Join historian Andrew Simpson at the Get Together (24 September 2023) for the short Chorlton history walk that’s got the lot…..

Yes, it’s a short distance, but he’ll need to cover the transformation from small rural community to suburb of Manchester, along with a few murky crimes including the murder of Francis Deacon in 1847, a bit of entrapment and the gang of poachers down from Hulme.

And for those who mourn the loss of the Four Banks, there is that even older popular name of Kemp’s Corner which for a half a century was where people arranged to meet up.

Nor could he leave out the day that Wilbraham Road came to Chorlton, the dastardly theft of a chunk of Manchester Road and why in the event of a house fire you had to knock on the door of the Lloyd’s Hotel.

All these with a mix of other silly and serious stories will accompany Andrew and all who turn up at 2.30.pm outside Benito during the Get Together this Sunday.

“Anyone in doubt as to who they should approach outside Benito,” says Andrew, “I am the man with the expanding waistline, a south east London accent and tons of tales of how we used to live in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, before the bars arrived.”

Location; Wilbraham Road (outside Benito’s/B&M/Woollies, depending on your era) at 2.30pm on Sunday September 24th