Stories from the Archives
Browse through this collection of stories drawn from many sources including the Society's archive, newspapers and online sources. The catalyst to begin research ranges from an inquiry that comes to the Society, a document that arrives at the archive, or some other trigger that sets off a deeper delving. These are some of the stories that have emerged from these investigations.
The many stories are divided (sometimes loosely) into the subcategories listed below.
Subcategories
People
Stories from the archives linked mainly to people of Marple and District.
Places
Stories from the archives linked mainly to places and buildings of Marple and District.
Artefacts
Stories about artefacts that have been donated to the society's archives, usually due to their links to Marple and District.
Videos
Videos, film-clips and visual presentations linked to Marple and District.
Memories: As I Remember
Memories of Local People
This collection of memories of local people was originally organised and recorded by Gladys Swindells, chairman of the Marple Antiquarian Society as it was then known. The original interviews took place in the 1960s at a time when the interviewees were over 80 so their memories stretch back to the late nineteenth century.
In recent years, Ruth Hargreaves, Louise Thistleton and Bill Beard have painstakingly transcribed audio recordings and handwritten notes of times past, notably four contributions by Tom Oldham, a stalwart of the Society until his death in 1998. Both mediums provided challenges including the quality of recordings, use of dialect and neatness of handwriting.
More recently, we have also received memories from people who lived in Marple in their childhood / teenage years and who have brought to life what it was like to live here in the 1940s and 1950s.
These are divided into subcategories based on the smaller sub-districts of Marple.
Postcards
In the summer of 2019 the late Ann Hearle generously donated her collection of local postcards to the Society.
Collected over 40 years, there are more than 1,000 cards, most of which date from the early 1900s. Some are postmarked but many are not and, similarly, some have messages but others don’t. Postcards were very popular in the early 1900s and Ann’s collection includes examples from more than 13 publishers including Kennerley Photographer from Marple Bridge and Raphael Tuck & Sons, Art Publishers to their majesties The King and Queen (Edward & Alexandra) who were based in the City of London. Postcards were sold through local shops and often included the shop name e.g. T W Waterhouse of the Post Office, Rowarth and M H Moore Stationers, Marple.
Many images are already shared on the Virtual Tour of Marple which Mark Whittaker runs via the Marple Website, but many are new to us. The Virtual Tour can also be accessed from the MLHS website.
Here are some postcards that I hope you find interesting, with thanks to our late President Ann Hearle.
Hilary Atkinson, August 2019
