Ashburys Carriage Works

Came across this fascinating history of Ashburys, perhaps most well known now for building coaches for the Metropolitan Railway, some of which fortunately survive.

It's long, 52 pages, but worth a delve:

https://diggreatermanchester.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/gmpr11_ashburys.pdf

 

Very interesting read. I noticed a photo of a Beyer Peacock works plate dated 1885, which is identical to one that i have.
I wonder what the one in the photo is off.

Bob.

 

Some twenty-odd years ago I found myself working in that exact area, in what was then called MANCAT* for about eight weeks or so and living in an apartment converted from the old MS&LR bonded warehouse. I was intrigued by rails embedded in the roads near the college, not on the main road. I wonder if the two were/are related?

*MANchester College of Arts and Technology.

 

@The Green Howards there are few of these old rails dotted around Openshaw and further up Ashton Old Road in Higher Openshaw.


I hope this link helps.
https://blog.mechanicallandscapes.com/2019/07/02/518-english-steel-and-manchester/

 

That's brilliant, thank you - I recognised that first photo straight away!! From memory, MANCAT (as was) was built on the site of the Armstrong-Whitworth factory. Interestingly, what appears to be an Indian restaurant in the first photo was boarded up and the whole of it painted blue in an attempt to smarten the area up for the Commonwealth Games in 2002.

 

Thank you for this - interesting in itself, and it's also introduced me to Grace's Guide

 

I knew I'd seen references somewhere to the rails around the streets of Openshaw, glad it's of help
Yes you are right about the streets around there getting a slight brush up for the commonwealth games, the area around Mancat, or Manchester College, Openshaw Campus as it's now known is now redeveloped with a mixture of light industry and apartments/flats etc. The street in the picture is still there albeit blocked off at both ends with an earth mound. I think the setts and rails are still in situ.
There was another historical company Crossleys just down the road from the college, although it would have been known by a different name then, that site is just clear ground now.

 

Grace's Guide is fascinating. I need to introduce an Australian to it to correct some errors he's made 'doing his own research' into a former company I have an interest in.

 

@The Green Howards
I've found a video from a Manchester "vlogger' the first ten minutes maybe of interest to you. One point though he didn't realise that the works on Whitworth Street was the Armstrong Whitworth factory.

 

Goodness, that's a lot more overgrown now than it was in 2002...

I went and had a look at the ever-excellent resource that is the archive of OS maps held at the National Library of Scotland: interesting to note that in the 1938 6 inch:mile edition, Armstrong-Whitworth's works are shown as "disused"...

Even more interesting (to me, anyway) is that Gorton Works is/was right next door - and I'm assuming the "Crossley Gas & Oil Engine Works" is the same Crossley that produced the V8 engine for the Met-Vick Class 28 Co-Bo.

 

It looks like that from the Wiki entry for Crossley - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossley

 

So it does