Above: Spot the difference!

Above: Zooming into the older photo reveals someone seated outside Goytshead Farm (click to enlarge). And it’s just possible to make out the word ‘Teas’ on the sign behind him.

Both Goyts Bridge farmhouses sold teas to the many visitors who flocked to the valley (click for more info).

Gail kindly allowed me to scan her collection of old Goyt Valley postcards. Most are already featured on this website, but a couple were particularly interesting as they show two very similar views of Goyt’s Bridge. I’d guess that both were taken in the early 1930s. But a closer look shows there are some obvious differences.

The one above shows a view that appears in lots of other postcards; across the stepping stones over the Goyt, with the packhorse bridge on the left, two barns on either side of the track, and Goytshead Farm at top right.

The stepping stones and bridge appear in the second card (at the top of the page), but all the buildings have vanished. So this would have been following Stockport Corporation’s purchase of the estate, after the death of Mary Grimshawe of Errwood Hall in 1930.

Even though it would be another 30 years before this part of the valley was flooded, the planners ordered the demolition of over 20 houses on the estate, as well as Errwood Hall, the grand country house of the Grimshawe family.

This is another interesting card from Gail’s collection. It’s the best view of Errwood Bridge I’ve seen (click to enlarge). There’s more on the bridge on this page. And some wonderful photos taken when it appeared above the water during the drought of 1984 on this page.

Topic tags (click for similar posts): Bridges | Goyt's Bridge | Postcards