A Virtual History Tour of Marple and District

Marple's Changing Face presentation by Gordon Mills An imaginary journey through the Marple of yesteryear using old photographs (some over 100 years old), together with some more recent photographs (April 2003) for comparison.

Stockport Road (West) This album of Stockport Road covers the section from Dan Bank to the junctions of Station Road and Church Lane, where for so many years the Jolly Sailor Pub was a major landmark at the heart of the community.

Stockport Road (East) This second album of Stockport Road covers the area beyond the junctions with Station Road and Church Lane up to the Navigation Hotel, another major landmark central to the community that thankfully remains.

Marple District Centre Marple District Centre was changed radically in the 1970s when Market Street was paved over and Hibbert Lane was extended between Church Lane and Stockport Road. The numbered images in this album were taken by Marple UDC during these changes and the location of each shot was marked on a large plan of the area, which is also included as the first image in the album. Additional photos taken by Pete Robinson during the mid-1970s to early 1980s were provided by Eddie Ashworth in 2015. Both Eddie and Pete worked on the District Centre improvements for several years back in the day. Note: Although all the numbered Marple UDC images are labelled 1970 in the Archives, several of them feature vehicles registered later than this. So it has to be assumed the photos were taken in the early 1970s, rather than 1970 exactly.

Market Street and Derby Way Market Street is now the thriving centre of Marple shopping, paved over in the 1970s and regenerated several times. The older pictures in this album show a very different Market Street, before pedestrianisation, but it's clear that it was at the heart of the community then too.

Hollins Mill and Estate The Hollins estate was first mentioned in 1712 and when Hollins Mill was built in 1830 the present day centre of Marple developed around it. Nothing is left of the Mill today but Marple Memorial Park remains at the heart of Marple and is a lasting legacy of the mill owners' generosity and the community's losses during the Great War. This album contains images relating to the mill and the estate, including Marple Memorial Park.

Church Lane This album covers Church Lane, running from the junction with Stockport Road up, past the Hatters Arms and the junctions with Hibbert Lane and Market Street, on past the Con Club and the Ring o' Bells and all the way to All Saints' Church.

Station Road and Brabyns Brow This album covers Station Road from the junction with Stockport Road up past Memorial Park towards Marple Station, where it turns into Brabyns Brow, and on down the Brow past Brabyns Park and on to Marple Bridge. It also features the frequent crashes on Brabyns Brow before the road and Marple Bridge were widened and straightened in the 1930s.

The Railways This album contains everything we have relating to railways in Marple. There are separate sub-albums for Marple and Rose Hill Stations with everything else, including both Middlewood Stations and Ludworth Moor Tramway, residing in the higher-level Railways album. If you have any Marple Railways related images we don't, please consider sharing them.

Dan Bank and Dooley Lane This album covers the Dan Bank and Dooley Lane area, including Otterspool, Chadkirk and as far up as Bunker's Hill. You could claim that some of this is not strictly Marple but then you'd be missing out on some great local photographs of the most familiar routes into and out of the town.

Park and Paterson Foundry Park and Paterson (Manchester) Ltd was situated on Cross Lane, Marple. The original foundry premises were built during the latter part of the 19th century and had railway access from the adjoining Rose Hill line. The firm went into receivership in 2004. The photos in this album are from Marple Local History Society Archives and include some of Park and Paterson's Parkhead Glasgow Works for completeness. Unfortunately most of the images are undated.