Meeting Pat at Trafford Local Studies and Archive

1930 map of White's Bridge and wharves

Met Pat Coulburn at Trafford Local Studies and Archive Centre in the Waterside library at Sale yesterday... She's a mine of information... and what  a memory! Pat has been really useful as we have been trying to work out which nurseries and farms the night soil went to in Sale and Dunham.
It would be great to find some people who remember this process...I may need to revisit some old friends from our Timperley food heritage calendar work... Sonny Poyner and Barbara Shaw. http://www.forgottenfields.org.uk/content/heyes-lane-timperley-2011-calendar

The toll traffic books 1928 recorded night-soil going to W. Walkden and J. Whitehead from White's Bridge...
We looked at the 1923 Kelly's Directory of Cheshire and found:
Joseph Whitehead and a Jason Whitehead, market gardeners, Gratrix Lane, Northenden Road
The 1908 Slater's Directory of Altrincham shows a Thomas Walkden at Moorside, Marsland Road.
Pat believes that Thomas was survived by his son Harry, who gave the Nursery over to become Walkden Gardens and wonders if W Walkden was his brother, who may have worked at the same address. We need to investigate further so any further knowledge gratefully received.

1923 Kelly's Directory under a description of Sale states:
A scheme for the purification of Sale Sewage was carried out in 1892 on the Banks of the Mersey, about one mile north of the town, where the sewage, amounting to 750,000 gallons per day (dry weather flow) is purified by chemical preparations, the purified effluent passing into the Mersey; the sludge is sold to farmers; the works, constructed from plans by A.G. McBeath of Sale, have cost over £20,000

Photocopied some lovely big maps from the archive (1930's, so out of copyright) for the event that we are planning at Dunham Massey on 8th Sept.

Night-Soil Treasures




Night-Soil Treasures found at Dunham

We have finally 'finished' all the weeding and earthing-up that we are going to do on our crop of heritage potatoes at Dunham Massey...well, we've done as much as we can for now...leaving one un-weeded row as an experiment! (that's our excuse!)
As we have been working we have uncovered evidence of the former practice of night-soil distribution to the farms around Manchester...
fascinating...We are hoping to engage someone from the museum to  find out more about them.




Volunteers from Kindling's Land Army

The potatoes were bought from Carroll's Heritage Potatoes in Northumberland and look fantastic at the moment The  variety is Royal Kidney 1899.

Many thanks to Corinna, Craig and Margaret who helped on the field yesterday...a really enjoyable day's work.

From the Salt Mines' Deep Store - exploring the County Record Office archives

Bridgewater Canal Toll Traffic archives

Yesterday we visited the County Record Office on Marshall Street to explore the information contained in two large leather bound books which  recorded the Toll Traffic on the Bridgewater Canal from 1928 - 1934.
The careful, beautifully handwritten, entries show the amounts of' 'night-soil and sweepings' that were transported by Salford Corporation barge from Wilburn Street to places like the wharf at Dr. White's Bridge in Sale, where it would have been taken by market gardeners and farmers to be spread on the land as fertiliser.
In 1930, 30 tons of manure from Castlefield was delivered in March to Dunham by W. Bryan Senior and in Sept, 35 tons...the Bridgewater Estate didn't charge for the transport of manure...the removal of horse manure from the streets was a big issue then.
Interestingly, the records don't show the reputed return of vegetables to Manchester...so more detective work needed!...
Anyone interested in joining in with the research...please email me...fiona 'at' kindling.org.uk

These books also show the traffic from Liverpool...mostly hefty dried goods...the  list  is fascinating:

In 1928; Jas. Thomas transports Tapioca flour, Peas, Sago flour, 35 tons of  Rice, 5 tons of Shumac, 10,115 tons of Sugar to Castlefield, Lard for the Kilvert's and things like 20 tons of Hemp.

I've yet to find potatoes!

Land Army help weed and earth-up our crop of heritage potatoes

Land Army Volunteers at Little Heath Farm, Dunham

Well, it's a steep learning curve...
Time, tide, potatoes and weeds wait for no one and so... big thank-you to the volunteers from the Kindling Trust's Land Army, who have helped weed our heritage crop of Royal Kidney potatoes ready for our 'Remembering the Food Cycle' event in Dunham on 8th September.
They were bought from Carroll's Heritage Potatoes in Northumberland and were planted as 'ware' potatoes (i.e. ready to eat, rather than seed potatoes,) because of the late planting.

This is what Carroll's say...
''Royal Kidney 1899.
Archibald Findlay deliberately chose this name to compete with the international kidney. The Royal Kidney is an excellent waxy / salad Heritage Potato. At one time the Royal Kidney crop from England was greater than the Jersey Royal.
It compares very favourably with the Jersey Royal, because of the delicious flavour. ''

Land Army: good food, good company and working in sunshine!

Many thanks also to Sue and Robert Jones who have kindly let us grow the potatoes on their( National Trust owned) land. They have been really supportive...ploughing up the pasture for growing, manuring and planting these potatoes, to get us going.

Why not visit their Farm Shop, School Lane, Dunham...it's just next to the Axe and Cleaver pub in Dunham Village and right next to the canal bridge...a lovely cycle or walk!