M. Hitchen's Cafe, Market Place

This post came about when I was contacted on Facebook by Alison Hayton, who's Great 'Nan' kept the cafe pictured below. Alison's Great Nan was Mary Ellen Hitchen who lived at 187 Lumn Road Hyde, Mary died in 1961 when she was aged 71.  She was the widow of Job Hitchen.  They were originally from York.

Alison's Grandad Bill Hitchen and his sister Jessie were the children of Mary and Job, Bill married his wife Ethel and lived at 39 Lumb Road.

Jessie was working as a Midwife whilst helping out at the cafe, she met her husband Les Chapman who apparently worked at the butcher’s near to the cafe. Alison was wondering about the name of the butchers shop.. and members of our Facebook group commented on a request for information and Walter Ashworth's Butchers was being mentioned, Paul Taylor confirmed this by checking a local trade directory which stated the said butchers address as 6a Market Place and the cafe  number as 10 Market Place.

Alison has alway been pleased to see her Great Nan's cafe in the a painting by local artist Harry Rutherford

Harry Rutherford's view of Hyde market was originally called Saturday Afternoon, but is now known as Northern Saturday. I have not been able to find out the reason behind the name change or who or when it changed. If you know please let me know. Date painted 1948, Oil on board. 24" x 29.5"

This pictures is described by many as his most famous, it was acquired by Hyde Corporation in 1948  

Back to the cafe, again the cafe on show in this postcard, there's two chaps stood on the corner putting the world to right, and the shop that has the canopy down could well be 6a where Walter Ashworth traded as a butcher.

Harry's painting and this postcard are a glimpse  of a very busy market day, with many buildings any town would have been proud of, but alas now gone.

Another of the market painted by Harry Rutherford, c1970 titled as The Square, Hyde. It is Oil on Canvas 15.5" x 19.5" owned by Tameside Council. A big difference in views.

Alison also sent in the picture below of a fairground speedway ride that was nearby her Great Nan's cafe on Hyde Market and can be seen on Harry Rutherford's Northern Saturday.

This is how things can fall into place... just by chance a comment came into the blog on a different post showing rides on Hyde Market, The writer was Ross Jones, and his great interests are the fairs of the area.. in fact Ross tells me he intends to compile a book regarding the three Wake fairs or one covering all the Lancashire/Cheshire Fairs. I wish Ross all the best with this project and I'll put my name down now for a copy.

Back to Hibberts Speedway.. Ross tells me that Hibberts over wintered The Ark on Hyde Market and when it was acquired by E.L. Morley he built up quite a following among the local teenagers by playing record requests for them. Ross has many pictures of Hyde Wakes but the majority of them the copyright belongs elsewhere, and whilst he as never infringed on the copyright did receive dire warnings of the consequences for doing so when buying the photographs .   

How's this for tieing in some of the information, The above picture shows another of Harry Rutherford's paintings of Hyde. This one is called The Red Caravan, and is from c1957, it is again oil on board and measures 12" by 17.5".

My mother whose maiden name was Eileen Collins daughter of John Collins known to all as Jack, told me a number of times later in her life that at one time her paternal grandparents, were from Irish travelling stock, and lived around Crook St or Crook Square in a Gypsy caravan, She also told me that part of the Collins fairground family were related in some way as well. The above picture could quite possibly be that caravan. The John Collins fairground family are still going and many folks will have rode on their Waltzers. Long before I found this information out I got to know John Collins junior and we instantly became good friends. I have not seen him since finding this information out so if you know John Junior let him know to look at this.

I'd like to thank everyone involved for their input in putting this post together, I do not think it would have been so interesting or informative if help from our H.C.Blog Facebook Group had not been freely given

Team work at it's very best, for this the first posting fed down from the Facebook group.

Hyde Cafe

I've only ever heard of this cafe... I grew up hearing it mentioned in my childhood, so when scanning the pictures that Fred Booth kindly left with me I was more than pleased to see these. I'm hoping our comment section gets a few memories from your memories of this place .. I look forward to reading them.

UCP & The Number 15 Bus

Thanks to Susan Jaleel

A great photo of the number 15 bus driving past the UCP shop and cafe on the corner of Hamnett Street and Market Place.. sadly umdated as yet.

Anyone remember where the number 15 went?

Meschia's

If you are of a certain age and hear the name "Meschia's" mentioned you can be sure it will bring back fabulous memories of a great institution that stood on Market Street Hyde for many years. For me, it evokes memories of saturday and sundays sitting in the milk bar chatting with friends ,drinking vimto and eating toasted currant teacakes in the "American style" booths. The older teens sat on the right of the cafe near to the pinball machine whilst the youngsters sat to the left - all aspiring to ,one day ,be part of the "happening" group on the right.

Here's a short history of the family business.


Louis Meschia arrived in England in the 1880s. He was part of the widespread emigration from Italy, coming from the Province of Genova of Northern Italy.It was family connections that brought him to Ancoats in Manchester, the area that became known as ‘Little Italy’. Shortly after arriving, he was told that there was an ice cream factory for sale in Hyde, then owned by Harry Gichero at 139, Market Street.
He liked the shop so much that he bought it and invited his fiancee, Maria Levaggi to join him from Italy. The couple married at St Paul’s Church and had three children — Amelia, Clarence and Joseph.



Clarence was born above the family’s Market Street shop in 1912 and went to Harrytown School and later, Flowery Field. By the age of 12, he was working in the family business, pushing a handcart around Hyde, selling ice cream.


Clarence Meschia during WWII

Louis had begun to expand his enterprise and had taken a wooden hut on Hyde Market in which he had a brazier that he used to boil large pans of black peas that he sold to shoppers by the mug-full. And, of course, he also sold ice cream. By the age of 14, Clarence had left school and was given a horse and cart to expand the operation into Newton, Woodley and Bredbury.




Market Street was as much a bustling place then as it is today - the shops, billiard halls, cafes and the ‘Monkey Run’ as the courting circuit was known. Many romances began (and some ended) at Meschia’s Milk Bar.

Clarence met his wife Betty while dancing in Manchester. They married in 1936 and went to live on Church Street where their two daughters were born. But then came the war and Clarence was called up to serve with the British forces in August 1940. Two weeks later, Italy declared war on England and many families of Italian descent were interned in Bury, or transported to the Isle of Man or Canada. Not so Louis Meschia or his son Clarence who joined the 8th Training Battalion RASC. He served through the war as Company Quartermaster Sergeant of 799 Air Despatch Company and was heavily involved with the supply drops for the D-day landings and Arnhem.


Meschia's Ice Cream van in the 1970's

After the war, Clarence rejoined the family business and despite rationing of ingredients such as butter and sugar, the business began to flourish. Ice cream was then a great luxury in the post-war austerity of Hyde. The family opened a factory in Pine Street from where they supplied forty outlets, but by the early 1980s Clarence and his brother Joseph decided to retire.
Meschia’s is still represented in Hyde Precinct today, next to the outdoor market where Louis first sold his black peas back in the 1920's.

Unfortunately , I have yet to discover a photo of Meschias Milk Bar on Market Street. If anyone has one ,inside or out, that they'd like to share ,please send to Tom or I so we can post it on here. Thanks .

Thanks to The Rhodes family and the Reporter group for the information contained here - very much appreciated.

UCP Cafe

U.C.P.

The initials stood stood for United Cattle Products - advertised as "the offal emporium of the north-west." The UCP, sold much more than just the load of tripe my mother bought. There was cow heels and black pudding, brawn, heart, Ox tongue, and sweetbreads, liver, kidneys, rissoles, faggots, sausage and many more bovine delights. I remember this shop and cafe very well... Saturday mornings I would be dragged around Hyde while mum did some 'week end' shopping.... everything else she would buy during the week was from our local Spar shop at the bottom of Knott Lane when she could 'run up a slate'.... the Spar's long gone and is now known as Grocer Jacks.. and very well it seems to be doing as well... but lets get back to Saturday mornings of old.. After some shopping mum would head to the UCP to meet up with my very scary Granny Wig and my Aunty Annie... at the table would be another two lady's who's name I don't recall.. it was a sorry looking bunch... never a smile between them... but we had to turn up on Saturday for any gossip.. I hated it.... apart from the food.. their chips and gravy was to die for... sometimes I got Pie & Chips but my favourite was their Steamed Puddings... We always sat downstairs and I never did see the inside of the much posher upstairs... I did see the ladies who served upstairs though, and very smart they looked to in their black uniforms, white bonnets, and white apron..

Mum always bought her tripe before she left... the stall was enough to give you nightmares and the names it went by were not much better.. Elder, Honeycomb, Thick Seam, Bag, Slut, Brown, the list goes on. As far as I know I've never knowingly ate it.... but mum was a pest at putting different stuff on our plates.. Brawn was something else she tried feeding us on.... and for years those cold beef butties I liked so much turned out to be Ox heart... I don't eat offal at all now... if I can help it. ha!