Always at home on the Range (at least after 1836 that is)! Samuel Brooks purchased the land in 1836 which at that time was crossed only by a footpath, there were no roads and the entire area desperately needed draining. It was a particularly flat land with the only fall being into an ancient water course called Black Brook. Really it was little more than a very swampy moor or moss ! However our Samuel was a determined fellow and prepared to invest the £12,000 necessary to secure an improvement of the drainage. Having drained the area the estate was laid out in plots. For the estate to be reached from Manchester (or anywhere really) a road was needed, Chorlton Road was built and at that time was a private road which had a toll house and gate at Brooks Bar, although this was stopped in June 1896. Whalley Range is thought to be named for named for his birth place of Whalley in Lancashire.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 08:20:32 +0000
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