EPW041648 ENGLAND (1933). New housing estate at Haveley Road and Alders Road, Wythenshawe, 1933

Taken at the same time as the previous two shots, this picture shows the first stages of construction of what became the largest of the pre-war Manchester public housing developments on Wythenshawe estate land. By the outbreak of the war, most of the open country between the Northen Etchells township hamlets of Sharston Green in the north and Brownley Green in the south had been built on.



This early development was on land on and adjacent to Lower Haveley Hey, the site of which lies almost exactly under the circle on Haveley Road. At the top of the picture, and with the camera looking almost due south, Haveley Hey (Cook's Farm) is the one relic of the old rural scene still remaining on this shot. This housing estate ultimately got the name of "Benchill", after a large farm of that name (Benchall on very old maps) a couple of fields north-east of Lower Haveley Hey.



The countryside in this area before development can be seen - though from a rather higher altitude and on a rather cloudy day - in image EPW017393, taken in April 1927. There's a link to this shot on the left of the image record.