Aspland Maternity Home

I recently acquired some scans of photographs taken in the 1980s by Janet Howie.

The first I am posting is of Aspland Maternity Home on Higham Lane.

It opened in October 1931 and closed in November 1973.

According to an expats page on Manchester OnLine

The building on Lower Higher [sic] Lane, Gee Cross, was presented to the town of Hyde by the widow and son of Arthur Palmer Aspland, a leading figure in the industrial and social life of Hyde. The grounds were formally opened as a public park on 29th July 1922 before the house was converted into the maternity hospital. Staffed by a matron, two midwives, laundress, cook, two domestics, and a caretaker, there were only two small wards and 14 beds. ... The building was demolished in 1987 and the land sold to make room for private housing. Two stone pillars, which once stood on the driveway to Aspland were donated to Werneth Low Country Park, and were erected on the drive at the entrance to the park.

One of the stone pillars can be seen on a photograph I posted in April 2008 of the wall at the entrance to Lower Higham Visitor Centre.

I'll be posting several more of Janet's photographs over the coming weeks and months.

Gower Hey Bank in the 1950s

Gower Hey Bank, a large house at the end of Osborne Road, was once the home of Thomas Middleton, one time Mayor and author of the Annals of Hyde.

More recently in the 1950s it was the home of then teenager Denys Meakin who emigrated to Canada in 1959 and who has kindly sent me this photograph.

Today the site contains a small estate of modern houses named Gower Hey Gardens which back onto Gower Hey Woods.

You can see the fence and banking on Hyde Daily Photo.

Slack Mills

Looking down Stockport Road from Gee Cross into Hyde about 100 years ago.

Taken from near the crossroads with Osborne Road and Peel Street, the scene is dominated by Slack Mills. The site was taken over early in the 1900s by James North whose firm patented the PVC glove in 1947.

I recently posted a 1993 view of the factory from Werneth Low.

The mill was demolished in 1998 and the only monument is the restored James North Clock.

See how the view from the same vantage point looks today on Hyde Daily Photo.

The Big Flood of 1906

The Big Flood happened in Hyde in 1906.

A violent thunderstorm struck on May 8th and five inches of rain fell in five hours.

I've previously shown here photographs of the destruction at Newton Bank Printworks and at the James North Works.

I am grateful to Graham Hadfield for sending me this image that shows the big damage caused to Thornley & Booth's solicitors offices.

The firm survived and today are known as Booth, Ince & Knowles (established 1872) and you can see their present day office on Hyde DP Xtra.

Big is the theme for City Daily Photobloggers today: Click here to view thumbnails for all participants