AS you pass by Brooklands station and proceed down Brooklands Road, Sale, you will see the beautiful St John’s Church.

All three landmarks have connections to wealthy banker, Samuel Brooks.

The station was named after him and it was he who built the long, straight road and adjacent church, completed in 1868 at a cost of £10,000 — five times more than most churches.

St John’s will celebrate its 150th anniversary this month.

On Saturday, April 21, between 9am and 3pm, it will open its doors with the display Brooklands through the Years.

Baptism and wedding registers will be open and the Victorian society will display details about the church’s architect, Alfred Waterhouse who famously designed Manchester Town Hall.

The story of Brooklands and Sandilands Primary Schools will be included.

On Sunday, April 22, at 10.30am, the Rt Reverend David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, will lead a service followed by a birthday party in the 50-year-old church hall.

It is six months since the Reverend Richard Sherratt moved into the vicarage with his wife, Suzanne and son, William, aged two).

He said: “What makes St John’s such a great place are the people! For 150 years, the church has been a place of welcome and worship. I have experienced both in abundance.”

Despite a fire in 1945, the building survived both world wars.

A memorial bears the names of 16 parishioners who died during the First World War.

One of them, 2nd Lieutenant Leonard Barber, lived in the private house which is now the Belmore Hotel.

The Belmore’s owners, John Willie Lees, has paid for an anniversary commemorative banner at both the pub and the church.

They, too, have connections with Brooklands Road because John Willie Lees lived in the house named Linden Lea, now flats.

Three former curates have achieved high office. The Venerable Alan Wolstencroft was Archdeacon of Manchester from 1998 to 2004, the Rev Dr Stephen Cherry is now Dean of Kings College, Cambridge, and Rev Dr Vicky Johnson, Residentiary Canon at Ely Cathedral.

The church hall’s 50th anniversary, will be marked by a garden party on June 30 from 2pm to 4 pm.