The Manchester Creamery: Deane Street/ Lower Broughton Road, Salford

The Creamery was purpose-built for A Hailwood  on a site of 1,200 square yards at the junction of Deane Street and Lower Broughton Road.  Hailwood had started as a dairyman in Salford about 1870. Over the next twenty-five years his milk delivery expanded from 7,300 gallons per year to 873,485 gallons in 1896. Much of the milk for the creamery was brought in daily from Cheshire including some from Hailwood’s own farm.

The quaint exterior, with its projecting mullioned windows, and the bold overhanging eaves of the roof, covered with red pantiles, presents a pleasing picture suggestive of the green fields and shady lanes of Cheshire, from whence a large supply of the milk is obtained, and is also a refreshing contrast to the surroundings of the neighbourhood. The Creamery, which is a spacious apartment measuring 63 feet by 32 feet, is entered from Dean Street, by a vestibule leading to the offices. Every care has been taken in the construction of the building to ensure its being kept perfectly cool during the hottest weather, for which purpose the roof, both inside and out is double boarded, there being an intermediate cavity  covered with felt and slated, by which means it remains quite unaffected by any changes of temperature. The walls throughout are of extra, thickness, and are lined to the ceiling with ivory white glazed bricks, the general good effect  being heightened by a cream and buff dado. The building is principally lighted from the north and north western sides, in order to admit as little direct sunshine as possible, and, for the same reason, the windows are glazed with amber tinted rippled glass. The floor is formed of mosaic concrete, and the fittings are of Doulton ware, with smooth glazed surface. The sanitation of the building is irreproachable, for the drainage system is entirely disconnected from the Creamery, the surface water being conveyed through open channels to grids in the open air.

A doorway opens from the Creamery on to a covered staging, 44 feet by 15 feet, which is somewhat above the level of the road and is used for the loading and unloading of the delivery carts.  The offices which occupy a convenient position at the front of the building, are fitted with all modern conveniences, and are connected by telephone with all parts of the buildings, ad also with the city and other branch establishments.   A staircase from the basement gives access to the large retail shop, which has frontages to Lower Broughton Road and Dean Street. The shop is tastefully arranged, and presents an attractive appearance, the woodwork and fittings being of American walnut, the counters of Italian marble, while the walls are lined with glazed tiles surmounted by an ornamental frieze of fibrous plaster. Over the shop is the lodge keeper’s house, which has a separate entrance from the street. A pair of large gates admit to the courtyard, on the left of which is a separate block of buildings, comprising stables, with accommodation for sixteen horses, cart sheds, provender stores and accommodation for the workmen. The whole of the work has been satisfactorily carried out from the designs and under the personal superintendence of Mr Walter R. Sharp, FMSA, architect, Manchester, to whom great praise is due for the skilful arrangement of the buildings.

The supplies of milk are drawn from some of the largest and best farms in Cheshire, and from Mr Hailwood's own large farm in the same county. In order to ensure purity, Mr Hailwood has sent more than 600 samples each year to be analysed and reported upon; but in the new premises a special apartment has been provided for the accommodation of a duly qualified analyst, so that medical men. may order milk of certain qualities for the special requirements of their patients.  In addition to supplying milk, Mr Hailwood does a very extensive business in cream, fresh butter, and cream cheese, large quantities of which are produced. Some twelve years ago, Mr Hailwood, feeling sure that in the district there were a large number of people who required cream from, say, one to two gallons of milk, but who could not use so large a quantity of milk, commenced to supply fresh cream in bottles and jars, a departure which has been greatly appreciated by the public. [Manchester Faces and Places]

Reference           Manchester Faces & Places Vol 6 Page 142 with photograph