A public talk by members of Wythenshawe History Group
Plus special guest researcher Aidan Jolly
Monday 29th June, 6pm at Wythenshawe Library.
Find out what happened to local communities when farmland became the urban centre now known as Wythenshawe. Told with a special insight into the generational history of one family – the Adsheads and McLeans, we will explore the question of Who Lost Out When Wythenshawe Was Built.
A chance to meet a friendly group of local historians. Refreshments provided
Wythenshawe Forum Library, Forum Square, Wythenshawe, Manchester, M22 5RX
Kooj from Crossing Footprints has been running workshops with Wythenshawe History Group for the This is Us project by Manchester Histories. We aim to develop a podcast-based story with accompanying narrative on a web-page about how Wythenshawe changed from rural farmland to a sizeable urban centre in a few decades. The observations and research undertaken by the group have been fascinating and cast a new light on the subject.
One week a group member brought in a set of Tithe maps – the pockets of land in the form the area was split into way back after Robert Tatton had to sell off his land to different buyers in order to pay off debts after being defeated by Cromwell. Here is an example of on of these maps:
So, ‘Who Did Lose Out When Wythenshawe was Built’?
Amazingly, through the perseverance of another member the direct descendants of tenant farmer Peter Adhesd, who worked one of the plots of land known as Elm Tree Farm, was tracked down. She is Noreen McLean, who married into the family of one of Peter Adshead’s daughters and will be participating on the panel at this event. Among the various photos she brought in to share with the History Group is this one, from a newspaper clipping. It shows the last time that Peter Adshead ploughed the land before it was taken from him to be developed, it gradually became the land where Wythenshawe Forum Centre stands now.
And here is the group along with Noreen and also with Yussuf M’Rabty from Manchester Histories who is co-facilitating the project. They are standing right in front of an entrance to the Wythenshawe Forum – possibly right where the photo where the field being ploughed was taken around 100 years ago:
This gives a small inkling of the range of inter-weaving changes we will be touching on at the event, not least looking at ‘Who Lost Out When Wythenshawe was Built’, a story of land transfer, council and corporate partnerships along with philanthropy by the Simons, class and wealth, shifting communities, and industrial decline.
A part of ‘This is Us’, a project by Manchester Histories & Manchester City Council
Co-developed with Crossing Footprints. Supported by Wythenshawe Library and the Manchester Library Service
https://www.manchesterhistories.co.uk
