I spent a very happy few years in the small town of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, now a south Manchester suburb; my friend Andrew still lives there, in the house we used to share in the seventies. He started to research the history of the house… which developed into an interest in the history of the road it is on, Beech Road, and then Chorlton itself.

Exciting news!! Andrew is publishing a book about Chorlton and whether you know the lovely and interesting place or not, I urge you to buy it because Andrew tells a fine tale… and Chorlton has a fine tale to be told. All being well his book will be out in October, a fascinating study of the growth of a township from a few scattered farms through all the changes political, industrial and social of the nineteenth century.

In the meantime, Andrew has been busy and his latest project is opened tomorrow. Together with a…