And so keeping the ball rolling with the football theme, I bring you this story culled from the pages of the Eccles and Patricroft Journal, July 1918.

An everyday story of neighbours falling out over the trivial matter of a football landing in there garden which in turn leads to an appearance at the local court with a charge of assault and wilful damage.

Eccles Magistrates Court heard the case which didn't go into extra time thanks to the Magistrate keeping his eye on his watch and deciding that 90 minutes was enough for anybody.

James Knowles who resided at Stanley Avenue, Eccles was summoned by Alfred Brooke charged with doing wilful damage to the front door of his property in Stanley Avenue, he was also charged with assaulting the tenant of the property, Minnie Birch Williams.

Minnie told the court that she was at in her front garden with her children enjoying the fine weather when a football landed in it, ruining their peaceful afternoon sojourn.

The ball had been kicked in by a boy the younger brother of James Knowles.

According to Minnie the boy in an "insolent manner" told her to give the ball back and then turning towards her son who was sat next to her, threatened to "knock his blithering clock round" if he didn't hurry up and return the ball.

I must admit I have never heard that expression before, how quaint.

James Knowles then appeared on the scene and told her that people could also be awkward and that if the ball was not returned in five minutes he would kick the front door in to get it back.

She then alleged that James leapt over the garden fence in an attempt to snatch the ball back and in so doing, he knocked the garden gate open which hit her, causing bruises to her leg and back.

Not content with bowling her over he chased her son who had wisely raced into the safety of his house, still clutching the football and slammed the door shut behind him.

James with a kick that David Beckham would have been proud of, he booted the door so hard that the front handle came off.

Minnie's father, Alfred Brookes then took the stand and said the damage to the door was three shillings and sixpence, but that the Knowles family had plagued his daughter and her family for a long time and were "unsavoury neighbours".

He was so outraged by the damage to his front door that he waited for a full day before calling at the Knowles house to ask for an apology, possibly luckily for him the house was empty.

Undeterred and no doubt further outraged he then authorised a solicitor to send a letter to the Knowles family demanding an apology.

If you have ever read,"Diary of a Nobody" by George and Weedon Grossmith, you will identify Mr Brookes with the "hero" of the book, Charles Pooter.

James Knowles took to the stand and as can be imagined told a different account of what had happened that fateful day.

He said that he was asked by his younger brother and sister if he would get the ball back for them as they had been waiting for half an hour for it.

He politely asked the boy in the garden if he could have the ball back, only to be told, "Come and get it, if you dare"

James jumped over the garden fence to retrieve the ball and sadly knocked Minnie over, accidentally, of course, the boy had run into the house and slammed the door shut so hard that it caught James boot thus accidentally causing the door handle to fall off.

Sounds plausible enough to me.

The Magistrate no doubt wanting to go home or for his dinner weighed up the options available to him.

He fined James three shillings and sixpence for the damage to the door and court costs.

As for Minnies injuries? he decided that there had been a technical assault but that no injury was intended and the charge was dropped.

Do you think that these two neighbours would soon be throwing open their front doors and welcoming each other in for a brew and a chinwag whilst laughing at the absurdity of the court case?...me neither.

Readers of a certain age may recall the "thrill" of perusing the page, known as, "Before The Bench".

This salacious news page gave full details of any felon who had the misfortune to appear before the dreaded Stipendary Magistrate, Mr Leslie Walsh, a proper, old school, no-nonsense Magistrate who would send you down if he even thought you looked guilty!

Heaven forbids if your name was to appear on that page, you instantly became a social pariah a veritable, "talk of the washhouse" merchant.

This particular story comes from August 1918 and tells of a gentleman called Charles Berry or Charles Clennel depending upon who he was meeting.

Charles would appear to have been a somewhat silver-tongued, lothario, fond of the ladies, a drink and a gift of the gab as poor Miss Adelaide Evans was to find out.

Charles Berry appeared before Salford Magistrates Court charged with obtaining sums of money from Adelaide Evans with intent to defraud.

The couple met on that popular Salford thoroughfare, Cross Lane, where they got into conversation.

Charles told Adelaide that he was a "well known local footballer" by the name of Charles Clennel, a single man who worked at Mather and Platts Engineering Company in Trafford Park.

I liked the way he told her he was a "well known local footballer" perhaps Adelaide had visions of becoming a forerunner of the modern days WAG?

He asked the fragrant Adelaide to "keep company" with him and promised her that one day he would marry her, what a smoothie.

The poor girl should have got the "odour of rodent" when Charles began to borrow sums of money from her on various pretexts.

He told her that during their courtship he had, had the misfortune to lose not only his father but his mother and aunt! fortunately, they had all left him sums of money in their wills, sadly he had to look after his sister who was ill and living in lodgings.

Charles had some neck he even offered to take her to his family's solicitor's to verify the facts.

When she declined this offer, the borrowing of money began, obviously with promises to pay it all back on a lump sum and an added bonus as a gesture of goodwill.

Charles like all good con men went in low borrowing small sums such as 10 shillings one week and a £1 the following week, slowly increasing the amounts until he had run up a debt of £25-17-6, a tidy sum in those days.

He then began to tell Adelaide further excuses as to why he couldn't pay her back just yet, the £15 his mother had left him had been stolen, the £50 his father had left him had somehow got misplaced by the bank, sadly no mention of the money his aunt had left him, eaten by mice presumably?

The poor woman (and she probably was) by now had by now had enough and contacted the police who quickly tracked him down and arrested him, charging him with deception.

Charles wasn't beaten yet he wrote to her from Strangeways prison, one letter read,

"I have only you to think of me whilst I am in here, I am going to ask you to fix the day to make me the happiest of men"

He is persistent I'll give him that!

In the dock, Charles did the honourable thing and pleaded guilty to all of the charges.

However, all sympathy for him evaporated with the appearance of a surprise witness, no other than Mrs Berry, his wife and mother of his two children.

Mrs Berry told the court that Charles was a good husband and always tipped his wages up regularly, let's face it he could afford too.

Charles told the court that he loved his wife but his downfall was horse racing and gambling, no mention of gullible young women.

The Stipendary Magistrate said that this was a carefully thought out and cruel deception and sentenced him to six imprisonment with hard labour as a possible inducement to curb his future activities in Salford.

Salford Magistrates Court saw George appear there charged with being drunk and disorderly and police assault,  a fairly serious charge.

George gave his address as Park Place a short road off Cross Lane which was infamous for the number of lodging houses or "doss houses" there.

I have read that a man could get a "bed" for the night in a room shared with up to a dozen men for fourpence, if he was less fortunate he could pay twopence and sit in a cellar along with other men, also a rope was slung across the room from which men could flop against and try and get some sleep, hence the expression, "flop houses" I kid you not.

Back at the Magistrates Court P.C. Case told the court that he was on duty on Cross Lane on Saturday evening, Cross Lane at this time could "boast" of having some 18 public houses, two music halls and an army barracks which no doubt contributed to the lively and vibrant atmosphere there.

P.C. Case noticed a group of men blocking the footpath whilst watching a meeting of the Salvation Army, who were no doubt intent on saving these wretches from a like of drunkenness and debauchery, Bless them.

George Udall was spotted by the eagle-eyed policeman, leaning on a chemist shop window, reeking of ale and unsteady on his feet.

He was asked to "move on" no doubt in the politest terms used by the Salford Constabulary.

To use the local parlance, "this is when it all went wrong" and George was arrested and taken to Cross Lane Police Station, no doubt for a rest and a cup of tea.

The full story of the events of that night unfurled before the Magistrates Court as P.C. Case told the Magistrate that he asked George to "move along" and for his troubles was punched several times in the face and kicked about the body.

George took the stand and gave a totally different version of events.

He asked P.C. Case,

Quote

"Was it not true that the Salvation Army Captain told me to go to the police station with you, like a gentleman"?

The Magistrate asked P.C. Case if this was true and, "Did George go with you like a gentleman"?

P.C. Case replied, "No he didn't act like a gentleman, more like a madman, punching and kicking me all the way to the police station"

Outraged by this slur on his character, George replied somewhat bizarrely.

Quote

"As a young Salvation Army soldier I will fight my own battle like a brave and true soldier with anyone and I will take my own part when there is no one in the world to stand up for me"!

I tell you if I was in that courtroom that day I would have stood up and applauded George for that speech a Clarence Darrow in the making.

Sadly things began to unravel for George when he was asked to give evidence on oath.

He told the court that he could not read or write because he used to play "wag" when he was a boy and never learnt how to.

However he sprang back into defence mode and told the court,

Quote

"I didn't strike the constable and I would have gone along with him to the station as gently as a lamb if he had only stopped hitting and kicking me whilst dragging me along the road"

With a last roll of the dice and no doubt hoping for leniency, he told the court that he used to belong to the Salvation Army but had sadly fallen from grace and the reason he was there that night was in order to make a fresh start with God, until P.C. Case intervened.

The Magistrate must have been impressed with George's heartfelt plea and instead of sending him down, which is what usually happened if you struck a constable, he sentenced him to twelve months probation and warned him about his future conduct.

So did George regain his faith and change his wicked ways and end up flogging copies of the War Cry magazine to topers in the numerous pubs on Cross Lane? I somehow doubt it.

James McGubbin aged 13 from Hart Street, Salford, stood in the dock charged with obtaining three shillings by false pretences and the theft of two silver brooches.

Mrs Amtvall of West Thompson street told the court that young James called at her house and asked her if his mother could borrow half a crown - two shillings and sixpence - she gave him three shillings and told him to bring the change back, surprise, surprise, she didn't see James again.

She gave it a few days and decided to call at his house for the money, the mother had no knowledge of this transaction, obviously, in a rage, she summoned the police to sort the matter out.

Detective Needham called at the house to question James who readily admitted the deception, he told Needham that he had, "spent the money going to the pictures"

For you younger readers, the "pictures" was a term for the cinema coming from, moving pictures which were shown on the screen.

In 1918 cinema was on the boom throughout the country and in the area were James lived there was The Weaste, Royal, Langworthy, Prince of Wales, Empress and Scala cinemas, plenty of choice for a teenage film buff.

The news got worse for James when his father turned up at the police station to complain that two silver brooches were missing from the house.

To his credit James admitted the theft, telling the police that he had pawned them for money so that he could go and see more films at the local cinemas.

Little wonder that many people in authority saw the cinema as being an evil and corrupting effect on the Nation's youth.

The Stipendary Magistrate, Mr Ollier ordered young James to be given six strokes of the birch, perhaps that would stop him sitting down in relative comfort in local cinemas.

Incidentally, the birch was usually administered either in the cells underneath the courts or at a local police station by a burly copper with the offender's parents in attendance if they wished, can't say I'd have cared to have witnessed one of my own being thrashed with a stick.

The second case concerns an unnamed 11-year-old boy who lived at Barton Grove, Eccles who was charged with breaking and entering a house on Lime Street, Patricroft with intent to steal.

The female owner of the house, whose husband was away with the army, told the court that she found the boy on the stairs in her house and asked him what he wanted? he brushed past her and walked out of the door.

No doubt puzzled if not concerned she went out shopping and when she returned, she found that a window had been broken and the house had been ransacked and curiously enough nothing had been stolen.

The ever intrepid Sergeant Bentham was informed and called at the house for further evidence and a description of the boy.

With commendable police work, he tracked the boy down and arrested him the same day.

The boy told the court a rather sad and strange story, he said that he had been reading, "exciting and adventurous literature".

No doubt Boys Own or similar books of adventure and mystery, harmless stuff to be honest.

The boy's Uncle appeared at the court and he sounds proper old school, told the Magistrate that the boy was reading this rubbish and was no doubt trying to emulate some of the characters in these books, adding, "I have since burnt all of his books and warned him not to bring any more home"

Not content with the lad having his reading material go up in smoke the Magistrate ordered him to receive four strokes of the birch!

You have to feel some sympathy for the boy, having lost his books he was known to be thrashed with a stick, he was only 11 years of age!

Finally, you may be glad to know that birching of juveniles was abolished in this country in 1948 unless you were to commit a felony in the Isle of Man they carried out birching people until 1978!

mind you homosexuality was only decriminalised there in 1992...

Photo: Langworthy Picture House

The Germans in a last-ditch effort to bring the country to its knees attempted to starve Britain into surrendering by attempting to sink boats bringing much-needed food and supplies into the country.

Almost 40% of all meat being consumed in the country was imported from either North or South America making these boats enviable targets.

Stricter food rationing was introduced in April 1918, with meat, butter, sugar, cheese and milk  all put on the ration list with Ration Books given out to the general public and you had to register with a Food Controller as to which butcher and grocery shops you would be purchasing from, the rules were very strict, anyone found cheating could be fined or even sent to prison and if we are to believe even King George and Queen Mary were given them, yes I can see them queueing up on The Mall to buy their food....

Now you have read these amazing facts - stop laughing at the back - we come to this week's juicy story from June 1918 which will go some way as to explaining why I regaled you with it, read on, it gets better, hopefully.

Herbert Groves, the Manager of the Argenta Meat Company butcher's shop on Union Terrace, Broughton, Salford appeared at the Salford Magistrates Court charged with assaulting one of his customers the unfortunately named, Herbert Bugg, do you think he was called Bertie Bugg at school?

Last inane fact afore we get to the "meat" of the story, the Argenta Meat Company far from being South American were actually founded in Oldham in 1899 and had over 100 shops dotted around Lancashire.

According to Chief Inspector Clarke from Salford Constabulary who was the main prosecution witness, Mr Bugg had gone into the shop and demanded that Groves return his precious meat coupons that his wife had handed over earlier that morning.

Sadly for Mr Bugg, Groves was busy cutting up the carcass of a dead sheep ready to be put on sale in the shop and I can imagine he wasn't in the best of moods.

Bugg complained that the meat his wife was given wasn't value for money and demanded the coupons back, at which Groves threw his coupons at him and told him to clear off from the shop 'or else'

Strangely enough, Bugg returned back to the shop several hours later, no doubt having been home and told not to come back without the coupons by Mrs Bugg and told Groves that, "I can not eat that kidney that you gave my wife earlier today and I demand my coupons back"

Enraged at this slur on his offal products Groves was then alleged to have hurled the coupons in his face and as he bent down to pick them up was rewarded with a boot in the face, followed by a pummeling to the head and the body causing Bugg to flee the shop.

Hell hath no fury like a butcher scorned it would appear, insult the man but not his meat products!

Mr Groves had a Mr Murray acting for his Defence and to be honest, he doesn't sound all that good, hardly George Carmen or Clarence Darrow.

Murray asked Bugg if it was not correct that he had been in the shop on three previous occasions complaining about the meat and threatening to report him to the local Food Controller, and had also been struck off Groves list of registered customers and the only reason he was in court today was that the kidney wasn't to his liking, strong line of questioning there!

Bugg strongly denied these allegations and stuck to his story that he was the injured party.

Unable to break him down with his rugged interrogation, Murray told the court that Groves was held in high esteem by his employers the Argenta Meat Company and there had been no complaints about him apart from those by Bugg.

With a final lunge at the jugular, he then accused Bugg of being rude and arrogant to Groves and that it was he, not Groves who started the fight.

Sadly all to no avail as Bugg continued to plead his innocence.

The Stipendary Magistrate no doubt as bored with this court case as you are, found Groves guilty of assault and fined him 20 shillings.

So did Groves get the "chop" from his job? was it all a "missed steak? did they "meat" again? to settle their "beef" and not "mince" words? or all these puns to "offal" to repeat?

Sadly I'm here all week I athankayew.

Neighbours, Everybody needs good neighbours, Just a friendly wave each morning, Helps to make a better day as that dreadful song from the equally dreadful Aussie soap show, Neighbours informed us, it's a pity that these two warring Salford families hadn't heard that ditty.

James Howarth who resided at Primrose Hill, Salford - a picturesque address, sadly a row of two up and two down terraced houses in the Hanky Park area of Salford - was summoned to appear at court by a close neighbour, Emma Fitton charged with unlawfully assaulting her.

The court heard that Emma Fitton was a charwoman by trade and was returning some washing to a neighbours house when she passed James Howarth, words were exchanged, quite vulgar I should imagine and she went home blissfully unaware of what was to happen next.

Emma told the court that when she passed James Howarth he was outside his house, along with his wife, cleaning the windows, when she passed him he shouted at her, "Hello, you here, again!" whilst his wife used foul language at her.

Worse was to come when she alleged that Mr Howarth followed her to her door and punched her in the face, blacking both her eyes and to add further misery, he proceeded to put the boot in! only stopping when Emma Fitton's granddaughter came out of the house and implored him to stop.

So far a shocking assault on a hard working female member of the public, innocently going about her duties...

Mr Desquesnes who was defending Mr Howarth had a few pertinent questions to ask this paragon of virtue and it's worth repeating here, if only for the novelty value.

Mr Desquesnes, "When you saw Mr Howarth he was cleaning his windows?"

Emma Fitton, "No he was going up and down the street with his knocking up stick"

The knocker-up used a baton or short, heavy stick to knock on the clients' doors or a long and light stick, often made of bamboo, to reach windows on higher floors. In return, the knocker-up would be paid a few pence a week. The knocker-up would not leave a client's window until they were sure that the client had been awoken.)

Mr Desquesnes, "Did you make offensive remarks about his wife to him?"

Emma Fitton, "No it was him who used the foul language and his wife"

Mr Desquesnes, "You say you went home  and Mr Howarth assaulted you in an unprovoked attack, did you not go indoors and come out with a jug of hot water which you threw over him?"

Emma Fitton, "I was carrying a jug of water through the house when he passed and I threw it out not knowing that he was passing by, I didn't aim it at him"

Mr Howarth then took the witness stand and told the court that he was sat outside his house with his wife, when Emma Fitton passed by and made, "objectionable observations" about his good wife.

He continued that he asked her to desist from using this language when she suddenly threw a jug of boiling water over him, he then admitted that he may have struck her a blow to calm her down!

Using the Judgement of Solomon the Magistrate fined Mr Howarth 5 shillings and warned both parties about their future conduct.

Read into that what you will, I think Emma Fitton had a bad tongue on her and had said something to annoy Mr Howarth, however assaulting her and putting the boot in isn't acceptable behaviour is it? Wonder how they went on in the future and did they join in the street parties when the Great War ended some five months later, perhaps they called a truce?

Photo: Stock

To be honest, I had certain reservations about writing this story for fairly obvious reasons of sensitivity, but I think it should be retold and you can make your own mind up on this matter.

Six years old, Elizabeth Nolan lived at the back of a property at 116 Regent Road, Salford and attended the nearby Mount Carmel R.C. school, only 100 yards from her home.

Her mother took her to school at 1.50pm on Tuesday 16th April and the girl was last seen leaving the school at 4 pm with other schoolchildren.

The alarm was raised by her parents when she didn't return home and a search of the local area was carried out including the nearby River Irwell all to no avail.

As the days passed without any sign of Elizabeth her parents must have feared the worst, sadly their worst nightmare would come true.

A water inspector, Robert Smith was walking along the bank of Shawbrook, which was close to the Burnage and Wilmslow boundary the following Monday, 22nd April when he spotted a child's body lying in two feet of water and quickly summoned the police, who confirmed that the body was of Elizabeth Nolan.

An inquest was held at Manchester Coroners Court the following week under the supervision of Mr Sturridge the Manchester Deputy Coroner where some rather unusual facts emerged.

Elizabeth's mother told the court had not been accustomed to wandering off on her own and although she had only been attending school for two days, her home was only 100 yards away and she knew her way home on her own.

A teacher from the school confirmed that Elizabeth had left school on time along with other children.

Robert Smith who found the body told the court it would have been impossible for her body to have been washed down the stream as it was only six inches deep in parts.

Sergeant Collins from Salford Police said that enquiries had failed to find anybody who saw her, after she left school, he then added that the place where her body was found - some three miles away from her home - was a quarter of a mile from the nearest cottage and it was 100 yards on either side of the streams banks to the nearest footpath.

Continuing with his evidence he said that it was possible that she could have slipped on the bank, struck her head against something, then she would have become insensible and drowned, however, there were no marks of a struggle on the path alongside the stream.

Next to give evidence was Dr Heslop who had made a post-mortem examination on Elizabeth, he said there was a bruise on the back of her head and then added somewhat horrifically and possibly needlessly that rats had attacked the body and eaten part of her!

He could only surmise if she had been hit on the head with a stone as the bruise had been caused before her death and may have been caused by her accidentally falling into the brook and striking her head.

Detective Inspector Hoare of Salford Police said he and his force had made the fullest enquiries into her disappearance but were unable to ascertain as to how the child had got to the spot where she was found.

The Deputy Coroner described the case as being, "a sad one" and remarked that it was extraordinary that the child could have wandered so far without being noticed and there was nothing to show she had gone with other children or was taken away by someone and the only verdict he deliver was, "An Open Verdict"

There are so many unanswered questions in this case that it beggars belief that this verdict was reached at.

How on earth could a six-year-old girl simply vanish off the face of the earth, Regent Road was one of the busiest thoroughfares in Salford with 100's of shops and traffic streaming into and out of Manchester, surely somebody saw her?

How did she manage to "wander" some three miles to the place of her death without being seen, to a place that she had never been to before, I assume, and its a hell of a walk for a six-year-old.

Her injuries seem to be as consistent with being struck on the head and being pushed into the ditch, possibly to conceal her body from prying eyes.

Did schoolchildren take her there as a prank that went horribly wrong, and she accidentally fell into the ditch banging her head causing them to panic and run off, I doubt that as young children could not have kept that dreadful secret for that long.

Finally, the worst case scenario is that Elizabeth was abducted on the street near her home, possibly by someone who knew her or that she trusted, or a complete stranger befriended her and lured her to her death.

A very, very sad story, but it would be good if some truth were to be finally revealed after all these years, if only for her family's sake, a sad and mysterious case indeed.

This is a collection of black and white photographs of shall we say, "New Wave Bands" all taken by David Hunter back in those heady days of 1979 when punk was all but dead in the water and new acts were taking the limelight.

Amongst those artists on display are Ian Curtis, Kevin Rowlands, Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton, Terry Hall, Ian Drury, Simon Miner, Pauline Murray, Joe Jackson, Barrie Masters, Steve Diggle, Phil Oakey and Pete Perrett.

The photographs were taken in clubs in Manchester and Liverpool including the Apollo and legendary Russell Club in Hulme and are truly fascinating, atmospheric shots which have remained unseen for almost 40 years.

I spoke to the ace lensman, who told me how the exhibition came about and its a very interesting story, not least because it's his very first exhibition in a gallery.

Quote

 

"I have been a keen photographer since 1973 which I learnt at school including developing and printing there and eventually got my own darkroom at home.

"I kept it as a hobby off and on for several years but restarted in 2003, since then I have won several competitions and had photographs published widely.

"For some reason, I took my camera along to an Eddie and the Hot Rods gig and to my surprise they were great photographs, so I carried a camera to the gigs that I went to that year, a Pentax Spotmatic, which I still have and use.

"The album of negatives has stayed with me through several house moves and were stored in a box underneath the bed, on top of the wardrobe, in cupboards etc.

"One day whilst looking for some Jam photos that I thought that I had lost, I came across them and quite a few more, several hundred, in fact, I scanned a few and posted them on social media and I was surprised by the response that I got as people seemed to like them.

"The idea for an exhibition came from that and I managed to coax a bit of life from some thin, blurry negatives into what is hung on the gallery walls in front of you"

 

David tells me that he has quite a few more photos stored on his laptop including some bands which to be honest I am no big fan of, including Iron Maiden (pre-Bruce Dickinson days), Rush, Motorhead, Sammy Hagar and many, many more including some in colour.

Also, prints are on sale at the gallery all reasonably priced and here is the best thing, all the profits from the sale of them will be donated to a locally based charity in the city where the photographs were taken, how good is that?

David will be at the Gallery this Saturday from 12pm - 2pm and will be more than happy to talk to you about his exhibition and I can guarantee that you will enjoy it, tell him that I sent you!

The Seven Months In 1979 exhibition will run until Saturday 2nd June 2018.

Further images can be seen on https://www.facebook.com/2021389388110931/photos/a.2021441431439060.1073741828.2021389388110931/2021584541424749/?type=3&theater

Illegal street gambling was once a regular fixture in this country with backstreet bookies taking your bet, usually in the safety and privacy of their backyard with men paid to act as lookouts when the police made their obligatory raids, some of them even taking the 'fall' for the bookie for a slightly higher fee.

My Grandfather on my mother's side, Walter Moran was a registered Turf Accountant who would ply his trade on racecourses throughout the country, but also had a nice sideline in illegal street betting in Salford.

Nearly all of this illegal activity would cease with the introduction of the 1960 Betting and Gaming Act which first allowed gambling for small sums on card games in pubs and from May 1961 betting shops were allowed to open.

The story that follows is from the pages of the Eccles and Patricroft Journal, April 1918 and tells the story of illegal street gambling and a curious court case that followed.

Two brothers, Robert and William Barnes appeared at Manchester County Police Court charged with street gambling in Melbourne Street, Pendlebury, they had earlier appeared at Eccles Magistrates Court and robustly denied the offences and elected trial at Manchester.

Police Constable's Thompson and Gibson took the stand told the court what they had seen.

The intrepid coppers "took a place of concealment" some 15 yards away from Melbourne Street and saw a number of men, women and children hand slips of paper and money over to Robert Barnes on the 24th April between 11 am - 2 pm.

They returned the following day and no doubt once again well hidden saw further transactions take place between the hours of 9.30am - 1.30pm this time William Barnes joined in with his brother taking the bets.

The police stated that the number of people seen placing bets on those two days was a staggering 448!

Robert Barnes wife took the stand and proudly stood by her man telling the court that her husband was at home with her on the two dates mentioned, "helping with the housework" and didn't leave the house until 4.30pm presumably when he had completed his chores.

The case took a curious twist when she told the court that P.C. Thompson stopped her and her husband as they alighted from a tram in Pendlebury at 11.30pm, that's devotion to duty.

He is alleged to have said that Robert had been reported for street gambling for those two days mentioned, to which he is said to have replied, "What again? I haven't taken a halfpenny since you did me three weeks ago", obviously known to the police then and hardly an innocent man's plea.

Now here is where the case gets murky P.C. Thompson said,

Quote

"I haven't seen you, it's the letters we have been sent and we have to act"

The Barnes brothers had Mr W. Murray acting for their defence, he asked Mrs Barnes if this was true, once again she proved her mettle and said, "I told him three weeks ago if he ever did betting again, I would "roast" him", a formidable woman.

He then turned his attention to P.C. Thompson and asked him why these letters hadn't been mentioned in the initial hearing at Eccles and asked the Clerk of the Court to confiscate his notebook so that he could inspect it.

Suddenly the mystery letter writer made an appearance in the dock and asked that his name is kept anonymous, Mr Murray would have none of this and demanded that he be named or the court case should be thrown out, which seems fair enough to me.

The man was named in court but his name was kept out of the newspaper for fairly obvious reasons.

He told the court that he had placed bets with both of the brothers on the two dates mentioned in court, then added that he had only come to court because he thought the police had a charge against him?

The Chairman of the Court stated that this was a most "peculiar" case and he was determined to get to the root of it.

He retired to consider his decision and would you believe it he found both brothers guilty as charged.

Robert Barnes was fined £10 and £2 costs, whilst brother William was fined £5 and £2 costs, amazingly the mystery man was awarded 5 shillings costs for appearing at court!

All in all, a very strange case in which the police initially stated that they had seen the brothers with their own eyes and then later said that they were acting on an anonymous tip-off, doesn't quite add up, does it?

I think that the only thing we can be sure of is that the mystery man would keep a very low profile in the Pendlebury and Walkden area for the foreseeable future if he had any sense.

This well-meaning but basically daft legislation has a relevance to the story that I am about to relate, sitting comfortably? then I shall begin.

The DORA act included amongst its somewhat bizarre rules were that no-one was allowed to buy binoculars, no-one was allowed to give bread to horses, horses or chickens, no-one was allowed to buy brandy or whisky in a railway refreshment room, customers in pubs were not allowed to buy a round of drinks and  public house opening times were also reduced to 12.00 noon to 2.30 pm and 6.30 to 9.30 pm. before the law was changed, public houses could open from 5 am in the morning to 12.30 pm at night..

Women were employed in men's jobs and proved that they were equal if not better in such occupations as factory work, driving buses, working on the land or in this case working in bottled beer stores in Salford....a recipe for disaster?

This curious story culled from the pages of the Salford City Reporter, April 1918 tells of the sad plight of three Salford women employed in such a job.

Salford police ever vigilant to stamp out drunken, unruly behaviour had been tipped off that women in the Greengate area had been seen drunk at times when the pubs were shut and so firm action was taken.

Detective Inspector Clarke had two of his men stake out the workers leaving the bottling store of Findlater and Mackie Ltd, a beer bottling company.

The daring duo didn't have long to wait and pounced on three women as they finished work and were making their way home.

Mary Taylor was alleged to have looked, "bulky" and was asked what she had hidden in her shawl, she replied, "Only a bottle of stout".

A search revealed a further five bottles of beer hidden in her clothing, I would have thought that they would have been attracted to the clinking sound coming from her clothing.

The two other women, Mary McLean and Jessie Kerridge made good their escape and went back to their homes seemingly oblivious to what would happen next.

The police duly arrived at  Mary McLean's house where they found her and her mother supping a pint bottle beer of each other, disposing of the evidence perhaps?

When questioned Mary told the police, "I am sorry I have taken a few bottles home with me"

You couldn't accuse her of lying, a search of the house revealed another 36 empty beer bottles all from Findlater and Mackie Ltd.

A visit to Jessie Kerriridges house found 12 empty beer bottles which she admitted taking from work.

All three appeared at Salford Magistrates Court charged with theft and were defended by Mr Desquesnes.

D.C. Clark told the court that he had been tipped off that women were stealing beer on a regular basis and that some women had even had stitched hidden pockets in their skirts so they could conceal even more, quite ingenious really.

Mr Desquesnes asked for leniency from the Stipendary reminding him that the women had already pleaded guilty to this offence and had helped the police with their enquiries.

Sadly he was having none of this and sentenced Mary Taylor too, two months in prison with hard labour, an incredibly harsh sentence considering the offence.

Mary McLean was fined 40 shillings or 21 days imprisonment.

Jessie Kerridge was fined 20 shillings or 14 days imprisonment.

I do hope that these two women were able to pay their fines which were quite hefty at the time, perhaps they should have taken the empties back to the off-licence and collected the deposit back, also it would have got rid of the evidence!

I'm certain that this court case had no impression whatsoever on the drinking and theft of beer in Salford and was merely a shot across the bows, a warning to stop it or else.

A look through the court pages of the Salford newspapers will confirm that drinking etc went on regardless and it would take more than a fine to stop them enjoying themselves.

They were The Crown, Majestic, Palladium, Regent, Princes, Broadway and the ill-fated Empire which got bombed in the Xmas Blitz of 1940, perhaps a certain gentleman had got wind of the film showing at the time, "Hitler - Beast of Berlin" and voiced his displeasure by bombing it.

The first recorded picture house as such was the Public Hall on Franklin Street, Patricroft which began showing moving images onto a screen in 1907 and by 1908 it had changed its name to the more refined, Picture House, Public Hall, Patricroft, a bit of a mouthful.

Crowds would flock here to see these early films which were educational, dramatic and humorous and no doubt an eye-opener for the audience.

Such films as The Abram Colliery Pit Disaster, Bleriot's Channel Flight, Dr Crippen Arriving At Liverpool would inform them of current events while such rib-ticklers as "Carlo Steals The Sausages", "Adventures Of A Roll Of Lino" and the jaw-droppingly named, "THe Cripple Comes A Cropper" would be certain to have them rolling in the aisles.

These films must have sadly been lost forever, the film was cellulose nitrate which was highly flammable and could disintegrate very easily. 

It would be marvellous if any of these old films could be discovered, many films were shot on the streets of Eccles and Salford and were shown the next day at local cinemas, makes me sad to think of what we have lost. 

1914 saw the outbreak of the Great War and the Picture House was soon showing patriotic films such as "Under the German Yoke" and one called, "A Belgian Girl's Honour". 

At the screening of this film a Belgian soldier who had lost a leg fighting against the Germans was brought onto the stage and gave an account of the fighting in Belgian and the so-called atrocities being carried out by the beastly Hun, mainly propaganda, to be honest, having said that, they did shoot the nurse Edith Cavell for alleged spying. 

However the luxurious Palladium Cinema opened nearby on Liverpool Road, Patricroft in 1915, and this had upholstered seats, proper lighting, toilets and brand new films with mystery guests calling in.

Compare this to the Public Hall with its bare wooden seats, poor hygiene and out of date films, you can almost hear the tolling of the bell and by 1916 the decision was made to close the Picture House/Public Hall.

The Eccles and Patricroft Journal from April 1918 tells of a blaze that almost destroyed the building.

A railwayman from the nearby Patricroft Sheds was passing at 1.30am and he noticed flames coming from the building and alerted the local fire brigade.

The building was being used Samuel Hooley as a coal dealers yard and he had horses stabled there, which were quickly taken to safety, also sharing the premises were The County Steam Laundry owned by Mr Kay.

It took the Eccles Fire Brigade over an hour to put the blaze out and make the building and nearby houses safe, however one plucky Eccles fireman sustained an injury, Ernest Edwards sprained his ankle tackling the fire, or he most probably tripped over a fire hose, who knows?

The cause of the fire was traced to the staircase which led up to the Public Hall and it was determined that it was caused by a carelessly discarded cigarette or cigar butt which had been thrown away and left, still alight.

The Public Hall is still standing and is now a motor repair shop with the Public Hall being used as a joiners storeroom.

Sadly all of the Eccles cinemas have now been demolished, or become bingo hall's or a pub, also the magnificent Crown Theatre which is still standing and in a poor state, and hopefully can be saved from demolition.

The Palladium Cinema is now a Bingo Hall but is worth taking a look at with its Art Deco windows and stained glass, a nice reminder of when the "Silver Screen" was king in Eccles.

If you are interested in the history of Eccles Cinemas I could recommend a spiffing little book by that name, the author's name escapes me though.....

Read on but be prepared for some fairly shocking antics and behaviour which I do assure you isn't a familiar trait in most Salford marriages, honestly.

Harris Frazer who resided at Pimlott Steet, Salford appeared at Salford Magistrates Court charged with unlawfully wounding. Myer Adler of Trafalgar Street, Broughton.

By all accounts, the marriage between Mr and Mrs Frazer had hardly been a bed of roses with the police often being called to their matrimonial home to stop Frazer from thrashing his poor wife.

Things got so bad that she fled the home with her two teenage children and took out a police summons to keep him away from her such was her fear of him.

On the evening of Thursday 3rd March, Mr Myer Adler a neighbour of Mrs Frazers heard shouts and screams coming from the back of his house and naturally went out to investigate what was happening.

He saw Frazer striking his own daughter about the head and body and threatening to kill her.

Naturally, he went to stop the assault and to use an old saying, "this is where it all went wrong".

Frazer who had been carrying a stick during the assault on his daughter smashed it over Adler's head and then he grabbed hold of him and sank his teeth into his nose and proceeded to attempt to bite it off!

To add to the melee, Frazer's own son came into the back and armed with a steel poker began to hit his own father over the head with it, in an attempt to unlock his jaws from Adler's nose!

He finally managed to get his father to release Adler from this horrific attack and the police were summoned.

Reading that reminded me of those dreadful stories of pit bull terriers attacking people attacking people and locking their jaws on them until their jaws are prised open, hopefully not with a steel poker though.

The police dutifully arrived and carted Frazer off to the police cells and not the kennels where I think he belonged.

Detective Inspector Clarke told the court of this unhappy marriage, and despite being cautioned by the police, Frazer continued to harass and threaten his wife and children.

Obviously not a man concerned with such trifles as police summonses he kept up his threats to kill and eventually tracked her down to her new home and decided to confront her, who knows possibly attempt to kill her?

In the dock, Frazer vehemently denied the allegations against him and attempted to show that he was the innocent party!

He told the Magistrate that he had decided to call round to his wife's house hoping for a reconciliation and was "talking" to his daughter when Adler suddenly appeared and struck him on the head with a large piece of coal in an unprovoked attack and then chose to defend himself.

A little to robustly I would have thought.

Frazer's son and daughter both gave evidence about their father shocking behaviour which, to be honest, is a rather sad state of affairs and then to wallop your own father over the head with a steel poker indicated the lack of affection that they held for him!

He was sentenced to two months imprisonment with hard labour, which in my humble opinion is an incredibly light sentence for the violent assault on Adler and his own daughter and as for attempting to bite somebody's nose off, surely several years imprisonment would have been apter?

Let's hope that Mrs Frazer and her two children went on to live a more peaceful life with her husband safely locked away in Strangeways Gaol, I hope so after all she had to endure with him.

Further research and letters from a survivor of the sinking of the ship gave a completely different picture as to what had actually happened.

The S.S. Aragon was built in Ireland in 1905 and was the first of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Companys fleet that sailed between Southampton and South America.

In 1913 with the threat of war looming she became a defensively armed merchant ship and took part in the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign, helping evacuate troops from the Gallipoli peninsula in January 1916.

Fast forward to 30th December 1917 and the S.S. Aragon arrived at Alexandria laden with 2,700 troops bound for the conflict in Palestine, she lay some 10 miles outside the harbour awaiting a convoy to escort her into the harbour when disaster struck.

A German submarine the SM UC-34 torpedoed the ship hitting her port side on, causing extensive damage and causing the evacuation of the crew and passengers, hundreds of men were in the water fighting for their lives, when another torpedo hit the boat which ruptured its bunkers and spilt tons of thick, black bunker fuel into the sea,many men were drowned in the polluted waters, many more were overcome with fumes and also perished.

Help arrived when the HMS Attack drew alongside the sinking S.S. Aragon and managed to rescue crew members using ropes attached to the ship and the use of lifeboats which pulled the men onto the deck where they lay, semi-naked and covered in oil.

Suddenly another torpedo slammed into the HMS Attack, blowing her into two pieces causing her to sink within seven minutes throwing some 300 survivors of the S.S. Aragon back into the polluted, filthy waters where much more would drown.

In total 610 people from the S.S. Aragon were killed including the ships Master, Captain Bateman, six Voluntary Aid Nurses from the Red Cross and ironically enough Sergeant Ernest Horlock who had been awarded the Victoria Cross for 'conspicuous gallantry' on the Western Front in 1914.

Local trawlers and surviving lifeboats rescued the rest of the survivors and get them ashore to safety.

The Eccles and Patricroft Journal from February 1918 then published a letter, no doubt heavily censored from one of the survivors, Corporal D. Hirst aged 22, who lived at 246, Liverpool Road, Patricroft and it's worth quoting his memories of the event.

Quote

 

"I have spent the some funny New Years Days but this one takes the cake as it is as hot as mid-summer here"

"I might as well tell you that we have had an eventful voyage and I managed to lose almost everything that I owned.

"To put it straight we were torpedoed, there were three of us from Patricroft on board, a boy called Matthews in the A.S.C.(Army Service Corps) and a Mr Firth, a cabinet maker who lived facing the Patricroft United Methodist Church and myself"

"I was sitting on deck reading my book when our ship was hit, the men were simply fine and each went to his post and not a man moved until he was told"

"After taking off my boots and tunic, I put on my lifebelt and went over the side of the sinking ship, on coming to the surface I looked around and swam away from the ship to avoid being sucked under when it went down"

"The water was quite warm and our lifebelts kept us afloat, a boy named Irving and myself kept together and after an hour in the water, we were picked up"

"Mr Firth is alright but Matthews died on in one of the boats"

 

He makes it all sound so calm and well drilled when the boat went down, I can only imagine what it must have been like to be have been in that filthy, oily water and watch friends drown in front of you, unable to help, a horrendous ordeal for anybody and remember that Hirst was only aged 22, still a very young man.

I should imagine that his account was heavily censored to prevent him telling what had actually gone on in the water, and also to protect his family's feelings, basically to reassure them that he was OK and that things were not that bad.

A memorial to the people who were killed on the S.S. Aragon is commemorated on the Chatby Memorial in the Shatby district of Eastern Alexandria.

Oddly enough on the following day following the sinking of these two ships, just as the rescue operation for any survivors was called off the fleet auxiliary craft, HMS Osmmanieh also hit a mine in the rescue area, sinking her and taking with her 197 soldiers and nurses to a watery grave.

Many myths have grown up about these hulking monsters which admittedly must have put the fear up of God into the enemy as they came out the early morning mist, belching fire and smoke, flattening barbed wire fences in their wake, sadly the reality is that on the battlefield that they didn't have a massive impact on the outcome of the war.

They were slow, a top speed of four miles an hour, mechanically unreliable and for the eight-man crew jammed into the tank a living hell, their steel armour could stop small arms fire and fragments from high-explosive artillery shells, however, they were vulnerable to a direct hit from artillery and mortar shells.

The environment inside was extremely unpleasant; as ventilation was inadequate the atmosphere was heavy with poisonous carbon monoxide from the engine and firing the weapons, fuel and oil vapours from the engine and cordite fumes from the weapons, temperatures inside could reach 50°C (122°F). entire crews lost consciousness inside the tanks or collapsed when again exposed to fresh air with gas masks and wire mesh masks known as splatter masks worn at all times.

However, this story gleaned from the pages of the Eccles and Patricroft Journal from February 1918, paints a far rosier picture of life for the ordinary Tommy serving in the Tank Corps.

It tells the story of a 25-year-old man from, Bolton Road, Pendlebury, Sgt. Alfred Whitehead who was serving in the Tank Corps and if is to believed seemed intent on wiping out the entire German army by himself.

His parents had received a letter from the War Office informing them that Alfred was to be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (D.C.M.) for bravery whilst serving in France, the DCM was the second highest medal to be awarded for gallantry in action after the Victoria Cross.

Alfred was the youngest of three sons, all of whom were serving in the British Army, Ernest was serving with the Kings Own Borderers Regiment, and Herbert was serving with the Labour Corp in France.

They received further information when a letter arrived from Alfred, a letter which is an astonishingly, honest depiction of war in France and candidly brutal about life and death.

Quote

"I have been in action again and this time I was slightly wounded, a few splinters from a bullet hit me in the leg, just above the knee"

"It was last Saturday morning when we went over to annoy old Fritz and I don't think he will forget us for a while"

"We got about 100 of them in a corner and they put up, five white flags, we left them alone and waited for the artillery to take them, prisoners"

"They suddenly turned a machine gun on us and wounded the rest of my crew"

"After doing such a dirty trick on us we turned our guns on them and wiped half of them out, all the others were taken, prisoners"

 

In my book, that means he has just shot and killed 50 Germans, however, his killing spree wasn't over yet!

Quote

"After finishing with them we found another 30 Germans but only my machine gun could touch them, only five of them got away, altogether we knocked out about 15 machine guns and about 100 men, so I think we did our little bit"

"When we were about 150 yards from our lines something went wrong with our engine and the water pipe burst, we got out of the tank and sprinted for our lives, soon afterwards a German shell dropped directly on the tank destroying it"

"We all reached safety although three of the men needed slight hospital attention"

 

In what must be one of the most classic understatements of the war he said,

Quote

"If the Germans could get hold of my crew they would hang every one of us for the damage we did to them"

I should imagine that they would.

What an astonishing story, I do wonder if Sgt Whitehead actually did kill over 60 German soldiers or was this just jingoistic talk for the newspapers in a hope to instil morale in the people back home, who were in dire need of some good news from this war that seemed would never end?

No matter what it can't be denied that Sgt Alfred Whitehead was a very brave man, if not at times verging on the homicidal who served his King and Country with honour.

It employed over 5,000 local men and imported among other things, timber, grain, cotton, livestock, tea, cheese etc, it even had its own railway system and police force.

With WW1 dragging into its fourth year, public morale was low, food rationing was getting tighter and this would not have helped what was a potentially explosive situation, also 1,000's of lives were still being lost in what seemed to be an endless war.

This court case from February 1918 gives an insight into what people in Salford were suffering and what a tinderbox situation the country could hopefully avoid.

In January 1918, Detective Inspector Carroll of the MSC police received information that pilfering of ham, tea, cheese and other foodstuffs were being carried out on a daily basis by the dockers employed there.

He decides to nip this in the bud and in my opinion rather foolishly decided to do mass stop and search of dockers leaving work hoping to find stolen goods.

One such search involved William Hopkins a dock labourer who lived in Peel Street, Hulme, he was stopped because his pockets looked, 'bulky' a search revealed loose tea in his pockets, he was arrested and given to P.C. Chadwick to be taken into custody.

Events quickly turned nasty as some 50 dock labourers gathered and demanded his release, they began throwing stones, one hitting P.C. Chadwick on the head and drawing blood, Hopkins seized his chance and threw the tea on the floor and made good his escape, only to be arrested on nearby Ordsall lane, shortly afterwards.

Back at the docks, the situation escalated and two of the dockers, John Needham, who resided at Arm Street, Hulme and Archibald Cochrane, from Fleetwood Street, Salford were alleged to have caused further trouble for the police.

Needham was heard to say,

Quote

"You are not taking our mates away, we are stronger than you, let's go for them, there are only a few of them, let's chuck them in the docks".

Cochrane was alleged to have said,

Quote

"They have no right to search our boys, lets do them".

Police reinforcements arrived before the situation could get worse and the so-called ringleaders were arrested whilst Hopkins was already in custody.

William Hopkins appeared at Salford Magistrates Court the next week and was charged with stealing 4 ounces of tea, the value of 1 shilling, the property of the M.S.C.

He denied the offence, however, it was revealed that a search by the police found remains of tea in his pockets, it was also revealed that he had 10 previous convictions for theft, hardly a shining example to other employees.

He was sentenced to one month's imprisonment with hard labour.

Next in the dock were the star attractions of the day, Needham and Cochrane who were charged with inciting persons unknown to assault D.I. Carroll and P.C. Chadwick whilst in the execution of their duties, a fairly serious charge.

The case was heard by Stipendary Magistrate, Mr P.W. Atkin, for the prosecution was a Barrister at Law, Mr Gilbert Johnson and for the defence was Mr E. Desquesnes.

Mr Desquesnes called P.C. Chadwick into the witness box and asked for his version of events on that day,  and asked why he had chosen to search Needham and if he had said to him, "Come here, you - swine" Chadwick denied saying this, strangely enough, Mr Desquesnes then asked him if he had ever been fined for using bad language? again Chadwick denied this, a strange line of questioning unless Mr Desquesnes knew something about him and hoped to blacken his character in the dock, perhaps implying that he was a violent, foul-mouthed man?

P.C. Chadwick then came out with quite a damning statement when he said that he heard Needham say that if D.I. Carroll put a hand on him, he would smash his head in, whilst wielding a hammer at him!

The evidence against Needham stacked up even higher when a P.C. Donohue said that he had heard Needham say, "Get the coppers and throw the lot of them in the docks", say what you like but those MSC police had truly remarkable powers of hearing.

John Needham took the witness box and told the court he was leaving work when he was roughly dragged into a shed by D.I. Carroll who demanded to know what was in his pockets, he explained that it was the remains of his dinner, some bread and cheese, he then alleged that he was sworn at by P.C. Needham and pushed to the floor.

He denied trying to incite the dockers to attack the police and said that the MSC police were exceeding their duties and that he was an innocent man.

Archibald Cochrane then took the witness box, he too denied inciting the crowd to attack the police but protested at their heavy-handed treatment of the prisoners.

The Stipendary then had to decide who was telling the truth, I think we both know who he believed.

He sentenced Needham to one month's imprisonment and Cochrane to 14 days imprisonment in Strangeways Gaol.

Cochrane shouted out, "Is this the way you treat innocent men?"

Mr Desquesnes pleaded for leniency and asked if a fine would be a more fitting punishment?

This was refused and both men were taken down.

Was this a harsh judgement? to be honest, if the men were guilty were of inciting the mob to attack the police they would have received far lengthier prison sentences than they did.

I think that the Stipendary had to make a token show of strength to appease both the MSC police and act as a future deterrent to the dock workers and hopefully please both parties.

I wonder what would have happened if the men had actually beaten the police up and thrown them into the icy waters of the Salford Docks, I feel its fairly certain that the armed militia would have been called in straight away and ordered to stamp out this early sign of anarchy.

It was only five months earlier in Russia that the workers had risen up and seized control of their country, Heaven forbid that this should happen in Great Britain!

I don't think I have ever come across a proud Salfordian who has not visited Lark Hill Place at least once during their lifetime, my own first experience was during a school field trip back when I was much younger and those memories have endured over the years.

I have made return visits to the street many times, and the experience has never become any less magical than that first time I stepped onto its cobbles. 

It has often been said that so much of our heritage has been lost over the years but LHP is still standing as a testament to a time gone by and a time that sadly fewer and fewer of us are still around to remember.

So when I was told that things were going to change I was a little apprehensive at first, as to me LHP is a local treasure that this City should never tinker with and protect at all costs.

My concerns, however, were unfounded, as for one year only the street will see a temporary redisplay of Lark Hill Place from 1898 to 1918 allowing the visitor to explore and immerse themselves in an era of great change not only within Salford but the world at large.

Lark Hill Place was originally created in 1957 when many shops and houses in central Salford were being demolished to make way for new developments. Many of the shop fronts that are in Lark Hill Place today were saved and restored. The interiors have been furnished and are full of authentic objects, recreating the way they were used in Victorian times.

The £32,000, Heritage Lottery Funded project tells the story of the residents and shopkeepers of Lark Hill Place as they endured during the years of the first great war, using both audio and visual elements to amazing effect.

The ambience is set at teatime on a winter's evening when the street gas lamps have just been lit. The sounds of children playing, horse-drawn carriages and a 'knocker-upper' fill the street. Walk down the street and take a peek inside any shops and houses, including a toy shop, chemist, grocers, a blacksmith and an artisan's cottage.

And so the scene is set and the story is now to be told...

In 1918, the families and shopkeepers have endured 4 years of war - constant worry for loved ones at the front, caring for those who have returned wounded from the trenches, enduring shortages and by mid 1918 coping with the threat of the 'Spanish Lady' influenza epidemic that was to kill over 50 million people worldwide.

Changes have come about in the form of new voting legislation, dramatically different opportunities for women, and men returning from a war that was unimaginable compared with the small world of the local streets they had previously inhabited. We see the start of changes in the strict class structures of the previous century and also in how women's roles are viewed.

The shops and houses of Lark Hill Place tell the story of this journey to Armistice Day on the 11th November 1918, when the end of the 'war to end all wars' finally comes to Salford.

So this morning I was invited down to take a few snaps of the new exhibition, even more fortunate to eavesdrop as one of the guides talked a class of youngsters dressed in period clothing, through the story behind the street, which for me was the icing on the cake as I realised that I was witnessing yet another generation of Salford kids in the midsts of falling in love with that natty little Salford street, just as I did all those years ago.

I am not going to spoil things for the reader by posting photos of everything on display as it would take the fun out of finding them, however, I have included a good few photos within this article to get you going.

As we fast approach the end of another school half term, parents will be looking to find things to do to keep their kids entertained and I can not recommend a visit to the street enough. They can even immerse themselves greater by dressing up in period clothing so you can fire off a few snaps of them too.

The new additions to the street fit perfectly within the telling of the story, they are dotted around the streets houses, shops and tavern and it is great fun tracking them all down. To name a few...

First Aid Case - There are two of these Boots first aid cases in the collection and one is still full of the original medical supplies! One case will go on display in the chemist and the other in our new medical office. Many families were sending items such as bandages and iodine to their loved ones on the front line.

WW1 'Splatter Mask' - This 'splatter mask' was worn by tank crews in World War One to protect the face from flying fragments. Sight and breath must have been incredibly restricted from inside these masks. This item will be on display in the convalescence home where it will act as a soldier's memento. It will also serve as a startling juxtaposition amongst the rich decoration of the room and in doing so will remind us of the horrors that many of these soldiers faced before returning home.

Ostrich Feather Fans - These ostentatious feather fans can be found in the pawn shop to demonstrate that people were living more simply during this time. It was seen as incredibly unpatriotic to wear extravagant dress.

Photographs of Women in Work - With the men away at war, many women took up work in order to help with the war effort. Here we have some photographs from the collection of women in uniform. This would have been the first time that many women would have worn trousers and overalls, let alone gone out to work in a factory!

The old favourites are still there and my only regret is that the changes are for one year only as they bring a whole new chapter to the enduring story which is Lark Hill Place.

And just as you start to think it can not get any better than this, there is a fantastic little cafe serving, drinks and food, along with the fantastic art gallery thrown into the mix.

And even better still LHP and the Gallery are FREE. - (Parking - £2 for 3 hours)

Stories of feral teenagers brandishing firearms and terrorising local communities with their criminal activities is a shocking state of affairs and some would say a reflection on modern society, with violent computer games and rap music being the cause for this according to quite a few people, and reflect back on more gentler times when you could leave your front door open and all that old guff...

But is this true?

Following a spate of burglaries at numerous houses, shops and even railway vans in the Borough the police had decided to act fast to stamp this out and let the good people of Eccles sleep safely in their beds at night.

The intrepid D.S. Bentham from Eccles constabulary used his wile and cunning to apprehend the first culprit, acting above and beyond the call of duty, he secreted himself in a pawn shop at 130 Church Street, Eccles and waited for a possible suspect, he didn't have to wait long.

At 7.30am a youth by the name of Thomas Wilcox, 16, came into the shop and tried to sell a gold watch, D.C. Bentham intervened and was not happy with the boy's excuse and took him into custody whilst a search warrant was issued for his home at  Davies Street, where a  large amount of property believed to have been stolen was recovered.

Next on his agenda was to track down a boy mentioned to him, who went by the name of Reginald Haycroft, 16, who was working at Gardners Engineering in Peel Green, however, a friend of Haycroft's spotted Wilcox being taken into custody and tipped him off.

The police went to his house on Station Road, Patricroft and awaited his arrival, to their amazement Haycroft came swaggering down the street and a search revealed a fully loaded army service revolver tucked in his waistband! a search of his house revealed even more stolen property and slowly but surely the gang were all to be arrested.

These included Charles Rubery, 15, Gilbert Street, Peel Green and Fredrick Saville, 16, Alma Street, Eccles.

When the police arrived at Rubery's house he locked himself and had to be talked into opening the front door, once again the police recovered a fully loaded army service revolver and a veritable Aladdin's cave of stolen swag.

All four were remanded in custody whilst further investigations took place.

The initial holding charge was of a burglary at a private house in Ellesmere Park, Eccles called The Elms belonging to a Mr F. Dowson where property including gold watches, rings, gold brooches, chains and even a set of opera glasses were stolen with an estimated value of £45.

The question was raised in court as to how the boys had obtained the army pistols, the answer was quite simple, they had broken into gunsmiths in King Street, Manchester and stolen them along with the ammunition!

Once again the boys were remanded in custody whilst the police had to sort through all of the stolen property recovered from their homes including some that the boys had, hidden buried beneath privets at the back of Peel Green cemetery.

It was revealed that this daring gang of villains had broken into Miss Butterworths tobacconist shop at Eccles railway station by entering through the roof and used a rope to drop into the premises where they stole, cigarettes, cigars, chocolate, tobacco and cash, and possibly an indication into their magpie behaviour was their admission that they had broken into railway vans at Patricroft Station and stole scissors, lamps, bandages, liniment and bottles of Friars Basalm - a popular cough medicine.

Eventually, the gang appeared at the Salford Hundreds Azzize Court in Manchester in February 1918 under the watchful gaze of the Vice Chancellor, Dudley Stewart Smith.

The boys had separate legal representation and pleaded guilty to the charges, a wise thing to do on reflection.

In the summing up for their defence, Mr Foley said, somewhat naively:

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"These boys might have thought they were imitating Dick Turpin and could do wonderful things" then added that if the court could administer a 'severe thrashing' to them that would be the best thing, obviously...

As to be expected the Vice Chancellor didn't agree with this whimsical notion and sentenced Wilcox, Saville and Haycroft to three years in Borstal whilst Rubery the youngest at 15 years of age was sentenced to three years in a Reform School.

Thos brought down the curtain on this mini crime wave, well at least for the time being.

Looking more closely at this story I was struck by the strange assortment of goods they stole, what good would be a bottle of Friars Basalm, unless you had a cough and as for scissors, bandages and liniment, perhaps they wanted to be male nurses when they grew up? and as for the guns? I'm certain that these were stolen as an act of bravado and would never have been used.

If they wanted to fire guns, the three eldest could have done worse than try to enlist as 'Boy Soldiers' in the British Army, who were not that fussy about your age and so long as you were keen to fight and hopefully kill the dreaded Hun you were in, welcome to the Western Front!

One horrible statistic about these 'Boy Soldiers' is worth showing for the madness that it was.

On the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916, 500 ‘Boy Soldiers’ were killed and 2,000 wounded and by the time the battle had ended, 18,000 ‘Boy Soldiers’ had been killed or wounded.

On the evening of February 2nd, 1918, an unnamed P.C. from the Manchester Police force was making his way along Blackfriars Road, Salford, in no doubt an orderly and sober fashion, when he was stopped in his tracks by the screams of a woman being assaulted.

He saw a man punching a woman in the face and screaming at her, he chased after the culprit who soon took to his heels, however a 19-year-old youth who was also passing joined in the chase and they both managed to apprehend the man and took him to the nearby Chapel Street police station - still standing across the road from Trinity Church - where he was charged with being drunk and disorderly, no mention of assault though.

He appeared at Salford Magistrates Court the following morning at Bexley Square and was named as William Fallows who resided at Dawson Street, Salford.

A rather strange case unfolded before the Stipendary which is worth repeating and I must add is not meant to cause any offence to our readers from Scotland...

The off-duty P.C. told the court that he saw Fallows punching the woman, but sadly he did not know her and would not recognise her if she appeared in the court, not very helpful considering.

The unnamed 19-year-old youth who also gave chase was next in the witness box and was asked by the Clerk of Court, Mr Foyster to read the oath, to which he replied, "I can't I'm from Scotland".

Mr Foyster obviously amazed said, "You come from Scotland and you can't read?  I find that most astonishing"

The poor lad went from bad to worse when he said that he too would not be able to recognise the woman who was being assaulted, but added helpfully that he recognised, Mr Fallows.

Mr Foyster told him to sit down.

Next in the dock was Mrs Fallows who was described in the paper as being 'badly marked around the face and eyes' no doubt a polite way of saying she had a pair of shiners, I assume.

She told the court a rather pitiful tale of how she had nine small children to Mr Fallows but he was a 'brute' who kept on punishing and beating her, things were that bad that she was often too frightened to go home in the evening and would stay at 'friends' for her own safety, hardly a happy marriage is it?

The 'brute' William Fallows was then called to give evidence who naturally put a different spin on the accounts of the evening and his matrimonial troubles.

No doubt angling for mercy he told the court that he had been recently discharged from the Army having served with the R.A.M.C. (the Royal Army Medical Corps) and left with £15 and what he described as a 'silver badge' - hopefully a medal - and with the money had bought all of his children, new boots and with the remaining £12 gave it his eldest daughter to hide from his wife in her stocking, because he said that she was often out of the house and drinking with 'bad women'.

Furthermore, he wasn't drunk he had only consumed a small glass of whisky and was looking for his errant wife.

With a final roll of the dice, he told the Stipendary that he was a man who had fought for his King and Country and that he was the innocent party! he then saluted the Bench and left the dock, no doubt expecting a round of applause from the crowded courtroom.

However, his case of sobriety and heroism came crashing down around his ears when the Stipendary asked Detective Inspector Clarke what was known about Mr Fallows.

This paragon of justice was found to have no less than 77 previous convictions for theft, assault and drunkenness to name but three.

As for his glowing army war record? the D.C. told the court that Fallows had been in court five times for absenteeism from the army and putting the proverbial boot firmly in added that that the Military Authorities were no doubt glad to see the back of him as he had kept two soldiers travelling backwards and forwards from Blackpool to act as his escort  back to barracks.

The Stipendary weighed up all the evidence in front of him and said, "The time has come to when I am not going to stand any of this any longer, you will go to prison for a month with hard labour"

And so the 'army hero' was carted off to Strangeways prison for a diet of bread and water and a side portion of hard labour for good measure, which to be fair wasn't a bad result considering his previous form.

Hopefully, Mrs Fallows was able to live a quieter, more peaceful life with the 'brute behind bars unless of course, she found the £12 hidden in her daughter's sock and went out with her 'bad friends' for a drink or two, and who can blame her?