SSAFA Car Show 20 Oct 2013

I went along to the SSAFA car show on Sunday and there was a fair turn out of vehicles on show and spectators to admire them.

The Mayor of Tameside, Councillor Joe Kitchen was there

And as well as serving troops and cadets quite a few of the 'old brigade'

There were army vehicles both modern....

....and not so modern

A line-up of American cars from the 1950s.....

......included this 1958 Ford Edsel Ranger, a car which lost the Ford Motor Company several hundred million dollars, the blame for which was put by some people on the unusual styling

This 1951 Ford Prefect was in pristine condition

A Triumph Roadster from the late 1940s as seen in the 'Bergerac' television series

An Austin 7 Ruby from the mid-1930s

And lastly a couple of Royal Enfields amongst the motorcycle contingent

A Celebration of Peace

Here are a few shots of a coin I found whilst sorting out some old stuff.
It seems to shows the commemoration of the end of WW1, complete with the name "Mirfin" who appears to have been the Mayor of Hyde at the time.

If anyone has anymore information regarding it please let us know!

Please note.
Posts may be sporadic in the next few weeks as I try to get my computer and scanner working properly.
I will endeavour to keep the blog going as much as possible though.

Thanks for your support.
Nancy.

Addendum (by Dave Williams)

'The History of Hyde' says this about John Mirfin, Mayor 1917 to 1919:

'John Mirfin in early life became overlooker at a silk and cotton mill in Newton Heath, but left the mill to become licensee of the Woodman Inn, George Street, Hyde. His quiet demeanour and upright conduct soon caused the inn to become one of the best conducted hotels in the town, and when he contested the Newton ward in the Conservative interest in 1906 he was elected to the Town Council, and was again returned at the head of the poll in 1909. In 1910 he became an alderman, and retained the position until his death. Mr Mirfin was the first licensed victualler to be made Mayor of Hyde, and up to that time there had been some feeling about the advisability of appointing a license-holder to the position of chief magistrate. But Mr Mirfin's quiet and conscientious performance of his duties won the respect and admiration of all classes, and for two strenuous years in the war period Mr and Mrs Mirfin as Mayor and Mayoress discharged the many difficult tasks that fell to their lot in a way which sustained the highest tradition of the offices. Mr Mirfin died in Preston on April 28^th, 1923, at the age of 57 years, but was interred in the Hyde cemetery, the Mayor and Corporation attending the funeral.'

The report in the book of the ending of the war includes the following:

'Peace Day was celebrated throughout the world on Saturday, July 19^th, 1919 and Hyde, in common with the whole British Empire, gave itself up to a full day of joy-making.'

And later on:

'Each child attending the day schools in the borough was presented with a medal as a souvenir of the signing of peace.'

I endorse Nancy's comments and I'll try to chip in with posts as and when I've got the material to do so.

Memories of a bygone era.

The following memories were sent to us by Jacqueline Ridgway

"My Husband Colin and I were born in Hyde just before world war 2. We lived in Newton for many years before we moved to Gee Cross when we married and then later moved to Lichfield. My Great Grandfather was Amos Winterbotham who was the Mayor of Hyde in 1931 when the famous Ox-roasting took place you can see the photo of that in the History of Hyde book by Thos. Middleton he was with Lord Derby. Amos had a Tripe dressing business in Hyde with one of the Green cabins on Hyde Market and as a young girl I used to go and help out My grandmother Margaret selling tripe. We look at the Hyde Blog everyday and we remember the Unity Inn having a drink there after the pictures. My Grandfather Albert Holt had a butchers shop on market street and his brother Fred was also involved see the book of Hyde by Barbara Sole. My Husband’s Uncle Sam Ridgway was a good bowler and won many trophies for his bowling he was known by many in Hyde also for playing the concertina."

The Ox-roast in 1931

Many Thanks for sharing with us, Jacqueline. 

Thomas Middleton

My copy of 'The History of Hyde' is one which I inherited from my late father, and on the flyleaf is pasted this cutting from, presumably, the North Cheshire Herald. There's no date on it and I can't find the date of Thomas Middleton's death, but it was obviously some time after 1950.

I notice that the photo is credited to Searle's who also took the photograph of the 1904/05 Mayor of Hyde, John Blackwell, as shown in a recent post.

Mayor of Hyde

 

A rather splendid postcard of Alderman John Blackwell J.P. 
He was the mayor of Hyde in 1904/05.