streetsofbowdon.co.uk
Welcome to
Belgrave Road & The Lawns
Belgrave Road runs west-east downhill from Enville Road to Portland Road. It looks as if it was first developed in the late C19/early C20. The houses are generally large and comfortable; some are now apartment blocks.
OS grid ref.: SJ 7636 8709
what3words ref.: ///hiking.buddy.still
Date of photography: April 2021
Views of Belgrave Road & The Lawns
Belgrave Road
Close to the junction with Portland Road (see below), this may once have been a house, but it is now apartments. It looks relatively modern and may have been built as apartments, but designed to look like a house. Please get in touch if you can help me out!
Most of the older properties, like this one, are on the north side of the road, so enjoy a southerly aspect. Note the magnolia.
A close neighbour of the preceding property, and probably built around the same time. Is the dormer a later addition?
A general view looking down the road from the junction with Enville Road. Mallory Court (see below) is behind the hedge on the right.
The Lawns
The Lawns is one of the oddest developments in Bowdon. You can see from this map just how closely the houses are jammed together compared to their neighbours. The "road" through is barely wide enough for two vehicles and the atmosphere is a bit oppressive. A "greedy" development, but people choose to live here.
Ostensibly a gated development, the pedestrian gates always seem to be open. This is the western entrance (there is a similar entrance at the eastern end).
This image gives a sense of how close together the houses are.
Houses on the north side of the development.
This shot shows the narrowness of the road and the overlooked nature of the properties.
Let's take a look at
Catherine Road...
...is a private road, one arm of a crossroads with The Firs, St Margaret's Road and Cavendish Road. It provides access to an annex of the Altrincham Grammar School for Girls and contains a few large homes.
OS grid ref.: SJ 7608 8718
what3words ref.: ///loved.drips.urgent
Date of photography: January 2021
Moving on...
Cavendish Road
Runs W-E down the ridge from the bottom of St Margaret's Road to Ashley Road. The west end is dominated by the buildings of the girls' grammar school, while the rest is apartment block conversions and detached properties.
OS grid ref.: SJ 7629 8725
what3words ref.: ///items.bike.level
Date of photography: Jan/Feb 2021
Let's take a scroll along Cavendish Road...
A general view from the west end of the road. The grammar school buildings occupy both sides.
This is an entrance to the main grammar school premises on the north side of the road.
Waiting outside the school for the pupils to emerge. Trying to drive round here at about 15:30 in term time is NOT recommended!
Cavendish Road was amongst the earliest roads to be developed when Altrincham started to expand in the 1830s.
Used until quite recently as a care home and has now been converted into apartments.
This newbuild is at the junction with Delamer Road. Another example of trying to squeeze as much living space as possible into a fairly small plot?
One of the properties on the eastern section of the road. Judging by the single letterbox, I believe this to be a family home.
A couple of general views of the eastern section of the road - this is from close to the Delamer Road junction, while...
...this one is taken from just beyond the curve, looking back to the west. All the properties here are large and set back from the road.
Culcheth Road
Where is it?
A short residential street linking Ashley Road and Willow Tree Road. Housing is a mixture of detached and semi-detached dwellings, most of which have garages and front gardens.
OS grid ref.: SJ 7671 8720
what3words ref.: ///stick.doing.scope
Date of photography: 24 November 2020
History
If you know anything about its history, famous former residents, etc., please get in touch using this button. Your contribution will be acknowledged.
Photos of Culcheth Road
Mix of housing, looking west up towards Ashley Road.
Looking east down the northern side, showing semi-detached houses.
A view east featuring the Welsh Congregational Chapel (apparently now closed) on Willow Tree Road.
View west towards Ashley Road from the junction with Willow Tree Road.
Let's visit...
Enville Road
A leafy avenue of mature trees that runs south from Cavendish Road (see above) to Stamford Road. At the junction with Belgrave Road lies Mallory Court, the site of the former Bowdon Wesleyan Church and its massive dome (consecrated 1880, demolished 1968).
OS grid ref.: SJ 7622 8706
what3words ref.: ///robot.pulse.chained
Mallory Court
Mallory Court is a late C20 development on the site of the former St Paul's Wesleyan Church, a photo of which can be found on the Francis Frith website here. A beautiful model of the church is shown below.
The church was designed by William Hayward Brakspear, who was also responsible for the Church of St Mary's, Bowdon. Its foundation stone was laid in 1874 but the church was not consecrated until 1880 due to structural problems that necessitated the rebuilding of the dome. The church was demolished in 1968. 13
As can be seen from the photos, the development that replaced it is on a much more modest scale.
This photo has been copied from the RIBA website at https://www.architecture.com/image-library/imagecache/galleryitems/24411.1.434.434.FFFFFF.jpeg.
If you believe a copyright infringement has taken place, please contact me using the button at bottom right.
See also the article in the Bowdon Sheaf no. 21 (pp. 5-6).
A shot of the two blocks of linked town houses that now occupy the site of the former church.
OS grid ref.: SJ 7626 8707
what3words ref.: ///tunes.rated.kite
Date of photography: April 2021
Looking west along the fronts of the houses. I wonder if the plans would be approved today, as they were obviously not designed with the disabled in mind.
Mallory Court as seen from Belgrave Road.
This is...
Portland Road
Portland Road is another residential street of substantial early C20(?) homes, some of which have been converted into apartments. It runs N-S from Cavendish Road before merging into Winton Road.
OS grid ref.: SJ 7650 8709
what3words ref.: ///think.union.smashes
Date of photography: March 2021
Views of Portland Road
Looking south towards Winton Road.
I think most of these properties were probably built in the early C20. Please contact me using the button at bottom right if I'm mistaken.
A pair of good-sized properties on the east side of the road.
A detached home close to where the road joins Winton Road (see below).
A pair of substantial semis on the east side of the road.
Another pair of substantial semis, this time on the west side of the road. Plenty of parking space here.
This is the neighbour of the house in the previous photo, but I believe this is a detached property. Correct me if I'm wrong.
These properties are on the east side of the road between Belgrave Road and Cavendish Road.
Welcome to...
St Mary's Road
A private road between Stamford Road and Enville Road that passes over the site of the Bowling Green Field shown on the 1838 tithe map. Whether there is any connection between that and the location of the present Tennis & Bowling Club is a matter of conjecture. The area was developed between 1911 and 19387.
Birchdale
Where is it?
There's not much to see here: Birchdale is a very short stub of a cul de sac on the east side of St Mary's Road. It has five properties on its southern side.
The development was built in part of what used to be yard of the builders H Ormson & Co, which was wound up in 1974 (see St Marys Road above). Thanks to Mike Jones for this (family) background.
Looking into Birchdale from the junction with St Mary's Road (see above). This shot shows the south side of the road with its vaguely modern-looking properties.
This is taken from more or less the same spot and shows the northern side. The area behind the trees on the left is the garden of a property on St Mary's Road.
Another view of the properties on the south side of the road.
Welcome!
Willow Tree Road
...is right on the eastern edge of Bowdon (for the purposes of this project), running north-south from Hale Road to Ashley Road. If you know anything about its history, please drop me a line using the button at bottom right.
OS grid ref.: SJ 7677 8711
what3words ref.: ///code.healthier.muddy
Views of Willow Tree Road
The road contains a real mixture of housing of different periods, dating from this rather elegant Edwardian row to some inter-war and 60s stock.
This terrace was built around 1905 by John Henderson Broun, who also built Stamford House (Station Buildings) in Altrincham.
Thanks to David Miller, a former resident of Willow Tree Road, for this and much of the other information in this section.
Date of photography: 24 November 2020.
The Presbyterian Church of Wales chapel, now to all outward appearances abandoned and possibly left to its fate. There used to be a biggish Welsh population in Altrincham (perhaps there still is). What was the attraction?
There's a row of five detached houses on the western side of the road towards the Hale end. They look to me to date from the 60s or 70s.
Car parking is obviously a bugbear for the residents...
A row on inter-war semis on the western side of the road. All this side of the road was open fields until the 1930s.
The most modern development on the road is on the site of the former Cinema House (aka the Hale Cinema), which closed in 1978 (see 10 or here for more info). This block of apartments and/or town houses is at the junction with Ashley Road.
Again, a mixture of properties, this time at the Hale Road end.
Certainly no mistaking when this one was built! It's located at the junction with Hale Road and its front door is in fact on that road. You can just make out this property on the preceding photo.
Welcome to
Winton Road
Winton Road is basically the continuation of Portland Road. A purely residential street, most of the properties are large, detached homes. At its western end is a pedestrian entrance to the Bowdon Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club. There is also a small development of modern town houses on the south side called Winton Court.
2025 Update
Unsurprisingly perhaps, there's been a flurry of new visitors to the site since the presentation to the Timperley Probus group on 18th February. If you're one of them - welcome! I hope you find the site interesting and enjoyed the talk.
Tell your friends to stop scrolling through all that boasting on social media and take a look around their local area instead.
Click on the button below to start your exploration!