84 Plymouth Grove, Manchester

84 Plymouth Grove.

Recently I had a very enjoyable visit to Mrs Gaskell's former home in Manchester - somewhere I've longed to explore for ages.

In this house (no. 42 in Gaskell's lifetime) Elizabeth wrote Cranford, Ruth, North and South, The Life of Charlotte Bronte, and her last, unfinished work, Wives and Daughters.

(Mary Barton was written at one of the Gaskells' previous houses, 121 Upper Rumford St in Manchester).

Family portraits and heirlooms.

Elizabeth grew to love her new home; there was plenty of room for family and friends, and it had a large garden for her children to play in.

William had his own study for his writing and pastoral work; Elizabeth often wrote at a round desk in the dining room.

After Elizabeth's sudden death in 1865, her husband William and unmarried daughters Meta and Julia stayed in the house. The two sisters were well known locally for their charity work.

Elizabeth's wedding veil. 

The house has been restored and furnished in a similar fashion to how the Gaskells would have known it; you can also see some family heirlooms, including Elizabeth's wedding veil, which was worn by her daughter Marianne on her own wedding day.

You have to pay for admission, but your ticket lasts for 12 months, so don't lose it! It was a cold, wet day when I visited, but it would be nice to explore the garden again in the summer.

Blue Plaque.

The dining room.

Cranford

I can't wait to see the BBC's new adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford on Sunday, as the novel is one of my favourites. I just hope they show Miss Betsey Barker's Alderney cow dressed in its flannel waistcoat and flannel drawers after losing all its coat in an unfortunate accident in a limepit. Especially as illustrator Hugh Thomson obviously didn't feel equal to drawing the Alderney in all its glory! He just drew the good people of Cranford turning out 'to see the Alderney meekly going to her pasture, clad in dark grey flannel.'

Mrs Gaskell's story of the Alderney was based on a real incident in Knutsford, the town where she grew up. It will be interesting to see if the adaptation keeps faith with the original, and includes Gaskell's gentle touches of humour as well as social satire.

Illustration from the Macmillan 1898 edition of Cranford.