Football Field

"The early years of 20th Century saw the appearance of several football clubs in the suburb, some short-lived. Chorlton Albion (1925), whose home pitch was on the corner of Hardy Lane and Barlow Moor Road, near where the Co-op is now".
from Looking Back series in the South Manchester Reporter 19th August 2010 - Amateurs Had It All by Graham Phythian, a notable football historian.

Details about defunct football clubs at this level are patchy at best. It throws up questions of where there any changing facilities, what fixtures did they play and it what colours?

Also opened in 1929 #4

This was the Co-op store at Green End in Burnage. One of the seven opened in 1929, along with Hardy Lane. There is a photograph taken in 1929 in the Manchester Libraries image collection - here. The store is on the left of a large parade of shops. Now the parade faces a small roundabout but back then there were just tram tracks running along Burnage Lane.

Again there is a access to flat roof at the back of the shop. The address given is 476, 478 & 480 Burnage Lane in the Kelly's Street Directory for 1951.

Also opened in 1929 #3

Old Co-op Building Burnage
Originally uploaded by lorenzo23

There were seven new M&SE Co-ops opened in 1929. Only Hardy Lane has survived as a Co-op. The list of the seven and eventually I got around to Burnage to spot some of them. Now a small independant grocery store and newsagents - at least it is not boarded up and derelict. It's at the corner of Parrs Wood Road and Heyscroft Road.

It has the roof at the back you can walk out onto, as did Hardy Lane. It also has two satellite dishes. Click the picture for the bigger view.

Also Opened in 1929 # 2 - Warwick Road South

Shop Opening Hours

These are the opening times of Co-Op stores in Manchester in 1930, and would have been the original trading hours for Hardy Lane store. I was going to copy them into type but a photo from an old handbook will suffice. Up until about thirty years ago closing for lunch was still the norm. An hour and a quarter for a midday break would now be considered generous. Saturday was the exception. Early closing day as laid down by the Shops Act 1911 was on a Wednesday. Even now in Chorlton many independent shops still close early on a Wednesday, some don't even open for the day with it being the quietest trading day for customers. Sunday opening would have been unthinkable back then but that all changed with the Sunday Trading Act 1994.