Turn Right At Mottram Roundabout - Week 9
Tue 4th October 2016 | General | By Stewart Taylor
Last week we found ourselves in the leafy suburbs of South Manchester as we visited West Didsbury and Chorlton and a number of people had no trouble in recognising this one.
The quick link referred to the indie-rock band Dutch Uncles who launched their fourth album “O Shudder” at West Didsbury and Chorlton in 2014.
The photo, slightly hazy I’m afraid (my fault), shows the view across the ground from the dug out side on a warm evening in July.
We return towards the south of our region this week to another of our market towns, this one having been granted its Royal Charter as long ago as 1579 although its history goes back a great deal further than that.
Perhaps the most important historical feature of this town are the two Saxon crosses in the market square. Thought to date back to the early 9th century, these monuments have had something of a chequered history having to be rebuilt in the 19th century having been previously destroyed by iconoclasts. Fantastic word is iconoclast and one of my favourites in the English language being derived from Ancient Greek and meaning “image breaker”. For further reference listen to track 3 on the album Tarkus by Emerson Lake and Palmer (1971) – a powerfully destructive tune if ever I heard one.
Anyway, I digress somewhat, a common failing I’m afraid, so back to the plot. The previously noted chequered history of the Saxon crosses might be considered in some way to be linked to what is reputed to be the oldest surviving building in this town which is the Lower Chequer Pub. As is often the case, the easiest conclusion to jump to is often wrong and is so in this case.
To digress just briefly again, I was once told on a management course that the best idea to solve a problem would be much more likely to be the 70th rather than the 1st. I hesitated to suggest that I would not have the wit or imagination to even think of 70 different ideas ….. and the moment passed.
The Chequer referred to in the pub name is much more likely to have been a Chequer Board which was used to educate customers to count their money, the landlords of the pub at the time doubling up as moneylenders. As the country debates the provision of state education and the desirability, or otherwise, of grammar schools, the idea of learning mathematics in a pub has a massive appeal. A new route to responsible drinking perhaps? Lobby your MP if you agree.
The pub, which has a ghost, apparently, is currently owned by the Joules Brewery of Market Drayton and is well worth a visit but not on a Monday – it’s shut.
Many of us of a certain vintage will recall a certain Derek Macintosh Bates, better known as “Blaster” Bates, who was a demolition expert and something of a raconteur. Perhaps his most remembered piece related to the clearing out of a septic tank using explosives. If you know the piece, you’ll remember the title. If you don’t, it doesn’t take a lot of working out. Bates died in this town and is buried at the parish church.
As with a number of our member clubs, this one was formed as a result of an amalgamation of two other clubs. The letters “R” and “A” on the club badge are a reference to the two previous clubs. Although relative recent in origin the club has built up a large presence in the area now running over 30 teams involving over 600 players across the complete age spectrum at a very impressive facility.
The first team’s record victory came as recently as April of this year with a 10-0 scoreline.
Quick Link - What links this town with the 12 time winners of the British Open Brass Band Championships?
Turn Right At Mottram Roundabout - Week 9
Tue 4th October 2016 | General
By Stewart Taylor
Last week we found ourselves in the leafy suburbs of South Manchester as we visited West Didsbury and Chorlton and a number of people had no trouble in recognising this one.
The quick link referred to the indie-rock band Dutch Uncles who launched their fourth album “O Shudder” at West Didsbury and Chorlton in 2014.
The photo, slightly hazy I’m afraid (my fault), shows the view across the ground from the dug out side on a warm evening in July.
We return towards the south of our region this week to another of our market towns, this one having been granted its Royal Charter as long ago as 1579 although its history goes back a great deal further than that.
Perhaps the most important historical feature of this town are the two Saxon crosses in the market square. Thought to date back to the early 9th century, these monuments have had something of a chequered history having to be rebuilt in the 19th century having been previously destroyed by iconoclasts. Fantastic word is iconoclast and one of my favourites in the English language being derived from Ancient Greek and meaning “image breaker”. For further reference listen to track 3 on the album Tarkus by Emerson Lake and Palmer (1971) – a powerfully destructive tune if ever I heard one.
Anyway, I digress somewhat, a common failing I’m afraid, so back to the plot. The previously noted chequered history of the Saxon crosses might be considered in some way to be linked to what is reputed to be the oldest surviving building in this town which is the Lower Chequer Pub. As is often the case, the easiest conclusion to jump to is often wrong and is so in this case.
To digress just briefly again, I was once told on a management course that the best idea to solve a problem would be much more likely to be the 70th rather than the 1st. I hesitated to suggest that I would not have the wit or imagination to even think of 70 different ideas ….. and the moment passed.
The Chequer referred to in the pub name is much more likely to have been a Chequer Board which was used to educate customers to count their money, the landlords of the pub at the time doubling up as moneylenders. As the country debates the provision of state education and the desirability, or otherwise, of grammar schools, the idea of learning mathematics in a pub has a massive appeal. A new route to responsible drinking perhaps? Lobby your MP if you agree.
The pub, which has a ghost, apparently, is currently owned by the Joules Brewery of Market Drayton and is well worth a visit but not on a Monday – it’s shut.
Many of us of a certain vintage will recall a certain Derek Macintosh Bates, better known as “Blaster” Bates, who was a demolition expert and something of a raconteur. Perhaps his most remembered piece related to the clearing out of a septic tank using explosives. If you know the piece, you’ll remember the title. If you don’t, it doesn’t take a lot of working out. Bates died in this town and is buried at the parish church.
As with a number of our member clubs, this one was formed as a result of an amalgamation of two other clubs. The letters “R” and “A” on the club badge are a reference to the two previous clubs. Although relative recent in origin the club has built up a large presence in the area now running over 30 teams involving over 600 players across the complete age spectrum at a very impressive facility.
The first team’s record victory came as recently as April of this year with a 10-0 scoreline.
Quick Link - What links this town with the 12 time winners of the British Open Brass Band Championships?
