Background

The Ardwick Scene, 1923

To soccer enthusiasts the year 1923 is remembered for the first Cup Final at Wembley when Bolton Wanderers beat West Ham United before a record crowd. To Old Gegorians who, for the most part, were no less soccer enthusiasts, 1923 was remembered for the opening of St Gregory’s School in Ardwick Green.

The Ardwick scene of the 1920s was vastly different from that of later years. Monstrous multi-storey flats and drab barrack-like ditto were something of the future; small back-to-back houses were to be found in the warrens of streets leading off the main thoroughfares. For entertainment there was much to offer. Cinemas and theatres had their devotees: so too did the many public houses.

In the week prior to the school’s opening in September 1923, the nearby Ardwick cinema was showing The Romance of the Rosary with Lewis Stone and Jane Novak. It was billed as “a grand new symphony of human emotion”, which was probably another way of advising the female patrons to bring plenty of handkerchiefs. On the previous Saturday, September 1st, the Deansgate cinema had shown the film What’s Wrong With Women? This epic was said to have the answer to the problem that had puzzled mankind for ages, and would make millions think and talk. For those who preferred good old-fashioned escapism the Gaiety offered the double bill of Marion Davies in The Quaker Girl, and North of the Rio Grande, with Jack Holt and Bebe Daniels.

Music-hall lovers had the choice of several theatres, the Palace, Hippodrome, Ardwick Empire, with the Queen’s Park Hippodrome, Hulme Hippodrome and Royal Osborne Theatre some distance away. In the week the school opened, theatre-goers had the choice of seeing either Gertie Gitana at the Manchester Hippodrome or G.H. Elliott, the Chocolate-Coloured Coon, at the Empire. Dance enthusiasts could enjoy shilling hops at Cowan’s in Raby Street, Moss Side, with Saturday carnival nights being sixpence extra.

Those who preferred outdoor entertainment could take a tram-ride up Hyde Road to Belle Vue and also enjoy the firework display and the 71st Brass Band Contest. But if the grime and smoke of industrial Manchester was too much, the North Wales holiday resorts were available by L.M.S. railways. Prestatyn 7s. 7d return; Rhyl 8s. return; Colwyn Bay 9s. 4d. return; and Llandudno 10s. 2d return. And, for the more adventurous, a trip to London and back could be had for 30s. 2d.

For patrons of the turf, the St Leger provided a talking point on whether Steve Donoghue would ride Papyrus to victory as he had done so on the same horse in the Derby of that year. However, it was not to be, the St Leger winner was Tranquil, with Tommy Weston in the saddle, with Papyrus second and Teresina third. 

The newspaper headlines ranged from the political to human tragedy. The Tokyo earthquake was front-page news, providing macabre reading of the holocaust that caused thousands of deaths. Nearer home a fourteen-year-old boy from Ardwick had been found brutally murdered in Carr’s Wood, Northenden. The boy, Percy Sharp, had been unemployed and met his murderer at the labour exchange.

On Tuesday, 11th September, a pilgrimage left Manchester for Lourdes under the auspices of the Catholic Association and led by Dr John Vaughan, Auxiliary Bishop of Salford.

Such was the backcloth of events long forgotten with the passing of time.

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