Gatley
- The End of the Line
|
) 5 - Tram at the end of the line (1904) |
These trams would whine and toil from Mersey Square, run along Brinksway or up Wellington Road South and pass the white town hall. Then they would turn right through Edgeley the gateway to the west. Nervously they swung along out of Stockport, and into the wilderness towards Cheadle Heath and Cheadle. Finally they would reach the “end of the line” in Gatley.
Public Houses loomed large in the list of tram stops. I am sure there was one at the starting point in Mersey Square. In Cheadle, there were tram stops at the “George & Dragon” and the smaller “White Hart” by the Parish Church of St Mary. At Gatley the terminus was opposite the “Horse & Farrier”. Only a short walk away, through the village and up Church Road, a visit could be made to the “Prince of Wales”- known locally as the “Mop”- or to the “Red Lion”. Spiritual refreshment was available in St James’ Parish Church on Gatley Green (Illus. 6, 8, 9). The vicar in my time was the Reverend John Tyler Whittle. He had served in the Royal Medical Corps in 1914 and was invalided out of the army in 1917 after been caught in a gas attack. He left Gatley in 1936 to become Bishop of Chester.
) 9 - Oakwood House, Church Road (c1935) |
) 6 - Gatley Green: “Prince of Wales (the Mop) (1988) |
All of these places were most convenient for the many day trippers. They ventured away from smoky Stockport into the rural smoky bars of Gatley, or into the quiet atmosphere of the parish church. Perhaps some of them visited the small tea rooms, and sampled home baked scones and buttered bread sandwiches loaded with local ham. I saw many travellers trying out the pleasures of walking the country paths but keeping clear of the cows. Of course, some would bring their own food, find a quiet spot to sit, and play tag or football with their children.
) 8 - 1914-18 War Memorial & Clock Tower |
Meanwhile, outside the “Horse & Farrier”, preparations for the return tram journey had to be made. Each conductor had to take a long polished wooden pole fitted with a hook from a rack on the side of the tram. The pole had to be carefully balanced in the air and hooked on to the trolley which collected the electricity from the overhead wires. This allowed him to pull down the trolley, walk round the tram and re-position it on the overhead power line behind the tram. The purpose of this manoeuvre escaped me then, as now.
His language was spectacular every time he missed the wire with his trolley. From a distance we children would clap like mad, if or when, all went well. I wonder if the expression “He’s off his trolley!” originated from these tramway days?
Now the driver was ready to scuttle back to the “safety” of Mersey Square, Stockport, at the first signs of trouble. Some of his customers could be well and truly merry on the return journey. A warning bell was rung when the driver stamped on a floor pedal with his right foot. If any of the travellers wandered round the front of a tram, the stamping and clanging became almost continuous. In the event of customers falling in front of the tram the driver could stamp on another floor pedal with his left foot. This action would cause a collecting device, known as a cow-catcher, to drop down in front of the tram wheels and scoop up horizontal, if shocked, people.
It was rumoured
that a dear, frightened old lady asked one of the conductors whether
she would be electrocuted if she trod on both tramlines!
His classic reply was, “No Madam, only if you put one leg on
to the overhead wire!”
I used to think that nothing happened beyond the end of those tramlines-just
a road to nowhere. The tramway should have been extended to the next
place, Northenden, but this never happened. It was several years later
that I visited Northenden. I was right about the road.
Chapter
3