Today, in addition to our art exhibition, Shakra from the Local Studies section of Touchstones (Rochdale Museum and Arts service), brought along a display about Edgar Wood and Frederick Jackson. She has been combing the digital newspaper archives for references to Edgar Wood which gave us some interesting new findings. Rachel and Bryan, also from Touchstones, came along to help.
Heritage Open Days: 9th to 17th September
The Long Street Methodist Church and Schoolrooms are open for visitors between 1 and 4pm on the following dates in September:
Saturday 9th , Sunday 10th , Wednesday 13th , Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th
‘The chapel is a knockout’ says the latest Pevsner Guide. Designed by architect Edgar Wood and completed in 1901 it is an Arts and Crafts delight, with aspects of Gothic, Art Nouveau and Modernism intertwined. A walking guide to other Edgar Wood buildings nearby is available from the church.
You can park 3 hours for free at nearby Market Place car park M24 6AE but must display a ticket from the machine with your arrival time.
More details are available on the Heritage Open web site www.heritageopendays.org.uk/visit click on visit and enter the post code M24 6UN
The Crumpsall History Society Visit
The Crumpsall History Society visited the Church followed by a tour of the Conservation Area and the Edgar Wood houses. They had previously booked a talk about ‘that remarkable Manchester architect’, but there is nothing better than seeing things first hand. Their visit also gave the gardener a welcome break, unfortunately there were no offers of help!
If any groups would like to visit the Church and School Rooms or have a guided tour of the local EW properties email: edgarwood society.org for further information.
It’s September Again and Heritage Open Days
Weeds Don’t Do Social Distancing
The weekly check of the building was carried out this morning and everything was sound. The only change was the length of the grass and the number of weeds between the pavings.
Industrial Thornham
The Middleton Archaeological Society held their monthly meeting in the lecture room at the Edgar Wood Rooms on Thursday. Leon gave an illustrated talk to a full house about the industrial History of Thornham (Middleton). This area is now more associated with green open spaces and recreation (Tangle Hill Park) rather than the previous deep mined coal pits, calico printing and a main centre for the manufacture of fustian.
MANCENT Come to the Edgar Wood Rooms
MANCENT: The Manchester Continuing Education Network, started a ten week course in the EW Rooms this week, led by course tutor Dr. Robert Callow. The title of the course ‘The Fly Room ! early history of genetics’.
MANCENT, ‘is a loose network of independent lecturers and students with a firm belief that Continuing Education at a high level should be available to all who want it’. Text taken from the web site mancent.org.uk.
If you are intrigued by the course title, then for more information and details look on the web site about the Spring (now started) and Autumn courses.
Almost a Full Moon
High Level Maintenance
Having received a grant from English Heritage (Listed Places of Worship Scheme, Taylor Pilot Review) work has commenced to remove the vegetation from the masonry at the top of the buttresses on both the north and south elevations. The work will prevent further damp ingress which has been clearly visible on the inside of the nave for several years. Although dry for the last few days it is rather exposed 40 feet up on the scaffold platform. Continue reading “High Level Maintenance”
Edgar Wood Rooms are off the At Risk Register
ThatsTV (Manchester’s local TV on freeview channel 7 or 8) broadcast the news item that the Edgar Wood Rooms, formally the Long St. Methodist Church School rooms, have been removed from the Historic England ‘Heritage at Risk Register’. This is great news!
The Arts & Crafts Church on the opposite side of the garden is still at risk, however. So the work continues!
Pictured is Peter Barlow from English Heritage being interviewed.
A Busy Week
HODs finished on Sunday and on Monday morning and Tuesday it was the turn of two year 2 class groups from Elmwood Junior school to visit. They were being street detectives (looking at building styles) and learning about one of Middleton’s important people, Edgar Wood.
This was followed on Thursday when we hosted Middleton Archaeological Society and their guest speaker, Professor Robert Poole, speaking on Peterloo 1819-2019. An enlightening and informative lecture not to be missed.
Now the dark nights are drawing in it is necessary to get outside illumination installed and thanks go to Justin for giving up his day off work to fit a corner light, a ‘busman’s holiday’ for Justin, who worked through the continual rain on Friday.
Heritage Open Days at Long Street Methodist Church, Middleton M24 5UE
Visit the Arts & Craft’s Church free of charge at Heritage Open Days!
Open on the following days in September…
- Friday 13th – 10am to 4pm
- Saturday 14th – 10am to 4pm, 2pm Guided tour of nearby Edgar Wood buildings
- Sunday 15th – 1pm to 4pm, 2pm Guided tour of nearby Edgar Wood buildings
- Friday 20th – 10am to 4pm
- Saturday 21st – 10am to 4pm, 2pm Guided tour of the Peterloo Sam Bamford Trail
- Sunday 15th – 1pm to 4pm, 2pm Guided tour of the Peterloo Sam Bamford Trail
Long Street Methodist Church & School is an Arts & Crafts masterpiece by Manchester architect, Edgar Wood. An indescribable blend of rustic expressionism and Art Nouveau abstraction, it announced a radical new architecture when built in 1900.
The Peterloo Sam Bamford Trail celebrates this year’s theme ‘People Power‘ to mark the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre. Led by Sam Bamford expert Dave Lees.
How to get there…
Car – SATNAV – Long Street Methodist Church, Lever Street, Middleton, Manchester. M24 5UE
Access by car from outside the area is via the M60 and M62 which provide main routes from the north, south, east and west. Car parking is at the rear on Lever Street.
Bus – The No. 17 bus between Manchester and Rochdale passes adjacent along Long Street (alight at Jubilee Park/Middleton Library) and Middleton Bus Station is also within walking distance.
Train – The nearest railway station is Mills Hill, a mile and a half east of Middleton centre. It lies on the Caldervale Line between Manchester and Leeds.
Wheelchair Access – Due to substantial changes in levels across the site, wheelchair access is presently limited to around 50% of the interior and not the garden. Disabled toilets are available.
A Tour Group and a Wedding
It was a busy afternoon on Sunday, Sibby (Manchester tour guide and EWS committee member) arrived shortly before the wedding of Emma and Mathew to let her group have a ‘sneaky’ look at the Church and school rooms shortly before the wedding guests started to arrive. Peggy the dog showed an interest in the garden, but wasn’t for signing up to EWS membership. The garden and encompassing buildings provided a good back drop for the photographs. The weather was kind and the grooms men were in fine form.
A Day out at Lindley
Members of the Edgar Wood Society (Middleton) crossed the border on Saturday for the day and were met by representatives of the EWS, Huddersfield group, who guided us through the back alleys of Lindley via the Methodist Church, Clock Tower, Briacourt and other buildings by EW and those associated with the Sykes family. Thank you to John Rumsby, David Verguson and David Griffiths for their in depth knowledge and giving up their Saturday in making the trip such a success. After coffee in the old Methodist Church we moved through to EW’s Chancel extension to the ‘new’ Methodist Church. All the crafts you would expect to see are represented, wood, stone and metalwork.
Continue reading “A Day out at Lindley”
Not Seen From This Angle Before
Andy Marshall, EWS committee member and “…one of the country’s leading architectural photographers”. (Manchester Evening News) was in the Church the other day taking preliminary shots for the new Edgar Wood webb site, which is in development. To see more of Andy’s work go to www.andymarshall.co/index
Churches Conservation Trust
The Churches Conservation Trust hosted a full day workshop in the hall at the Edgar Wood Rooms today, the title being, “A Stitch in Time”. The central theme being the importance of planned maintenance and the necessity of keeping the water and damp out of buildings.
On this themed workshop, it was ironic that on entering the hall, Christine looked up through one of the Diocletian windows and noticed damaged roof tiles. Unfortunately no amount of routine maintenance will prevent slates breaking at upper levels and damaging lower roofs! 
A Busy Few Days
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.
A Busy Morning at the Church and Edgar Wood School Rooms
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
The Jeffrey Lawton Festival of Music 2019
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.
A Thank You to the Window Sponsors
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”