The Mystery Bridge Across The Mill Brook In Baguley.

A Memory of Wythenshawe.

The Mystery Bridge across the Mill Brook in Baguley.

I was born in September 1946 and lived in Overdale Road Benchill before moving to Fouracers Road in Baguley about 1951. The Lanes, Farms and Fields of this time had only recently disappeared from this Cheshire landscape and surrendered to the spreading Wythenshawe Estate. Fouracres Road was on the edge of this invasion recently covered by a type of house known as Riley or Boots and known locally by the kids as “Tin Town” Exploring these lanes started almost from our front door and summer strolls up Clay Lane, Floats Road, Dobinetts lane led to Ringway Airport or Castle Mills, or by an alternative route past Shentons Farm and down Whitecarr Lane.

Surrounded by my “Tin Town” were remnants of an earlier age in the form of a solidly built house called Fouracres, occupied by a Doctor. But my curiosity focused on remnants of a cobbled lane cut short and built over by Fouracres Road at the present day junction ot of Holyhedge Road, Southmoor Road and the new Metro tram route. This lane which I later discovered was called Dunns Lane and ran by the Mill Brook from its start at Floats Road. As a child I used this route to collect groceries from Dillys, better known to me as The Shanty being the only shop in the vicinity open on a Sunday. For a few years each summer, a number of Romany Gypsies camped on what remained of Dunns Lane as they had probably done when the lane continued to the Smithy and its junction with Green Brow Lane. (Now, the site of the Red Rose Pub). Green Brow Lane disappeared to be replaced by Green Brow Road and there was no trace of the former lane remaining……..or was there?

My first school was Baguley Hall Primary whilst awaiting the opening of St Peters on Firbank Road and later progressed to St Pauls. Until 1962. At that time there was still remnants of Truck Lane on its winding way to Haverley Hey. My route home was along Cowlishawe Road past Newall Green School and there were frequent threats of being “ambushed” thankfully that never happened.

By the time I was 13 I was delivering newspapers from Taggarts and earning a few extra coppers on a Saturday night selling the Empire collected from the Royal Oak. As a favour for a friend who was away on holiday, I took over his newspaper round from Dillys, The Shanty and delivered papers to a few old houses at the start of Dunns Lane. These houses were interesting in that they could only be accessed across individual wooden foot bridges across the Mill Brook. I then had to retrace my steps along Floats Road for the rest of the round. None of the houses served were numbered and I had to remember the sequence of occupier’s names. 60 years later I still remember having to chant some of the names where deliveries were made. Dougall, Redcott, Andrews, Flemming followed by Belling, Shawe, Robertson, Prince finishing up with Rimmer on Dobbinets Lane. Some of there older cottages fronting FairyWell Wood still had outside water pumps.

By the time I was 14 I joined the Air Training Corps in Hulme and in quick succession started work with A.V.Roe (British Aero Space) at Woodford Aerodrome. At the time my only transport was by bicycle and the harsh winter of 1962 put pay to that as I was also burning the candle at both ends as Drummer with Paul Fenda and the Teen Beats following a cabaret circuit covering a wide area beyond Wythenshawe.

Cutting a long story short by 1970 my job took me North and have since lived in a small town just off the Yorkshire Coast and almost on the North Yorkshire Moors where after retirement I took up a new part time on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

To return to Wythenshawe I made infrequent visits to a declining number of family and friends which brings me back to my earlier memories of Baguley and the Mill Brook. The memories of which I researched from afar.

As a boy of about seven I explored the Baguley Mill Brook from a bridge over Clay Lane and immediately entered a long concrete culvert which I crawled through emerging in an area of green field and trees between the new Greenbrow Road, Morvern Drrive and Amberley Drive Flats. In my memory this area was never built on and I knew of a small brick bridge over the Mill Brook which has puzzled me ever since. Where did the bridge come from and where did the long lost paths lead to?

Research led me to investigate maps from the 1850 up to date and although the ancient Green Brow lane took a right angled turn near the bridge no map ever showed it to be part of the original GreenBrow Lane..

And so 60 years on I have decided to make an appeal to Historians and Archaeologists to help finally put my mind to rest about the story of this very insignificant piece of Wythenshawe history still locked in my memory.

Chris Bowden April 2020.