Happy Days

A Memory of Trafford Park.

I arrived in Trafford Park in 1936 as I had moved from Chorlton cum Hardy with my sister Marjorie and mother Marjorie. My father had died in 1930. Mother rented a shop at 392 Third Avenue and I started at TP Council School aged eight. The school was built in 1914 (think so) so was only twenty two years old in 1936. It still stands although does not now act as a school presumably because of demolition of all residential property in the Park years ago. From memory the headmaster in my day was Mr Derbyshire strict but probably fair.My sister eventually married Hanson Quinn who was employed by Metropolitan Vickers (Metrovicks) as a miller. Mother gave up the shop about 1938 and we moved first
to 420 Fourth Street and later to 1060 Tenth Street where she had some lodgers.

I joined the Wolf Cubs whose HQ was above the Trafford Park Hotel garage, now derelict. I was evacuated to Knutsford in 1939 but left the Knutsford area to live with my mother's sister's family in Sale. I went home at week ends and we were all glad to survive air raids over Manchester particularly on the nights of December 20 and 21 1940 when we nearly didn't make it. Well known as shopowners in those days were the Coopers whose business was on the corner of Tenth Street and Third avenue. Some folk may still remember Guy's the chemists, Hulme's the ironmongers and Joe Southern the newsagent. Our old shop was eventually occupied by a friend of mother's, Miss McKillop. I had many chums as a schoolboy and often wonder how they fared but sadly I do not see any of them nowadays. That is not surprising as they would all be around my age now. I am eighty three!

We left Trafford Park in 1942 to live in Sale Moor but my memories of Trafford Park and the chums I made are all good.