Together Trust Archive

"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

It’s the 20th December and to shut out the looming panic of shopping lists only half completed we’ll turn instead to Christmas across the seas and see how our Canadian family used to celebrate the festive season. Christmas Letter Home 1904

Today we turn to look at a family who have represented and supported the Together Trust since 1902. When a family is associated for over a hundred years with a charity it is impossible to highlight all the work different individuals have partaken in within one small blog. With two chairmen, trustees, committee members and numerous donators, the family have been at the core of the charity’s success over the last 143 years. 

We are returning to Bethesda on George Street this week to coincide with UK Disability History Month ( UKDHM ) 22 November – 22 December 2013. The aim this year is to explore the history of attitudes and how disabled people's lives have been marked by change. Bethesda, 1900

We’ve spoken before on this blog about how vital our records are to many different communities in the local area. This week sees archives across Manchester, and the rest of the UK, come together to raise awareness of their collections and their value to society. 

In 1888 a set of buildings were purchased on Great Ducie Street, near to the main Central Refuge on Francis Street. These were originally held under lease from the Lord Ducie estate, until ambitious construction works commissioned by the Refuge to replace the old buildings were completed in 1890. Artist's impression of the 1890 building

Here is a photograph sent across to me quite recently of a little white house. I wonder whether any of our regular readers may have an inkling as to what this building (now converted to residential flats) used to be. The blue sky would probably give a good clue that it was not one of our Manchester homes…. The white house*

Many of our different blogs have taken quotes or stories from the book ‘Making Rough Places Plain’. Consequently it may be time to delve into this publication a bit deeper. Front pages of 'Making Rough Places Plain'

“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?

We have had another exciting donation for our archive collection this week.  First Page of Daddy's Bobby Book

I was lent a book recently entitled, ' The Gangs of Manchester: The Story of The Scuttlers' by Andrew Davies . The book revolves around Manchester at the end of the nineteenth century and the turf wars which existed between groups of teenagers. Scuttlers belonged to their own distinct group; the Bengal Tigers, the Meadow Lads and the Pollard Street Scuttlers, to name a few, fiercely defended their own patch. Weapons included belt buckles and knives as well as the boy’s fists and feet. From 1870 the industrial slums of Manchester and Salford saw the emergence of a brutal gang culture that lasted for 30 years.  Strangeways Prison – A common sight to many a scuttler “A scuttler is a lad, usually between the ages of 14 and 18, or even 19, and scuttling consists of the fighting of two opposed bands of youths, who are armed with various weapons”. — Alexander Devine , Scuttlers and Scuttling: Their Prevention and Cure. (Manchester, 1890)  So how is this book relevan...

On Sunday 6th October Inscape House opened its doors to former pupils and staff to celebrate the school’s 20th anniversary. This had been preceded on Friday by the grand opening of its newly built extension. The outcome was a lot of laughter, catching up with old friends and plenty of cake! It seems apt after a weekend of celebration to look a bit more closely at the last 20 years of the school. It has been an interesting one! Inscape Birthday Cake