1964 - The Blues & Gospel train comes to Chorlton, but did it?

We are going to show the film of “The Blues & Gospel train comes to Chorlton” which took place on 19th August 1964 at Chorlton’s Big Green Festival on April 4th

I was 17 years old when the original event took place and lived just round the corner on Blair Road in Whalley Range so I am miffed that I never got to hear about it at the time.

This amazing Blues happening was featured in 2006 by the South Manchester Reporter - “When the Blues Train Rolled into Chorlton” which claimed that it took place “at the site which is now overgrown wasteland next to Morrison’s supermarket on Wilbraham Road.”Granada producer, John Hamp filmed “the Gospel and Blues train” for Granada TV.

There was a Blues roadshow touring Europe and this was what was featured. The group featured Muddy Waters, Rosetta Tharpe , Country Joe Pleasants, Rev Gary Davis, Otis Spanne and Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry.

The deserted railway station taken over for the show has always assumed to be the old Chorlton-cum-Hardy station just next to where Morrisons is today. However, CP Lee, (of Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias fame) who has presented a documentary on Radio 4 last November on the Blues Train and so got to learn a lot more about the show, says this - “I’d always assumed it was on the Morrisons car park site, but in fact it was a totally different station situated adjacent to Princess Parkway and Wilbraham Road. It wasn’t even called Chorlton Station. That name was used by Granada because it sounded better than Alexandra Park Station!”This wrong identification of the venue probably occurred because they changed the name of the station to “Chorltonville” which sounded a bit more like a Southern whistle-stop station.

The venue was in fact Alexandra Park railway station which was on on the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway line (later Grand Central line) from Manchester Central via Chorlton to Fairfield and Guide Bridge - the Fallowfield Loop.

The station was near the junction of Alexandra Road South with Mauldeth Road West and the old Railway House is still there, next to the allotments on Alexandra Road.

The station was re-named as Wilbraham Road (which was abouit 250 yards away) in 1923 to avoid possible confusion with the north London suburb of Alexandra Park (see Wikipedia)

The line was closed to passenger traffic in July 1958 but open to freight until it finally closed in October 1988. It has now, of course, been converted to the Fallowfield Loop cycle trackThe steam Locomotive used in the event, according to an observant train enthusiast, 60103Henry was a Ivatt Class 2MT 2-6-0 locomotive fitted with a cowcatcher and a lamp on top of the smokebox The station was decorated with bales of hay, ‘wanted’ posters, chickens and a goat.

About 200 young people travelled from Manchester Central Station to ‘Chorltonville’. On arrival they jumped off to listen to Muddy Waters singing “Blow Wind, Blow”. Later whilst Cousin Joe Pleasants sang “Railroad Porter Blues” (click here for video) a storm blew up. Rain poured off the roof right onto bass player, Ransom Knowling’s neck.

(see Encyclopedia of the Blues, EM Komara, 2006)  

Just as the storm was ending, Sister Rosetta Tharpe arrived in a horse & carriage (made up to look like a ‘Surrey with a Fringe on top’, but pulled ny what looks like a shire horse!) picked up her electric guitar and and launched into a terrific version of “Didn’t it rain”. She was lucky she didn’t get electrocuted given the pools of water lying around.The event ended with all the Blues musicians joining in a jam session version of “He’s got the whole world in his hands” (see Mod Culture: destination Manchester)