by Malcolm Pheby | Feb 10, 2019 | Bits & Pieces
February 10, 1973: Just like that! Flamboyant Manchester City striker Rodney Marsh scores the opening goal in the First Division match against Spurs at White Hart Lane. Spurs defender Mike England was not overly amused by Marsh’s antics – but worse was to come. City...
by Malcolm Pheby | Jan 31, 2019 | Bits & Pieces, This Week
February 2, 1958: Firemen tackle the blaze which gutted the York Restaurant and Coronation Ballroom at Belle Vue zoo and amusement park. Artist Syd Lane’s studio was destroyed and 5,000 musical scores belonging to Fred Bonelli and his Old Time Orchestra went up in...
by Malcolm Pheby | Jan 24, 2019 | Bits & Pieces
January 19, 1909: Suffragettes Christabel Pankhurst and Mary Gawthorpe meet in Manchester ahead of a Votes For Women rally at the Free Trade Hall. Pankhurst, born in Manchester, was the daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and a co-founder of the Women’s Social and...
by Malcolm Pheby | Jan 17, 2019 | Bits & Pieces
January 20, 1960: Three-year-old Linda Torkington tows her 10-month-old sister Susan in a home-made sledge during the winter snowfalls. The sisters, from Stockport, were playing on the slopes of Lyme Park in Disley. Temperatures in the winter of 1959-60 were not as...
by Malcolm Pheby | Dec 26, 2018 | Bits & Pieces
December 23, 1940: Manchester’s Free Trade Hall in Peter Street lies in ruins after suffering a direct hit in an overnight bombing raid during World War II. Manchester Cathedral and the Royal Exchange were also badly damaged in two nights of raids that took the lives...
by Malcolm Pheby | Oct 10, 2018 | Bits & Pieces
October 9, 1968: Traffic has deserted the Queen’s Road filling station on Trafford Park as industrial disputes put a stop to fuel deliveries. The home-made sign makes it clear why petrol supplies have run out. As well as missing out on fuel, motorists lost their...
