Belmont and the coal chute
It’s that time of the year again when quiet descends upon the Together Trust’s head offices in Cheadle. As its two schools, Ashcroft and Inscape shut up shop for the summer, only the main central administration building now remains open. Crossley Gaddum The summer usually signals the exchange of children’s voices for the sounds of drills and hammering. The six weeks of the school holidays allows a chance for building work on the now empty buildings. As both Ashcroft and Inscape use buildings built by the charity in the 1920s, it is perhaps not surprising that work often needs doing. The buildings now contain classrooms for the education of those who attend the schools, but 100 years ago they were built as children’s homes. Then known as Hayes, Shaw, Crossley and Gaddum, they housed both boys and girls, catering for around 20 in each. To those who lived there the buildings today still look familiar from the outside. There are still however, some features that remain on the inside o
