Blue Plaques in Altrincham

Market Site (1879)

The new market hall was renovated in 1990 as part of the Altrincham Charter (1190) celebrations. The plaque commemorates the fact that a market has been held on the site since 1879.

Market Hall
Altrincham

1991

George Massey

George Massey, the proprietor of the Unicorn Hotel, set up the first gas-making plant in Altrincham in 1844 in order to light the frontage of the hotel.

Unicorn Hotel
Altrincham

23 April 1991

Helen Allingham (1848 - 1926)

Helen Allingham was a Victorian watercolour artist. She was well known for her portrait of Thomas Carlyle in his garden and was the first woman to be elected a full member of the Royal Water-colour Society.

16 Market Street
Altrincham

15 May 1991

Ronald Gow (1897 - 1993)

Ronald Gow was a widely known dramatist and was amongst the first intake of students at Altrincham Grammar School for Boys. His best-known play was his dramatisation of 'Love on the Dole' by Walter Greenwood.

Barclays Bank
Stamford New Road
Altrincham

1995

Chapel Street (First World War 1914-1918) 

To commemorate the 161 men who enlisted in the First World War 1914-1918 from 60 houses in Chapel Street.

Altrincham

13 September 2009

Edward Kinder Bradbury (1881-1914)

Edward Kinder Bradbury was born at Church Bank in Bowdon. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery in the First World War (1914-1918) for his action on 1^st September 1914 at Nery in France

Langham Road

 2014

Bernard (Benny) Rothman

(1911-2002)

Benny Rothman was a political, environmental and access campaigner and leader of the ‘Mass Trespass’ on Kinder Scout, Derbyshire in 1932 which contributed to ‘Right to Roam’ legislation (Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000)

86 Crofton Avenue

Timperley

 2012

Maria Margaret Netherwood (1881–1956)

Maria Margaret Netherwood, known as Margaret, was born in Sheffield on 22 March 1881. As a child she moved to 6 Ashfield Road, Altrincham. In 1905, after training as a nurse, she continued to work at the Borough Hospital in Birkenhead. 

When war broke out on 4 August 1914, Margaret became one only eight nurses who travelled with the Duchess of Sutherland to take charge of a hospital in Namur. The nurses spent six weeks on the front caring for injured soldiers before being captured by the Germans as prisoners of war. After four days they were released, on the condition that they would not return.

Margaret defied these orders and returned to Belgium, to continue her work as a nurse. After the war, Margaret moved to Canada, then to America. She died on 7 November 1956.

Throughout her distinguished career as nurse in the First World War, Margaret kept a diary of her experiences. The Margaret Netherwood Mills Papers 1914–1918 were deposited with the Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University, California, in 1961.

William (Bill) Speakman, V.C. (1927–2018)

William ‘Bill’ Speakman was born on 21 September 1927 at 17 Moss Lane, Altrincham. After leaving school at 14 he joined the army as a drummer boy. When the Korean War began, Bill volunteered to transfer to Korea. 

It was in defence of ‘United’ Hilltop, one of the strategic hills, that Bill showed extraordinary gallantry in the face of the enemy. On 4 November 1951, there was heavy bombardment by Chinese troops and the 1st KOSB were vastly outnumbered and under artillery fire. 

Part of the citation in the London Gazette of the 27 February 1952 reads:

 ‘Private Speakman decided on his own initiative to drive the enemy off the position and keep them off it. To effect this he collected quickly a large pile of grenades and a party of six men. Then displaying complete disregard for his own personal safety he led his party in a series of grenade charges against the enemy and continued doing so as each successive wave of enemy reached the crest of the hill. The force and determination of his charges broke up each successive enemy onslaught and resulted in an ever mounting pile of enemy dead. Private Speakman’s heroism under intense fire throughout the operation and when painfully wounded, was beyond praise and is deserving of supreme recognition’

On 27 February 1952, Queen Elizabeth II awarded him the Victoria Cross, the first investiture of her reign.Bill continued to serve in the army until 1968.

He died on 20 June 2018 at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. In accordance with his wishes, was laid to rest alongside his fallen comrades at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery, Busan, South Korea.

Altrincham Interchange WA14 1BL

20 June 2019