Heathbank House?
My first geocache hide, please let me know what you think! This is on a patch of unused and unloved no-man's land connected to the public footpath, and sandwiched in between four roads. I don't claim to be any kind of local history expert, just an interested resident who likes looking at maps!
I have always wondered what kind of buildings used to be in this area, there are old blocks of stone, bricks and walls scattered in the trees. Hiding this geocache has prompted me to do a bit of local history research...
The oldest map I've found online detailing this area is from a tithe map dated c.1846. This records a man named Francis Taylor as occupying a Farm Yard and Buildings on the small square plot numbered 119. The land was owned by "Trustees of the late George Campbell". The Taylor family were registered in the 1841 census; Francis and his wife Ann were 45 years old at the time, with 3 sons named John, Samuel and Henry. Further away, the family were recorded as occupying Plot 232, described as Cottage, Outbuildings and Garden, Nursery Road itself numbered (but not named), and a very small strip of garden next to the road numbered 126. Interestingly, Francis managed plots of arable land nearby, named "The Carr" and "Little Carr", which have now given their name to Carrs Road.
http://maps.cheshire.gov.uk/tithemaps/LargeMap.aspx?srch=&singleplot=&hlt=&hlp=&e=387080.5&n=389008.5&scale=0.5&tabL=L1&tabR=R6
The next map I found is dated 1895 and shows the number 2 just above and beside some building shaped blobs and field shaped plots. The railway has also appeared, it was finished in 1857.
http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15&lat=53.4011&lon=-2.2022&layers=1&b=1
This map from 1904 is the first one I found for the area, and which initially sparked my interest. It shows a collection of buildings at the bottom of Nursery Road, right next to a marker for "Heathbank House".
http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17&lat=53.3985&lon=-2.1966&layers=6&b=1
This map is dated 1946, and clearly shows small buildings dotted at the bottom of Nursery Road. The outline of a wall shown on this map can still be seen on the land.
http://maps.nls.uk/view/101598304
An aerial photograph looking North at part of Cheadle Heath Sewage Works, October 1929. The mansion at the bottom right of the photo is labelled as "Heathbank House" on the Britain from above website. The M60 slip road now cuts right through where this mansion once stood. On all the maps, this area is labelled as Heath Bank or Heathbank Park, which is now a housing estate to the East of Heathside Park Road, South of the sewage works.
https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/epw031062
I have been told by family members who have lived here longer than me, that a large detached property used to stand on the site until it was demolished about 20-25 years ago. Nobody seems to recall the house being called Heathbank though... If you have any more information about this curious little patch of land, please kindly contact me, and I will gladly update this description.
This cache is a small container with swapables. Bring your own pen, watch out for mud and dog muck.
There is usualy quite a lot of rubbish around here although this should not detract from finding the cache.
Plenty of muggle activity. Cache in Trash out!