Discover Tameside's Heritage

Tameside was once dotted with halls and mansions. Unfortunately, many disappeared during the 20th century. Some fell into disrepair, but the demolition of others amounted to little more than vandalism.

Some of these houses were the seats of the families from whom our towns and districts took their name. But others were the homes of wealthy families and industrialists, and are now only remembered through the names of streets and near-by properties.

Sandy Grove, off Park Road, Dukinfield, was once the site of Grove House a castle-like structure which was built in the 17th century and demolished in 1932. Hyde United's football ground, Ewen Fields, takes its name from Ewenfield, a large house which was demolished to make way for Elm Grove 100 years ago. And near-by Grange Road commemorates The Grange, which was demolished in the 1940s.

Here, we look at some of the other Tameside halls which have disappeared.

Hyde Hall was pulled down in 1857 and the only reference to its existence is found in Mill Lane, which marks the fact that the manorial corn mill was once close by, and in the White Gates pub, which recalls the long-gone entry point to the hall.

Tradition has it that the first Hyde Hall was built by Matthew de Hyde, the founder of the family, in the 12th century. However, it was rebuilt 500 years later and encased in brick in the 18th century.

John Clarke, a descendant of Capt Hyde Clarke and one of the last people to live at the property, described it having a great hall which was wainscotted from floor to ceiling and which had an elaborate chimney piece bearing the arms of Edward Hyde who was resident in the reign of Charles II.

John Aikin, author of the fascinating 18th century book "A Description of the Country from 30 to 40 Miles Around Manchester", describes Hyde Hall as occupying a romantic spot with gardens falling to the water's edge and the distant hills of Mottram in the background.

Railway expansion was to blame for the disappearance of Ashton Old Hall, which was still occupied when the decision was taken to demolish it.

There was much anger in the district but the Great Central Railway insisted that it needed the land to extend the goods yard at Park Parade Station.

However, the work never took place and in the late 1930s a labour exchange was built on the site, above Scotland Street. The building, now called The Point, is up for sale with the surrounding trees having been felled.

Aikin described the old hall as being of great antiquity, but the building that was demolished appears, essentially, to have dated back to 1480 although it was extensively refurbished in 1838 as an occasional residence for the Earl of Stamford.

Two stone towers which reputedly guarded the entrance to dungeons were carefully dismantled and later rebuilt at Broughton-in-Furness.

Ironically, Park Parade station has also disappeared. At the start of the 20th century it was the place at which soldiers returning from the Boer War disembarked, but it was demolished around 1970 to make way for the Ashton bypass and is now only commemorated in the name of the Station pub on Warrington Street.

Denton Hall stood on land close to Windmill Lane, and was originally a Tudor black and white building. It belonged to the Holland family and their crest could be seen in oak panelling in the upper part of the great hall.

The Hollands died out in 1666 and a few years later Denton Hall passed into the ownership of the Egerton family. Unfortunately it was in disrepair by the latter half of the 19th century, having been used as a farmhouse, and the western part of it was demolished in 1895. The remainder was destroyed by fire in January, 1930.

Dukinfield Hall was once the home to Col Robert Duckenfield, a member of Cromwell's council of state in the 1650s. The site, close to Globe Square, was probably first settled in the 12th century although the building that many people remember dated back to Tudor times.

After John Astley inherited the Dukinfield estate he chose to build a new residence, Dukinfield Lodge, and by the 19th century the hall was home to mill-owners such as James Ogden. Eventually, however, it was divided into a number of separate homes.

After the war, with the hall having deteriorated badly, Dukinfield Council tried to sell it to the National Trust. Unfortunately, the Trust was not interested and the hall was pulled down in 1950.

The only part remaining is the burned-out shell of its chapel, once part of Old Hall Congregational Church. It can claim to have housed the first independent congregation in England in Col Duckenfield's time and it was visited by George Fox, founder of the Quakers.

It is hoped that something can soon be done to preservce the building and restore it to a state worthy of its historical significance.

Astley's home, Dukinfield Lodge, was completed in 1775 and stood at the end of Crescent Close,in a commanding position overlooking the Tame. All that remains is some black stone structures, believed to have been servants' quarters, although walks laid out by the Astleys can still be found on the hillside sweeping down from Crescent Close to Park Road.

The Astleys soon left for Arisaig in Scotland and the lodge became home to various men of wealth before being taken over by the Gibson family in the early 20th century. However, by this time it was crumbling pile in need of serious work, damp and covered with moss.

After the death of Joseph Gibson the family sold the lodge to Dukinfield Corporation, but it was declared unsafe and demolished in 1948.

Red Hall, Audenshaw, was built by the Roundhead Capt Ralph Stopford in the 1670s, reputedly on land given to him by Oliver Cromwell.

A century later, it was advertised as a large convenient house with nearly an acre of orchards and 11 acres of meadow and pasture land, and suitable for a gentleman involved in the manufacture of cotton.

It was bought by Robert and John Thornely and Robert, a Methodist, allowed his home to be used for worship. This led to the building of the first Red House Methodist Church in 1783, and to a visit from John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, three years later.

A further 100 years on, Manchester Corporation decided to construct a reservoir in the area occupied by the village of Audenshaw, and although a new Red House Chapel was built, the Red House mansion and many homes and shops disappeared under the waters of the reservoirs which were built between 1875 and 1882.

The site of Hollingworth Hall is believed to have first been used for a home sometime after the Norman Conquest, when William I gave land to William de Peveril, who built two hunting lodges, one of which was in Hollingworth.

There are references to a hall in 1404 and this property was rebuilt in 1640. Several families lived at the site, off Hobson Moor Road, but the best-known were the de Hollyngworthes, from whom the district took its name.

Manchester Waterworks eventually bought the hall for £3,100 and resolved to demolish it as it wanted to eliminate all danger o pollution from the gathering grounds of its chain of reservoirs. Longdendale UDC tried desperately to save Hollingworth Hall but to no avail and it was demolished in 1943.

Mayor meets Mini-Me

Pint-sized politician Macauley Hulland had his first taste of civic duty when the 11-year-old became mayor for the day.

The Mottram CofE Primary School pupil was elected by his classmates to wear junior mayoral robes and chains of office to host an assembly with his real-life counterpart, Tameside Mayor Cllr Margaret Sidebottom. The session, one of 18 to take place in primary schools across the borough, brought to life local democracy for youngsters, linking in with the citizenship part of the curriculum.

Cllr Sidebottom, who has organised the series of school visits, said: "I wanted to find a fun and fresh way of engaging children's interest in local democracy and thought the idea of having a junior mayor wearing their own robes would be a good starting point.

"We have had a very enthusiastic response from schools wanting to take part and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to meet so many young people and give them an insight into my role as mayor."

Judith Chapman, headteacher of Mottram Primary School , said: "This visit tied in nicely with a citizenship project the pupils are currently working on about the roles of MPs and councillors.

"Macauley was elected by his fellow school council members to take on the role as junior mayor for the day. They enjoyed the responsibility of selecting a confident and articulate pupil to represent them - it was one of their first ‘real' tasks to perform as a council and was yet another insight into the concept of civic duty."

After hearing from the Mayor about her role, pupils fired questions at her - from how being Mayor affected her private life to what colour her limousine was. When asked if she had a lot of paperwork to deal with, the Mayor replied: "Yes - it's piled up beside my settee."

And Macauley summed up what he thought of being Mayor for the morning - "Brilliant!"

Ring for a Ride!

Greater Manchester Accessible Transport Limited operates a door to door bus service in Tameside, called Ring and Ride, which provides transport for any person who finds it very difficult or impossible to get to a bus stop or to get on or off ordinary buses.

The buses have low entrance steps and a tail lift, ideal for transporting wheelchair users. The buses operate from a first pick up time of 8 am to a last drop off time of 10.45pm on a Monday to Saturday and 8 am to 10 pm on Sundays. The service does not operate on bank holidays.

The buses operate in two areas:-

• South Area includes Ashton Town Centre, Denton, Dukinfield, Hyde and Longdendale.
• North Area includes Audenshaw, Ashton-under-Lyne, Droylsden, Mossley and Stalybridge.

The service operates mainly short local journeys within the zone that the passenger live and also operates regular journeys from all areas of Tameside into the town centre. Fares are currently charged at the concessionary rate for GMPTE pass holders or £1 for other passengers. Local trips from Tameside to tourist attractions elsewhere in the Greater Manchester area and longer distance coach trips to coastal towns and other places of interest including York, Chester and Skipton are also provided under a different fares structure.

Registering to use the service is a simple process - ring 0161 343 1404 and staff will be happy to assist, take your details and register you for the service. When you book your journey, which should be the day before you want to travel, you will be asked to be as flexible as possible with your journey times to assist us to meet your requirements.

Watch What You Eat

A Trading sandards undercover investigation discovered shocking amounts of salt and fat in takeaway donna kebabs, it has been revealed.

In the survey, which is part of an on-going Greater Manchester-wide campaign, one particular kebab purchased in the borough was found to contain 14.7 grams of salt-more than twice the daily recommended intake of 6g and 117.2 grams of fat, well over the daily recommended intake of 95g for men and 70g for woman.

The survey is part of an ongoing investigation into various types of takeaway meals including curries, pizzas and fish and chips. At present consumers are generally provided with nutritional information when buying pre-packed goods but they are less informed when buying takeaways. This survey will help to address that lack of information and enable consumers to make informed choices based on the findings.

It will then be left for the consumer to decide what they will or won't eat. While there is nothing wrong with eating high fat, high salt foods occasionally, for those who wish to eat healthier it's hoped the information will be useful for people to make a more informed choice.

Executive member for the environment Cllr Catherine Piddington said: "The results of the first investigations are shocking and something all residents need to realise.

"We are not saying stop eating takeaway food, far from it, all we're asking is that people make it their business to be aware of the contents of the food they're buying and then make their choices.

"I would be interested to know what residents think about the investigation and our initial findings, so I would urge readers to forward in their thoughts on the subject to us."

Tameside Social Care and Health

High Visibility uniform for workers who respond to Community Alarms

If you're wearing one of Tameside Council's pendant alarms or have one of their CarePhones installed, expect to see a "new look" Community Response worker to respond to your call.

From now on, Community Response workers will use specially branded Community Response cars and wear a "high visibility" uniform so that service users will more easily be able to recognise them and be more confident in letting them into their home. Of course, their Tameside I.D. card should also be checked to ensure that bogus callers can be deterred from paying a visit.

For further information ring 0161 342 5100 or 0800 328 9292.

Modernisation Leads to Improved Housing for People with Learning Disabilities in the Borough

As part of Tameside Learning Disability services extensive modernisation agenda a review is currently underway assessing the current and future housing and support needs of adults who have learning disabilities in the borough. One example of this work is the plan to replace Staley House the only remaining learning disability hostel in Tameside with a new extra care housing scheme. Work on the scheme started in November 2006 and it is expected to be completed for March 2008. The scheme will comprise of 25 self-contained apartments and will incorporate the latest technology to enable individuals to live as independently as possible in their own apartment.

This scheme is the result of three years extensive consultation with tenants and their families. It is being built and managed by New Charter Housing Trust and funded by the Housing Corporation and New Charter. This will be one of the first schemes of this type in the country.

Protection of Vulnerable Adults is now Safeguarding Adults

This is a national name change to raise the profile of adult abuse across the country and to mirror the same process as Safeguarding Children. If you have any concerns regarding adult abuse please do not hesitate to contact the Safeguarding Adults Team on 0161 370 1179, Mincom 0161 301 2490.

Changes to Mental Capacity Legislation

The Mental Capacity Act provides a legal framework for decision-making and practical safeguards for those individuals who are unable to make decisions for themselves. Under new legislation, (Mental Capacity Act 2005) new roles of Advocates and Best Interests Assessors have been created which will help empower people to decide how they should be treated in the future, when they are no longer able to choose, and allow the appointment of others to make decisions on their behalf, in the event that they lose capacity.

In Tameside we are planning a series of road shows for both professionals and carers to attend. These events will explain the Act and the implications for carers. For more information the Capacity Act Lead can be contacted on 0161 342 5252 or you can view our webpages at www.tameside.gov.uk/socialcare/mentalhealth/capacityact