Kersal Dale

 

 

 

The area you call Kersal Moor was all part of a golf course, it was only the steeper part up to Vine Street that was still in a wild state. A bigger part of the original moor & the part that we knew as 'The Moor' was beside Moor Lane. I used to attend St Paul's school which was actually on the moor but has since been demolished and a new one built in Neville Road. Peter Houston

 

I remember playing golf on the Old Manchester Golf Links with the steel marker we called 'German Joe' (a good 1 wood drive from 'stickybob Island') as it looked like a head with a steel helmet on. I wonder if it's still there buried in the undergrowth? Mike Stapley

 

I used to play on the golf course that was adjacent to the River Irwell.  John Nightingale and me would hide in bushes and wait for players to send golf balls our way which we would pocket and then spend hours unravelling the rubber material the golf balls were made of in those days - oh happy times. James Fletcher.

 

The Irwell looks quite clean in your photos. In the '40s & '50s the water looked black & it had a creamy froth on top - a bit like Guiness but nobody would have dreamed of drinking it! Peter Houston

 

you could make your voice echo in the flats if you shouted from the hill . Simon E.

 

when they dug into the hill at the back of Shirley Avenue,the hours we spent climbing up and down there,going on the links to collect Blackberries so our mums could make pies and collecting tadpoles.Also spending many hours playing on the tarzan swing there. Anne Mcdermott

 

We use to play for hours/days on the moors, never got into any trouble, well hardly, apple scrumping comes to mind, oh, and no better not…. lets leave it there. In your pictures it nearly always is proper summer - no shirts and yellow grass- what has happened to those days? Mark Read

 

where the irwell gets near Bury New Road was an area called the Lany. Tthe action of the river on that bend made the land slip in I think about the 20`s. Also near there where the golf course ended used to be allotments with a lot of pigeon huts.I remember the army came to the golf course with a barrage balloon and soldiers practiced parachute jumps. Steve Mcdougall

 

My best memories are probably of the space around the flats, all that lovely green between the flats and the hills (or gollies as we called them, short for golflinks!). Julie Munroe

 

 I remember a man hunt through the flats onto the lanny by the police. A bunch of us kids got told off for chassing this man not realising he was wanted for a murder! Russell Jones

 

There was a broken sewer pipe or something like that in the Irwell we used to call Shipwreck rock and would try to get to it without getting feet in the dirty old river.Simon. E.

 

Who knows what German Joe is?

 

Was it where a plane crashed in World War 2? Pauline Gillibrand

We knew it as German Joe and it was about 300yrds past the bridge on the lanny. Russell Jones

God I can't think, but the Butcher used to call someones helmet? Can anyone elaborate on this?. It was something like German Joe's helmet. Myles Toole

Myles says by Mr Butcher on the lanny near the path that runs alongside river
near the bridge. This was a point we had to run to before returning when we had to do cross country running at Kersal High School. What the hell it is I don't know. I always thought it was something to do with gas or water. It used to get kicked or spat at a lot by disgruntled kids who hated having to go past it. Simon Egan.

I was told by Mr. Butcher (PE Teacher at Kersal High) that it was where a Nazi pilot nicknamed 'German Joe' crashed during World War II. Craig Barrington

As a young child I used to disappear for the day just walking and playing, and drinking from springs.  Wouldn't be allowed today would it. I used to follow the river round as far as i could or dare. I remember red sandy paths when you got way way down the river's path, and finding remnants/bits of old house/furniture from an old manor house that once dwelt there.  The rich fruity smell of the camomile is still with me today as I made my way back home after the sun went down.  We also used to watch the horseracing from the top of kingsley avenue, when it was clear ! Lorraine Smallshaw

As kids we used to spend our entire summer on adventures on Kersal Dale. I too recall red sand round the bend of the Irwell and tree swings out over the river.During summer hols and weekends we would go out with our friends first thing in the morning (8 or 9 am). Maybe go back for dinner (about 12 or 1) then back out again until dark when we got called in. We were active all day. And usually up to mischief. We spent hours on end wandering the back field playing soldiers or football. Shane

I spent many a school holidays on the fields with my friends getting stung and bitten to death.Irene Shenton

 

Tarzan swings the most popular place was just past the park keepers house on the lanny a red sand hill with a conker tree at the top. Simon. E

Which reminds me conkers! every year we would, or more I would, risk death to get up those tree's there would be about 12 of us filling bag's! Used to be good trees on Vine street and then off to raid Broughton Park area and the garages on the back of Kersal Dale. Simon E.

 

One summer on the lanny near the golf house, I remember some sort of free "hippy"type rave thing festival. Russell Jones.

 

We would literally just go out in the early sixties with a drink and snack and play on the golf links and by the River all day! Norma Barratt


 

Who remembers "Sticky Bob Island"? It was a small isolated group of trees on the Racecourse side of the river which contained huge amounts of Stickybobss. Shane

My mum used to go mad when I came home with stickybobs all over my jumper (bastard of a job to pull off wool) lol Pauline Gillibrand.

Ace place though...I played lots in here. Tracy Dodd

In the winter we, along with a whole crowd of others from the Littleton Road area, used to toboggan down that hill. The more daring used to go over the tees and off the edge like a mini ski jump. My elder brother was among these & on one occasion slashed his lower lip on his teeth when he landed. We also used to get chased off by the groundsman who would drive up on his tractor. But we could see him coming from a long way off and he very rarely caught anyone. Amazing how quickly one could pull a toboggan up a hill at the age of 8 or 9. Peter Houston

 

Children riding a Bogie or Bogie Truck on Kersal Moor in 1950

 

I have dreams about this place. Simon Egan

In the 70s we used to make rope swings off the top of this and swing out over the water. Shane Sullivan

Our Harry (my brother) and his mates Barky and Woody were ratting in front of Red Rock when our Harry's dog Bbingo dug up an old hand grenade without the pin! I remember our Harry shouting "Barry fucking run" because I was at the top of the bank. The bomb disposal came and blew it up. The story made it in the Salford City Reporter. It made a bigger bang than any air bomb I've ever heard. Barry Radford

I remember that happening Barry! The Racecourse was used by the Yanks
in the second world War! It was probably one of those Dollar Dogs that left it there! Harry Davies

Further up-stream was Table-Top and Dead Dogs island. Just lower down stream near Man Uniteds old training ground. When I was a kid an old guy we used to call Trampy lived in an old shack that he had built, he lived there for years. Malcolm Purdy

 

 

 

I remember watching the bridge being built and getting caught by my dad paddling in the river. Nichola Washington

I remember the bridge being built. When was that 74 or 75 or so? I remember the material they stored ready for building. This included strange concrete cubes (but with one side open). There were lots of them, and piles and piles of large stones. I assume they were both used for foundations. We used them both to play war and throw large stones at each other. I recall the first night that the bridge was opened. A big event. We were not allowed to walk across it because we were too young. Others went over to "sticky bob" island. That was the little strange forest on its own on the race course which had sticky bobs growing there. Shane Sullivan

When they were building this bridge we would jump off the scaffolding and jump into the Irwell. Thomas Harrison

I fell off this bridge whilst making a swing! Ian Whiteley

I don't think that I had a childhood friend who didn't get hurt falling off this! Shane Sullivan

 I fell in there as a kid and I remember George Thompson pulling me out! He saved my life that day. I couldn't see a thing the water was so dirty. John Pavitt

I got drunk underneath this bridge nearly every Friday night!!! with half the other teenagers in kersal!!! I know a few who fell in! Natalie Jarrett.

Me too Natalie!!I remember spin the bottle every Friday night? *CRINGE*. Also I remember when my dog Srappy fell in near this bridge and I was crying so Natalie tried to get him out and fell in! LOL!!! My hero!! Michelle Belle

You always thought that you were going fall walking over this bridge as it was far too steep but fun in winter. You could see the riverbed from the top and all the durex fish swimming by. Simon Egan

We all used to wag it from school and sit under this bridge, and I remember coming down it on my roller boots (the old 4 wheel ones) a bit too fast and hit these bollards at the bottom head first! haha! Michelle Belle

I would stand on the top/middle and say "it's moving, it's moving - it's not safe" - maybe that was just me! We used to sit under it. It was a bit like a den! I bet it was covered in rats pee and all kinds but we didn't mind because it kept you out of the rain! Jacqueline Harrison

I can tell you from experience that sitting under it is not as east as it once was. I used to scamper up the supports and sit underneath the bridge. I found out in February 2008 that this is tougher as you get older! Shane Sullivan

I've not tried it recently but might give it a go for a laugh! Bet my back gives up and I end up stranded for days! Jacqueline Harrison.

Many a bottle of cider and a stolen B&H were taken in that spot! Myles Toole