community
October 2014
Didsbury
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Your local independent toy shop
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Contents
Everybody needs Good Neighours... Joe Beech Editor
editor@communityindex.co.uk 07875 895 604
Lesley Swann Director
Linsey Parkinson
Marketing & Development
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Sam Paechter Accounts
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149 Ayres Road, Manchester M16 9WR
The history of Wood Lawn
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On the cover Hayley Scholes, by Carol Thompson
Deadline for next edition
Content 10th October 2014 Advertising 14th October 2014
Contributors Deborah Grace
Andrew Simpson
Katherine Watson Geoff Garnett
Linsey Parkinson
It’s time to play!
Why we should support our local independent toyshops By Linsey Parkinson So which was better: the anticipation or the reality? Going into the toyshop as a child with a bit of birthday money, able to choose whatever you wanted, was wonderful. Think back and you’re probably smiling. Local toyshops are special places and we all remember those we knew and loved. So where can today’s children go for that same thrill of excitement and possibility?
In the last year or so, neighbouring Chorlton has lost Monkey Puzzle and Busy Bee Toys, while shops have also closed in Wilmslow, Bramhall, Poynton and Altrincham. South Manchester is down to its last two independents: Go Great in Burnage and Giddy Goat in Didsbury.
You may remember Amanda Alexander as co-owner of Monkey Puzzle. She left there two years ago to set up on her own at Giddy Goat. Selling toys is a serious business though: she faces stiff competition from supermarkets, bargain stores and huge online retailers. Looking around, it’s obvious how Giddy Goat and other small toyshops are different from the pile-it-high sector: toys here are chosen by people who care. Dolls and teddy bears picnic in the window, there are play tables with trains, craft kits, colourful books and must-haves for even the tiniest babies. The pocket money section is bustling with children
spoilt for choice and parents assembling party bags. “When I buy stock, I think of children opening presents at parties. I don’t want parents’ hearts sinking as they watch them open yet another piece of plastic tat. I stock toys I’d be happy to give as gifts, that I know children will love.” So what’s on this year’s Christmas list? “Dolls from Frozen in particular, but also the classics: Lego, anything with wheels, dinosaurs – and you can never have too many loom bands.” Amanda chats with every child in the shop: she tells a small boy that the mean-looking knight he’s just bought enjoys spiders on toast. His eyes shine. Shopping locally for toys is especially important: independent toyshops bring colour and fun to our high streets, and give happy memories to our children. Anonymous warehouses, brown boxes and shopping trolleys can’t do that and won’t even try. If we let the giants win the game, we’ll all be the losers in the end. Find Giddy Goat Toys on Albert Hill Street
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Didsbury People by Deborah Grace
Hayley Scholes
Hayley Scholes on the rewards of volunteering - and late night, spooky encounters!
What do you do?
I’m a freelance photographer as well as full-time manager at the Pavilion Cafe in Didsbury Park. I’m also a volunteer with Didsbury Good Neighbours.
What is Didsbury Good Neighbours?
We’re a local, volunteer-led, neighbourhood care group. We befriend older people in the community and provide opportunities for them to meet others and share activities and interests. There are 50 to 60 volunteers who are matched up with individuals whom we visit in their own homes. We’ll do things like weekly shopping, running errands, gardening and small jobs. The group also provides activities, such as coffee mornings, talks and concerts as well as trips to the theatre, cinema and restaurants. We’re lucky enough to have the Holt Pavilion in Didsbury Park as a base for many of our activities and the proceeds from the cafe go back into the charity.
What made you become a volunteer? I think that if I can give an hour of my time to benefit someone else, then it’s been worthwhile. And I’ve always wanted to work with older people. Sadly, I never knew any of my grandparents and I always felt something was missing.
Photo by Carol Thompson
old Carrington power station near my mum’s house – of things just falling apart. I’ve taken pictures of the former Mayfield train station, right next to Piccadilly, completely empty and overgrown. I’m always struck by the huge number of places left abandoned, while so many people are homeless. So much could be done with these spaces.
What is your earliest memory?
Mum putting me in a bouncy seat inside the door frame!
When were you happiest?
I’m happy right now! I have amazing friends and family. I’m in a new relationship with someone I really care about and I’ve had a great year.
Which is your favourite Didsbury place?
Fletcher Moss Park. I’ve taken lots of photos there, but on one occasion I was really spooked. I was there at 11pm, with a friend, making light paintings. It was pitch black and suddenly we heard footsteps on the gravel coming towards us. We were so scared we just ran away!
Complete the sentence, ‘I love As a photographer, what interests you Didsbury because …’ most? It’s different and down to earth, especially West I’m interested in travel photography, street photography and, most of all, urban exploration. I’m fascinated by abandoned buildings and derelict spaces. They’re like a sign from the past about how things used to be. I’ve taken hundreds of photos in the
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Didsbury. You get a whole mix of independent shops and cafes and most town centres don’t have that. The people are friendly and lovely – some of the best I’ve ever met!
Visit www.DidsburyGoodNeighbours.org.uk to learn more about becoming a Didsbury Good Neighbour
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Our current projects include volunteer-led befriending work, a new NHS funded arts project and the ongoing development of the Holt Pavilion in Didsbury Park.
Be part of our team! To find out more, contact Gavin Fisk on 07749 504298 or email info@didsburygoodneighbours.org.uk
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Giving Nature a Home RSPB celebrates returning ‘home’ to Manchester with a fun-filled festival
People of all ages enjoyed a celebration of nature’s home last month as the RSPB and Manchester City Council invited everyone to discover the wildlife in the Mersey Valley. Launching the partnership between the council and the RSPB, a Giving Nature a Home festival took place at Chorlton Water Park and Fletcher Moss, Didsbury on the Weekend of 6th September. The weekend celebrations, which also marked the RSPB’s
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125th anniversary, began on Friday with the official launch of the partnership at Fletcher Moss – the place where the RSPB was founded in 1889, in protest against the barbarous trade in plumes for women’s hats. Jo Keene, RSPB Senior People Engagement Officer, said: “One of the highlights was the birthday bird cake, which was created from various types of bird food and looked fabulous. People enjoyed helping to create it and what better way to mark the RSPB’s anniversary? We want
• • • • • • •
to encourage as many people as possible to get actively involved – through joining events, volunteering or sharing ideas.” A series of workshops has been planned throughout the year, allowing local people and organisations to contribute their ideas - and help shape and deliver the vision for the Valley. Image courtesy of Manchester City Council. Eamonn O’Rourke and RSPB Regional Director Peter Robertson raise a Giving Nature a Home flag at Fletcher Moss Park.
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Happy Halloween By Linsey Parkinson How did Halloween get to be so much fun? The party shops are decked with the wonderful orange and black must-have accessories for aspiring witches, vampires and ghouls of all shapes and sizes. Our greengrocers’ tables are groaning with fabulous looking pumpkins ready for easy carving and velvety soup. At risk of sounding like a very old woman, this is all a far cry from when I were a lass in Yorkshire. We carved our lanterns out
of swedes and turnips – a project that really sorted the men from the boys. They were heavy, solid and impossible to cut: the whole thing took forever. If you finally did hollow enough out and could still count to ten on unsevered fingers, your reward was the delightful aroma of scorched root vegetable when you finally lit your candle. Let’s just say they belonged outdoors. While pumpkin carving and trick or treating may seem like an American import, it’s actually the Celts that gave us Halloween. Its history is suitably murky,
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but experts think it’s a festival to celebrate harvest and mark the end of summer. Christians later used it, as the eve of All Saints Day, to pray for the recently departed and souls in purgatory. The first trick or treaters were actually children who went house-to-house collecting soul cakes (spicy fruit buns) in exchange for prayers. So if you’re doing something horribly fiendish this year, do it right. Shop local, be creative and don’t skimp on the dressing up. Halloween doesn’t have to be about trashy Americanisms: we have lots of traditions of our own. Spare a thought for elderly or vulnerable neighbours who may not welcome a knock on the door after dark. Stay safe and be glad you don’t have to carry a smelly turnip with you - that’s the true meaning of horror.
Didsbury Players celebrate half a century Something very exciting is happening in Didsbury this year… The Didsbury Players, our beloved amateur theatre group, has just turned 50 years old!
Originally known as Celesta Players, the group was formed by a crowd of people with a love for theatre and strong links to A poster from the the Didsbury community.
Didsbury Players’ archive
Now they are a close-knit group of friends, most of them professionals with commitments, but who share a love of acting and want to stage quality productions, while having a great time together. They celebrate their 50th anniversary on October 4th with a dinner gala, and they hope to celebrate many more!
If you share their acting passion or are looking for a friendly group, join them every Tuesday at 8pm at the East Didsbury Cricket Club.
TOYS · BO OK S · GAMES ·
Come and see what’s new in Didsbury’s favourite toy shop. We have lots of new and exciting toys, gifts, cards for kids of all ages. Visit our website to see our full range and to buy online.
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Didsbury Through Time
Wood Lawn, the Red Cross Hospital in Didsbury Manchester Guardian reported fully on the opening of the hospital and its Christmas party in 1917, which included presents for the patients, and a series of entertainments spread over two days. The names of some of the staff have been preserved along with an advert from May 1919, placed by Mrs Churchill, asking for anyone who had a claim ‘against the hospital for articles lent, goods supplied & kindly furnished’ to contact her.3
by Andrew Simpson A century ago this month, the Great War, which had begun as a war of movement was about to settle into one of slow attrition, with both sides digging deep into the ground and putting their faith in mass frontal attacks across No Man’s Land. It was a military strategy which was, perhaps, the only option open to the generals but one which came with fearsome casualties.
Back in Britain the Red Cross had established hospitals across the country to care for those recovering from wounds and illnesses. Many were in public buildings, while others were in private homes given
over for the duration of the conflict. And one of these was Wood Lawn, which was a large, 15 roomed house on Mersey Road. At the outbreak of the Great War its owner, Mrs Laura Churchill, had offered it to the Red Cross as a hospital. According to the Manchester Guardian for November 1914 ‘twenty wounded soldiers were transferred from Whitworth Military Hospital [to this] large and pleasantly situated house which has been admirably equipped by the East Lancashire branch of the British Red Cross.’ 1 By 1916 there were six wards and the same newspaper reported that ‘Christmas at Woodlawn was well celebrated.’ 2 Sadly, the history of these hospitals has all but been forgotten, along with the records and staffing details.
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But with Wood Lawn we have been a little luckier. The
It is a salutary lesson in how these things worked, that with the end of the war and the closure of the hospitals, nothing could be left. So, not only were people able to recover items they had sent, but everything from the beds, the blankets and even the typewriters were auctioned off. All of which would have left Mrs Churchill much to do and she was awarded the OBE. Pictures: Wood Lawn from the collection of press cuttings of Mrs Laura Churchill, courtesy of her family
Manchester Guardian November 28th 1914
1
Manchester Guardian December 30th 1916
2
Manchester Guardian May 12th 1919
3
Read more on the history of Didsbury in Andrew Simpson & Peter Topping’s book Didsbury Through Time. chorltonhistory. blogspot.com
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Book Reviews Madame Bovary
ruin.
Gustave Flaubert
Her life was as cold as an attic facing north; and boredom, like a silent spider, was weaving its web in the shadows, in every corner of her heart. The subject of a notorious obscenity trial in 1857, Flaubert’s realist masterpiece, depicting the downfall of the original desperate housewife, is now considered one of the most influential novels ever written. Meanwhile, his tragic, female protagonist remains one of literature’s most compelling and controversial heroines.
In her convent school, the adolescent Emma Rouault yearns for the life of luxury and passion portrayed in the sentimental novels
she devours. When marriage to a country doctor (the dull, though devoted, Charles Bovary) fails to live up to her dreams of romance, Emma looks elsewhere for amorous fulfilment, embarking on a disastrous descent into deceit, sexual degradation and financial
The Children Act
The novel opens one evening with Jack, Fiona’s loving husband of thirty years, announcing his intention of embarking on a ‘big, passionate affair’ with a much younger woman. Not without irony, Fiona reflects that ‘for all a lifetime’s
• Review by Deborah Grace
hospital, Fiona is touched by his beauty and creative gifts. Adam writes poetry and plays the violin. There is an extraordinary scene around his hospital bed, where the boy plays Down by the Salley Gardens as Fiona sings along, feeling a powerful connection with the teenager. Later, Fiona makes her judgement and her decision has fateful consequences which, inevitably, become enmeshed in her personal crisis.
Ian McEwan
Fiona Maye is a leading High Court Judge, presiding over cases in the family division. After a lifetime’s devotion to her work, she has deservedly earned a reputation for wisdom, fierce intellect and for the integrity of her judgements. Professional success, however, belies personal unhappiness. At the age of 59, Fiona’s childlessness is a source of private pain and her marriage is in crisis.
Flaubert’s critique of the mediocrity and hypocrisy of nineteenth-century French provincial life finds bitter expression in the frustrations of his heroine. Disgusted by her smalltown neighbours and continually thwarted in her aspirations, Emma’s tragedy is that she is both the victim and product of the bourgeoisie, being fatally blind to the banality of her own fantasies. In depicting Emma as a deeply flawed character, Flaubert nevertheless invites us to sympathise with the plight of a heroine whose doomed struggle to live beyond the tedium and constraints of her time and sex lifts her, in the end, above the tawdry reality of her tattered dreams.
entanglement in human weakness, she remained an innocent.’ Still reeling from Jack’s bombshell, Fiona is called on to make an emergency court order: Adam, a seventeen-year-old leukaemia patient, is refusing, on religious grounds (his family are Jehovah’s Witnesses), a life-saving blood transfusion. Visiting the boy in
Reminiscent of the neuro-surgeon, Henry Perowne, the troubled hero of Saturday, Fiona Maye is the embodiment of institutional authority in crisis. Like McEwan’s earlier protagonist, Fiona struggles to find meaning in life as her carefully maintained façade and the separation of public and private life begin to disintegrate. • Review by Deborah Grace
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October In Your Garden By Katherine Watson
I have visited quite a few gardens this summer, mainly in the North as part of a holiday or two, to get some design ideas as well as to appreciate the range of effects designers can create in larger spaces (with a smidgeon of hankering for a large garden with a Victorian garret and small orangery…). Towards the end of last month, I visited the walled garden at Scampston Hall not far from Pickering in Yorkshire, made famous by the Dutch designer Piet Oudolf, who was commissioned in 1999 to redesign the space. The garden is divided up into different rooms and this is the time to see it – late flowering perennials come into their own in September and October, as do the myriad grasses that he has used to quite spectacular effect.
One of the gardens, Drifts of Grass, is absolutely amazing and very brave using only, well, drifts of grass - Molinia caerulea ssp. caerulea ‘Poul Petersen’ to be precise. The effect is quite staggering: if you squint a little bit, clear bands of colour start to emerge, rocketlolly-like, from the dark green base, through the lighter lime-green stems to the brown fuzz of the seed heads. This would be a great effect in a domestic garden if you have the room and are brave enough just to plant one variety of grass. Further on, I initially found the Silent Garden a bit boring with its clipped cylinders of yew symmetrically arranged around a simple rectangular pond. Only because my partner wanted a rest from my incessant plant-chat did I sit it out and actually fell in love with it after a few minutes quiet. It is, without a doubt, contemplative and cleverly mimics (in my view) the grandeur of Roman or Grecian colonnades in a contemporary take on the formal garden. Scampston is open until November 2nd and there are various things on throughout the month, including a walk with the head gardener on October 28th.
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Sport in Didsbury By Geoff Garnett
MENCAP Charity Golf Day celebrates 25 years Former Didsbury Golf Club Captain John Gregory has been raising funds for Manchester MENCAP (or Better Things as it’s now known) since 1988, when a chance meeting with Manchester MENCAP’s first chairman Frank Edmunds at Burnage Cricket Club gave him the impetus to do something positive with charitable work.
Since then, golf days at Didsbury and Stockport have helped to raise in excess of £200,000.
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This year they again turned up trumps, raising approximately £5,000. The competition was won by Didsbury Captain Colin Hartley and his team. Rabid red Colin was delighted to win a corporate hospitality package for the Man United v Liverpool match, kindly donated by the Manchester United Foundation. John Gregory said: “I know that the society has come to count on contributions from these events
Pictured: Colin Hartley (second left) with his winning team. to maintain the fantastic level of support they provide to over 300 families in the Manchester area. “They do a wonderful job continuing the work started by Frank all those years ago and I have been delighted to make my own, relatively small contribution to their efforts.”
Born To Read
Help give our children a brighter future by becoming a volunteer
Do you enjoy reading with and talking to children? Are you passionate about reading? Would you like to support your local primary school in helping children achieve? Then Save the Children would love you to volunteer with them.
Save the Children is looking for motivated and enthusiastic volunteers who are keen to make a lasting difference to a child’s life within Greater Manchester. As a volunteer you will provide oneto-one support through reading with a child, playing word games and listening to what they have to say. Born to Read is a partnership between Save the Children and the children’s literacy charity Beanstalk, which places volunteers in primary schools to support children who are struggling to read. This consistent
CAN YOU MAKE A REWARDING IMPACT ON A CHILD’S LIFE? If If you you are are up up for for the the challenge, challenge, we we are are looking looking for for volunteers volunteers to to visit visit aa local local school school for for an an hour hour and and aa half, half, twice twice aa week week to to give give aa child child the the support support they they need need to to become become aa better better reader. reader.
Contact Contact Save Save the the Children Children today today on on
020 7012 6997
volunteersupport@savethechildren.org.uk volunteersupport@savethechildren.org.uk
Photo by Jo Metson-Scott /Save the Children and regular support not only enables children to improve their reading but also boosts their confidence and improves their prospects. By volunteering you will be giving then a great gift: the lifelong love of reading. You must be patient and encouraging, a good listener and communicator, able to work one-to one with children at the child’s pace, have a passion for literacy and dedicated to inspiring the next generation of readers. This is a fantastic volunteering opportunity for someone who is passionate and dedicated about helping children and would like to make a difference through giving their time. To become a volunteer reading helper, we ask that you can commit to 90 minutes twice a week in a local primary school for one academic year. You can sign up at any time during the school year. We will provide full training, on-going support and access to a wide range of exciting resources to support you in your role. All volunteers will be subject to a full enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check and reference checks.
For more information and to apply contact Save the Children today on 020 7012 6997 or visit www.savethechildren.org.uk/ get-involved/volunteer/born-to-read
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Community Index Local groups and useful numbers Clubs, Societies & Groups
Friends of Didsbury Park friendsofdidsburypark.co.uk
Acting For Fun Central, Didsbury 431 4794 Didsbury Civic Society didsburycivicsociety.org.uk Didsbury Cricket Club didsburyccsports.co.uk Didsbury Good Neighbours Every Tues 10-11.45am coffee morning. Holt Pavilion, Didsbury Park 07749 504298 www. didsburygoodneighbours.org.uk Didsbury Ladies’ Probus Club Alternate Monday afternoons in East Didsbury. Joan Woodall 434 2532
Didsbury Men’s Probus Club Alternate Thursday mornings in East Didsbury. Bill Woodall 434 2532 Didsbury Lawn Tennis Club Bob Peel, 445 0465 didsburyccsports.co.uk Didsbury Players celestaplayers.co.uk
Didsbury Village East Residents Association dvera.co.uk Didsbury Village WI didsburyvillagewi.co.uk
Dolls House and Miniatures Group 2nd Monday of each month, 8-10pm, Whalley Range Venue. Ann 07814 861285 Eat Green free cookery school, food bank, garden tool libraries and community growing activities. info@eatgreen.co.uk www. eatgreen.co.uk Ford Bank Residents Association fordbankresidents.org.uk Frets community guitar and singing, Fridays 10am, Didsbury Sports Club 07813 121478
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Friends of Fletcher Moss Park Alan Hill 215 0971 awhill@globalnet.co.uk
Friends of Marie Louise Gardens marielouisegardens.org.uk Lipreading and Communication Skills classes Free to deaf people and their families and friends. Wednesdays 1 -3 pm at Mauldeth House 0161 832 0444 enquiries@ manchesterdeafstudies.org Manchester JKF Karate Club Didsbury MMU Sports Centre, Tuesdays 8.30pm Ben Pollock, 07894108944
Oneness Deeksha Meditation Saturdays 11am-12 at The Didsbury Parsonage. Donation £2 Christine 07734 072040. South Manchester Camera Club Mondays at 8-10pm, Didsbury Methodist Church smcc.org.uk Didsbury Over 50s Group 247 2323
South Manchester U3A 1st Tuesday of the month 2pm, Emmanuel Church. Edna 434 2509
West Didsbury Bookgroup Meets every four weeks at 7.30pm. Lively mixed group of all ages. Call 445 4483 leaving your name, address & landline West Didsbury Residents Association westdidsburyresidentsassoc@ gmail.com westdidsbury.org.uk Withington Civic Society Roger Smith 445 1473 withingtoncivicsociety.org.uk
Social & Support Groups Manchester Diabetes Support Network Details/ venues/ monthly dates etc diabetesinmanchester@gmail.com 860 5688/07414 635992 New Family Social UK charity for LGBT adopters, foster carers and their children. Meets every month in south Manchester. newfamilysocial.org.uk email: nwdevelopment@newfamilysocial. co.uk Useful Numbers Didsbury Library 227 3755
Environment on Call 954 9000 Mersey Valley Countryside Warden Service 905 1100 Manchester City Council 234 5000
Didsbury East Councillors Andrew Simcock cllr.a.simcock@ manchester.gov.uk James Wilson cllr.j.wilson@ manchester.gov.uk
Bridie Adams cllr.b.adams@ manchester.gov.uk
Didsbury West Councillors Josie Teubler cllr.j.teubler@ manchester.gov.uk
Carl Ollerhead cllr.c.ollerhead@ manchester.gov.uk David Ellison cllr.d.ellison@ manchester.gov.uk Local MP John Leech - MP
8 Gawsworth Avenue M20 5NF Tel: 434 3334 johnleechmp@ parliament.uk
Are you part of a voluntary or community group? Drop Joe an email on editor@communityindex.co.uk
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We are a local company based in Chorlton Fully trained to NCCA standards Ring or email for a FREE ESTIMATE
07742 369 231
or leave a message on 0161 881 4822 contact@pro-fresh.co.uk www.pro-fresh.co.uk
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We clean your oven… so you don’t have to Call today to have your oven, hob, extractor or Aga professionally cleaned Ian Glancy Mob Tel: 07580 765765
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Are you separating and unsure which path to take? Slater Heelis has provided clear direction for over 240 years. Our team of Resolution family specialists are here to support you with first class legal advice and provide the direction you need. The team focuses on divorce, separation, civil partnerships, same sex marriages, finances, pre-nups/post-nups and children arrangements. Our family team all live in and around the South Manchester area; living within the same community offers us a unique insight into what affects all our daily lives. You are just a tram ride away from one of our offices in Manchester city centre or Sale.
““I’ve I moved its bohemian, livedto in Whalley ChorltonRange for 10 for years and love vibrant atmosphere andofbeing so close to the attitude and culture the place. Chorlton. Having the independent bars and We love the bars and restaurants, especially shops all within walking Juan distance great the Beagle, Electrik,San andisthe cafénot to Longford mention the tram links to the city.” in Park”. Mark Heptinstall Head of ourSolicitor Family Department Helen Thompson | Consultant
Get in touch with our family team
family@slaterheelis.co.uk 0161 835 3681 www.slaterheelis.co.uk
@familylawnw
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