Long Street Methodist, Middleton, Manchester
I went to a fascinating evening event in Manchester centre Wednesday, 10th June, about the new neighbourhood planning process and how it is working with regard to heritage and Liverpool city centre, especially the Baltic Triangle and Waterfront areas.
The session was led by Dave Chetwyn who is managing director of Urban Vision Enterprise, as well as chair of the Historic Towns Forum and a planning adviser to Locality. The other speaker was Gerry Proctor MBE, who is chair of the social enterprise, Engage Liverpool. They discussed the challenges of identifying neighbourhood areas and getting neighbourhood forums to work in the context historic area regeneration. The attitudes os local authority planning departments and developers were also considered. They explained the neighbourhood plan process and how it related to heritage and growth in a city context and how to put together a neighbourhood forum in a complex urban area.
Neighbourhood planning is becoming very popular and, while the process is slow and involved, it engages local people in a way traditional planning does not. I could imagine a neighbourhood plan for the heritage area of Middleton, north of the Market Place traffic island, being very popular with the people who live there.
The event was held in the office of event at Pinsent Masons on 3 Hardman Street, the top floor of a city centre glass box. It took a while to combat the vertigo when looking out of the windows!
David Morris
The Dingle, Dore is one of Edgar Wood’s most dramatic houses which, until recently, was ‘lost’, other than for the design drawings and the contemporary photographs shown here. In recent years, however, it has been ‘discovered’.
It lies near Sheffield, in Totley, and is now featured on the Totley History Group’s website. Wood’s design embraces a very steep slope, with the house, terracing, perimeter wall and garden lookout all constructed from rugged uncoursed rubble stone. It is Wood’s most primitive design, turning raw geology into art.
The house is stunning in the way is presents a different aspect from every viewpoint. There is no weak elevation. Instead, it is almost sculpture-like in its three dimesional quality. Nevertheless, the varied elevations at their core have a disciplined and almost grid-like arrangement of window openings, which holds the dramatic composition tightly together.
The windows, of course, light specific areas of rooms, in relation to the sun’s travel and the activities taking place there. Consequently, the design resolved a range of practical needs and requirements as well as being something aesthetically exciting. Wood was among a handful of elite Arts & Crafts architects who could design to this level of artistry. It is no wonder that the house was published in several British and American journals.
Celebration quickly turned to concern with the discovery that a planning application has been submitted to Sheffield City Council for three detached houses with garages within the garden, at its highest point adjacent to the house. The planning application is HERE – the public is free comment on the scheme.
Wilson Potter Brewery have again produced a special beer for us, this time to celebrate our revolutionary architect Edgar Wood. The previous beers were ‘Nod to Nowell’ and ‘SBA’ in honour of Alexander Nowell and Sam Bamford. We now need to think of a name for the Edgar Wood beer, do you have any suggestions? Please let us know by leaving a reply below.
Once again the brewery will be holding their bar or ‘Soiree’ at The Edgar Wood Centre on Saturday 6th June. Let’s hope for a warm sunny day so that the guests can enjoy the garden. Please note this is a private event and places are reserved by invitation only. Anyone who is not on the guest list will, unfortunately, not be allowed in! If you would like an invitation to future events please contact the brewery – contact details are HERE.
In addition to a regular monthly bar we are also exploring ideas for a Beer Festival to be held at The Edgar Wood Centre. It is in the early planning stage at the moment but we think it will make a fantastic late summer event.
A miscellany of heritage and architecture news over the past month…
Hands off our Tudor treasure crest! – George Shaw of Saddleworth
Future of Ellenroad Steam Museum hangs in the balance after unexpected £7,000 water bill
Manchester’s £25m Home is a sorely missed architectural opportunity
Bolton’s young acknowledge WW1 sacrifice
VE Day in pictures: Looking back at how Stockport marked the end of the war in Europe in 1945
History of Didsbury Library to be explored during centenary celebrations
Manchester Museum: Quirkiest wedding venue in the city?
Historic Ashton Town Hall closes as major work gets underway
New film about the history of Trafford Park
Demolition work at Woodford Aerodrome home of the Lancaster Bomber
Bolton Town Hall – give this other plan a chance
Bolton Civic Trust’s thoughts on Town Hall plans
New Kingfisher Trail to star one of Britain’s best loved birds
Radcliffe Tower – ‘Last chance’
Brian Cox welcomes boost for Jodrell Bank
£2.4million funding bid for Pendle Hill
The street that might win the Turner prize: how Assemble are transforming Toxteth
You favourite architect or artist on the next £20 banknote?
Making the grade: Newly listed post-war office buildings
Church that gave refuge to Charles I and inspired TS Eliot in need of rescue
UK heritage sites to receive £98m lottery cash boost
National Trust calls for footpath around English coast
How the ancient city of Palmyra looked before the fighting – in pictures
This was our ‘wrap up’ meeting with Locality expert Zoe Goddard. She took us through the income streams which will form part of the Trust’s business plan for the Edgar Wood Centre. The meeting was keen to press on with enhancing the Lecture Room and to write to the Heritage Lottery Fund about our recent activities. Tea and sandwiches were provided as usual and we had a good turn out of 11 people despite five or more members being away on holiday. As this particular project now comes to an end, we would all like to thank Zoe for her advice and efforts on our behalf.
Seventeen members of the Art section of the Oldham University of the Third Age visited the Arts and Craft Church (Long Street Methodist Church and School Rooms) this afternoon. Following a introduction about the building and the importance of Edgar Wood to the Arts and Crafts movement, they set off to explore other buildings by EW in the locality. A round of applause was given and everyone said what a good afternoon it had been.
Today (20th May), we met up with our surveyor and Jubilee to discuss further the possibility of holding weddings and receptions in the Edgar Wood Centre and what is needed to make the interiors more appropriate. It was a good meeting and we concluded that the Lecture Room was the best option to develop first. It would mean parties entering via the Long Street gateway and walking through the formal garden to the Lecture Room vestibule – something perfect for a wedding!
On Sunday 17th May, seventeen members of the public turned up for a guided walk around Middleton’s Edgar Wood buildings. They were led by an official Manchester tour guide and Edgar Wood enthusiast, Elizabeth Sibbering (Sibby). The group visited the Arts and Craft Church (Long Street Methodist) as part of the tour. For more information see http://manchestertourguide.com/
The Borough’s official registrar and Jubilee catering visited the Edgar Wood Centre at Long Street on Tuesday as we explore opportunities to use the School Hall and Lecture room for weddings and receptions. It was a good meeting and while nothing is absolutely guaranteed, we are very hopeful that the Edgar Wood Centre will be allowed to hold civil ceremonies.
A miscellany of April’s heritage news items… Continue reading “NEWS AWAKENING – April 2015”
Tuesday 28th April was one of those busy days at the Arts & Crafts Church buildings when several activities came together at the same time. While the Methodists were having their usual Tuesday meeting in the church, next door there was a steady traffic of people. One group was moving the Middleton History Library over from the Old Grammar School to its new home in the Edgar Wood Centre, while the Family History Group moved furniture and materials into its new office and set up the Lecture Room for its first meeting on Thursday, while the brewers, Wilson Potter, went room to room with Arts & Crafts Trust members sorting out the details for their first beer ‘soiree’ in the hall on 9th May.
Thanks go to heritage surveyor Rupert Hilton for spotting that the Pizza Express in Hale, Cheshire has based its artwork on Edgar Wood designs (click here and then the Info tab).
This is the second of two short videos by Judy Barter on how the Arts & Crafts Movement started in Britain and moved to the USA. Judy Barter was the curator, author and editor of the 2010 Apostles of Beauty exhibition and book. The first is here.
We had a good meeting tonight (31st March 2015) working through a mix of detailed issues and broad aims about how we want to celebrate Middleton’s heritage and involve local people. Concerning the Heritage Lottery application, we agreed an outline for a local digital archive and history library, (still more idea than scheme) and asked four Middleton Archaeological Society and Edgar Wood Society members if they could work it up further. The Lettings group also discussed a number of enquiries and of lines of interest for using the buildings.
