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Strangeways Hall farm

Started by: Barley (8)

On the 1845 6-inch map of Hindley there is a house called "Strangeways" which I think is where my ancestor farmed between 1801 and 1815 (according to the Land Tax and the Tithe schedule).
It was off Liverpool Road and appears to be about where the modern roads Longton Street and Balmoral Drive are now, north of the old Hindley and Platt Bridge Station.
On the 1894 map it is still there, marked "Hall" and opposite Strangeways Hall Colliery. Still there on the 1909 and 1946 maps, called Strangeways Hall.
Google gives me things about the Strangeways Hall in Manchester city centre, but that doesn’t seem to be the same as the farm in Hindley.
Anyone know anything about it? Any pictures?

Started: 31st Dec 2020 at 18:30

Posted by: retep1949 (1296)

I remember this farm in the 50/60's and it being demolished.Billy Eatock who had a farm down Lord street had this farm also.It was accessed up a lane opposite the old Strangeways pub.There were two dwellings.A German,who Ithink was a POW lived in one and a girl,I think her name Julie or June lived with some other family in a smaller cottage.They were in a poor state.Spent hours playing in the barns etc when the houses were demolished..I think the people who lived in them went to live in Borsdane ave.I had a walk around a few weeks ago and you could still make out some parts of the buildings,not been there for over thirty years.I am now not sure if this is the farm you are after but it was called Strangeways.The pit you mentioned was not near near to this farm .

Replied: 1st Jan 2021 at 18:08
Last edited by retep1949: 1st Jan 2021 at 18:24:50

Posted by: tonker (28673) 

Replied: 1st Jan 2021 at 19:15
Last edited by tonker: 1st Jan 2021 at 19:17:12

Posted by: Barley (8)

Thanks Retep
The farm or hall building I am interested in was definitely opposite the old Strangeways Hall Colliery, according the the old maps. A bit further south, before the railway bridge, was another one called Lowe Hall, I think, and maybe that's the one you remember. But it's Strangeways Hall farm I'd like a picture or drawing of.
Happy New Year to you all, by the way!

Replied: 1st Jan 2021 at 21:43

Posted by: retep1949 (1296)

Barley.you have really confused me with this one.I lived in this area for years in Mawdsley street and knew the area very well but I cannot make sense of of what you are saying.Good luck.Are you local to the area?

Replied: 3rd Jan 2021 at 12:29
Last edited by retep1949: 3rd Jan 2021 at 12:33:31

Posted by: Domin0 (702)

On my 1907 map Strangeways Hall is just north of Hindley South station, and Strangeways House is quite away South of the station.

Replied: 3rd Jan 2021 at 16:25

Posted by: retep1949 (1296)

Correct Domino.

Replied: 3rd Jan 2021 at 17:00

Posted by: chris southworth (632)

Barley and retep1949, you are both sort of right but slightly wrong. Strangeways Hall farm was exactly where you said, retep1949, accessed opposite the Strangeways pub. The Strangeways Hall Colliery was quite close to the Hall but not opposite as Barley says. It was on the opposite side of Liverpool Rd but about 300 yds away.

Replied: 4th Jan 2021 at 08:50

Posted by: chris southworth (632)

Barley, in the deep depths of my mind I seem to remember there being an old photo or possibly a pencil drawing of Strangeways Hall farm somewhere that I have seen on the internet. I have looked around again but can't find it.

Replied: 4th Jan 2021 at 08:54

Posted by: retep1949 (1296)

When we were young the old Strangeways colliery site was one of our many pit wastelands we played on,just like you probably did Chris.With regards to Strangeways Hall Farm I can remember going inside the main farmhouse and the little cottage annexe and even by the poor standard of housing down the Lump these were absolute squalor.I too have looked and asked for photos of the farm with no luck but have a clear picture in my mind of the farmhouse and its buildings.The German pow who lived in the farm was called Henry,a nice man.I wonder if anyone remembers him.

Replied: 4th Jan 2021 at 09:34

Posted by: retep1949 (1296)

If you type 14447 in the search box there is a photo of some trolley buses and to right is Strangeways farm though not very clear.This photo was taken by Harold Whittle(Aitch) my cousin.

Replied: 4th Jan 2021 at 13:31

Posted by: Barley (8)

Thanks all. No I'm not local (I live in Crosby), so I'm going by old maps, and my idea of "opposite" isn't as good as as yours, obviously. Sorry for confusing you.
Chris Southworth - I have googled for a picture, and have seen an old drawing which might be the one you are thinking of , but it is a different Strangeways Hall, one in central Manchester and which gave its name to the prison.
Retep 1949: Yes, I saw that picture of the trolleybuses, with a gabled house half-obscured by the bridge railings. Am I getting my stations and bridges mixed up, or could that house in the picture be the one called The Lowe? (As you have seen, my local geography is theoretical, not practical!)

Replied: 4th Jan 2021 at 18:01
Last edited by Barley: 4th Jan 2021 at 18:09:01

Posted by: retep1949 (1296)

The station was always Hindley South to me,it was at one time Hindley and Platt Bridge stationth The white building was the booking office and you went down to the platforms.The building in the background were the barns and outbuildings.The actual farm house was in front of them and is very difficult to make out.To the left of the trolley buses is where the Strangeways Colleries were situated,it was just what seemed endless pit waste when we were kids.Good luck with your search Barley.Try putting the names of your relatives on General there are some people who might help.

Replied: 4th Jan 2021 at 18:56

Posted by: peter g (3661) 

I got married in the Strangeways pub and lived in the old houses on the opposite side

Replied: 7th Jan 2021 at 16:11

Posted by: Anne Maria (7)

The German pow who lived on strangeways farm was my dad Henry Heinz I was born on that farm we moved to borsdane ave later on

Replied: 27th Feb 2024 at 07:49

Posted by: retep1949 (1296)

I knew his name was Henry.I remember digging some potatos up with him when we were kids.There was a gas main near the bridge over the brook and somehow it ignited and your Dad came and put it out covering it with soil and sods.I can still picture your Dad in my mind.

Replied: 27th Feb 2024 at 18:44

Posted by: Anne Maria (7)

Aww thank you for replying can't believe people remember my dad on that farm . My mum told me we had to move away because the farmhouse was terrible there were rats there said it was awful

Replied: 27th Feb 2024 at 20:55

Posted by: Anne Maria (7)

Mayby you remember my brothers they would have been 10year olds always playing near the brook on the farm john and Frank

Replied: 27th Feb 2024 at 21:09

Posted by: Tommy Two Stroke (16361)

Replied: 27th Feb 2024 at 23:14

Posted by: Anne Maria (7)

My mum said dad played piano at the pub across the road from the farm and he got 5 shilling s for this as the farm wages weren't very good







Replied: 28th Feb 2024 at 10:44

Posted by: retep1949 (1296)

I cannot recall your brothers.I only remember your Dad and did know his surname I was very young at the time.We rarely ventured into the farmyard because there was always a dog in a kennel which once took a good bite of a friends leg.As you say there were plenty rats around the farm and brook and when older spent hours digging them out with dogs.I can describe most of the buildings on the farm from tts link,there was also a large Dutch barn near the to the brook.Bill Eatock the farm owner was tight fisted and I can imagine the wages for Henry were poor.

Replied: 28th Feb 2024 at 13:32

Posted by: Anne Maria (7)

Yes the wages would have been poor

Replied: 28th Feb 2024 at 19:45

Posted by: Anne Maria (7)

I believe the dog was called Wallace. I would love to find some photos of the house and the farm

Replied: 28th Feb 2024 at 19:48

Posted by: retep1949 (1296)

I have never seen any photos of the farm and I have searched and asked about them.The farmhouse was rundown but the farmyard and buildings were nice to look at and in a nice location with the brook at one end.

Replied: 29th Feb 2024 at 19:33

Posted by: Anne Maria (7)

Even though I've not got photos the way you describe it I can put a picture in my mind so thankyou for that retep means a lot

Replied: 29th Feb 2024 at 22:28

Posted by: Daniel Catterall (1)

My grt grandparents Ken and Edna Farnworth lived in Strangeways hall farm cottages when my grandma Linda was young in the early 50s to about 1955 / 56. The house was condemned and later demolished not long after they moved. There’s was a photo of my grandma and my grt grandad outside the cottage in 1955 ready for walking day at St Peter’s.

Replied: 4th Aug 2024 at 19:23
Last edited by Daniel Catterall: 4th Aug 2024 at 19:27:17

 

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