The Story of Bow don Vale

St. Luke’s Church

1880 - 1980

The Story of Bowdon Vale

St. Luke’s Church1880 BOWDON 1980

The Tithe maps of the ancient parish of Bowdon drawn up in 1838 contain the earliest complete survey of Bowdon Vale. At that time Bowdon Vale as a community did not exist, for the most part it was still open pasture land cut by certain ancient trackways, which linked isolated cottages and a few farms. It had been so ever since the monks of Birkenhead Priory had farmed it as part o f one of their granges. When the Priory was dissolved the lands were used as an endowment for the newly created Diocese of Chester in 1541. Owing to sales and alienation only about eleven acres remain linked with the endowment of the parish church as glebe land, and in quite recent years a further alienation has taken place fixing the endowment income of future incumbents at £1000 a year. But in 1840, when the modern story of the Vale begins, green pastures stretched from the hill towards and beyond the Bollin Valley. It was ripe for development! — which rarely implies improvement.

Langham Road then as now divided the Hill from the Vale, but as it travelled eastwards it curved round through what was a farmyard to meet Stamford Road near a saw mill on Springbank, and near the junction with the road from Altrincham to Hale (then known as Peel Causeway). Running north of Langham Road only Richmond Road and Church Brow existed, along with a steep passage way (as now) to the west of the churchyard. The churchyard had not been extended southwards to Langham Road, and remained a green bank, a popular spot for holiday picnic parties from Manchester. A public footpath skirted the east side.

To the south of Langham Road leading to the area called seven fields and Bowdon Vale there was a short track to the Springs, so called after a series of stone troughs which collected some of the water from seven springs which gushed from the hill side at this point and further along the hill, where cattle were brought to drink. Bow Green Road, beginning at Bridge’s Farm (Vale Farm) had two right angle bends across fields before joining Bow Lane near where Mr. Chester’s farm stands. Here at the junction were three or four cottages. Vale Road has been cut to give access to a holding based on a small house which still stands, Shady Nook, now hidden away in

Ledward Lane. Vicarage Lane, so called because in the time of the tithe survey it still led to the Vicarage (now the Priory), had only fields on either side, the only other buildings being Glebe Cottage approached by a green road from near the gates of the Vicarage drive where stood two other cottages. From this point the road became Bow Lane, first passing Bow Green (Farm) and the cottages already mentioned at the end of Bow Green Road, on to the main road where several pairs of cottages had already been built for farm­workers attached to the three main farms in Bowdon Vale. Today members of the Kennerley family live in each of them.

A further road leading south from Langham Road, Grange Road, ran parallel to Vicarage Lane, this too only passed through fields, and gave access to the fields along the Bollin. What are now called Grange Farm and the Grange had not been built in 1840. A short section of Brickkiln (road) had been constructed and was to provide access to clay pits from which later on a good many of the Bowdon Vale houses were to be built. The whole area was studded with similar pits for marling and clay, and also ponds of various sizes, which may also have had their origin in marlpits. Many of them are now filled in and built upon. The land opposite where St. Luke’s Church was to be built in 1880 was occupied in 1840 by a small wood.

A branch road from Langham Road, now called South Downs Road, lay first across common heath (a fragment of this waste land survives at the junction near the telephone kiosk). The heath stretched half as far as the seventeenth-century thatched cottage which remains as the oldest half- timbered cottage in Bowdon. A farm house stood opposite to this standing back from the road, as now. The road then passed through a wooded area known as Sowler’s Wood, through a ford piped in recent years marking the township boundary near Motley Bank. Such was the extent of Bowdon Vale in 1840.

Within ten years the whole scene was to change, Manchester business had been expanding since the Industrial Revolution, and large houses began to be erected on the hill overlooking the pleasant green Bollin Valley. This called for the building of the Manchester and Chester Railway which was in

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the process of being built when Bradshaw compiled his Gazetteer in 1850. The houses being then built upon the Hill for the new generation of Bowdonians also called for an army of servants, gardeners and traders, all necessary to provide for the bodily appetites of the fast growing community.

Bradshaw wrote in 1850:The delightful situation of Bowdon and the proverbial salubrity of the air caused immense numbers of genteel villa residences to be erected by the merchants of Manchester. The houses have a remarkably light clean and elegant appearance, many of them are erected of a light yellow kind of brick, others are stuccoed, and some are built in red brick, most of which have sprung up within the last few years.The Earl of Stamford was foremost amongst

those who brought a quantity of land into the market for building purposes and imposed upon the sites that northern peculiarity a chief rent, which is still paid to the Stamford Estate (now the National Trust) unless redeemed in later years. Some of the glebe lands belonging to the Church were also sold and chief rents imposed. In passing it is well to remember that the imposition of a chief rent was not designed to squeeze the last penny from the householders. Building Societies as we know them today, did not exist to assist with property purchases and in imposing a chief rent, often extremely low, the immediate purchase price was fixed at a low figure, its real value made up and spread over future years and owners. The agreed chief rent could not be altered and because of inflation has proved to be a buyers’ market. At any time by agreement a lump sum can be paid to redeem the chief rent but many still choose to reject this opportunity.

In 1850 the Reverend William Galfridus Mann was Vicar and occupied the Vicarage in the Vale. An early Georgian house on even earlier foundations complete with extensive outbuildings to enable him to farm the glebe, a walled garden and a sunken ha-ha fence where the lawns looked over the wooded Bollin. The Reverend William Pollock succeeded him in 1856 and later became Archdeacon and was the last Bowdon incumbent to live in the old Vicarage, for almost immediately upon taking office he drew up plans for both a new Vicarage and the rebuilding of the Parish Church. This work was begun in 1858 and completed in 1860, not without considerable opposition. He built the new Vicarage on former Estate lands on Park Road. A vast gothic

windowed house, with massive stone staircase, more suitable for a bishop. It was to remain a Vicarage until, already subdivided and in part sold, it finally passed from the church in 1962 when the present Vicar declined to live in what was left, choosing rather to purchase his own home in 6 Portland Road.

Census returns for the whole parish show that in the Bowdon Township in 1801 there was a population of 340, in 1838 458, and in 1841 549 with 115 houses. The church was not slow in meeting the needs of this expanding population and under the energetic Vicar, Dr. Pollock numerous projects were put in hand throughout the large parish which helped to lay the foundation for several new daughter parishes being created and parish schools built.

Altrincham had for long been outstripping Bowdon in both growth and importance, but still relied upon Bowdon to satisfy its spiritual needs. To this end Carrington Church had been built in the middle of the eighteenth century. St. George’s, Altrincham, followed in 1799, as a chapel of ease to Bowdon under the ministrations of the Reverend Oswald Leicester, son of an Altrincham shop keeper. He was much under the influence of the Rev. John Wesley then sweeping the county, but he remained loyal to the Church of England. St. Georges was enlarged in 1858 and again in 1871, three years after it had become a separate parish. St. Margaret’s, Dunham Massey, came in 1855 and the Reverend John Kingsley, curate at Bowdon, was made first incumbent by the Earl of Stamford. Another curate the Rev. F. Wainwright became first Vicar of St. John’s, Altrincham, the “Poor Man’s Church” as it was then called, in 1865.

House meetings for worship were also started by the Parish Church at Ashley, Dunham and Peel Causeway, where Penny Banks and Mothers’ Meetings were also started. Further away the same thing had been taking place in Sale and Timperley, both originally in Bowdon Parish.

The Methodists after meeting in several places in turn for a number of years finally moved from Rose Hill and built the Dome Chapel on the corner of Enville Road and Belgrave Road in 1874 using the same Architect, Mr. Brakspear, from Manchester, who had been responsible for the rebuilt Parish Church, fourteen years earlier.

It is against this background of an expanding community and an expanding vigorous church work that the future of Bowdon Vale must be seen. Plans were drawn up to establish a permanent place of worship and for fellowship

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groups in the Vale. Here too a Penny Bank flourishes from which the branch at Hale was started. The Bowdon Penny Bank and the meetings for men and for women, took place on different nights, and were held in a house in Priory Street. These were to form the embryo of the future St. Luke’s Church. The Methodists also established themselves in Priory Street a little later in 1883. It would be interesting to know why it was thought necessary to establish another. place of worship so near to the Church meeting house which was open to all and a hive of activity and enthusiasm, and could well have catered for the whole of Bowdon Vale, but the same thing had happened on the Hill. Unhappily it was a time of rivalry and with many reflected a political and social difference of opinion rather than one of doctrine.

Charles Balshaw, a printer, who worked from12 High Street, Altrincham, produced a “Strangers Guide to Altrincham” in 1855, and a revised Edition in 1858. It is from this that a more detailed list of some of the families and trades occupying Bowdon Vale can be gathered fo.r he included a gazetteer.

Many o f the descendants of the families mentioned in th e l8 5 0 ’s in Balshaw’s Directory in his “Strangers Guide to Altrincham” still live in Bowdon Vale and nearby, and a summary of the list with the addresses as then given may still be of interest.

Allman, Abraham, gardener. Vale Cottages.Adrew (Mrs.). the Vale.Ashton, Abraham, commission agent. (Hilton,

the Vale).Bayley, Thomas, Senior, joiner. Primrose Cottages. Bayley, Thomas, Junior, joiner. Primrose Cottages. Boardman, Joseph, gentleman, the Vale (Rose

Villa).Boardman, Thomas, mathematical instrument

maker, the Vale.Bowler, William, gentleman, the Vale. (Apsley

House).Bray, Joseph, boot and shoemaker, the Vale. Brundrett, Mrs. boarding house, the Vale.Cash, Moses, sawyer. Vale Cottages.Collins, Edward, merchant. Vicarage Lane.Cooper, Mrs. the Vale.Crossley, Thomas, the Vale.Edwards, William, joiner and builder. Bowdon Hall. Ellison, Mrs. laundress. Primrose Cottages.Fisher, Joe Taylor, goods manager, L. and Y.R.

Vicarage Lane.Goodier, James, farmer. Street Head.

Goulden, William, farmer. Bow Green.Grafton, J.S. commission agent. Vicarage Lane. Gresty, Mrs. Primrose Cottages, Vicarage Lane.Hall, Mrs. farmer. Church Vale.Harrison, Ralph, watchman. Vicarage Lane.Harwen, Mrs. the Vale.Hobson, Thomas, farmer. Bow Green.Hormeshaw, Mrs. boarding house, Prussia Terrace,

Church Vale.Howard, William, farmer. Church Vale.Hurst, Mr. the Vale.Hutchinson, Edward, druggist, the Vale.Keen, William, grocer. Primrose Cottages, Vicarage

Lane.Lycett, William Edward, solicitor. Vicarage Lodge. Morrison, Peter. Grange Farm, Lower Bowdon. Norbury, Thomas, farmer. Bow Green.Pemberton, Joseph, gardener. Primrose Cottages,

Vicarage Lane.Potts, William, gardener. Vale Cottages, Vicarage

Lane.Redfern, Mrs. day cook. Primrose Cottages,

Vicarage Lane.Rollins, Mrs. laundress. Primrose Cottages,

Vicarage Lane.Rusden, Richard Dunn, merchant, the Vale. Skinner, Miss. Vicarage Lane.Smith, Bradley, dairyman. Primrose Cottages,

Vicarage Lane.Smith, George, land surveyor. Vale Cottages,

Vicarage Lane.Smith, John Taylor, merchant’s buyer, the Vale. Smith, Mr. commission agent, the Vale.Smith, Mrs. the Vale.Swan, John, bricklayer. Primrose Cottages,

Vicarage Lane.Turner, John. Vale House, the Vale.Turpin, William H. the Vale.Walker, Henry, Vicarage Lane.Whitehead, C. the Vale.Worthington, Walter, merchant. View Bank,

Vicarage Lane.

Some addresses are difficult to pin-point today. The beginning o f a definite church centre for

work in the Vale can be traced to a report issued under the signature of John J. Francis, acting as Secretary under the presidency of the Vicar, Archdeacon Pollock, in December 1871. A printed copy o f this survives in the Church archives and part o f it reads as follows:

For some time past it has been desirable to establish a home for Church work in Bowdon Vale. For the purpose of carrying out this object, a

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general Committee has been formed consisting of the following gentlemen. Messrs. Carlisle, Collins, Ede, Edmonds, Evason, Eville, Grundy, Haywood, Hutchings, Arthur Krauss, Neild, C.R. Pollock, Watson, Whalley and the Clergy of Bowdon Parish Church. The clergy of the Parish Church being ex-officio members o f the General Committee and o f each Sub-Committee.

The scheme of the Bowdon Vale Church Institute includes at present, a Reading Room and a Penny Bank. A cottage has been taken and is being prepared for the purpose of the Institute. It contains a Reading Room, Smoke Room and a large room suitable for popular readings, cottage lectures and other Mission work.

It is estimated that the expense o f fitting up and furnishing the house will amount to £25 and the cost of maintenance to £65 annually.

This summary crystallised into action suggestions that had been made at a meeting which had taken place on October 23, 1871. The cottage was in Priory Street. The rent and taxes amounted to 5/— a week and the gas bill £5 a year, coals at £8 a year. The Reading Room sub-committee were asked to pay 5 / - a week and the Mothers’ Meetings 2/6 a week. A minute book covering 1871 to 1876 remains among the church documents and shows that the furnishing amounted to the purchase of thirty-six chairs at a guinea a dozen, five window blinds at 5 /— each, fire irons 15/—, four fenders at 4/6 each, two mats at 8/ - and three tables at £1 each. Thirty yards of matting were purchased at 2 /— a yard. Additional seating was made available by way of desks and old forms provided from the old school. Mrs. Lathwood was appointed first caretaker at 4 /— a week. She was able to take the adjoining cottage in 1874 at a rental o f £24 a year. This was paid by the Committee in return for her caretaking of the adjoining rooms. Towards meeting the expenses of the room the Bowdon Musical Society gave a concert and raised £22.12.0d. in the summer of 1873. It is also clear from the minutes that the formation of a Penny Bank and the acquisition of a cottage room at Peel Causeway was a branch of the Bowdon Vale Church Institute. Perhaps in this particular piece of “mission” work in another part o f the parish by Bowdon Vale, the seeds of a future St. Peter’s Hale had been sown!

By 1875 a Cricket Club had been formed attached to the new Bowdon Vale Institute, and also a singing class under Mr. Evason and a night School. The annual trip for members of the Institute became a much looked forward to part

of the summer programme. In 1876 certain signs of disagreement as to the running o f the Institute became apparent. The causes are not stated but it seems to have involved the running o f the Penny Bank, and the costs involved in the running of the Institute. The Reading Room was discontinued for a while and Archdeacon Gore (now the Vicar) resigned as President. Notice was also given for the discontinuance of the tenancy of the two cottages at Michaelmas 1876. The debt amounted to £37. A little later the central Committee again decided to continue with the cottages and also to hold the Penny Bank and the Mothers’ Meetings there. The surviving Minute book ends abruptly on November 22, 1876, when the Vicar had resumed his position as Chairman of the Committee and when certain well-disposed persons under him agreed to clear the debt, and organised a concert for that purpose. Within a very short time plans were drawn up to build a permanent Mission Church in the Vale to incorporate the various activities. This was achieved in 1880.

Bowdon Parish Church first issued a Magazine in 1873 with an inset called “Home Words” . When it first appeared it went under the title o f Bowdon Parochial Magazine. It was launched jointly by Bishop C.R. Aldford who had come to work in the parish and assist after service in China, the Reverend J. Francis, the Reverend J.T. White and the Reverend G. Birtwell, the clergy who at that time were deemed necessary in a parish the size o f Bowdon. Later on they became responsible under the Vicar for separate parts o f the parish which were later carved out to form the separate parishes o f Dunham Massey, St. Mark’s, Dunham, Ashley and Hale (Peel Causeway). The first issue concentrated entirely upon the value and importance of the Divine Office according to the Book of Common Prayer, and presented a resume o f Morning and Evening Prayer, said daily throughout the year. The second issue in February 1873 recorded Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, the offertories and the number o f communicants for the previous year, along with a list o f the good causes supported by alms. The burial lists throughout this period show the tragic loss of life among young persons. In the January of that year, o f the nineteen burials thirteen died under 50 and six under 9, but even this compares favourably with the April figure when there were 29 burials, twelve of which were under 10 years old. It rose even higher before the end o f the decade to be noted later. Baptisms indicate a determined effort to replenish the face of the earth, for it was the age of large families.

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About this time Archdeacon Pollock was succeeded by Canon (later Archdeacon) Gore. This was in 1873, and he was a man well equipped to build upon the foundations laid by his predecessor, particularly in the Vale. It is no idle boast on the part o f the Church to say that every­thing worth while in the parish was instigated by the Church. The Penny Banks flourished, Mothers’ Meetings, Men’s Bible classes, the Bowdon Vale Cricket Club linked with the Institute in Priory Street. Deep concern was shown for the moral and spiritual welfare o f the parish community, and the preaching o f thrift through the Penny Banks in days o f growing intemperance was a positive way of encouraging those who wished to see less spent on transitory pleasures. The Mothers’ Meeting in Bowdon Vale formed a sub-branch in Peel Causeway

The building of St. Luke’s Church is summarised in an article published in the January number of the Parish Magazine 1880, and is worth quoting in fu l l . . .

The work in this part of the Parish is most interesting and encouraging. The Mothers’ Meeting conducted by Miss Turner, Miss M. Turner and Mrs. Rodger is held in the Church Institute in Priory Street every Monday afternoon at 2 o ’clock. The number of members on the books is 44, the average attendance being about 30. The small room is often crowded by mothers who look forward to their meetings, as a source from which they gain encouragement for their week’s toil, and as a resting place in the pathway o f life, where the cares o f home are for the time forgotten and their thoughts and hearts are directed to the Heavenly Father where all service will be worship, and worship service. Only those who work among the labouring classes know how, by such meetings as these many a heart is cheered, many a burden made lighter, many a life made brighter and many a soul more enlightened.

The working Men’s Bible class is held eve 17 Sunday afternoon at the Institute at 2.15. The number o f members present is 66 and is steadily increasing. On Sunday, December 21 there were 40 members present which was the highest number since the class commenced. The prosperity o f this class is mainly due to the active interest that men take in it themselves. Each member considers it his duty to bring others to hear and read the truth revealed to us

in God’s Holy Word. There is a bond of brotherly love among the men, and this exists not in any mere outward form only, but as they have lately proved by their deeds of kindness to the widow of one who has been taken from us, in true Christian love.

There are generally from 30 to 35 present, and those who know the small room must wonder how we all manage to get seated. But we are looking forward to more comfortable and convenient quarters. He who put it into the hearts of the men to attend this means of grace, also raised within them the desire to build a house where they might more reverently worship Him. Soon the sum o f £30 was promised by the Bible Class and Mothers’ Meeting, man, woman and child contributing of their little to build a house for their God and Father. We then appealed to our parishioners and members o f our congregation to assist us in erecting a small Mission Church. We determined if possible to raise the amount required, viz £350, by subscriptions of £5 and under, in order that all may have an opportunity of giving their substance for the cause of their Lord and Master. We wished all to “have a brick in the building” and never was an appeal more universally responded to . In the short period of three months nearly the whole amount required was either paid or promised. Only about £50 is now wanted and we feel assured that before the building is completed that will be forthcoming. Our most sincere thanks are due to all those who so kindly assisted us in getting the subscriptions for our new building. Our earnest prayer is that God may be pleased to continue to pour down his blessings upon us, and that many souls may be brought into the glorious light of the Gospel of tru th , and that those who have found in the one great Sacrifice o f the Cross an all sufficient atonement for their sins, will be brought into closer union with their Lord and Master by a diligent attendance at all the various means o f grace.The records show that every effort was made

to make all welcome. Canon Gore made it abundantly clear that (to quote from the M agazine). . .

The Parish Church is for all parishioners, for young and old, for rich and poor. With God is no respect o f persons. The Parish Church and all its ordinances and all the work of which it is the centre, all are for the people, all are theirs by r ig h t. . .

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St Luke’s was to be erected as a branch of that work. Canon Gore had inherited a newly built church, he had also inherited a “pew rent” scheme and he knew the difficulties. He was therefore keen to stress from time to time that even these allocated seats should be filled by any one as soon as the bell ceased to toll. The growth o f the large houses gave him a great concern for those who were employed in them as servants, so Servants Meetings were organised.

. . . “all other classes” he wrote “seemed easier to reach,” but so many servants attended a meeting organised by the clergy in December 1879 that it was found impossible to accommodate them on one night, and after the meetings forty- seven of them declared themselves communicant members o f the Church, and others expressed a wish for confirmation. The evenings consisted o f tea, music and talks. To maintain a “contact” with these persons, and to link houses with the worship and activity o f the Parish Church, District Visitors were appointed, very similar to our present Contaci Scheme. There were fourteen such persons in 1880, four of whom were allocated to cover the future Hale Parish, covering Bank Hall Lane, Peel Causeway, and Dobb Lane (later called Park Road, Hale), for none o f the other roads had been built.

So the Vale Mission Church (as it was to be called) rose at a time o f tremendous church activity under Canon Gore’s leadership. A glance at printed programmes reveals a vigorous Band of Hope and Temperance Society, the Girls’ Friendly Society, a Young Men’s Society, the Vale Cricket Club, the Flower Show and Festival, Men’s and Women’s Meetings, Church School, Choir, Weekly Communicants’ Preparation Services. Much of it due to the work o f the Reverend J. Davies, the curate who from being superintendent of the School and to become the first curate to be in charge o f the new Church in Bowdon Vale. The role o f the Girls’ Friendly Society in Victorian England appears to have involved not only the finding o f suitable employment for the members but also advertising servants! These advertisements being printed in the Parish Magazine!

Building having been decided on and the right amount o f money raised to justify a beginning, Mr. Ormson was selected as the builder and his estimate o f £350 was accepted. The very solid nature of the construction, half timber on brick foundations, was a small chancel, vestry and porch speaks well for the care and skill o f the builders. The Ormsons were to be responsible for numerous houses in the Vale about the same time.

The building of the Mission Church coincided with the building of St. Elizabeth’s, Ashley, but in the race to finish the Vale church came second owing to a three months’ delay. So Ashley Church was opened on September 29, 1880, and the Bowdon Vale Mission Church was completed for October 18. This being St. Luke’s Day, it there­after became known as St. Luke’s.

The Magazine reports on the opening in the following terms:

Monday, October 18th, was of course the most marked day. The first service was an early Communion at 5.45 a.m. celebrated at that hour to enable the working men to attend. At this service we were glad to record that there were nearly forty communicants. In the evening the building was densely packed. The service was a full choral one, the Choir from the parish church taking part. The anthem was Spor’s “As pants the hart” . The sermon was of course preached by Canon Gore, who in the course of it explained the objects and the uses which the room is intended to fulfil, and spoke of the responsibilities of those who should attend it. The collection at the close amounted to between £4 and £5. The services are being held also every evening from Monday to Saturday, a choir having been collected and prepared for the occasion, out of the Vale itself, and the sermons on the different evenings being preached by the Rev. E.F. Leach, G. Birtwell, C.H. Pollock, R.E. Spencer and J. Davies respectively, the last named winding up the series, and taking over as it were, in his own hands the pastorate of the New Chapel.

The room was made very attractive, by the numerous gifts that have been made, of articles necessary for the services: as the Communion table, altar cloth and linen, the lectern and reading desk, the benches the curtains and carpet. A great many friends have to be thanked for their help to us in these particulars.

We have to remind our readers o f one fact in connection with the Chapel, a fact of which they have been already reminded, that the Mission Room has never been intended to be a substitute for the Parish Church. As soon as it becomes that unless because of want of room in the Church, it only introduces something like a schism in the Parish. There will be meetings and services in it, we hope of a less formal character than the regular church services, to be held at different times from the church services, or for persons who could not attend these, but what would be the object of having built the room if it were only to transfer worshippers from one place to another? and so the gatherings in the Mission Chapel will be

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plain, and we hope hearty; tending in time, wealso hope not to take from, but in time to addto the Parish Church Congregation.

Within a month the Rev. J. Davies, who had done so much along with Mr. Edward Collins towards the building of St. Luke’s, was elevated to the newly created living of St. Anne’s, Haughton. The church here was still in the process of being built and paid for by a Bowdon parishioner, Mr. Sidebottom. The parish was not yet formed, but was to number about a thousand people “all workpeople of Mr. Sidebottom’s” , and the Vicarage had yet to be built. Owing to the delays it was to be a year before Mr. Davies left Bowdon. His time at Haughton however proved to be an extremely unhappy one, and due to malicious tongues he felt forced to go overseas to Australia where he remained until his death. Bowdon Vale however remembered him always with affection and gratitude.

When St. Luke’s had been open a year it still lacked certain important and essential fittings, and an appeal was made for a new harmonium hassocks and a bell. The Anniversary was marked by a special service and meetings, and a collection on these occasions was given towards the new harmonium and kneeler fund. It amounted to £3 .15s. The hassocks were to arrive quite quickly, 150 of them at a total cost of £7. Money was always in short supply. The use of an offertory bag was instituted and although the bell was still a long way off, the magazine published the urgent need for “a flagstone under the foot scrape and matting for the vestry and church passages” , the estimated cost being £2. To encourage (or put to shame!) the amount given, the Parish Magazine published the amounts Sunday by Sunday along with the number of coins. There had been 31 communicants at the Anniversary service and an offering of 15/— but at the other services (held at 6.30) the collection over a month averaged 8s. and 50 coins, less than 2d. a person.The initial enthusiasm generated over the prep­arations to build St. Luke’s remained only with the small dedicated band of worshippers even though endless pains were taken to attract the community of Bowdon Vale to exercise theii prime Christian duty of worshipping God.

. . it may as well be admitted at once” wrote a contributor to the Parish Magazine, “The people in the Vale do not use the Church as much as they might. We are at a loss to understand why, for we believe that the services are suited to the needs of the congregation. . .” The statement remains true after a century.

In 1887 Miss Alice Carlisle, who lived at High Lawn, East Downs Road, the family having followed the Nields, decorated the chancel of St. Luke’s with murals o f her own design. These

appear to have survived until they were unfortunately painted out in the 1960’s. It is possible that the murals represented Bowdon Vale’s contribution to the Queen’s Jubilee that year. In Bowdon it could not have been a year of outstanding joyfulness for we note that in July alone of the 36 burials 23 of them were of infants of two years and under, many of whom must have come from Bowdon Vale. Research might reveal the nature of the epidemic, though infant mortality was always high at this period.

A glimpse at Bowdon Vale at the turn of the century is of interest to see what survived of the original schemes and planning connected with the Community. Canon Gore, now' Archdeacon, was still Vicar and helped by four assistant priests, the Reverend J.R. Brunkskill, who lived at St. Peter’s House, Westgate, Hale, was in sole charge of Hale, shortly to become an entirely separate parish. The Reverend H.A. Portbury living in Stamford Road, who left to become Vicar of St. Paul’s, Macclesfield, and also the Reverend A.E. Marriott. There was also a retired priest the Reverend Richard Hathornthwaite who continued his ministry voluntarily in the Parish for twenty six years until his death in 1900 at the age of 82. He had been ordained deacon in 1848.

The South African War dominated the news in the last years of Victoria’s long reign, and concerts were held in the Vale and elsewhere to raise money for the Sailors and Soldiers Families Association. An official prayer published for use in the church at that time survives in the parish archives which reflects the curiously accommo­dating theology of the day. One opening clause began:

“O God by whose permission nation riseth against nation” and another “Gracious Father who makest wars to cease in all the world . .

Considerable interest was being shown at this time in providing funds for the Mersey Mission to Seamen and there had always been a keen interest in the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and the Zenana Missionary Society. Bowdon must have had one of the first branches of the SPG junior work called “King’s Messengers” . But apart from this interest in matters beyond the parish there was an active and very full programme for the community. Everything worthwhile was still started by and centred on the Church, so the Magazine informs us o f the Cricket Club, and the Football Club, the Men’s Club and the Boys’ Club, Singing Classes (apart from the regular choir) Mothers’ Union, Communicant Guild, Church School, Ladies’ Church Guild, Ladies’ School Guild, Girls’ Friendly Society, Sewing Society, Sunday Schools (there were thirty-three teachers in 1900) and Eighteen District Visitors. The Vale Mothers’ Meeting met under Miss Geldart, the choir under the direction of Mr. H.

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Stevens (nine men, thirteen boys and foui probationers). Some of the boys may still be with us or be recently remembered for many came from the Vale. E. Barnes, P. Champion, F. Keatley, S. Leather, G. McKennell, F. Oilier, G. Pimlott, J. Rawlins, G. Sharp, R. Thompson, S. Thorley, H. Weetman, F. Wetherall. The probationers were W. Barnes, V. Goulden, A. Myatt, C. Oilier. There was also a Church Lads’ Brigade under Captain E.W. Oats, the Men’s Social Club still met in two cottages in Priory Street, pending the building of the Club in Vicarage Lane alongside St. Luke’s Church. The Clothing Club under Mrs. Whittall and the Library and the Penny Banks still flourished. All types of concerts were also being held in St. Luke’s Mission Church, and it would seem that two hooks still visible in the wall at one time held the curtain rod which sealed off the nave from the chancel so that the sanctity and privacy of the altar could always be respected. It was what today would be called a dual-purpose building. It was the scene of entertainment as well as horticultural shows for the community. When the Church Institute (The Club) and the Vale School were built some years later these took over this role and housed the more secular activities and St. Luke’s ceased to be used as a recreation club and concert hall. Services were not held throughout the year at this time. Holy Communion took place once a month on the fourth Sunday at 9.15 and evening prayers only in the winter months. It had never been licenced for Weddings nor for Baptisms, hence there has never been a font.

Football and Cricket had always been encouraged by the church and in 1906 the sports facilities for Bowdon Vale were greatly improved by the extension of sports fields at the end of Priory Street on glebe land. This was now set aside for a football field and cricket pitch and also a bowling green. To help towards the cost a concert was held in the Club room and made £5 2s. 6d. profit.

The following year an appeal was made to complete the furnishings o f St. Luke’s which had been lacking for over a quarter o f a century. Gifts were now forthcoming to accompany a redecorating of the building. They included an oak credence table, a flagon and paten, a brass cross for the altar, and the organ to replace the harmonium. A white frontal was also given this year along with a quantity of green material for a similar frontal, violet markers, dossal curtains, alms bags and additional hassocks.

The need for a new club room became very real as the leisure activities of the community expanded and so the Church made plans for the building of a new club room alongside St. Luke’s.

The land was provided by the Earl o f Stamford and a memorial stone was laid to the left o f the entrance on July 28, 1904, at 6.30 p.m. by Mrs. Hampson of The “Gorse” , in Bow Lane. The proceedings opened with a hymn, the music being provided by Mr. Stevens, the Parish Church organist, who borrowed the harmonium from St. Luke’s. Archdeacon Gore gave a short address and read prayers. A collection was allocated to the building fund, towards a total cost of £700. The room was referred to as the Church Institute and vested in the Vicar and Churchwardens as trustees, with controlling conditions to regulate its proper use in the future. A cross was placed over the porch. Needs were met in part by voluntary service. For instance the need for large wooden seats was met by the gift of wood sufficient to construct these. Members of the Church turned their hands to this and the Magazine informs us that the time spent was 340 hours, commenting that if the men had been paid it would have amounted to £17! In 1907 the club room was extended. The extension was made necessary by the gift of a full-size billiards table, the gift o f Mr. C.F. Faulkner, and the membership increased to a hundred. The club had had two small billiards tables for some years, one of which had been in use at St. Luke’s.

It would seem that there had always been a reluctance to leave the two small cottages in Priory Street where a Men’s meeting still carried on. Mr. Bowland was Secretary in 1909 and a Mr. W. Biddle took over from him that year. The two cottages had been knocked into one providing much larger accommodation and a Pigeon Society and an Allotments Society met there. It is not clear when these premises again became private houses.

On April 28, 1909 the last Countess of Stamford laid the foundation stone of a new Infants’ School (now St. Luke’s Hall) at 5.15 p.m. The site for St. Luke’s Church and for the Church Institute had been provided by the Earl of Stamford but in the case of the School the community gave a proportion of the cost and events were held to raise money by the church. This included the holding of a fete of tremendous proportions on June 26 that year, which raised £500. Photographs exist which were taken at the time of the laying o f the foundation stone and the Parish Magazine gives a colourful description of the ceremony.

It is interesting to note that although the C.L.B. and the G.F.S. had been established for a considerable time, Church Scouts were formed in 1910. This was a parish group but involved a

9

number o f boys in the Vale. They are mentioned for the first time in July of that year under a Patrol Master Mr. Dudley Ibbotson of Donnybrook, South Downs Drive. By 1912 there were eighteen scouts and in those days the Patrol was run by Corporals and Guides (male ones) under the Patrol Master. A Guide movement for Girls had not been founded at this time, and presumably the term was abandoned in the Scout movement when this took place, to save confusion. Camps were held at Prestatyn and medals given for good conduct and attendance. Considerable interest was taken in and stress laid upon the importance of First Aid and football. One memorable game against Hale Juniors was captained by “ 1st Guide Eric Aldcroft” , but resulted in a draw, three all.

The Church had encouraged and established a library and reading room in the Vale for some years when having shown the way in these matters for over thirty years the civic authorities took up the idea and decided in 1911 at the time of the building of the new Altrincham Free Library, to hand over the books to the Church School, because it was noted that the Education Authority gave no grants towards the purchase of books for the School!

Although many activities took place in St. Luke’s, evening prayer was said only during the winter months from Harvest until Easter, and a monthly Communion service throughout the year. During Holy Week however Evening Prayer was at 8 p.m. with an address, but no Easter Day Communion until Easter Monday at 10.30 a.m, the clergy stressing the belief that on the major Festivals the Parish ought to be united and encouraged to worship together for this Sacrament and major Festival at the Parish Church, thus emphasising the unity the Church has always tried to stress between Hill and Vale in matters of Christian witness. It was a vision which throughout the eighteenth and especially the nineteenth centuries was being eroded by the growth of non­conformity throughout the country.

The seeds of Methodism had been sown in Altrincham during the various visits of the Rev. John Wesley in the eighteenth century and several non-conformist places of worship had arisen in the district since his death. As the Parish Church had catered for the growing Vale population by providing a meeting place in Priory Street which developed into the St. Luke’s Mission Church in 1880, so also the Methodists began to hold house meetings in a room at 3 Primrose Cottages, an offshoot of a small Methodist Chapel built on Rose Hill, Bowdon (in 1857) on a part of

Bellclapper tield. The "Trimrose Cottage Mission” as it was called moved across the road to a cottage in “Brick Hill” Row very shortly afterwards and became a preaching centre and a Sunday School. This remained until a Mr. Edward Potts gave land lying between Priory Street and Priory Road on which a small chapel was built which opened its doors on January 10, 1883. By then the Rose Hill Chapel on the Hill had been replaced (the building becoming a laundry), by the Dome Chapel, now demolished.

Many years later in 1930 a large house was taken at the end of Grange Road overlooking the Bollin to become a convent of the Order of St. Joseph of the Apparition, and in the late 1950’s a splendid church was built alongside dedicated to the founder of the Order, St. Emily de Vialar to cater for the Order, many elderly and infirm in their nursing home and local Roman Catholic families.

Reading parish literature of the 1880’s one discovers many curious attitudes which were expressed about the function of the Church. There was for instance on the part of a number of parishioners an almost curious attitude to sin! and the way in which it could be tackled. Forgetting the primary function of the Church! to worship and glorify God and “enjoy Him for ever” (which still holds good!) one critic on discovering that Evensong was said daily in the Parish Church, and presumably ignorant of the fact that it was an established part of the worship of the Church from very early times and perpetuated in the Book of Common Prayer, commented . . . that to meet together to chant canticles and sing hymns took up valuable time, and the clergy might put this to better use in telling people of their sins! The Clergy responded in the Parish Magazine by writing that the lady who had expressed these views might come to church herself and pray for these sinners she referred to! These quite outspoken remarks often characterise the late nineteenth century. This particular incident apparently has a happy ending for we later read that the lady actually accepted the challenge. Others take note!

There had been hints of a national unrest leading towards war even in the training of the scout group in the parish and it was seriously thought by Baden Powell that young boys could be trained as local spies in the event of hostilities. The real thing burst upon Europe in 1914 and the parish was united in its efforts to provide the troops with all things necessary for their survival and a happy issue out of their affliction. Today

10

the War Memorial carries the names of those from Hill and Vale who paid the supreme sacrifice; but with few notable exceptions they have become just names. The price they paid remains the same, even though they are forgotten by so many who enjoy the freedom they helped to win for them.

Unless contemporary records by way of notes or diaries are kept, history tends either to be twisted to meet personal views or prejudices, or gets mutilated beyond recognition. It is for this reason that for the early part of the twentieth century a diary like that kept by the late Harry Bailey of 24 York Road who died November 7, 1971 aged 79, is of the greatest value. Extracts from this little booklet recording events and memories were printed in the Bowdon Church News from December 1971 commencing with No. 156. His record actually begins with a reference to Bowdon Vale a few years before he was born, evidently the impact of the occasion had left an indelible impression upon the memories of his parents who had passed it on. He wrote that in the winter of 1895/6 . . . “there was13 weeks of continuous frost and stand pipes were used to supply water” .His own personal memories of boyhood and latei years, cover events still remembered by the older residents of Bowdon.

Turning again to the records kept at the Parish Church we find that the post-Great War years were fully occupied with not only General strikes anc unrest but also in attempting to arouse nationa' conscience for the care of those who had comt home maimed or without work The Mothers Union were helping the British Legion to collect “old coats, boots and childrens garments”. The Meetings of the Mothers’ Union had previously been held in the afternoon but by a concensus of opinion of the members in 1924 the form of meeting was changed to that in an evening at 7.30 p.m. and were to be devotional in character. This may have been due to the influence of Mrs. Hamilton who was the Vicar’s wife and who had become enrolling member for the branch. In 1925 electric light was installed in St. Luke’s, and the Mothers’ Union raised £50 towards the cost. It is interesting to see that at Christmas that year they held a party at which “Mr. Gray Hill and Miss Brenda Shipman were most kind in giving us a splendid variety of songs both grave and gay. We appreciate very much their coming so far to give us such pleasure” . Evidently they not only liked Bowdon but also each other for these two splendid persons are still in Bowdon as Mr. and Mrs. Gray Hill, and Mr. Gray Hill is a Parish Freeman. The

“Old School” which stood along side the Church School in Richmond Road finally closed its dilapidated doors in 1925 as it was condemned as unfit for further use. The girls’ club, the Scouts, Mr. Ellison’s Bible Class for older lads and Mrs. Hamilton’s class for older girls all moved else­where. We are not sure where some of these groups now met but we read that Mrs. Hamilton’s Girls’ class migrated to the Mission Church of St. Luke’s. It was in many ways a memorable year in the life of the Parish Church, but the details are outside the scope of this short history of the Vale. It was however the year Miss Geldart died and she had been greatly loved in the parish and had done wonderful service for both churches. The brass processional Cross now kept in the baptistry was given by her to the church the year she died, and the altar candlesticks, which still accompany the cross came the following year. Such additions were considered even at this late date to be ornaments requiring some explanation lest the charge of “ ritualism” be made. The cross and candlesticks at St. Luke’s belong to a slightly later date.

Memories of the Second World war are fresh in many minds. The Rev. Canon Low had only just succeeded The Rev. Howarth when he was enlisted as a Chaplain to the Forces where he gained high distinction, but was absent from the parish throughout the War. The Rev. S. Key will be long remembered as also Rev. Nicholas Roscamp, both of whom came to help from the Wirral, Mr. Key from a parish and church in Birkenhead which had been bombed out of existence and Mr. Roscamp from Wallasey after being an assistant Curate to my own Father at Kelsall. When hostilities ceased the Rev. C.G. Kerslake joined Canon Low as first post-War assistant Curate, from being Chaplain in the Royal Navy, and with the backing of enthusiastic parishioners set about building up the life of the parish and looking after the needs of the Vale and St. Luke’s. The roof of the latter building was in a miserable state of decay and this was reroofed in 1958. Shortly before in 1952 the memory of Lionel Goulden was kept bright by the insertion o f an organ light at St. Luke’s. He had been Organist at St. Luke’s for many years and was one example of the many devoted persons who have served St. Luke’s in its hundred years of life. Perhaps some may remember John David Bancroft, joiner and undertaker who lived at 21 Priory Street, who for many long years gave his time to St. Luke’s as organ blower until his death

11

A section of the Tithe Map of Bowdon dated 1838/1839.

Field names on the Tithe Map of Bowdon dated 1838/1839.

1. Gorsey Field 177. White Leach10. Nearer Sparrow Greaves 178-9. Lower and Higher Great White Leach17. Bowling Greenfield 184. Higher Coe Field (Coe is also used64. School House and Garden in 187, 188, 286, 288.)89. Shays 193. Black Field91. Wan Butt 198. Davenports Leach94. Well Croft 204. Brukin Field95. Pool Croft 207. Flash Field99. Wan Meadow 208 and 209. Loont Meadow

102. Eye Brooks 210. Nukon Field103. North Eye Brook 213. Handy Brooks116. Bow Green Field 214. Further Hough Field118. Blue Berry 255. Vicar’s Meadows119. Nethershaw 282. Nearer Cellar Field151. Well Croft 284. Bur Field175. Yellow Bank 287. Monks Acre

A number of words appear in more than one field name, and these arelisted below with their field numbers:

Downs: 2 ,5 6 ,6 1 ,7 9 ,8 0 ,8 1 .Moss: 139, 142, 145a, 147, 149, 155, 156, 157, 160, 161, 162, 163,

164, 165, 174, 205.Croft: 12, 14, 62, 66, 68, 69, 93, 100, 101, 166, 167, 168,170, 272.Lower: 185, 186, 191.Acre: 189, 190.

Most of the remainder of the fields are listed as House, or Cottage andGarden, or by fairly obvious names.

Butt: The rounded beds into which fields are ploughed.Leach\ A salt making term. The brine which drains from the salt or is

left in the pan when salt is drawn out. Formerly called Leach brine.

Loont: A Loon or Lounf, a but in a field which belongs to another owner, and which no doubt originally formed part of a strip in a common field.

Shaw. A wood.

Bru kin, Coe, Nukon, do not appear in the Cheshire Glossary, andtheir meanings have not been traced.

ST. LUKE’S COMMITTEE

ChairmanVice-ChairmanSecretary

Canon Maurice H. Ridgway (Vicar). The Rev. A. Brookes (Assistant Priest). Mrs. M. Comes

Mrs. J. Ankers.Mr. J. Ankers.Mr. J. A. Beswick.Mrs. Brookes.Miss Brown.Mr. Comes.Mrs. G. Eaton.Mrs. N. Griffiths.Mrs. Hogg.Mrs. Oilier.Dr. D. Parkyn (Organist).Mrs. E. Stephenson.Mrs. Wagner.Mr. Warrington.

St. Luke’s Sidesmen:Mr. Comes.Mr. D. Robinson. Mr. W. Warrington. Mr. Arthur Johnson. Mr. Beswick.Mr. Sayle-Creer.Mr. K. Woods.Mr. C. Woods.

St. Luke’s Guild:Mrs. Oilier.Mrs, Warrington. Mrs. Cornes. Mrs. Moore.Mrs. Griffiths. Miss Thompson. Mrs. Wagner. Mrs. Hodson. Mrs. Stephenson. Miss Brown.Mrs. Lewis.Mrs. Gamer. Mrs. Beswick. Mrs. Hall.

Printed by Alldred & Sons Ltd., Farnworth

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