Newton Wood House, Dukinfield Road, Hyde

[lindsaygrant]

Hi, my name is Alison and I live on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. I migrated to Australia with my family in 1967, not willingly at the time, but had little choice as I was only 13.
I have started researching my family history and was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of finding a photo of Newton Wood House. My grandparents Lawrence James Blackburn and Beatrice Irene Blackburn used to live there in the late 1950's early 60's. I remember visiting there as a young girl and I believe that the house has been knocked down and that there is a leisure centre there now. Any help would be appreciated, thank-you, the site looks very interesting, Alison.

[Woody]

Hi Alison

I imagine that the new leisure centre on Dukinfield Road will be 'The Village Hotel', built in the 1990s I think. If so, it's next to Captain Clarke Road and the UK postcode is SK14 4QG.

If you google 'e-mapping Victorian Cheshire' you'll access a website which, although geared to maps of Cheshire tithes in the 1830s, will also produce other 'twin' maps so that you can compare specific plots of land over time. There are detailed maps for this postcode location in 1850, 1875 and 1910 and you can compare each with a twin map for 1875 or 1910. The maps on the website are interactive.

Once inside, type the postcode into the'view maps by postcode' box and press 'go'. Then use the menu above each picture box to choose the era. Better still, if you set the right-hand 'twin' map to 'Aerial 1970s', that will produce an aerial photo of the building that might well be Newton Wood House. It's in black and white and I'm not sure it can be copied direct from the website but if it's the one you're seeking, Cheshire County Council manage the website and they're usually very obliging.

There's a fairly new specific blog for Hyde that has plenty of photos and might get you a bit further - google 'Hydonian' for the address. It doesn't look like a family search site so don't hold your breath on that one.

Woody

[lindsaygrant]

Thanks for the heads up Woody, I went onto the CC site and I think I have found the building. I'll visit my Dad over the weekend and see if he can confirm this. I had previuosly seen the Hydonian blog, no luck unfortunately. It can get quite confusing with the changes in county boundaries as I was looking in Tameside, not Cheshire!! Anyway I went to a family history fair today here in Nowra and got a few more hints and tips for using google - time to put them into use now. Once again many thanks, enjoy your weekend, Alison.