Together Trust Archive

  The records found in the Trust’s archive are mostly written by those in authority and obtaining the views of the children in the Charity’s care is rare. For those in the Charity's care in the mid-1930s however we have several short essays in response to an essay question set for the children entitled, ‘What I like best at Belmont and why’. The children were only invited to comment on their ‘best’ thing and so the picture we get is not balanced but this is still a valuable opportunity to hear the children’s thoughts on their home life. The answer as to why this essay was set for the children is answered in an edition of the Charity’s magazine of 1935 which explains this was the question set for an essay competition with an annual prize donated by a supporter of the Charity who, the magazine states, enjoyed hearing about the children’s activities. A small selection of these essays written in October 1935 by children aged between nine and 13 reveals some of the ‘best things’ ref...

This year marks some important anniversaries with regards to the Charity's presence in Cheadle.  After the purchase of over 23 acres of land the first of the Charity's children moved into Cheadle in 1920 to a building that already existed known as Belmont House, which in 2023 is currently being partially demolished. The Charity however began constructing their own buildings soon after, the first completed was known as Crossley/Gaddum now home to Inscape House School. The building officially opened almost 100 years ago in July 1923 with 40 boys from the Charity's orphan homes in George Street, Cheetham Hill moving in soon after. Stone Laying Ceremony for Crossley/Gaddum building, Cheadle 1922 Two years later in 1925 later Hayes/Shaw now home to Ashcroft School opened and 20 girls and 20 boys again moved from the George Street homes to Cheadle, meaning all together over 120 children were accommodated on the Cheadle site. The Charity's ambition was however even greater. Th...

We may be out of lockdown, but I'm sure there are still many who are shielding or keeping indoors (especially when the weather is so miserable). For those who want an art and history fix, or for those in need of mindful relaxation, you can colour our collections by downloading a free colouring pack from the Together Trust website here .

As promised we return to share our Explore Your Archive tweets for the year so far , so you can explore our archive.

Continuing our exploration of the illustrations created for the Manchester and Salford Refuges, we’re putting a spotlight on an image depicting the events of the 1923 Belmont Garden Fete . Some readers may have seen this little cartoon before.

Like many archives across the UK and Ireland, we have been sharing stories and images from the archive on Twitter for Explore Your Archive 2020.

The benefits of animal therapy are well advocated. Our pets provide us with comfort, happiness, and unconditional love. For some of the Charity's former and current young people however, there are additional benefits to spending time with animals; these include helping to restore a young person’s confidence , improve social interaction, emotional well-being , and expression. The archive offers up snapshots which show some of the animals that were resident on the Belmont estate in the 20th century. Here are just a few that brought happiness and companionship to our residents: Meg was resident at Belmont in the 1930s. Caspar belonged to the Houseparents of the Crossley Home in the late 1940s. A number of photographs of Caspar with the young residents are held in the collection.

When the Together Trust moved to Cheadle in 1920, it took over a site, which formally belonged to the Milne family. The purchase of the estate, which cost £5,700 (around £125,000 in today's money), included 22.5 acres of land and Belmont House along with an assortment of farm buildings. Originally, the estate was supposed to consist of ten homes but in the end only four were built. Along with Belmont House these housed 120 children. By 1927 a Sanatorium was also built in order to cater for the children if they got sick. A rummage in the archive the other week revealed some statistics for the Sanatorium in its early days.  Sanatorium

This week's blog has been compiled by Robert Atherton, a student at Poynton 6th form, who has been on a week's long placement as an archive student at the Together Trust. Alongside various other duties, Robert has been cataloguing some of our case files from the 1930s and has picked out one file to research and compile a blog on.

As today is International’s Women’s Day it seems only fitting to dedicate this week’s blog to all of the women who have worked for and cared for the children in our charity over the years. Some we have talked about before;  Annie Shaw  for example dedicated over 50 years of her life to the Manchester Refuges, being an active member of the committee and taking a particular interest in the Cheetham Hill Homes, which included the 6 Orphan Homes , Bethesda , Tetlow Grove  and Rosen Hallas; Harriet Smethurst worked for the charity for 37 years as Matron of Rosen Hallas, travelling across to Canada every year with her party of girls and Miss Pickford ran Bethesda, caring for all the ‘delicate children’ that entered through its doors.  Annie Shaw (left)

We’ve had our archaeologist caps on at the Together Trust campus this week. The summer holidays often results in building work to the schools in preparation for a new academic year. The modern age mixes with old as the ground has been dug up to create a 35 metre trench to install fibre optic cabling. It’s this manual work that can lead to surprising discoveries and bring up questions as to how this site used to be. Digging a trench

This week we’re moving away from our young roots project and heading back home to Cheadle.  Last week we had a visit from a gentleman who used to live at Belmont House , back in the 1950s. This was his first visit to his old home since he left at the age of 7. Consequently we went on a walk of the grounds, both to Belmont House, which is next door to our current offices, and to the buildings onsite, once children’s homes and now schools. Visuals prompt memories and help to reconstruct the landscape as it used to be. Although the charity still resides on the same site it purchased 96 years ago, much as changed. Entrance to the Belmont Estate, 1950s

I came across a ration book in one of our files today. Dated from the 1950s and still containing a lot of its coupons, it’s a good representative of life in the UK after World War Two. Every young person that was in the Belmont Homes during that time would have been issued with a ration book. So what were these and what were they for? Ration Book 1953-1954

Today is a momentous day in history as Queen Elizabeth II officially becomes Britain’s longest reigning monarch . She overtakes Queen Victoria’s previous record of 63 years, seven months and two days. She also becomes the longest reigning female monarch in world history. Of course the Together Trust has seen the reign of both monarchs. In fact it has witnessed six sovereigns rule over England during its lifetime.   Charity's Homes in 1952

It’s that time of the year again when we open our gates and welcome everyone to our 94th Cheadle Festival . Over the years it has been called the Belmont Garden Fete and the Bethesda Festival , but however it is known it still aims to create a fun day out to the local community. Ticket from 1939

We’re returning to Belmont House today to take a closer look at the building we owned for sixty years of our existence between 1920 and 1981. Today the building resides as a care home for the elderly.  Belmont House today

Out of all of the individuals associated with the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes there is one name that continues to frustrate me. This gentleman has a continued presence around the illustrious name of the charity and yet we know very little about him. That person is Robert Shaw, only son of our founder Leonard Shaw and his wife Annie . 

The  Together Trust  has various film reels from its earlier days depicting some of our former services. These have been converted into DVD clips by the  North West Film Archive  to allow the films to still be seen today. It gives a different insight into how the charity advertised itself as well as revealing what the services would have looked like. Title Slide

"This has been our seventh Christmas at Belmont, and it has been a real kiddies’ Christmas. The preparations in the kitchen are watched with eagerness, and the stirring of the plum puddings is carried out to the accompaniment of almost deafening cheers. There are many willing hands for the decorating of the rooms and the coming of the great Christmas Tree at night-time intensifies the excitement. Bringing in the Christmas Tree, 1935

“While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door”.` 'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door - Only this, and nothing more." -  The Raven , Edgar Allan Poe (1 845)  It’s Halloween at the Together Trust and as staff members dress up in scary costumes to raise money for the charity the archive delves deep into its gloomy depths in search of spooky tales. Can you tell the difference?