Author

MIKE CASEY is a retired schoolteacher and has lived on the estate since 1978, for most of these years with Megan, his late wife. A keen golfer, he now enjoys spending time with his adult children, Michelle and Paul, and his grandchildren.

Introduction

My main purpose in assembling this collection of material is to enable the reader to view some of the many photographs, maps and images relating to the Ford Bank estate that have been collected and collated over recent years. The material has been collected from various sources. Most of the photographs and maps are of excellent quality, while others are less so. Brief titles and captions accompany the illustrations in order to provide a historic significance in terms of time and purpose. Omissions and gaps appear due to a lack of material.

This is not so much an attempt to study the history of the estate, but rather to collect, collate and deploy surviving traces of evidence relating to its state before, during and since the mid-1930s, when it changed from being essentially a landed estate and farm to becoming a residential “garden village” featuring the construction of hundreds of houses, all with front and rear gardens and with easy access to local shops and amenities as well as to rural walks and fields.

Out of interest some peripheral material has been included, such as references to Simon Field, Northenden Ford, Simon’s Bridge, Stenner Lane, the River Mersey and Bradley Fold Allotments, together with some of the large houses bordering the estate. Also included are references to some of the people who lived in Ford Bank House, which may be of interest.

Since very little written evidence has been discovered, some of the comments in this work are based on oral recollections of older residents, for which we are most grateful. Their photographs and anecdotes are much valued, although some comments cannot always be corroborated. This exercise would have been much easier if it had commenced some 30-40 years ago, when many of the estate’s original residents from the 1930s were still alive, as were former staff (and their descendants) of Ford Bank and the farm.

This is not “the” history of the estate, but rather “a” history. It is a compilation of images and comments, and has been deployed in a chronological sequence in bite-size chunks. Throughout this brief work the reader can discern similarities and differences, as well as continuity and change, in the evolution of the estate.

This work matters because we forever connect to those who came before, those who exist now, and those who will exist into the future. We connect with people through history and heritage.

I hope this work acts as a “trigger” to inspire and encourage others to continue what has been started and to unearth more images of the estate, which has been the home to thousands of people over many decades.

M.A. Casey

November 2025