Convenor: Chris Whitefoot

Group leader: Mark Child

Zoom host: Andy Scutt

To contact Chris, Mark or Andy please email salfordu3a@gmail.com marking the subject line of your email ‘FAO: name/job title’.

Venue and date/time: We have in the past met at 1.30-3.30pm on alternate Wednesdays at Eccles Gateway, but from August 2021 are meeting at Monton Unitarian Church Hall.

The main focus of the group is nineteenth and early twentieth century history of the Salford and Manchester region. We have a few invited talks but most topics are presented by the members of the group. Some present materials that they have researched, others introduce the discussion by reading articles on items of forgotten local history.

Recent topics include ‘Haigh Hall’, ‘Queen Victoria’s 1851 visit to Worsley’, ‘Salford Pals’ and ‘Irwell valley coal mines’. The group has also visited the following historical sites over recent years: Ordsall Hall; Eccles Parish Church; All Saints Church Barton; Chetham’s Library and School; Styal Village and Quarry Bank Mill; the Ellesmere Port Boat Museum; Erddig Hall; and the Moravian Settlement in Droylsden.

Links you may be interested in:

• For a Local History group photo please visit our Gallery Page
• Cottonopolis – a Greater Manchester u3a network booklet
• Our Salford mills survey

Past members of the group have researched and published a variety of books, which are listed below. Present members have completed a book entitled ‘A Brief History of Travel in Eccles, Barton and Patricroft since 1628’ which covers many of the events of the eighteenth and nineteenth century travel revolution, all within a few square miles of Lancashire. See Travel History Booklet by Mark Child for further information.

Other publications researched and published by the group are:

1. ‘Church St Eccles’ by Helen Whickham and other group members
2. ‘A walk around Barton’ by Doreen and Eddie Rowbottom
3. ‘Industrial History of Eccles’ by Ronald Britton
4. ‘A Chronological History of Eccles’ by Doreen Rowbottom
5. ‘Treasures of Eccles, Past and Present’ by Doreen Rowbottom
6. ‘Pendleton: the Rise and Fall of a Northern Township’ by Don Lingard
7. ‘A Brief History of Travel in Eccles, Barton and Patricroft since 1628‘ by Mark Child
8. ‘Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere’ by Mark Child

2021 programme

Date	Name	Subject
9 Dec	Sheila Thomas	Christmas in WW2
6 Jan	Alan Corbett	Manchester through the eyes of early 19th century authors
20 Jan	Paul Sherlock	Salford mayors
3 Feb	Anne McGarry	Salford 1900-1914
17 Feb	George Waterhouse	History of morris dancing
3 Mar	David Roughley	Gerrards of Swinton
17 Mar	Mark Child	Ellesmere buildings
31 Mar		cancelled
14 Apr	Sheila Thomas	A trip down Deansgate
28 Apr	Alan Corbett	Wet Earth Colliery
12 May	Paul Sherlock	Local heritage trails
26 May	Andy Scutt	Manchester’s Hidden Gems (Part 1)
9 Jun	Rick McGarry	Protector Lamp and Lighting Company
23 Jun	Mark Child	The highs and lows of Lord Ellesmere’s life
7 Jul	Andy Scutt	Manchester’s Hidden Gems (Part 2)
21 Jul		No meeting
4 Aug		No meeting
11 Aug	no speaker	Reunion meeting
25 Aug	Sheila Thomas	Some events at Eccles Town Hall
8 Sep	Mark Child	The highs and lows of Lord Ellesmere’s life
22 Sep	David Pease	Joseph Brotherton
6 Oct	Hazel Walker & Marlene Walker	Manchester’s Little Italy
20 Oct	Barbara Lawton & June Lomas	Weaste Cemetery
3 Nov	Andy Scutt	Buffalo Bill
17 Nov	Anne McGarry	Famous people raised in Salford
1 Dec	Linda Veasey	Albert Finney

You may also be interested in:

Our group is one of several members of the Salford Forum of Local History Organisations. You can access their website here for details of all the groups that belong to this forum, including the Eccles and District History Society and the Age UK (Salford) local history group who meet regularly in Swinton.

Anyone wishing to explore the history of our area may be interested in viewing the extensive collection of books, documents, photographs and newspapers at the Salford Local History Library.