It takes 10 minutes to travel by train from Manchester to Eccles, and on my recent holiday, we did just that. Eccles is a small town of approximately 39,000 and it's the birthplace of those delicious Eccles cakes.
In the nearby Chat Moss peat bog, evidence of human settlement dates back as far as 6000 BC. The peat bog covered 30% of what is now the city of Salford. Now, when I was working on my geneology prior to the trip, it was somewhat confusing because the industrial revolution caused great growth in this area. Eccles is both a city and a parish that lost its townships to the city of Salford as the city expanded. Eccles itself later became part of Salford which is now part of Greater Manchester. (Just don't say that to the people of Salford who still regard themselves as a separate city!)
At the center of Eccles and dating back to the 13th century is the historic Church of St. Mary's, with grade I listed status and the only church in the area for several hundred years. Even before the current church was built, a church had existed on this site since Norman times. The first photo, the gargoyle, was taken at the back of the church.
The church is constructed of red Ashlar sandstone, a very soft and easy to carve stone. We admired the church tower from the little pub across the street.
The clock had an interesting face.
When the Liverpool - Manchester train route opened in 1830, it went through Eccles and Eccles started to grow lengthwise along the railway. The street runs along the track but there is a new train stop there now. I had come to Eccles with some addresses off of old letters and realized my grandfather had lived in a house that was probably knocked down to build the new stop.
I had better luck searching for his aunt & uncle's house. We quickly found the street, above, and went looking for the number. We passed a school - was this my grandpa's school? I didn't think so but it probably is. At the time I didn't realize the name had changed and the photo I had with me was probably from the other side.
How many of these places existed before my grandpa came to Canada?
And there is the house, the left side of the semi, below. I took a quick photo and we turned around.
Much like Manchester, Eccles is made of red brick.
Count the pubs. It seems there are quite a few and they are usually in interesting buildings.
And another and another.
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We had dinner at The Eccles Cross, part of the Wetherspoon chain of pubs. They are interesting because their interiors feature local history. This one is named after the original Eccles Cross, a wayside cross which is an old waymark for walkers and pilgrims, usually in the shape of a crucifix.
References
Images
Photos from my Canon SX620 HS in Eccles, Greater Manchester, UK.
I hope you enjoyed our walk around Eccles.
@kansuze
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