P h o t o B l o g

Wednesday 7 October 2009

7 Miles to ?


In yesterday's photo of cottages on Currier Lane, you might just have noticed this stone against the wall of one cottage. It is in fact a mile stone, for this was once the main highway eastwards from Ashton.

The wording originally read "7 Miles to Manchester" but the word Manchester was removed, apparently in a misguided attempt to confuse any invading Germans who might have wandered onto Currier Lane.

This wasn't the first official vandalism that this historic stone had suffered as it had previously had a surveying bench mark carved into it!

The plaque attached tells that the mile stone was probably erected in 1732 when Currier Lane became a turnpike road and explains that the word Manchester was removed as part of wartime security.

See Google Aerial View of this location.
See Birds Eye View of this location.

4 comments:

  1. I wonder how they close the shutter with that stone in the way?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interestingly, it also suggests that people expected the Germans any day. I'm old enough to to have spoken to people who were around at that time who told me they were convinced the Germans would arrive.

    ReplyDelete
  3. hi ther must be another mile stone two miles from that one , on manchester road near the snipe , i sure its say five miles to manchester on it , i wonder if that was pre war to

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Milestone just before the turning to the Snipe Retail Park is a grade II listed monument.

    ReplyDelete

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