IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Nell Lane, MANCHESTER, M21 7SL

Having attended Chorlton Grammar School in Sandy Lane in the 1950s, I took the opportunity to find it again. The original site was occupied by a Pentecostal Church Image, and the school had relocated to the other side of Chorlton Park.

The rear of the school site is bordered by the brook, with land on the opposite bank being used as playing fields. When Chorlton High School was amalgamated onto a single site a few years earlier, new buildings were erected with a bridge to link to the playing fields, avoiding the need to leave the site and cross the brook at Hough End Bridge on Nell Lane. A public footpath runs beneath the bridge.

A footpath follows the brook through the Clough. The main part of the school site is on the south side of the brook, with sports pitches on the north side.

Hough End Hall was built in the 1590s for Sir Nicholas Mosley when he was Lord of the Manor of Manchester. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hough_End_Hall The hand of the town planners have not been kind to the hall, as it sits in a sea of car parks, hemmed in by two hideous sixties office blocks with the buildings of Chorlton High School and associated security fences crowding in from the rear. This close up photo is probably the best view as the later buildings cannot be seen. Hough End was sold by the Mosleys to the Samuel Egerton of Tatton. By the 20th century much of the interior had been lost; the fine staircase had been removed to Tatton Hall in Cheshire, and the hall was a farmhouse. In 1969 Pevsner noted that the porch had collapsed and the roof was open to the skies, describing the condition of the building as 'an unpardonable act of cruelty'. Manchester Corporation, who owned the building, later carried out some renovation works, after which Hough End was used as a pub / carvery type restaurant / nightclub, closing some time in the late 1990s. In 2009/10 further restoration work was carried out and the hall reopened briefly as a restaurant. This closed later that year, and by December 2011 the building was to let. http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Culture/Architecture/The-Good-the-Standard-and-the-Ugly-Hough-End-Hall

A view through the security fencing.

The bridge connects the main school site with sports pitches on the opposite bank. a public footpath follows the riverbank.

Behind the distant trees is an embankment carrying Mauldeth Road West over the disused railway line. The Metrolink line to Manchester Airport will cross the brook just below the embankment. Work had already started clearing the route and moving services.

The extension of the Manchester Metrolink network to the airport is planned to open in 2016. The line will leave the South Manchester Line just after the St Werburgh's Road stop and cross land between the buildings of Chorlton High School and Mauldeth Road West, then running along the dual carriageway and Hardy Lane to a river crossing near Jackson's Boat. Preliminary work was underway in this area, mainly moving services and sorting out drainage.

Looking through the perimeter fencing from Mauldeth Road West. The banners proclaim the academic achievements of the school, with a quote from an Ofsted inspection report.