb Gatley!

Next to the church was the Parish Hall and Day School. There was no burial ground attached. The foundation stone was laid in 1880 and the church completed the following year.

If you stand by the clock facing the Horse and Farrier you are next to the 1914-1918 War Memorial. It was built around 1925 by public subscription. I think the cost was about six hundred pounds. I remember it being built, the opening service was by the Reverend Bruster.
Then a few years later they built a replica which stands on Gatley Green facing the door of the church. The names of the fallen were taken off the original one and put on the new one when the people of Gatley thought a more appropriate place would be the village green. Every Christmas the choirboys would go to the vicarage. I remember in the hall was a big photograph of soldiers in the First World War. There were some tennis courts behind the vicarage and a path over the fields to the brook near Church Road. The organist was a chap called Pearson who came from Levenshulme. After him was a man called Bradley who lived in Springfield Road. He was the organist for 25 years. There was a choir practice every Thursday night, we didn't like this 'cos there was always a half hour sermon! There were five or six classes at Sunday School. We would be given text cards for good attendance and there was always a good party at Christmas. There have been seven or eight vicars in my lifetime!

Where the Wine Bar is now was the Primitive Methodist Chapel. I used to stand outside listening to them sing hymns. The little building on the side between the chapel and the Prince of Wales pub was the Band Room. Gatley Brass Band used to practice there. At Christmas they would go round all the farms and play carols. They looked very smart in their uniforms. When I was older I would stand in the "Mop" yard with a pint and listen to them play. The Chapel closed in 1933 as the congregation could not find a minister. Then it was a clothes factory owned by H.B.Swales and Sons before being empty for a long time.