Gatley
- The End of the Line
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) 1a - Map of Gatley |
In the late 1920s it was a rural area of meadows, arable fields and woodlands set between the borders of the two ancient districts, Stockport Etchells and Northenden Etchells. Dividing the Etchells was Gatley Brook which still runs along the back gardens on the west side of the modern Church Road. The village is separated, to the east, from the village of Cheadle by another small waterway, the Micker Brook. The great, and originally very polluted Mersey River, flowed on its way to Liverpool and the sea, between the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire; it also provided the northern boundary of Gatley with the suburb of Didsbury.
) 1b - Views of Gatley |
There were abundant old hedgerows with mature trees full of twittering birdlife and small furry animals which scurried off if disturbed by the noise of my brother and I climbing over the stiles.
A fascinating
fen-like area existed alongside the east bank of Gatley Brook known
as the Carrs. This is a Scandinavian word for fen or bog land. An
old Tithe Map
preserves this name in several Carr Meadow field names. It was a haven
for wildlife.
There were ancient osier
(willow) beds from which Gatley folk produced basket
ware and field fences. There was a ford at this point over which,
from the 14th century, the early salt traders passed with their pack-horses.
The salt was brought from the Cheshire “wyche” towns (i.e.
Northwich, Middlewich and Nantwich).
From the 19th century this beautiful
scenery came under increasing pressures in the name of “progress”.
In 1866 the Cheshire Lines Company laid railway tracks across the
Carrs. By 1894 the Urban District Council had constructed a Sewage
Works (now defunct!). Finally in 1974 the construction of the massive
M63 motorway caused the diversion of the Mersey. Most of a major Gatley
beauty spot, the Carrs, almost disappeared under thousands of tons
of rubble!
) 7 - 167 Gatley Road (Birthplace of Author) (1988) |
Fortunately
I was born in 1925 (Illus.7). My childhood in Gatley during
the 1930s was the
centre of the universe; it was a rural playground full of excitement,
and a truly wondrous
place. I recall being pushed in a pram, chased by a dog, thrilled
by the bonfires on the 5th November, being present during a total
eclipse, joining Shortacre School, the adventurous times inside the
Co-operative Grocery Store near the War Memorial and being frightened
by the noisy, rocking, sparkling electric trams!
Chapter
2