Old photographs, memories and history of Whalley Range - for everyone of any age who lives in or works in - or just loves Whalley Range!

In 1836 Samuel Brooks bought Jackson’s Moss, a swampy area south-east of the city centre. He drained it and built villas for wealthy businessmen such as himself. The area was named Whalley Range after his boyhood home. A tollbar guarded this exclusive area and this place is still called “Brooks’s Bar”. Whalley Range was one of the first suburbs, creating what Samuel Brooks termed "a desirable estate for gentlemen and their families" where people could escape the increasing congestion in the growing industrial city. Roads were laid out and building plots were sold with certain conditions to ensure that development was appropriate to Samuel Brooks's vision. The estate was laid out between two farm tracks, now Withington Road and Upper Chorlton Road. The tree-lined avenues of Dudley Road, Whalley Road and Chorlton Road form the basis of the estate. Samuel Brooks's own Whalley House (named after the town of Whalley in Lancashire, his place of origin) was built at the south end of Whalley Road. The house was demolished during the 1930s to make way for the Woodlawn Flats development. The eastern side of the conservation area around Alness Road was built in the latter half of the 19th century on land sold by Lord Egerton of Tatton. In 1874, an early example of an aquarium was opened to the public on Alexandra Road. Although twice the size of any previous aquarium, it proved to be commercially unsuccessful, and closed down just two years later. Shortly after closure, the building was incorporated into St. Bede's College, which was itself amalgamated with St. Bede's School in All Saints in the City.