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20th Century

1900

..... the FIRST meeting of the Salford and District Cricket league was held

..... the FIRST trolley pole for the new system of electric tramways and electric lighting was fixed at the Regent Road end of Cross Lane

..... the Salford Pleasant Sunday afternoon Society had the motto "Brief, Bright and Brotherly" and it's aim was to bring love, happiness and sunshine into the homes of the men of Salford

..... Salford was the FIRST district to erect its own socialist hall when the Pankhurst Hall was opened in Hightown       

1901

..... on June 27th the FIRST ever conference of the National Federation of Dairymen and Cowkeepers was held in Salford Town Hall

..... on October 4th the FIRST passengers rode on the new electric cars to and from Higher Broughton. It was the FIRST electric tramway to open to the public in the borough

1902

..... FIRST modern fire station was built

1903

..... on August 24th Salford Lads Club opened in Coronation Street, Ordsall and the FIRST 100 members through its doors were given a special certificate. The club was officially opened five months later on January 30th 1904 by Lord Baden-Powell and in its heyday boasted 2000 members. 100 years later, in 2003, it was learned that the building, designed by architect Henry Lord, was to become a listed building and the club was awarded £25,000 from the Lottery to stage an exhibition and run educational projects for local children. Famous members included Eddie Colman, Graham Nash, Albert Finney, Albert Scanlon and Allan Clarke. In 2008 74 year old Archie Swift was awarded an MBE for almost six decades of service to the club. The club will also be forever linked with The Smiths album cover, now known the world over and is now also open to girls. In 2003 it gained listed status and in 2007 was third in a nationwide hunt to find the most iconic buildings in the country

..... Salford Military Band was formed by theatre musicians from the Regent and Victoria in Salford and The Queens, Bridge Street, Manchester. They were joined later by musicians from Salford Hippodrome

..... Buile Hill Park opened on July 22nd

1904

..... March 7th ..... the Royal Hippodrome at the Broad Street end of Cross Lane was opened after being granted a licence on condition that there would be no application for a licence to sell intoxicating drinks

..... September 27th ..... the first term of Ordsall Hall as a clergy training college commenced. The upper chamber of the hall was rented by Richard Haworth & Co of the Egerton Mills and used as the Ordsall Club for Working Men

..... BA1 was Salford's FIRST ever car registration. The prefix BA was allotted to Salford when it became law that cars should be licensed and this FIRST registration went to a De Dion Bouton which was bought by a colonel living in Britain for his wife. The number was later acquired by Salford Corporation for the Mayor's car and in the early 1930s was replaced with the registration RJ1

..... Salford Education Committee adopted a scheme for providing higher education in the borough and the co-ordination of all forms of education. A municipal secondary school was formed at the Royal Technical Institute and one for girls at the Pupil Teacher's Centre

..... Sir Robert Baden-Powell, leader of the Scout Movement, officially opened the Salford Lads Club on January 30th and in 2004 the club celebrated its 100th year. In its heyday there were 2,000 youngsters on the books and former members include Albert Finney and Alan Clarke. Numbers have now dwindled but the club's annual summer camp to Wales still takes place and boxing and football are still taught there.  The club has also been opened to girls for a number of years. Further information can be found at its web site at www.salfordladsclub.org.uk

1905

..... The Kings Arms on Oldfield Road advertised 'Good Musical evenings' and invited people to come and see the FIRST magnificent Electric Orchestral Piano in England

1906

..... on March 14th a new by-law compelling vehicles to carry lights was passed by Salford Council

1907

..... the Salford Central Mission on Broadway opened on 19th October

..... the FIRST court for the trial of juveniles only was held at Salford Magistrates Court

..... the Central Mission of the New Congregational Institutional Church was opened at the corner of Trafford Road and Broadway

1908

..... the Board of Guardians moved that the 5' 4" minimum height for nurses at the Union Infirmary at Hope be abolished with the intention of allowing more to enter into the nursing profession

1909

..... the FIRST pensions were paid through local post offices thanks to the work of the Salford Pension Committee which consisted of all the members of Salford Town Council

1910

..... the FIRST prosecution under the new by-law concerning chalking on the pavements came before the court and Joshua Batty was fined the sum of 40s

..... the new Salford Labour Exchange opened on February 2nd at the corner of Oldfield Road and Chapel Street

1913

..... Salford led the way with the installation of the FIRST complete Gamewell system for police, fire and ambulance telephone calls. The system had been in use in Manchester for some time but only for the fire service. 36 boxes were placed throughout the borough

..... Salford Gas Committee supplied free gas cookers to users of pre-payment meters of which there were over 40,000 in use

..... when maternity benefits came into force on January 13th the FIRST child born in Salford on that day was given a gift of 30s by Sir William Byles. The money was won by Mr C J Clegg of Evans Street when his wife gave birth to a girl

..... after the National Health and Insurance Act of 1911, Salford led the way in the organisation of the scheme by issuing a list of doctors and chemists who provided medical attention and dispensed prescriptions. doctors in Salford, Pendleton and Broughton fully supported the policy of the BMA in connection with the Insurance Act so far as medical benefits were concerned

1915

..... at the monthly meeting of the Manchester & Salford Trades & Labour Council the scale of women's wages set by Lloyd George was discussed. In certain areas women were working on munitions for a maximum weekly wage of 15/- and a minimum of 8/6d. It was left to the members of the societies or trades to take action to get the women's rates fixed in accordance with government promises as soon as women's labour was introduced ( from Salford 1914-20 by Roy Bullock)

..... April 29th ..... it was decided by the Tramways Committee of Salford that male tramcar cleaners and washers would be replaced by females and that sixteen female conductresses would be employed during the period of the was on some of the day routes. They were paid the same standard rate as the men but would not receive the war bonus which was granted on 9th April 1915. They were known locally as 'maids of the cars' and wore neat uniforms of navy blue edged with violet and had straw hats. It was claimed that Salford was the FIRST town in Lancashire to employ women tramguards, the second in England after Newcastle  ( from Salford 1914-20 by Roy Bullock)

..... October 13th ..... Dock Mission Hall School and Institute on New Park Road was officially opened

1916

..... the Salford Players were established

1917

..... Salford was among the first places to introduce National Kitchens ( People's Kitchens or Communal Kitchens) the system of supplying good and wholesome food for all who found it convenient. The first was opened in July in North George Street and they were not just for the working classes as they were visited by all from mill hands, school teachers, shopkeepers and the professional classes

1918

..... altogether a total of 174 awards was made to local men in Salford for bravery during the war and it was stated that Salford men had won more military decorations in the Lancashire Fusiliers than any other town

1920

..... on July 5th the FIRST Salford bus service ran from Great Cheetham Street to Pendleton

..... the Cambrian Male Voice Choir gave the FIRST concert of its kind ever given in a Salford park

1921

..... on May 2nd public mixed bathing was allowed for the FIRST time in Salford at Broughton Baths

1922

..... a woman served as a juror for the FIRST time on a Grand Jury in the Salford Quarter Session on February 17th and in November Salford's FIRST woman councillor was elected. The Lancashire Aero Club was formed, the country's FIRST flying club

1926

..... on April 21st Salford received letters patent raising the Borough to the status of a city

1928

..... construction work began on Barton Aerodrome and by the following year it was the FIRST municipal airfield in the country to be licensed by Air Ministry.  Building work was completed in 1930 and a wireless station was completed soon after. The aerodrome became the FIRST municipal station outside of London to communicate with aircraft in flight and give pilots bearings from the airfield. The first passenger flight took off in June 1930 and shortly afterwards Imperial Airways were flying three times a week from Croydon and Birmingham. During World War 11 the aerodrome was used for military aircraft repair and overhaul and the construction of more than 700 Percival Proctor aircraft. It is still in use, has four runways and in darkness can be used by commercial, military, police and air ambulance helicopters as it can be equipped with portable runway lighting. Sadly in 2007 the airport was renamed City Airport Manchester

1929

..... Salford was the FIRST city to introduce play streets when 48 were created by the Salford Watch Committee on 3rd June.  It was the FIRST of its type in the UK and by 1936 there were around 200 and they passed into English Law in 1938. By the 1950s there were 700 in England and Wales but sadly by the 1980s were all but forgotten

..... the FIRST night safe in Salford was installed at the Westminster Bank, Broad Street on July 19th

1930

..... the FIRST performance of the Salford Workers Film society was on Saturday November 15th at the Princes cinema, Liverpool Street, Salford. The programme consisted of five short films

 - Water and Waves - a short film made by the German Workers Film Movement

 - The Thames - a series of views of the river from Teddington to Southend

 - The FIRST Time In History - a film dealing with the Five Year Plan of social construction in Soviet Russia

 - The Music Blasters - a comedy featuring Laurel and Hardy

-  Two Days - the conflict of loyalties between "Reds" and "Whites" in South Russia

..... from June 30th to July 7th Salford Pageant celebrated the 700th anniversary of the granting of the Salford Charter. It was one of the most important and spectacular public occasions in Salford this century

1931

 ..... the FIRST Woolworth store in Salford opened on Regent Road on May 1st

..... on November 21st Salford won the Lancashire Cup for the FIRST time when they beat Swinton 10-8 at The Cliff, Broughton

1932

..... the FIRST automatic traffic lights in Great Britain were installed on August 29th at the junction of Langworthy Road and Eccles Old Road, Salford

1933

..... the East Lancashire Road from Salford to Liverpool opened for traffic for the FIRST time on April 27th as the FIRST Trunk Road in England

..... Albert Schweitzer Boys Club named after a famous 1930s missionary and Nobel Peace Prize winner, the club was based at Pendleton Unitarian Church just off Cross Lane. The original boys club was built in this year by the Rev A W Vallance but ceased operating at the outbreak of war. In 1948 the premised were acquired by Ces Whitham and Vince Mulvaney and it was reopened.  The club was named after Albert Schweitzer who visited the premises in 1935 when he was in London to give a lecture. The club had a famous rugby team which included some of the most successful players of the era - Frank Whitton, Frank Saxton, Jimmy Jones and local legend Harry Thorpe

1936

..... Salford's FIRST independent junior lending library and reading room opened at Pendleton Branch Library on October 5th

1937

..... the FIRST standard intelligence tests, replacing preliminary scholarship examinations, were used in Salford

1939

..... the FIRST Anderson Air Raid shelters were distributed in Salford on March 14th

1940

..... on 10th January the Watch Committee decided that women police were not need in Salford following the proposal to establish a women's auxiliary police force. At this time Salford only had four women police officers attached to central headquarters and they did not engage in any form of patrol work

..... on May 18th Salford schools were opened for Saturday instruction for the FIRST time in their history

 1941

..... the FIRST women bus conductresses began work on 18th January and on February 17th the FIRST post women began work

..... on October 13th Salford's FIRST permanent British Restaurant was opened at Ordsall Park

..... Salford's FIRST was time day nursery opened at Hope Hospital Annexe on December 8th

..... on December 21st , for the FIRST time, films were shown on Sunday in Salford cinemas

 1942

..... Sunday games facilities in Salford parks opened for the FIRST time on May 24th in the hope of lifting morale during the war

..... a club for servicewomen opened in Sandy Lane, Pendleton on December 19th

1943

..... Salford's FIRST gas driven bus had a trial run on February 2nd

..... from June 20th to 27th Salford Schools American Week was the FIRST of its kind to be held in the UK. It's aim was to foster Anglo-American friendship

..... the world's FIRST ever crane was made by the Salford firm of F Taylor & Sons. The mobile hydraulic crane was first developed when the company was faced with the difficult problem of how to store and stack heavy bulky cotton bales during wartime. They came up with the idea of adapting an old lorry by taking off its body and adding a hydraulic cram crane jib to the back of the vehicle. The idea was gradually modified over the years and orders started to come in from around the country. Up to 2000 Hydracranes were built and from 1947 were exported from the Bolton Road works to Europe, South Africa and South America . In 2007 one of the first cranes went on show at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester

 1944

..... the FIRST test in the country outside London of a new substance known as DDT was made in Salford

..... on June 23rd Salford announced that licences were needed for ' soap making, tripe dressing, tanning, gut scraping and skin dressing'

 1945

..... on August 17th the FIRST families moved into temporary prefabricated houses in Pendleton Street

..... on October 1st the Mass Radiography Unit came to Salford for the FIRST time

 1946

..... Salford's FIRST remand home for juveniles was opened in George Street, Broughton

..... on March 21st the FIRST government sponsored factory in the North West for the employment of disabled people was set up in Salford

 1947

..... Salford Symphony Orchestra gave its FIRST concert on 2nd October, under the baton of conductor J E Needham, LRAM, ARCM

..... the establishment of a women's police section in Salford City Police Force was sanctioned by the Home Office and Miss J L Stewart was appointed to be inspector of this section

 1948

..... on March 21st Salford Choral Society gave its FIRST ever public performance

..... Salford Welfare Committee held its last meeting on June 11th and handed over 896 cases of public assistance to the new Board

1949

..... Salford Corporation lifted their ban on married women holding permanent jobs

..... Salford Transport Department put into service one of the FIRST buses in the country to be lit by fluorescent tube lights

..... when a Salford Women's Darts League was formed it was believed to be the only one of its kind in the country

..... Salford Gas Undertaking, one of the FIRST in the country, was passed into the hands of the State. It was the only local undertaking which did not need to reduce pressure when the weather became cold

..... for the FIRST time in the history of the Derby, a Salford owner had a horse running when Ugongo, owned by J F Emery JP, was ridden by George Younger

..... Salford was thought to be the only local authority in the British Isles ( and possibly Europe) to have specially constructed water tanks. They were situated at various points in the city and were the idea of Supt Bentley who was in charge of Salford Fire Brigade from 1891 to 1911

..... Salford's FIRST three smokeless zones were the Kersal Moor area, Buile Hill Park area and the north side of Bolton Road extending to the boundary.

..... the city's FIRST post-war slum clearance was set in motion

..... Salford Local History was formed at a meeting chaired by C Royle, JP, Member of Parliament for Salford West

..... the FIRST divorce court was held in Salford on March 30th

..... on October 11th the FIRST house in Salford's overspill housing estate at Little Hulton was officially opened

1950

..... on June 30th Salford's FIRST Valuation Court was held

1951

..... Salford was dubbed "The City Of The Year" by the News Chronicle for leading all Britain in road safety success

..... Mrs Carberry of Pendleton was the FIRST customer at Salford's FIRST self-service shop which opened at the premises of the Pendleton Co-operative Industrial Society Ltd

..... Britain's FIRST evening horse race was held on July 13th at Manchester Race Course, Castle Irwell

1952

..... Chaseley Fields, Salford's FIRST adult centre run on community centre lines, was opened on 22nd September

..... 2 Fullis ironing machines were installed at Hodge Lane Washhouse, the FIRST of their type to be used in the country

..... Salford's FIRST permanent day nursery opened in Hayfield Terrace, Pendleton on November 27th

1953

..... Summerville County Primary School, the FIRST new county primary school in Salford since the war, opened on 30th January

..... the biggest one-city health survey in British history began when six of the Manchester Regional Hospital Board's Mass Radiography Units were stationed in Salford.  By the time they closed in November, 88,673 men, women and children over the age of five had been x-rayed

..... a Social Welfare Centre, the FIRST of its kind in the country, opened in Gardner Street, Pendleton on September 18th

1954

..... Salford became the FIRST city in Britain to organise all its social and welfare services for the aged, the handicapped and the unfortunate, which was a duty of all local authorities to provide under the National Assistance Act of 1948

..... on March 19th Sir Malcolm Sargent became the FIRST president of Salford Choral Society

..... a Handicapped Scout Troup, the FIRST of its kind in the scouting world, was formed in Salford on September 15th

1955

..... the FIRST Salford Carnival was held on September 3rd with Elsie Payne, aged 17, as Carnival Queen

..... Claremont, the historic mansion on the new Salford Grammar School site was demolished. The pioneer foundation was famous the world over as an example of what could be done to restore the sick and injured workers to perfect health

..... Salford became the FIRST local authority in Britain to complete its schemes for the elderly, as approved by the Ministry of Health in 1949, when "Stanhurst" opened in Eccles Old Road

1956

..... the Windsor Theatre was the FIRST place of entertainment to have "sound reinforcement", the nearest approach to stereophonic sound

..... Holland Street Public Wash House, the FIRST all-electric one in Europe, opened on 2nd August but unfortunately by 1957 had still not opened to the public due to technical reasons

..... Salford's FIRST block of skyscraper flats, Clement Attlee House, was opened on May 14th ..... and ..... on the same day Salford's new weighbridge at Windsor Bridge, the largest single platform machine in the country, was given a full load test and took up to 40 tons

1958

..... the FIRST learners swimming pool in a primary school in the North of England was at Light Oaks School, Lancaster Road

1960

..... the FIRST right-wing coffee bar in England, the Coconut Grove, was opened in the cellar of the West Salford Conservative Headquarters

1961

..... on May 1st betting became legal in Salford

..... Kenton Supermarket, Salford's FIRST purpose-built supermarket, opened on Lower Broughton Road

1962

..... the FIRST electronic classroom in Britain, to teach partly deaf children, was built at Clarendon Secondary Modern School and opened on January 9th

1963

..... on August 19th the Carlton Cinema, Cross Lane, re-opened as the FIRST cinema-cum-casino in the country

1964

..... Broughton High School for Girls was the city's FIRST grammar-technical school

..... the SS Atid arrived at Salford Docks. It was the FIRST Israeli cargo ship ever to dock there and its cargo was pig iron from Russia

1965

..... the Albion Casino was the FIRST tailor-made casino in Great Britain. All the others were adapted from old cinemas and clubs

..... as part of the Ellor Street redevelopment, Salford made history by erecting one of the FIRST factory-made prefabricated block of flats in the country

..... the FIRST electric five-minute car wash opened on October 29th on Eccles New Road at the Weaste Service Station

1966

..... The Hardmans, Salford's FIRST specially built home for the elderly was opened in January

..... Calderwood, Salford's FIRST ever purpose-built day centre for elderly people was officially opened on Devonshire Street, Broughton on September 21st (Salford 1966-1990 Roy Bullock)

..... the Woolpack Hotel, Pendleton, closed down after more than 100 years. It stood at the junction of two old toll roads - Eccles Old Road and Bolton Road - and its once famous bowling green was the birthplace of the Crown Green Bowling Association

1968

..... Mount Carmel Pipe Band became the FIRST band outside Scotland to win the coveted Supreme Champion Award

..... Salford's FIRST Horticultural Society's show was held at Chaseley Fields on September 7th

..... Manchester Liners operated Britain's FIRST fully cellular vessel, the Manchester Challenge, from the docks to Montreal

..... on April 1st Salford City Police merged with Manchester City Police Force and Salford became the newly formed 'F' Division of Manchester and Salford Police

1970

..... the Carlton Cinema on Cross Lane, Salford, re-opened as Studios 1 & 2 with a bingo/social club under the same roof as a cinema and was advertised as England's FIRST triple entertainments complex 

..... on September 2nd Salford acquired a Civic Flag properly constituted by the College of Heralds

1971

..... Manchester Liners began the FIRST direct container service between Salford and the Great Lakes when the Manchester Progress sailed from Salford Docks in April. There were four ships altogether and the other three were Manchester Port, Manchester Renown and Manchester City

 ..... the country's FIRST urban motorway was opened with the new Eccles bypass and interchange with the M62 and M63

..... on May 14th Tesco's was the FIRST shop to open in the new shopping precinct

..... Salford's FIRST 2-day show was held on September 5th and 6th in the Salford Grammar School

1972

..... on 1st July Salford became the FIRST city in Europe to achieve smoke control covering the whole of its area when the Health Committee's final Smoke Control Orders went into operation

..... the FIRST boat race between Salford University and Manchester University was rowed on the Irwell on February 26th. Manchester had a comfortable win

..... on August 14th Salford's FIRST ever Adventure Playground was established in Elton Street, Lower Broughton

1973

..... the FIRST elections for the new Salford Metropolitan Council were held on May 10th and the FIRST meeting was held seven days later at Swinton Town Hall

..... on October 31st the most modern X-Ray department in Great Britain was opened at Salford Royal Hospital

1974

..... on June 9th the new Salford Metropolitan district was granted the status of City by the Queen

1978

..... Salford became the FIRST city in Britain to get government help in the battle against vandalism when it was awarded £42,000 from the Manpower Services Commission towards the £50,000 cost of launching anti-vandal patrols

1979

..... Greater Manchester Fire Brigade HQ on Bolton Road, Pendlebury, had the FIRST computerised mobilisation system in Great Britain 

1980

..... on September 4th the Salford Museum of Mining, including the History of Coalmining Gallery, was officially opened in Buile Hill Park and became established as an important regional centre for the study and display of all aspects of coalmining history

1981

..... a Salford University team, looking into Dutch Elm disease, pioneered the FIRST control programme in Europe

1990

..... the city hosted the FIRST Russian team to visit Great Britain which later culminated in their FIRST international match in the UK, at the Eccles leisure centre

..... the world's FIRST degree in pop music was launched at Salford College of Technology