IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Wicker Lane, ALTRINCHAM, WA15 0PP

The old Victorian Smithy in Hale Barns has become a sunny - if not exactly peaceful - haven. In a previous life, it has been an ironmongers, a DIY shop, and a carpet fitter's.

Dates back to the 19th century, and earlier. In more recent times has had a chequered history as a hardware store, café, and Middle Eastern restaurant

The building directly ahead is original and unchanged since the 19th century. Photos exist of the blacksmith at work there. The crescent-shaped corner building is a 20th century addition. Ownership has gone through various hands since the war including a Mr Aldcroft, who ran a hardware shop in the adjacent building, and was also an organ enthusiast. Strains from the Wurlitzer which he had installed in the Smithy loft used to drift across the Green.

This café occupies corner premises in the village that have seen a variety of retail uses - including a hardware shop, chandlers, and a carpet fitter/retailer. It is not the most restful of locations for outdoor tables - alongside the ultra busy Hale Road - but seems to attract plenty of customers. It takes its name from the 19th century Smithy, next door. The new proprietors are luckier than they realise: before the First War, Lord Egerton - the landowner in Hale and Ringway - forbade all his tenants to sell and serve tea to visitors (i.e. day trippers) on pain of instant eviction!

All Saints C of E is on the left, and Holy Angels Catholic Church further behind.

A tall sandstone cross on the small island at the junction of Hale Road and Wicker Lane. The names of those of Hale Barns and Ringway who fell in the two world wars are inscribed on the base (see http://www.carlscam.com/hale/warbarn.htm for a list of the names).

This appears in several old photographs of Hale Barns. The Green was originally fenced off, and provided with a drinking fountain, at the expense of wealthy Conservative MP for Altrincham, Sir William Cunliffe Brooks (1819 - 1900). Interestingly, he was succeeded as MP in Altrincham by C R Disraeli, nephew of Benjamin. Like his father (Samuel Brooks) he lived, for a period, up the road at Prospect House. The Brooks' private bank, of which there was a prominent branch in Altrincham, was sold to Lloyd's in 1900.

War Memorial, Hale Barns, with inscriptions covering the First and Second World Wars.

A tall sandstone cross on the small island at the junction of Hale Road and Wicker Lane. The names of those of Hale Barns and Ringway who fell in the two world wars are inscribed on the base (see http://www.carlscam.com/hale/warbarn.htm for a list of the names).

A tall sandstone cross on the small island at the junction of Hale Road and Wicker Lane. The names of those of Hale Barns and Ringway who fell in the two world wars are inscribed on the base (see http://www.carlscam.com/hale/warbarn.htm for a list of the names).