Moorside Farm, Haughton
Moorside Farm was situated to the north of Hyde Rd, between Moorside Ln and St Anne's Rd, close to the junction of Moorside Ln and Thorpe Ln.
Both Moorside Ln and Moorside Farm derived their names from their proximity to open moorland above the Tame Valley.
In the 1930s, the farm was occupied by the Wagstaff family, which was succeeded by the Prosser and then the Watson families. Thomas Watson was the farmer at the nearby Thorpe Fold Farm (aka Broome's Farm) on the north side of Thorpe Ln. This resulted in Moorside Farm gaining land and the farmstead of Thorpe Fold Farm was converted into a private residence.
The last farmer at Moorside Farm was Dennis Watson who emigrated in the late 1960s. The site of the farm is now occupied by the Penny Farthing public house and the farmland is covered by housing.
Right: Thorpe Ln, Haughton, late 1930s.
View from Thorpe Ln looking towards the south east showing the junction of Thorpe Ln with Moorside Ln, which leads to Hyde Rd off the picture on the right. Moorside Farm is on the left and the chimney on the horizon, towards the right, locates Broom Grove Dye Works. The houses to the right of the works are on Alexander St (now Alexandra Rd), which connects with St Anne's Rd. St Anne's Church is just visible on the far right.
Whittles Farm, Haughton
Whittles Farm was situated in Haughton about 310 yards to the east of Stockport Rd and about 65 yards to the south of Prince Edward Ave. A lane connected it to Stockport Rd.
By the turn of the 20th century, the farm was managed by Joseph Malpas and by 1911 his youngest son, Ellis, was also working there. Joseph had seven children by his first wife, Elizabeth Knowles, and these were Edith (b.1877), Martha Alice (b.1878), Elizabeth (b.1880), Ellen (b.1881), Joseph (b.1882), John (b.1884) and Ellis (b.1886). The couple were married at St Mark’s Church, Bredbury, in 1876. Elizabeth died in Bredbury in 1888, aged 46 years, and Joseph married his second wife, Alice Knowles née Moss, at St Mark’s Church, Bredbury, in 1891. It is a coincidence that both his wives had surname Knowles at the time of their marriage. Joseph Malpas was born in Haughton in 1847, his first wife, Elizabeth, was born in Haughton and his second wife, Alice, was born in Denton. Joseph and Alice both died in Denton in 1923, aged 76 and 77 years respectively. Ellis Malpas inherited the management of the farm and he died in Audenshaw in 1963, aged 77 years.
Prior to his move to Whittles Farm in the 1890s, Joseph Malpas managed Mill Hill Farm, Arden Rd, Bredbury, which overlooks Arden Mill and the river Tame. The landowners of Mill Hill Farm in Bredbury were the Trustees of Ellis Fletcher and it is very likely that they were also the landowners of Whittles Farm. The Fletcher family owned land and coal mines in both Bredbury and Denton/Haughton and Whittles Farm was quite close to Parsonage and Albert Pits. Nowadays, the only reminders of the former existence of Whittles Farm are Whittles Walk, connecting Prince Edward Ave to Vaudrey Ln via the bottom of Tib St, and Whittles Ave connecting Prince Edward Ave to St Lawrence Rd via the bottom of Mount Pleasant Rd. The estate that was built on the site of Whittles Farm dates from c.1970/71.
