Dear Friends,
Many thanks for my recent magazine which I enjoyed. I pass them on to my friend Dora Williams who is an old Miles Platting girl, now aged 83 years, (maiden name Dance).
Please accept my membership money. Hope to hear from you in the near future
Dear Have Your Say,
Have just finished reading (issue 23) inside was a letter from a family who went to Nelson St. Miles Platting, my mother in law lived there. She was Letty Tait, nee Saunders. Sadly she died aged 45 years.
I used to live in Woodward St with my Gran and my two brothers Ted and Alan. I Married Teddy Tait in 1951 and we had 5 children. He passed away in 1999 aged 66yrs. He was a pupil at Corpus Christi.
I went to St Mark's, Holland St. from 1938-1942. I knew Mavis Holmes and her sister Audrey, Joan Mooney, and Joan Tunnicliffe, and many more.
PS My Gran had the dairy in Woodward St.
Dear Kathryn,
I am so pleased to know I can read about Miles Platting and Collyhurst. Life was quite bleak when I lived there, however I have a soft spot for it still.
Dear Sir
Thank you for my first copies of your great magazine. They arrived on a Saturday morning and needless to say nothing was done on Saturday afternoon as I sat with a cup of tea and my first magazine plus the back copies you so kindly included.
I am sending apologies for taking so long to write and let you know I received them.
Dear HYS,
Here is my cheque to join plus a donation. Although I was born in Moston (Known as debtors retreat) Half of my ancestors came from Miles Platting. My grandfather had a music shop at 89 Oldham Road near the playhouse about 1901, he made and repaired instruments. My father was superintendant at St. Augustine's Sunday School, for at least forty years, whilst mother was a teacher. This was Sanderson Street 1930's onward.
In 1944 I bought a bass fiddle and joined up with Newton Heath lads who worked at Mather & Platt's and formed a dance band. They were Albert Heap on piano, David Scott, Accordion, Tom Alston, Cornet, Stan Unwin on Drums and yours truly on Bass. The last band was the Avalon Trio at Ferranti's club 30 plus years ago.
I still do the odd gig, but now it's Keyboard, Tenor Sax and Clarinet. I also played Organ round Newton Heath for years ending up at the Bulls Head, Oldham Road 20 years ago.
Just for your interest.
Dear friends,
I lived at 58 Rhodes Street and went to St. Luke's School, I call them the good old days. You can imagine the shock I had a few month ago when I had a walk down memory lane and the school was just a load of rubble on the ground.
Sadly the school was vandalised and set on fire, the damage was so bad it had to be demolished. editor.
Dear Kath & Alf.
Please accept some grateful thanks for yourselves and the whole of the Team at Have Your Say. It was just going to be a casual Monday morning visit to see you and say hello. But what a surprise we had, when we stepped through the door, the place was full of people. "We have come on the wrong day" say's my friend Liz Marshall, "I didn’t know there was anything special happening" "Well" I replied, "We are here now so we should just Hello to Kath & Alf and then go on our way" and what a surprise we got that the people who were filling the room happened to be a student group from our own Manchester University.
We were quickly ushered to take a seat and join in the discussions and answer some very detailed questions. For us both it was a revelation. These young people from some far distant lands, building up a confidence with some very senior people.
One particular young lady was from Japan, her home city was Tokyo, and it was a joy to see our own Alf Almond conversing and making some very polite gestures to the young lady who was greatly amused. Another member of the visiting group hailed from the U.S.A. she was hoping to set up a group at the University to interact with Have Your Say. Having in mind the number of Students from all over the country and from abroad who must have past relative connections with Manchester.
Our quiz presenter Andy, was very much admired and appreciated by the visitors when we started discussing the Quiz and Puzzle articles that he presents with each edition of the Magazine. I am sure that the students who visited, will very soon be planning a return visit. If that is the case, please let us know the date, we had such a pleasant and entertaining morning, and the Tea & Coffee was perfect.
Thank you to all the Team at Have Your Say for being such good Hosts to the visitors.
Dear all
Thanks for your book, there are so many great things in it. I used to watch Newton Heath Loco when I was a kid. They used to play United and City and of course the Jo Glass Cup which they used to get two games a night.
Have Your Say
Could you please start sending me a magazine. My family all came from Wedgewood St on the Colony, my mum was born at No. 26, later married and moved to No. 9, where she spent the rest of her life. Born and died living in the same street, our family name was Dean, Mum Nellie, Dad Jack, sister Pat brother Jack and me Gwen. My mum and sister Pat worked at the playhouse for many years.
My mum went on to marry Roy Tant who was the manager of the Coop that used to be on Falmouth St. Us children all went to Hague Street School then later on to St. Marys Road.
The Colony was a great place to live and my sister Pat has still got the original street sign (Wedgewood Street) that she got from the workmen when they where demolishing the houses. Looking forward to reading my Have Your Say magazine it is a great thing that you are all doing.
Have Your Say,
I have just received my Christmas issue of your magazine and ideas of cleaning or ironing have been forgotten. Not that I need any excuses, but I have to read the magazine first. Later on I will probably read it more leisurely. I keep hoping I will read something from some 1958. I may have been an oddball, but I absolutely loved my years at school, and even night classes at Lily Lane School in Moston where I took shorthand, typing and English. I look back on my early years with such fond memories. I still have my 'best friend' Elizabeth (Betty). We keep in touch all the time, and I can guarantee we end up laughing like two young kids. My husband thinks we're barmy! She adds brightness to my life, she's such a love.
Please find enclosed a cheque for my subscription and a little for the 'pot'.
Dear Have Your Say
My subscription must be long overdue for which I apologise. I get so much pleasure browsing through the magazine. Although not Manchester born I worked as a district nurse in the area in the '50s and '60s. I remember the warmth and generosity of the people.
Dear Editor,
The picture of Smithfield, (not Shudehill), Market, in Mr. Smith's article brought back nostalgic memories of both Markets.
As a child, my 'Saturday Night Treat' was a visit to the Smithfield Area with my parents. The surrounding streets were full of stalls selling all kinds of goods.
Our first stop was 'The Medicine Man's Stall' who would sell Dad some miraculous cure for his duodenal ulcer. Any improvement was due, I think, to Dad's faith rather than the liquid. Then to watch a lady with a pair of massive scales on which to weigh customers. If I remember rightly, she would first, guess the customers weight and if she was wrong the customers had their money back.
The 'Seconds Chocolate Stall' was next with the stallholder yelling "Buy, Buy, Buy or the Chocolate King will pass you by!"
Then through narrow streets, with more stalls and good humoured banter exchanged between stallholder and possible customers. On to a busy Tib Street, shops still open, to the butchers behind Yates Teetotal Tavern which fronted on Oldham Street, for a portion of, to me, enormous Pork Pie, then to a newsagent for my 'Rainbow' comic.
Shudehill Market was, to a later me, an interesting venue with stalls selling everything from books to poultry but with equally entertaining fluency. The Market was sited in front of a row of shops and very old pub which name escapes my memory. I recall one stallholder who, after his lunch, would leave the pub singing a song which I think began "I'm a Manchester Man", but the rest was lost in an alcoholic slur. Unfortunately this space and occupants became a victim of The Arndale Centre.
Both Markets were animated, vigorous realms bringing delight minus radio, television, music-blasting ear-plugs or button-pressing wonders available from armchairs.
Thank you, Mr. Street, for a spell of pleasant nostalgia.