News & Views

It was a busy weekend at the Arts and Craft Church just gone. Spring is here and the beds want planting, but the soil was badly  compacted by the scaffolding. While some sunned in the sunshine the shade was welcome while doing the hard work!

The Methodist Church area synod was hosted in the hall with 140 delegates from across the region attending. This included  workshop session in various rooms and the garden, but not horticultural!

On Sunday afternoon eighteen members of the Clarice Cliff Society visited, starting with a tour of the EW properties, followed by an introductory talk about EW, the Church and School Rooms followed by a viewing of the DVD ‘A Painted Veil’.  A lot was packed into the afternoon and the sun was shining.

The morning started  started early, the first to arrive was the electrician to repair an emergency exit sign, to be shortly followed by the EW Society gardeners. The Spring tidy had to be complete by the arrival time of a group of thirty from the Lighthouse Project, Walkers group. Thank you to the two ‘head gardeners’.

The leader of the group sent the following email:

Dear Christine,
Thank you so much for our tour today. We all thoroughly enjoyed hearing about Edgar Wood and learning about the church and school rooms.
Please let me know about any forthcoming events or fund-raising activities and I will pass the details on to the walkers.
Meanwhile keep up the good work!
Regards,
Margaret

Friends and former students of Jeffrey Lawton gave a concert in the recently restored hall of the Edgar Wood Rooms in his memory.  Middleton Rotary organised the concert as Jeffrey was an active Rotarian and former president. The proceeds from the concert will be donated to Springhill Hospice and Rochdale Mind charities, organisations which were close to his heart. It was a fitting tribute that the hall was used, as Jeffrey in his early years as an amateur singer performed many roles on the stage with the Gilbert and Sulivan Society. In his professional life, he was the Principle Tenor with the Welsh National Opera followed by an international career specialising in Verdi and Wagner. On retiring from the stage he became a vocal tutor at the RNCM. Born in Oldham and  resident of Middleton (living in an Edgar Wood house) he was a local celebrity and used his talents to support local charities.

 Mr. Les Coop the Chairman of the Greater Manchester Preservation Trust thanked the sponsors of the window restoration for their donations towards this work. Individual and group sponsors were represented. Continue reading “A Thank You to the Window Sponsors”

Not quite a ‘host’ but this clump of daffs in the garden is always early to bloom, but this year it is especially early.  

Since being built in 1900, Long Street Methodist Church and School Rooms has been know as that. However following the building being transferred to the GMBPT in 2010 the site was given the addition name of The Edgar Wood Centre, which was appropriate and mainly applied to the hall and school rooms.

This has led to some confusion as this name was given to the First Church of Christ Scientists, Daisy Bank Rd, (also by Edgar Wood) when it was taken over by Manchester University over twenty years ago.

The EWS committee and GMBPT trustees had a brain storming session on Thursday to come up with name suggestions that may give reference to its past and planned use for weddings, conference and community, Edgar Wood, its location and something that trips off the tongue.

You would think this would be an easy task! Difficult.

Long time friend of Long Street Methodist Church and the Edgar Wood Centre, Andy Marshall, a nationally renowned architectural photographer came to do some shots for the proposed restoration commemoration book.

 Sorry Andy, my image doesn’t match your quality.

Nick Berry from Viridor Credits arrived on schedule to look around the school rooms following the restoration (we think it was an inspection of the work) although he didn’t say so. Viridor Credits assisted in supporting the project with a grant and we found them helpful throughout the process and the GMBPT are grateful for their input.

As Nick left the building thirty, year two pupils arrived from Elmwood Junior School, also designed by Edgar Wood. They were being ‘building detectives’ and had previously visited the Parish Church and the Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, both of which have connections to EW. The children looked around the Church and answered ‘searching’ questions before looking around the school rooms. They were especially surprised by how small the classrooms around the hall were compared with their school classrooms.

It was good to have the children for a visit and we hope they enjoyed there time with us and that we may see them on another visit in the future.

The Norh West branch of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) held their AGM in the restored former school rooms of Long Street Methodist Church on Thursday 15th November.  Their program began at 2.15pm with a talk by EWS chairman David Morris, followed by a tour of Edgar Wood buildings in the local area. The AGM started after their return and was followed by food served at 5.30 in the hall, by Jubilee Catering. To conclude the evening the group returned to the lecture room to watch the film ‘A Painted Veil’ telling the story of Edgar Wood. DVDs are available for purchase for £5 plus postage a real bargain. If you are interested in making a purchase, get in contact at : edgarwoodsociety@gmail.com