FORWARDFORWARDISSUE No. 22 SUMMER 1999

The Newsletter of Wigan Heritage Service FREE

From theEditor

Yet again I have beenoverwhelmed by thereponse from the manyreaders of Past Forwardthroughout the world. Asalways there is not enoughroom to include all yourcontributions. However, Iam delighted with thecontent of this particularissue, particularly as itcontains articles by anumber of new contributors,as well as old faithfuls (I’msure they won’t object to theterm) such as ErnieTaberner, Harold Knowlesand Harold Smith.

1999 is an importantyear for Leigh, which wasgranted its first charter 100years ago. A number ofexciting events have beenorganised for the secondhalf of the year, andparticularly around the firstweekend of August (theexact date of the receipt ofthe charter is 5 August), andfull details of events can befound in a specialcommemorative doublespread on pp14/15.

The Millennium is fastapproaching, and hasalready impacted on theHeritage Service. A majornew exhibition is plannedfor the History Shop for2000 (see p 16), while on apersonal note, I havetemporarily handed overthe reins of the Service toPhilip Butler, while Iconcentrate on my new roleof Millennium Festival Co-ordinator. I will beparticularly concerned withthe Mapping the Millenniumexhibition (see p13). I will,however, remain as Editorof Past Forward.

As always, my sincerethanks to all readers fortheir continued support andencouragement.

All comments andcorrespondence shouldbe addressed to:

Editor, ‘Past Forward’,Wigan Heritage Service,Market Suite,The Galleries,Wigan WN1 1PX

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HERITAGE SERVICE CONTACTSThe Heritage Service has always prided itself on a settled - and, of course, happy - staff. But there have beena few changes of late. Jennifer McCarthy, who worked alongside Dawn Wadsworth, has moved, but only down the road - toWigan Pier, as Collections Manager of the new Opie Museum. Thanks to her for a job well done, and bestwishes for the future. Your Editor, while still retaining that role, will spend most of the next 15 months as Wigan MBC’s MillenniumFestival Co-ordinator. Philip Butler will, therefore, act as Heritage Services Manager, with his former dutiesbeing divided between Mike Haddon and Dawn Wadsworth. Finally, we welcome two new faces, David Tetlow and Christine Watts. David will be particularly involvedwith the social history collections, and Christine with answering genealogical enquiries in the History Shop.

WiganMarket Suite, The Galleries -Millennium Festival Co-ordinator (and Editor of Past Forward)Alastair Gillies ........................................................................................................... (01942) 734732

Fax: ...... (01942) 704727History Shop -Acting Heritage Services Manager Philip Butler ........................................................ (01942) 827594Education and Outreach Manager (and Local History, West) Bob Blakeman ............ (01942) 827580Collections Development Manager Yvonne Webb ..................................................... (01942) 828123Heritage Officer (Visitor Services and Industrial History) Mike Haddon ................... (01942) 828121Heritage Officer (Exhibitions and Social History) Dawn Wadsworth ......................... (01942) 828124Heritage Officers (Social History) David Tetlow ........................................................ (01942) 828124

Christine Watts .................................................... (01942) 828124Heritage Assistant Hilary Fairclough ......................................................................... (01942) 828122Heritage Assistant Barbara Miller ............................................................................. (01942) 828122Heritage Assistant Stephanie Tsang .......................................................................... (01942) 828122Local History enquiry desk ....................................................................................... (01942) 828020

Fax: ....... (01942) 827645Wigan Pier -Technician Denise Glassbrook-Byrne ........................................................................ (01942) 828564

LeighArchives, Town Hall -Heritage Officer (Archives) Nicholas Webb ............................................................... (01942) 404430Senior Technician Len Hudson ................................................................................. (01942) 404432

Fax: ....... (01942) 404425Turnpike Centre, Leigh Library -Heritage Officer (Local History) Tony Ashcroft ......................................................... (01942) 404559

Fax: ....... (01942) 404567

If you have an enquiry, and are not sure who the most appropriate person is to contact,please ring the History Shop, Library Street, Wigan WN1 1NU (01942) 828128.You can also send an email: heritage@wiganmbc.gov.uk

Cover: Before the 1870 Education Act many children from the lower classes attended numerous private day schools, whichprovided cheap elementary education. Younger children attended dame schools ran by older ladies (as depicted in this earlyVictorian illustration), where, for a few pence per week, they would be taught the rudiments of reading and sometimes writing aswell. Older children attended the common day school, where, apart from reading, writing and arithmetic, subjects such as history,geography and needlework were also taught. The latter seems to have been the kind of school run by Ellen Weeton’s mother (andlater Ellen herself). According to Ellen there were about 14 pupils, and the fees were six shillings per quarter. (See article on p6).

Dear Mr. Gillies, I had to write and thank you for publishing myappeal ‘Does Anyone Remember Jimmy Cain’sCake Shop’ in Past Forward number 21. Theresponse has been wonderful. The great feature of Past Forward is that it unitespeople with common interests and memories. Anumber of letters carried by the magazine makemention of how friendly contacts have beenestablished and I am pleased to add myself to thislist. Mrs. Margaret Carroll of Lower Ince wrote tome and together we have found her greatgrandparents on the 1891 Census. Mrs. ValerieCritchley made contact 34 years after our lastmeeting. Mr. Bailey of Hodges Street, Wigan,recalled sitting next to my father in Sunday School

in the 1920’s. As my father died last year theknowledge that he recalled was most heart-warming. Finally Mr. Eric Stockley, something ofa ‘man of letters’ in Wigan, wrote with memoriesof wartime Ince. Like many others I now have the chance to say“thank you Past Forward”, and thank you Mr.Gillies.

Neil Cain26 Sheridan Terrace

Whitton Avenue WestNorthall

Middlesex. UB5 4JS

● An article by Mr. Cain, Let’s Talk Wiggin,

appears on p18.

Past Forward does it again

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News From the ArchivesNews From the ArchivesRecent Accessions

AMONGST recent additions toour holdings are the following:

Acc. 3161: photographs of MossLane Youth F.C., and honourslist, 1938-62. [kindly depositedby Mr. Mosley of Abram]

Acc. 3163: photographs ofHowarth’s Post Office andremoval cart, Hindley Green, c.1900. [See separate feature].

Acc. 3165: Wigan Amateur CineClub records, 1959-74. [Kindlydeposited by Mr. Lythgoe ofSkelmersdale]

Acc. 3166: photograph ofBowling Club members,Running Horses, Aspull, c. 1920.

Acc. 3168: original architect’splans of Wigan Library andWigan Union Workhouse.

Acc. 3172: photographs of St.Joseph’s Players, Leigh, 1899-1905.

Ac. 3173: deeds re Church Streetcotton mill, Wigan, 1832-37.

Acc. 3183: legal papers reWesthoughton Coal & Canal Co.v. Wigan Coal & Iron Co.,1930’s.

Acc. 3185: Album of cuttings,photographs and programmes foramateur dramatics productions,Leigh, 1946-1965.

Acc. 3186: sale notice of LowerWoodhouse Farm, 1857.

Acc. 3192: baptism registers ofAstley Wesleyan MethodistChurch, 1857-1946. [Seeseparate feature]

Registers Deposited

Thanks to Rev. John Leechof Leigh Methodist Circuit, thesurviving baptism registers ofAstley Wesleyan Chapel havebeen deposited with theArchives. The two volumescover the period 1857 to 1946and, like other church registers,will in due course bemicrofilmed for use at theHistory Shop; in the meantime

they will be available for studyat the Archives.

The growth of Wesleyanismin Astley is credited to JohnHorridge of Marsland Green whomade his house available formeetings and preaching. Thenew religion grew rapidly inpopularity amongst the labouringclasses and by 1806subscriptions had been collectedto build the first chapel at AstleyBridge. A century later thechurch was rebuilt on the samesite, with a new Sunday School.

A Village Post Office

Interesting items often turnup out of the blue. A goodexample is a pair of straymounted photographs sent to usfrom Wales. They show theHowarth family of HindleyGreen at the end of the lastcentury. ‘Howarth’s Buildings’,with the date stone 1890, stillstand today as no. 779 AthertonRoad, although it has beenunoccupied shop premises forseveral years.

A little research has shedsome light on the family and theirbusinesses in Wigan andHindley. In 1891, the census yearclosest to the date of the building,Henry and Margaret Howarthheaded a household of no lessthan 16 , including 10 children,two step-children, Henry’smother and a maidservant.

Henry can be traced back to1881 when he was a generaldealer at 93 Corporation Street,Poolstock. He had seven children

then, and lived at 38 Pool Street.He was described as a wholesaleand retail smallware dealer andgeneral house furnisher. By1887 he was entered indirectories as a furniture brokerat 67a Mesnes Street andPoolstock. The family then tookits first steps towards HindleyGreen, for by 1887 Margarethad become post mistress there.They kept their separatebusinesses until 1892, by whichtime Henry had taken over thepost office, possibly followingMargaret’s death.

By 1903 Henry’s stepdaughter Annie Southworth hadbecome post mistress, whilst‘Howarth Brothers’ (presumablyHenry’s sons) were working ascabinet makers at 65 MesnesStreet in Wigan. Finally by 1918Annie was combining the postoffice with a shop in HindleyGreen, and by 1920’s both namesdisappear from the directories.‘Howarth’s Buildings’ were bythen occupied by Storey’sgrocery and provision stores.

Perhaps readers may be ableto add to the story? N.W.

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WHITE HOPEor

Searching for Great Uncle HarryWHEN I began to be interested in my

family history it was to Dad that I turned

for his memories of family and friends.

He had a wealth of information including

personal memories and stories told to him

as a child, of long past relatives. One

person stood out from his childhood - his

Uncle Harry.

Uncle Harry had been a big, fine youngman, very tall, strong, good physique and agood sportsman. He could run and jump andhad won lots of races. It was said that hewon so many clocks that he mother had onein every room and gave them away aspresents. He played a bit of football,wrestled and did some boxing. He was agood all rounder. He volunteered for theFirst World War, joined the GrenadierGuards and was killed in France.

There was a letter from theCommanding Officer in reply to one sentby my Dad’s Dad asking for information.Harry’s mother had heard first of her son’sdeath from another soldier writing home andshe wanted to know where he was buried.The reply had been that as soon as the C.O.had any further information he would letthe family know. As far as Dad was awarethere was no further correspondence. Hebriefly showed me the letter which was keptin a wallet. It was obvious that Uncle Harryhad made quite an impression on the theneight year old boy because of his sportingabilities.

I re-discovered the World War I letterwhilst sorting through Dad’s personalbelongings after his death in 1990. As Iquietly read through the letter I realised thatthe Captain had written it during the Battleof the Somme in which thousands of mendied; a period of history of which I knewlittle. My quest to know more about GreatUncle Harry, his final resting place and ofthe Battle of the Somme began.

‘A Leigh Boxer Killed’

Pte. Bilsbury’s death was reported in theLeigh Journal of 29 September 1916 (seenews report this page). The report alsomentioned that his friend Pte W. Harvey*with whom he joined up had also been killedthat week. It also recorded Harry’s sportingachievements in the district prior to joining

the colours. The Chronicle of 29 Septemberprinted a long obituary with the heading ‘ALeigh Boxer Killed’, with a photograph inboxing stance. It gave details of a letter,dated 20 September which had beenreceived by the parents of Pte. G.Waterworth saying:

“No doubt you will have heard about W.Harvey and H. Bilsbury being killed. It isvery hard lines. I might say we have hadsome narrow shaves - too near to be nice -but I suppose it is our luck. It is God’s

will if we have to stop one”.

The same man also wrote to his brother-in-law who was in hospital suffering fromshell shock saying:

“I dare say you will have heard aboutHarvey and Bilsbury being killed ........They were done close to where you wereinjured”.

It may well have been these reports fromlocal soldiers that prompted the letter ofenquiry to the Battalion. The official Armyrecord shows that Harry was killed in actionon 15 September, and the next of kin notifiedon 29 September.

In October, the letter which was in Dad’spossession and addressed 2nd Batt.Grenadier Guards, B.E.F. was written byCapt. Wiggins, Harry’s Officer. He verymuch regretted having to say that Pte. HarryBilsbury was killed in the attack which theBattalion made on 15 September.

“I have not yet received the records ofwhere he is buried, but will let you knowwhen I get it”. He went on to say ...... “Heproved himself to me on many occasionsto be a clean and gallant soldier and a mostupright man. I greatly respected him andshall miss him very much in my company.I sympathize most deeply with you andall his relations and friends”.

There seems to have been no furthercommunication, and his 1914/5 Star wasreceived by his mother in 1920, and the BritishWar Medal and Victory Medal in 1921.

Touching and sad

Concerned about what happened andwhere his grave was I wrote to the WarGraves Commission, enclosing postage fora reply and asking for details of the graveof Pte. Harry Bilsbury, Grenadier Guards,killed on the Somme. The reply was bothtouching and sad, for Great Uncle Harry hasno known grave and the writer of the lettershowed concern for my feelings on readingthis news. He is commemorated by nameon the Thiepval Memorial, France, whichcommemorates 72,085 men who died on theSomme sector up until March 1918.Enclosed was an information sheet withpictures of the Thiepval Memorial anddetails of the Battle of the Somme 1916. Itincludes details of the battle, the dead, thenumerous cemeteries and a map of the battlefield, which shows the guards cemetery atLes Boeufs. Originally this was for 40 menof the 2nd Batt. who were killed on 25September (this was Harry’s battalion).Many more bodies were brought in after thewar and it now has 3136 graves, about halfunidentified.

I felt that I had completed my enquiriesuntil one Sunday evening in September1996 while listening to a radio programmeabout the Battle of the Somme

The following splendid article has been written over a period of seven years by Mrs.

Margaret Bell. It tells the poignant story of her Great Uncle Harry Bilsbury. Ed.

➯

5

commemorations, I heard a man describinghow he traced his uncle’s movements up tothe time he went missing in battle. He hadthen gone to France to the place he thoughthe had been at the time.

Heavily shelled

My next step was a letter to theRegimental Headquarters of the GrenadierGuards, London, requesting informationabout Harry Bilsbury and enclosing a copyof the original letter from Capt. Wiggins. Iquickly received a reply from the Archiveswith a copy of Record of Service. There wasalso the helpful suggestion that I visit mylocal library and borrow ‘The GrenadierGuards in the Great War 1914-18’ byPonsonby. These books give all the activitiesof the regiment throughout the war,including the Somme battle completed withdetailed maps. For anyone with a relativein the Guards in W.W.I they are well worthreading.

I chose to concentrate on the volumewith the details of the 2nd Batt., and theiractivities during September 1916, inparticular the 13-16th and the Battle on the15th. The objective was to size Morval,Lesboeufs, Gueudecourt, and Flers,breaking through the enemy’s system ofdefence. Chapter XIX goes into great detailof the preparation, the battle, and theaftermath of the Guards operations atGinchy and clearing of the trenches andorchard of Germans which cleared theground for the advance on the 15th. On 14September the 2nd Batt. remained in thefront trenches all day, where it was heavilyshelled. One shell pitched on theheadquarters of No. 1 company; Capt.Wiggins (officer who later wrote the letter)was so severely shaken that he retiredsuffering from shell shock and the CompanySgt. Major was mortally wounded. TheBattalion was relieved in the evening, wentto bivouac behind Ginchy, rations and rumwere served. The men had been in thetrenches three days, hardly a moment’ssleep. It was bitterly cold at night, and themen, who had no greatcoats, suffered verymuch. Casualties throughout the three days13th, 14th and 15th totalled 365, notcounting officers, 12 of these being missing,Harry Bilsbury was one of these missingmen. The Battle took place on the roadbetween Ginchy and Lesboeufs, a roadunder two miles long. Lesboeufs is wherethe Guards cemetery is. Could Uncle Harrybe one of the un-named soldiers in there?

‘A White Hope Killed’

Included in the information from theGuards Archives was a press cutting fromthe Evening Standard dated 25 September1916. “A White Hope Killed” was theheading. This recorded Harry Bilsbury’s‘great sacrifice’ and said that he was one of

the best all round athletes in the North ofEngland. His magnificent physique helpedin all forms of sport, for he stood at 6ft. 4in. in height and stripped at nearly 15 st. Hewas extremely popular in sporting circlesand in ordinary life. This recorded hisboxing; he went into the semi-finals of theSporting Chronicle and Daily Sketch “WhiteHope” Competition at the Free Trade Hall,Manchester, where his hard hitting was afeature. He was persuaded to enter thecompetition, and trained by Harry Brownof the Crown Public House, Leigh. JackSmith, a notable trainer at the time, took himup afterwards. He won several matches.While in the Army both in England andFrance he won a number of contests.

Deciding to follow up yet another lead,I wrote to the British Boxing Board ofControl, who passed my enquiries ontoboxing historian, Mr. Harold Alderman.From him I received a full compilation ofthe boxing career of Harry Bilsburygathered from various sources. Harry didso well that he earned his nick-name ‘oneround’, just as when he was running heearned the name ‘long span’. Prior to joiningthe Guards he had been sparring partner toBombardier Billy Wells, in exhibitions atthe Palace Theatre, Manchester. Mr.Alderman explained that these could onlybe ‘spars’ as Harry was a ‘novice’ startingout and Wells was a ‘pro’, the British andEmpire Heavyweight Champion. Had Harrysurvived, who knows that might have been?He was improving all the time, and his‘spars’ with Wells would have taught him agreat deal.

Mother kept a ‘good table’

What about the home life of this man whocreated such an impression on his youngnephew? He was born in 1891, at Crab FoldFarm, Atherton, the family later moving toHart’s Farm, Leigh Road. He was theyoungest of a family of 13 children, one ofwhom was my Granny. There was a plentifulsupply of food at the Bilsbury farm, wheremother kept a ‘good table’. He was amiable,got on well with people and was popular. Hewas always willing to do a good turn andhad time for children, having lots of niecesand nephews. As he grew into manhood hissporting activities made him a well knownfigure. His earliest sporting interest wasathletics but they did not stop there; he playedrugby football at 3/4 position, although a kneeinjury gave later trouble; he did somewrestling and, of course boxing.

To sum up, during my search for GreatUncle Harry, I have learned a lot. No longeris he just a missing soldier on the Somme.He was killed in the ‘great push’ on the 15thon the Ginchy-Les Boeufs Road. He maybe one of the un-named men in the GuardsCemetery, but his name will stand forevermore on the Thiepval Memorial withthousands of other brave soldiers who haveno known grave. He died at the young ageof 25 years, leaving good memories forfamily and friends left behind. He died withthe friend he joined the colours with. Hedied with a life full of promise, havingalready packed a great deal into the shortlife he had been given.

What a sportsman! What a man! Whatan uncle for an eight year old boy!

Mrs. Margaret BellCrimple Wood

238 Otley RoadLeeds. LS16 5AB

* William ‘Bill’ Harvey was killed on the Somme on

Wednesday 13 September 1916. He is buried in DelvilleWood Cemetery, Longueval (grave IV,L6).

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➯

Exactly 150 years ago on 12 June 1849, Ellen Weeton died. Her volumes of ‘copy’ letters of

ordinary lives and day to day events in this part of south Lancashire and beyond, some 200 years

ago, are of inestimable value to local and social historians. Alan Roby continues with some of

Miss Weeton’s Upholland experiences and of local characters at both ends of the social spectrum.

ELLEN WEETON(1776-1849)

GOVERNESSVillage Life - Coarse and Fine

ANCIENT stone cottagesand hostelries built on steepinclines surrounding the14th century Priory Churchof St. Thomas The Martyr,and cobbled, twistingnarrow roads and alleywayswas the Upholland of 2,427souls in 1801. A number ofthe dwellings that MissWeeton knew so well stillsurvive. To name a few: Theone time Earl of Derby’sManor and Courthouse,dated 1633; the 17th centuryOwl Inn; ‘The Priory’ homeof Rev. John Braithwaite(now known as ‘The PrioryHouse’); The Parsonage(now Upholland Con-servative Club); the ancientOld Dog Inn and the old FreeGrammar School, built in1667 by Robert Walthew,one of the wealthiest men inthe Wigan district.

Miss Weeton was just 11years old when her mother beganher dame school to teach, for asmall weekly fee, an elementaryeducation of the village children.Ellen herself was naturally bright.An usher from Mr. Braithwaite’sacademy attended daily for alimited period to teach herwriting, arithmetic, a littlegrammar and a little geography.Unfortunately her motherbelieved that she “should beentirely ruined for any usefulpurpose in life if her inclinationsfor literature were indulged.”Whilst fond of arithmetic, she“burned to learn Latin, French,the Arts and the Sciences” ratherthan the greater part of her daybeing devoted, as it was, tosewing, writing copies andwashing dishes! At this time hergreat joy was to greet her brotheron his daily return from Mr.Braithwaite’s academy, when

they would go outside to “indulgein harmless children’s frolics” inthe cottage’s rear garden. Ellenhad but one doll but brotherThomas, being some four yearsyounger, was rather more fond ofit than she. Chalk and slate andquill and paper were her preferredindoor toys. By the scribbling ofrhymes and enigmas, for whichshe had a “strong predilection”,she teased her brother. To both ofthem this was great fun andusually ended with collapse intolaughter.

Amuse themselves

When the weather was finethey had permission to leave thegarden to amuse themselves,sometimes with othercompanions Thomas broughthome with him from the academy.They played marbles, driving thehoop, sailing ships (in a rain-tub),running races and flying kites -both were not allowed to playwith their uncouth villagecontemporaries. Mrs. Weetonzealously and rigidly instructedher children in “every kind ofreligious duty and observance”

and would “never countenancethe least impropriety of conduct”,stated Miss Weeton at a later date.

Mary Weeton continued herschool for some nine years beforeshe succumbed due to her delicateconstitution. According to MissWeeton her mother declinedrapidly from an asthmaticcomplaint brought on by a frightowing to abusive language of oneof her pupil’s parents. She diedon 5 December 1797, aged 51,and lies buried alongside hersister, Margaret Barton, inUpholland churchyard.

At the time of her mother’sdeath Miss Weeton was not quite21. She had no alternative but tocontinue her mother’s school inorder to support her brother, whoat the age of 14 had becomearticled to a solicitor, Mr. N.Grimshaw of Preston. She hadpromised her mother, that shewould support Thomas until hebecame of age (21) and for twoyears afterwards - “for, my dearNelly”, had often repeated hermother, “you know your brotheris so situated that he can earnnothing . . .” At great personalsacrifice, Miss Weeton fulfilledher mother’s wishes. Incomefrom Mrs. Weeton’s school neverexceeded 12 shillings a week(60p) and after her death wasreduced to seven shillings.Eventually Miss Weeton wasforced to take in lodgers in orderto keep ‘body and soul’ together.

* * * *

Loose morals

Miss Weeton was very critical ofthe loose morals of many

Upholland inhabitants. In a letterto Mrs. Whitehead (a widoweddaughter of the late curate-in-charge at Upholland) dated 3December 1807, she said that aMiss Davenport was in the habitof being frequently ‘bled’ for fearof growing too fat. Apparently theapothecaries in both St. Helensand Wigan had refused to bleedher any longer but Jackson ofUpholland “who would do almostanything for money” continuedwith the ‘treatment’.

Seven months later in a letterto her brother dated 9 June 1808,she reported that “Dr. Jackson isdead very suddenly. He was 60years old and had 40 children!Four were ‘natural’ [illegitimate],the rest by two wives. About 20had lived to grow up.”

In a later letter to Mrs.Whitehead, Miss Weeton statesthat: “Holland, is, if possible,more licentious and morescandalous; such numbers ofunmarried women have children,many of whom one would havethought had years, discretion,sense, and virtue to have guardedthem. In two houses near together,there had been in each, a motherand daughter lying in, nearly atthe same time; and one man (thenotorious George Lyon) reputedto be the father of all four!” Eventhe Rev. T. Meyrick, B.A.,incumbent of Upholland Church,1798-1802, does not escape a wrycondemnatory comment: “He issaid to have seduced the servantgirl of the house where he lives. . . he has used his utmostendeavour to obey that injunction- ‘increase and multiply’.”

The large numbers ofpremature deaths testified by theapothecary’s children and localgravestones reminds us that intruth those times were not the‘good old days’. Miss Weeton’sletters catalogue various illnesses:typhus fever, cholera,consumption, tuberculosis andwhooping cough which proved“very fatal”. She also records thesuicides of two elderly people. Aman who hung himself from anapple tree in his orchard and acrippled lady who hung herselffrom the ‘tester’ at the foot of thebed. In the lady’s case theneighbours did not believe shecould have done such a thing -‘The Priory’, Church Street, Upholland (c.1900), home of Rev.

John Braithwaite and his family was the scene of much goodhumour and careless untidiness in the early 19th century.

7

being a cripple. It was generallyknown that her husband “used herill but no proof can be brought”.

* * * *

On Friday 22 July 1818,thoroughly disillusioned with herlife in Upholland, Miss Weetonfinally quit the village. But beforeshe left Upholland she sold all herfurniture and other possessions,and stayed for a few days with thehospitable Braithwaite family at‘The Priory’, before going to stayfor two weeks or more with herbrother Thomas and his family atLeigh.

‘The sign of the Swan’

On 22 August she left Leighaccompanied by her brother to“the sign of the Swan, three and ahalf miles this side, Leigh”. MissWeeton was writing to her brotherfrom her new Liverpool abode ina letter dated 31 August, when sheinformed him of her itinerarydetails. This would suggest thatshe was referring to the Swan Innat Winwick, near Warrington. Asthis is not on the direct routebetween Leigh and Wigan, thenext destination, it is likely thaton this occasion she travelled,unusually, by stage coach? Fromabout 1762 a stage coach travelleddaily along the turnpike road(A49) between Warrington,Wigan, Preston, Lancaster andKendal.

At Wigan, she dined at thehome of Mrs. Scott, the mother-in-law of her brother, beforewearily and almost “overcomewith heat”, arrived at Uphollandto stay the night with her Aunt andUncle Barton. The followingmorning she walked to AppleyBridge to embark on a passengercarrying canal ‘packet’ fromWigan to Liverpool, a journeyconsiderably cheaper and morecomfortable than the stage coachbut which would take over sevenhours. Her destination was toDale Street, Liverpool, the homeof her friend, a Miss Chorley, wholived with her parents.Unfortunately Miss Chorley soonproved not to be the true friend, atrusting Miss Weeton believed herto be.

● The next issue will detailMiss Weeton’s relatively shortLiverpool experiences until alocal newspaper advertisementbeckoned her to relocate 100miles to the north. Also aprofile on her brother,Thomas, whose rise toprominence as Attorney inLeigh, culminated in utterruin because of ‘sharppractice’.

SEVEN members of the Braithwaite familylived at ‘The Priory’, located adjacent to theChurch of Thomas The Martyr, Uphollandand only a few yards from the cottage homeof Mrs. Mary Weeton and her family. Bothwere true friends of her daughter Ellen.

John Braithwaite, a native of Cumberlandwas educated at St. Bee’s School. Not entirelyunknown to the people of South Lancashire,he had been employed at Rainford, near St.Helens, for some five years before beingoffered the position as headmaster ofUpholland Grammar School in 1782. A yearlater he also accepted the post of assistantcurate at Upholland, under Rev. RichardPrescott, curate-in-charge atU p h o l l a n d .Rev. Prescott’spreference forthe l i fe of ac o u n t r ygentleman, tothat of a parishpriest , meantthat muchparish workfel l onto theshoulders ofy o u n gB r a i t h w a i t e .A d d i t i o n a l l yi n 1 7 8 3Braithwaite was appointed first incumbentand the living of St. George’s chapel of ease inthe parish of Wigan, a position he held untilhis death.

In due course it became very clear thatBraithwaite’s great energy was impelled by thedesire for success through an insatiableappetite for worldly wealth. Very soon hebegan to take boarders into home, ‘ThePriory’, which was then an acceptable way ofsupplementing an inadequate income thoughvery few did so as deftly and successfully asdid John Braithwaite. He shrewdly exploitedthe snobbery of his age by eliminating thename ‘Grammar School’ with its charitablefoundation association, to that of ‘Academy’,a word far more likely to attract the sons ofwealthy people. It worked admirably, thehighest boarding fees eventually exceeded onehundred guineas a year, at a time when aschoolmaster’s salary rarely exceeded £30 ayear.

One year after Braithwaite’s appointmentas headmaster a certain Mrs. Mary Weetonwith her two young children came fromLancaster to live in Upholland. Her daughter,Ellen, later wrote of being envious of herbrother Thomas’s learning opportunities at“Mr. Braithwaite’s most excellent school forboys”. Thanks to Miss Weeton’s detailedletters it is possible to peep into the Braithwaitehousehold and witness something of their lives:

Affection, good humour and carelessuntidiness characterised life at ‘The Priory’and on special occasions dances and other “gaydoings” took place. Little ceremony wasobserved and although Braithwaite considered

good appearance a supreme virtue, his wife inthis respect seemed to fail to meet hisexpectations. Miss Weeton’s opinion was thatBraithwaite’s wife Anne was a “coarse butgood hearted woman” who would helpanybody in trouble or distress. Unfortunatelyher tactless comments or ill-considered actionsmeant distress was as often caused asalleviated.

John and Anne Braithwaite had fivechildren - four daughters and a son. All theirdaughters were friends, in varying degrees, ofMiss Weeton, as also were the daughters ofRev. Richard Prescott. Sadly the generallyprevailing snobbery marred many potential

g o o dfriendships. Thedaughters ofRev. Prescott inp a r t i c u l a r“could not avoidshowing herthat they con-sidered thedaughters of ac l e r g y m a nmuch superiorin rank to thatof a school-m i s t r e s s . ”recorded MissWeeton at alater date.

Anne Braithwaite was the eldest daughterand something of a shadowy figure she diedshortly after her father of a “decline”.Catherine was a rather condescending andsupercilious friend of Miss Weeton. Margaretwas much more “genteel” and “moreaccommodating” and with “greaterconsideration for the feelings of others.” Shealso had a “religious turn of mind” which,despite her father’s poor example, wasnatural to her. Ellen Weeton greatly admiredMargaret. Elizabeth the youngest daughter,was rather refined with a quiet disposition ina somewhat boisterous family. Her last illnessand death of an asthmatic complaint istouchingly recorded by her admiring friend,Miss Weeton, some 15 years her senior.Nothing is known of son Frederick.

John Braithwaite tried hard to play thepart of the country parson, yet towards theend of his life he succumbed to drinkingheavily; though it would be a mistake to lookon him as degenerate. At that timedrunkenness was very common and evenfashionable in the upper classes, where manygentlemen were proud to be considered “threebottle men”.

Despite his failings, the very human andsomewhat charismatic John Braithwaite wasgreatly admired and loved by his own familyand by his pupils, amongst whom he foundgreat respect and affection. So much so that30 years after his death at the age of 58, agroup of his old pupils erected a tablet to hismemory. It still exists where it was placed, onthe south wall of Upholland church and abovethe pews once reserved for the scholars.

REV. JOHN BRAITHWAITE (1754-1812)

8

Rep

rodu

ced

with

kin

d pe

r mis

sion

of t

he C

ount

y A

rchi

vist

, Lan

cash

ire R

ecor

d O

ffice

. Ref

. DP

179.

William Yates’s map of the ‘County Palatine of Lancashire’, 1786. The main road layouts of this part of South Lancashireare little changed in over 200 years.

MISS Weeton’s favourite exercise was walkingand it was very regular. In the process she savedmany a shilling in an age when stage coachtravel was a matter of considerable expense anddiscomfort. Walking 10 to 15 miles in a day wasnormal for her. She often walked from Uphollandto Wigan (4 miles); to visit her brother when atLeigh (6 miles); to visit her daughter at Parr Hallboarding school, St. Helens (7 miles). Whenresiding at Beacon’s Gutter, Liverpool, sheregularly walked to busy Castle Street (about 2miles) and to Prescot, (about 8 miles). She combined her love of walking with hergreat love for the countryside throughundertaking walking tours alone. In 1812 sheextensively toured the Isle-of-Man and in 1825toured North Wales, where in a single day, atthe age of 49, she undertook a 25 mile excursionwhich included the ascent of Snowdon. Bothtours would, in themselves, make interestingbooks. When at Upholland from childhood tomaturity she never lost an opportunity to visitfavourite local beauty spots. Writing to aLiverpool friend from Upholland in February1808 she said: “I was enjoying a charming walk between12 and 2 o’clock I think you would have liked. Ipassed Tower Hill [Upholland], from whence theclearness of the air gave me such a delightfulview of the whole country! The Welsh Hills wereuncommonly distinct and the landscape in frontof them though very level and disfigured inplaces by large patches of moss was stillinfinitely pleasing. All round me, for somehundreds of miles in circumference, I had avariety of prospects. The air above me was sobeautifully mingled with clouds of variousshades, that that alone would have charmedme had there been nothing else to admire.

When I survey such thrilling scenes, O Thou the great First CauseMy swelling soul denies the means To utter my applause.”

The above four lines of verse were taken from,or later included in, her 104-verse poem ARamble in Dean Wood, dated May 1809, ofwhich 11 verses are printed below. It perfectlycaptures her overwhelming love of the naturalworld and recalls the happy times spent withher brother in Dean Wood, near Upholland, whenboth were children. Today the poem might beconsidered overly long and unnaturally‘rambling’ in places, yet it clearly shows a naturalflair and not a little influence of Thomas Grayand Oliver Goldsmith. Almost 200 years later Ellen Weeton’s poeticdescription of Dean Wood still holds true - the“solemn beauty”, the “scarcely murmuring”Dean Brook , the “rustling gales” and “thewarblers on the spray” - can still be enjoyed byall:

A RAMBLE IN DEAN WOODNEAR UPHOLLAND

Dear are those hills, and dear these vales, but ten-fold dear this wood;where, list’ning to the rustling gales,* full many an hour I’ve stood.

The solemn beauties of the place, the warblers on the spray,the sorrow of my heart effaces, and melt my soul away.

Oh! I could muse from morn than* night; could dwell with rapture here,could view each scene with new delight, could ev’ry tree revere.

MISS WEETON, THE GREAT WALKER AND VERSIFIERGreat Pow’r above! How kind Thou are such beauties to create;from them to Thee th’attracted heart rebounds with joy elate.

What silence reigns! Each leaf is still, the brook scarce murmurs by;nor whisp’ring breeze, nor clacking mill, disturb the solemn joy.

Save where yon blackbird’s mellow note, the throstle’s shrilly sweet;the robin too with swelling throatwith love, with joy replete.

Save where yon wearied collier boy, with eager step plods on;who loudly carols out his joy, now his days work is done. *****You dearly love, I know you do, to ramble often here;and I’m as fond, as pleas’d as you;we’ll come again don’t fear.

Farewell! Ye hills, ye vales, ye woods, scenes of my youthful days;Farewell! Ye streamlets, harmless floods ye songsters on the sprays.

And must I quite these scenes forego? No! Still I’ll raptured singthe beauties Dean Wood thou canst show in Summer, Autumn, Spring.

For dear those hills, and dear these vales but ten-fold dear this wood,where, list’ning to the rustling gales, so many hours I’ve stood.

* ‘gales’ in old poetry means ‘a gentle breeze’ (v1).‘than’ means ‘until’ (v3).

9

Dennis Turner, from Marsh Green,Wigan, a West LancashireCountryside Ranger, has recentlybeen involved in a project in DeanWood, Upholland. This coincided withAlan Roby’s articles in Past Forwardon Ellen Weeton, and promptedDennis, a keen poet, to put pen topaper in a reply to Miss Weeton’sverse written 190 years earlier.

Hello, Ellen WeetonOne hundred and ninety years agoYou wondered through Dean WoodTo write poetry as only you couldAs I read your visions they stand outI become inspired with all your thoughtsMy mind pictures the time in which you livedMoments, with the written word, this precious

giftSentence by sentence, feel the joy it givesIf only you could see me nowThe words come upon a screenPress a button, out they come from printer to meSo much has changed since your dayWhen you wrote while you passed this tranquil

wayNow its me who walks amongst the treesFlowing brook, ruins of old, waterfall bouncing,

on slabs of stoneMother Nature, still as friendly, still freeI’ll sit awhile, words come into my headPen goes to paper,Like you I will leave wordsTo be looked at, and read

by Jay Dee

Dedicated to R. Makin, that he may join withme in reverent thought, to the average fivewho are killed daily.

Down there is a man, whom perhaps weforget,

Till “headlines” of horror, stir in the mind.As we gaze at the news, from the press

still wet,Quite aware of the sadness to find.Yet ere print has dried, or wreckage all

clear,The picture we painted is a blur.We turn to the sport, or news of good

cheer,And so we forget that man, “down there”.

He went there and swung, on that lineyesterday,

He’s gone again today risking “snap”.Tomorrow he’ll go, though fate can bid

him stay,There’s confidence and trust in that chap.He sends us the heat, we’re dependent

upon,But we’re blind to the blood in it’s glare.The price that is paid, for coals that are

won,By the man who is, slaving “down there”.

At earth’s gaping mouth, he’s to enter acage,

A conveyance not worthy of note.Where a few pulsing seconds, seem quite

an age,As he’s swallowed deep down that black

throat.His eyes are affected, as down, down he

swings,By a darkness that’s felt “as it were”.His safety-lamp glows, but on distorted

things,Till his sight is accustomed, “down there”.

Dropping so swiftly, through a void blackas night,

Imprisoned by the bars of a fence.He’ll sigh when the cages, have passed

by alright,It relieves concentrated suspense.Till around his ears, a slackness he feels,In the foul smelling uprushing air.He hardly need the soft thud, under his

heels,To signal he’s landed “down there”.

Into the workings, he’s a distance totramp,

But not along a smooth concrete road.Obstructions on his way, plus drink, tools

and lamp,Give the start to a day’s heavy load.A stumble and bruise, as he plods along,May give cause for an unconscious swear,That suddenly turns, to the hum of a

song,For it’s a part of the day “down there”.

The end of that journey, means“something achieved”,

As he lays on one side drink and food,Strips off his sticky rags, and “how he’s

relieved”,It’s a comfort to be in the nude.The temperature, has risen rather high,There’s a trickle from under his hair.Have you ever thought, as you gaze at

the sky,That there’s a man and a “hell” “down

there”.

His place he will test, before starting ahew,

By scrutiny and tapping around.A strong pocket of gas, may need moving

through,And the roof give a deep hollow sound.Supports badly broken, or tilted askew,Will call for some dangerous repair.It may mean a death, but does it trouble

you,A lost husband or laddie, “down there”.

A cracking he hears, and down falls somerock,

If fortunate he’s scrambled clear.He’ll move it away, at the risk of a knock,Without any hear-throbs of fear.‘Tis only a sample of fate’s many tricks,With more inconvenience to bear.There is no surprise where the earth is on

sticks,The unforeseen’s expected “down there”.

He’ll pause for a breath, ease his limbsfrom a cramp,

Listening that everything’s quiet.He’ll go find his food, by the aid of his

lamp,

The usual jam and bread diet.Little time is allowed, for him to break

fast,And must squat on the floor anywhere,With some filthy odours travelling past,And the presence of vermin, “down

there”.

Sanitation is nil, there’s no white-tiledsink,

A grimy cave, is that man’s canteen.Filth smears his food, unless he washes in

drink,But his thirst can’t give way to hygiene.Illiterate we brand him, lacks etiquette,But are we not a little unfair?He’s caught in the strands of

environment’s net,That are woven around him, “down

there”.

Accidents to him, are numbered by thescore,

The daily little ”cuts” never fail.A few broken ribs, a crushed finger or

more,How his blue mottled flesh tells the tale.Yet under his scars, his rippling muscles

dance,Portraying the energy to spare,Should the voice of a comrade, be heard

by chance,In the call for assistance “down there”.

He gives his heart and soul, for a pittanceto get,

As away in that treacherous hole.Steam shrouds his body, from rivulets of

sweat,Dripping down on to that “bloody coal”.There’s no scene to cheer him, no sun to

shine,In his lungs, gassy dust-laden air.But his constitution comes, from a long

line,Of the fathers who have been “down

there”.

Few are his pleasures, the sacrifice is great,For a spark there can wrap him in flame.Yet we cast him aside, when youth is of

late,And we don’t put a “sir” to his name.When our fire is low, and the room has

got chilled,We think those black jewels incompared.But what of the man, who has gone to be

killed,Cutting that “bloody coal” from “down

there”.

That man’s memorial, would reach in thesky,

If we built it as to honour due.It would cover the ground, that we could

not pass by,Without memory stirring anew.Won’t you remember, when the glow’s in

your room?Won’t you try giving one little prayerFor the man who has gone down in the

gloom,For the man who is “all man”, “down

there”?

Mr. C. Daniels of Blackrod hascontributed this very evocativepoem, written in 1929 by hisfather Jack, then aged 29,following a serious pit injury. Ed.

‘Down There’

10

In the fourth and final extract from the Memories from the Life of James Albert

Davies, the author recalls his wedding and married life during the War years.

Memories from the life of

James Albert Davies

➯

In the following days,detailed announcementswere issued re arrangementsfor enlistment, and therationing of much of ournecessities. Though the warwas an urgent necessity I wasrelieved to learn thatschoolteachers over 24 yearsof age had been put on thereserved list, so there wasrespite for the immediatefuture.

Soon after the war startedMary’s uncle and aunt(guardians) decided to moveto a new bungalow in the OldParish of Coppull, despitethe fact that there was nobedroom for Mary. A campbed in the communal loungewas to be her situation for aslong as she stayed with them.This arrangement was no useto a woman of Mary’stemperament, and this, plusthe respite from call-up,acted as incentives to pushforward towards marriage,

WE knew that there was trouble brewing on the

Continent, but like the ostrich we buried our heads

in the sand and tried to ignore it - wishful thinking

as we well knew, but when the announcement

came over the radio on 3 September 1939 that ‘We

are at war with Germany’ it was as though the

bottom had really dropped out of our world.

Naturally, our first reaction was selfish. I was 27

years of age, able bodied, and could be up and

away to war at any moment. For months we had

been planning and working towards marriage,

and suddenly we knew that it could now be years.

Mary was heartbroken on two counts: uncertain

marriage prospects (more important to her than to

anyone in normal circumstances, living with

guardians as had been her circumstance for many

years) and Yours Truly having to go to war -

something no woman relishes.

and we re-doubled ourefforts to reach a point whereit was possible. Mary choseEaster Monday 1940 for herbig day.

* * * * *

We had planned a quietwedding but immediatelyFather began to plead for afamily gathering (and it wasa big family). We continuedthe fight for our originalintention of a quietceremony, but in the end, welost the verbal battle whenFather offered to make all thearrangements himself andfoot the bill!

He also wanted us to stayin Coppull, but we wanted‘out’ from Coppull for awhile, and were prepared totake the risk of a time ofpleasure, however short.Accrington was a good basefrom which to conduct myjoint appointment at

Haslingden and HindleyGrammar Schools, confiningmy lengthy journeys to thetwo days, and we found alarge terraced house inPlantation Street.

The ‘do’

On 25 March 1940 wewere married in theSpendmore Lane MethodistChurch, Coppull, of whichwe had both been memberssince childhood. The ‘do’had been arranged in theSunday School room, cateredby the local confectioners. Iremember the taxi refusing tostart when we were due toleave for the photographersin Chorley, and a relativehaving to run us down - wehad allowed ourselves to betalked out of going to aWigan photographer who wehad dealt with previously,and regretted it ever after asthe Chorley one wasn’t in thesame league.

We had the rest of theEaster Holiday in which tomake our house a bit morecomfortable; we knew beforewe went that it wasn’t whatwe (Mary) really wanted -semi-detached had takenover from the old rows (nowterraces) in the buildingworld, but we had taken it for3 months and intended tomake it more presentable.

* * * * *

Mary spent much of hertime looking for a house thatshe really liked, and foundone being built in CoppiceAvenue, a newly developedlittle cul-de-sac down at thefoot of a steep mound which

rose from the edge of thetown to the moors beyond. Itwould stretch us financiallybut it had to be and we settledto rent it from the builderwith a view to buying it at alater date. We moved in oncompletion, just as our leaseon our first home ended; thenew house wasn’t far awayand the builder even movedus.

Soon after moving Marydiscovered that she waspregnant and we settleddown quietly to await thearrival of our firstborn,setting the house up inreadiness; we roamed theCoppice, attended cinemasetc, but mostly were contentto be at home.

When schools received adirective from the WarMinistry commanding themto release to industry anyskilled workers on theirstaffs - workshop practiceteachers, mainly - I wasordered to report to a Boardin Blackburn, and very soonreceived an order to report toa factory in Accringtonwhich had turned frommanufacture of millmachinery to aeroplaneproduction, and wasinstructed to report for workthe following Monday. Onreporting back to my Head heimmediately objected to mebeing released to industryuntil the end of that term, andwon his objection. In theback of my mind I was benton entering the service of theRoyal Marines, and had nowish to go back to the bench,so took no further action.

Sometime later, Ireceived notification to

11

Continued on page 12

report for interview to theBristol Aircraft Corporationin Accrington, and wasasked if there would be anytrouble getting me releasedfrom school. I told them toconsult my Head, and heardnothing further.

Commandeer the

machinery

Yet a third attempt wasmade to get me into industry.An organiser of AdultTraining at an Accringtoncentre (engineering) came tocommandeer the machinerywe had in school workshops,and was amazed to find mestill in school - he thoughtwe were either in industry oron the war front. He wasdesperately short ofinstructors and here was I, aqualified instructor stillteaching children. When Iexplained the position to himhe said that he wascommandeering me alongwith my machinery as soonas he returned to base, andassured me that the headwouldn’t ‘scotch’ his orders.

Alas for him (not me) mycall-up papers came throughbefore he could completeofficialdom, and it wasirrevocable. I saw him againwhen he came immediatelyafter his visit to pick up mymachines and he wasannoyed to think that hecould have had me sixmonths earlier if he had beenaware of the situation. Iremember gleefully tellingthe Head he couldn’t objectto my release this time!

My call-up papersinstructed me to report to theRoyal Marine Depot atLympstone, Devon on 18February 1941. By this timeMary was nearingconfinement, and I decidedto appeal to the War Officefor an extension of civilianlife to attend to the birth,explaining all the facts, andat midnight pre my earlymorning departure for

Devon a policeman came toour home to inform me thatmy request had been grantedand that my re-arranged call-up date was 18 March, notFebruary, 1941.

To say that we wererelieved was putting itmildly; everything wasgetting difficult because ofthe necessities of the war;Mary wasn’t as active aspreviously, and my presencewas invaluable. Mary dulyentered the RoughleeNursing Home in Accringtonat 3.00 am on the morning of26 February 1941 and thebaby was born at 6.45 am - aclose call but everythingwent well and they weresoon home.

The month’s delay in mycall-up for active servicewas later to prove more of ablessing than we at firstthought; all intakes to theRoyal Marines were beingsubjected at that time to aninitial training period ofseven weeks at LympstoneR M Depot and drafted intoMNBDO (Marine NavalBase Defence Organisation)and dispatched to Crete.Without a doubt I shouldhave been one of them, andon the Island when it fell tothe Germans with heavylosses. When I finallyarrived at the Depot on 18March I, along with others,was one of the first intakes tobe enlisted into MarineBattalions instead ofautomatic drafting intoMNBDO, with an obviousmission to provide thespearhead for an invasion ofEurope at some future date.And so I became a 10Battalion Royal Marine -PO/X 105254.

Firstborn son

On 27 April 1941 Maryarranged to have ourfirstborn son James Alanchristened at the SpendmoreLane Methodist Church -needless to say I wasotherwise engaged and

couldn’t be present.Christmas and New Year

leave in 1941 were limited toa fortunate few who werelucky in the draw. I drewNew Year, and wantedChristmas; a Scottishcounterpart drew Christmasand wanted New Year(Hogmanay), so we joyfullyexchanged, and I leftGoodwich in high spiritswhen the day dawned. As Iwas about to board the train, Iwas handed a telegram whichread ‘Go house in Coppull,Mary’; so I went straightthere travelling all night, andarrived about 7.00 am. Thetelegram should have read‘Got house in Coppull’ - sheknew I was coming home andwas warning me (so shethought) that I had a flittingon my hands, instead of thefestive leave I wasanticipating, so I hared off toAccrington and set to workimmediately. There were nomen around and all I couldget to help was a man and anelderly driver, and casuallabour, if any. It was obviousfrom the start that my shortleave wouldn’t be sufficientto see the job through, and Iappealed for an extra day - noreply, so I took French leaveand added an extra day tomake things a bit morecomfortable for Mary andAlan. I knew I should be introuble when I returned tobase, but was willing to takethe rap.

* * * * *

My hopes for a quickrelease after the end of thewar didn’t materialise, andaggravating was putting itmildly. The big dayeventually arrived and I leftEastney on 8 November1945, bound for Colchester tocollect my civilian clothing.I didn’t waste any time overchoice - I knew that Iwouldn’t wear any of it backhome, and was on the railwaystation at Colchester indouble quick time, and still

had a long journey home. Sostill in uniform and carryingmy new civvies I boarded thefirst train bound for Wiganand was a civilian again.

I arrived in Wigan too latefor any transport home toCoppull and had two choices,either wait for early morningservices or walk, and as I wasraring to get home there wasno contest - I walked, andwas home long before thefirst bus out! I rememberlightening my load byjettisoning my newlyacquired civvies en route, asthey were cumbersome tocarry. The farmer in Standishmust have thought thatChristmas had home earlywhen he found it nextmorning!

* * * * *

Throughout my timeaway from home I knew thateverything was not a bed ofroses for Mary, despitehaving no money difficulties;essential goods were in shortsupply and she found it hardto make do; and after almost5 years without me around, itshowed. Be that as it may, Iwasn’t prepared for what Ifound on returning toCoppull; the first seriousproblem was lack of heat andthe wherewithal of producingit. It was strictly rationed(except for miners) and therewasn’t nearly enough to keepa fire going all day. Thosewho knew Mary knew whatthat would do to her - she’dhad rheumatic fever as a childand for ever after had neededheat to keep her comfortable.Across the village my Fatherhad his greatcoat on for over3 weeks, and that was insidethe house!

Picking coal

The villagers had takenthe law into their own handswe and were picking coal onthe local mine slag heaps;

12

Memories from the

life of

James AlbertDavies

–––––Continued from page 11

along with a pal, Jake

Goodman, I joined the army -

and I was only just

demobbed. We certainly

earned the coal which we

gleaned from Welch Whittle

pit slagheap; we had to bike

to the site, the last stretch

along a field footpath leading

down to the valley, climbing

the ruck on arrival and

waiting for the skip to tip its

waste - location unknown

within 20 yards or so, and we

were literally risking having

it dropped on us.

Amongst the waste there

was always coal, and when

our sacks were full there was

the long trek home, lifting

everything over stiles and

fences, with two hands

needed to push one laden

bike up the steepest parts. It

was late November, dark

early, so at first it was

weekends only. I was on

leave, but Jake was working.

I spent some time going

down on my own; I could

only handle smaller loads,

but it was worthwhile and

solved immediate problems

for both us and Father.

Weekends we doubled up,

and soon had coal in hand,

but we kept up with the

practice all through the

summer. We had several

brushes with authority, but

nothing that an ex-marine

couldn’t handle. The only

thing that mattered was that

we were able to have a fire

when we needed it and put

the bath back into general

use.

I don’t remember much

about the first Christmas

back home, as there wasn’t

much entertaining going on

through this time of rationing

(except for those who had

contacts and were dealing in

the black-market). Alan was

approaching his 5th birthday,

almost ready for school, and

it was useful for him to have

a dad around permanently,

instead of the ‘visitor’ he was

accustomed to. Mum had

bought him an old,

dilapidated tricycle from

‘Dirty Jack’ on the Flat Iron

(Chorley market) and we

soon had it overhauled and

painted for him. It was too

big for him at the time and I

had to put blocks on the

pedals so that he could reach

it. He couldn’t have had

more pleasure out of any

Rolls Royce version of a

tricycle, and Ann after him.

In May 1946 a house

owned by my Father became

open to us through the death

of his tenants - next door to

his own house in Spendmore

Lane. He approached us

with a plea to come back

home, more or less. He said

that he would make any

improvements we wanted,

and quoted a lower rent than

what we were paying at

Marley Terrace. Left without

a leg to stand on, we finally

agreed; he knew, as we did,

that it would be much better

for himself if he had us next

door. During the Easter

holidays we were able to get

the whole house decorated

(what a job!) ready to move in.

* * * * *

‘Civvy’ again

My demob leave came to

an end all too soon, but it had

given me time to become

accustomed to being a Civvy

again; inevitably the day

dawned when I had to take

up the job I had before I

enlisted - 3 days at

Haslingden Grammar School

and 2 days at Hindley - and it

was doomed from Day One.

My war-time stand-ins, both

joiners, had each been

engaged for an extra day as

each school had grown

during the war, and though

they had agreed to stay on

for the extra day the

situation was hopeless.

Settling back into the old

routine wouldn’t have been

easy without these

additional difficulties, and I

remember sending my class

home early one day and

catching a bus home - I’d

had enough.

The travelling routine

didn’t help of course, and

there was no hope of getting

a house in the Haslingden

area again. There was no

alternative to finding a job

nearer home and cut out my

excessive travelling time. A

12-hour day at Haslingden

and 9-hour day at Hindley

was no routine for a teacher.

I had already spent almost 5

years away from home and

had no intention of wasting

any more of my time on

buses! Soon after moving to

Spendmore Lane I

successfully applied for a

teaching post at Leyland

Senior School. The school

and the staff wasn’t the same

as I’d left 5 years earlier, and

I never settled down there

again. I worked out my

notice until January 1947

and left without any regrets.

In the February of 1947

Mum learned that she was

pregnant for the second time.

We had waited throughout

the war years to increase our

family and we settled down

throughout that summer to

get everything shipshape for

the new arrival. There was

still much to be done to the

house. Along the way there

was trouble which

necessitated visits to Wigan

Infirmary and private

consultants. In the

September of 1947 Mary

duly gave birth to Ann.

With his departure from

Hindley and Abram

Grammar School, and the

birth of his daughter Ann,

this brings to an end these

extracts in Past Forward

from the Journal of James

Albert Davies. The Journal,

however, continues up to

1977, when he retired from

teaching at the age of 65. It

tells primarily of his 30 years

at Leyland Senior School

(later Wellfield Secondary

Modern) and regular

holidays with Mary in their

beloved Colwyn Bay, despite

her steadily deteriorating

health.

Ann, who compiled the

Journal and who brought it

to my attention, has written

these words as a conclusion:

“Dad’s journal was

begun in earnest in the last

year of his life. He was

often to be seen writing at

his bureau, but eventually

he became unable to

comlete his book, leaving

the last few years untold.

He remained a constant

and devoted carer to Mum,

rarely leaving her side,

until her death on 20 May

1989, aged 75 years.

Thereafter he continued

his quiet life in Charnock

Richard, often to be found

helping others. He was still

able, in his 80’s, to enjoy

cycling, swimming,

motoring, and his beloved

woodwork. He was

dedicated to helping his

children and grandchildren

in every possible way.

Dad died of lung cancer

on 28 January 1994, just

before his 82nd birthday.

Those who saw him in his

final days spoke of the joy

around him; his work was

done.

He is buried with Mum

in Christ Church

churchyard, Charnock

Richard.”

13

What is a Parish Map?

A PARISH Map is a demonstrative,

value-laden statement made by and for a

community, exploring and showing what

it cares about in its locality.

Cartographical accuracy is not important

- what is important is that the map is your

own representation of your home place.

A parish map offers a way of

communicating, creatively and socially,

how rich everyday places are, and what

importance seemingly ordinary things

have to people.

The Parish Map project encourages

people to share and chart information

about their locality as a first step to

becoming involved in its care. Asking each

other “What do you value in your place?”

puts everyone in the role of an expert. A

Parish Map should be the starting point

for local conservation action, not an end

in itself. Our hope is to help people to find

ways of involving themselves in creating

the future in their locality.

The concept was launched

countrywide in 1987 with a touring

exhibition of maps commissioned from

artists called ‘Knowing your Place’, and

our Wigan Borough Parish Map launches

took place in Wigan and in Leigh last

autumn. The project is growing from

strength to strength and has the full

backing of the Local Authority.

The parish map concept is very new

to our borough but ever since 1987

hundreds of maps have been made by

civic societies, tenants, groups, artists,

parish councils, schools, local history

evening classes, womens’ groups and

environmental organisations. Parish

Maps can be made by anyone, at any age,

in any form - textiles, painting, ceramics,

photography, audio and video,

newspaper, performance and song have

all been tried - our map will be made from

textiles.

Our hope is that the process of making

a parish map will stimulate discussion

about what makes our place particular

and how much it means to us. By

displaying the map in a public place it will

act as a reminder of what is valued (so

that things are not lost through

ignorance) and continue to stimulate

debate about how local people want their

place to be. Many Local Authorities have

taken on the idea for Agenda 21 as it is a

way to consult the people of the borough

and ask them what they value about their

local community.

Sew for the Millennium There has been a national exhibition

of Parish Maps which started at the

Barbican Centre, London in 1996 and

followed a course of 10 regional and 50

local exhibitions across the country.

Soroptimist Internationalof Wigan

About our Project:

In 1974 local authority boundary changesgave birth to the Wigan MetropolitanBorough - swallowing up 14 districts. Eachdistrict has its own distinct identity and hasthings particularly important to them in theirimmediate locality.

Our project aims to bring thecommunities in the districts together with aview to considering their own localenvironment, deciding upon what isimportant to them and then going on todisplay this visually by way of making aParish Map. Each district will then depict,in textile form, whatever they consider isimportant to them and contribute to theirindividual district’s map. The 14 Maps willthen be put together and form a HUGEBorough Map, and this will be donated tothe Borough for the Millennium.

We have included as many peopleorganisations as possible and have alreadycontacted all types of socio-economicgroups - schools, youth groups, womens’/mens’ groups, ethnic organisations and theblind, hard of hearing and the disabled -everyone is welcome to join in the project -the more the merrier! We have children asyoung as 5 years old working on the project.

The whole project is owned by theparticipants - they decide what to includeon the Map, what materials to use, thecolours, designs etc - an artist is on handto give guidance at every workshop, andto help us in the planning stages. TheProject focuses on emphasisingcommunity spirit and learning about thelocal environment with the people of thecommunity planning, creating, developingand eventually displaying the Map for allto see. The Map will be hung in a publicplace following it’s initial ‘tour’ of theborough.

Monthly workshops are being heldcentrally at the Professional DevelopmentCentre, Park Road, Hindley, Wigan and anartist will be present at each workshop. Thewhole point of the centralised workshopsis for the best practices to be sharedthroughout the groups - for people to learnnew skills and pass on to others skills whichthey already possess - and this is indeedhappening already at the workshops.Participants bring along their pieces ofwork to show the rest of the group and toshare their ideas and methods witheveryone.

We are keeping a photographic recordof the project as it evolves, and will arrangefor a display to be established which willaccompany the Map when it goes on touraround the districts. This will consist ofvideo recordings of the participants at workand also still photographs - the participantswill be able to ‘see themselves’ working onthe project as well as the end result.

Everyone is updated regularly - at thecentral workshop and then by means of amonthly newsletter. This regular contactkeeps the group united and involved andalso keeps everyone aware of timescalesand deadlines which need to be met. Thegroups should be motivated with theregular press coverage which has beenpromised and we intend to use local radiostations to promote the project.

The project was launched in bothWigan and Leigh in autumn 1997, and weplan to hold an ‘unveiling ceremony’ justbefore the Millennium when the map willbe accepted by the Mayor, and then it willbe hung in a public place for everyone toenjoy for many years to come - a tangiblereminder of everything important in ourBorough at the Millennium.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, YOU MAYJUST STILL BE IN TIME TO HELP MAPTHE MILLENNIUM - BUT HURRY! RINGMARION ON 01257 426610

14

One hundred years old

CelebrateLeigh’s

CentenaryCelebrations are already wellunderway. However, the mainevents will be held in early August.

Leigh Town Square5 August5 August5 August5 August5 August

Leigh Charter Day - presentation ofthe Charter and the unveiling of therestored Spinning Jenny plaque,fairground rides, Victorian fancydress competition, dancing andfireworks finale.

Pennington FlashCountry Park

6 August - 7.30p.m.6 August - 7.30p.m.6 August - 7.30p.m.6 August - 7.30p.m.6 August - 7.30p.m.(tickets £2, over 60’s £1)A Flash Concert, featuring Gary andVera Aspey, the Appalachian StepDancers and the Skyliner Band.

7 August - 7.00 pm7 August - 7.00 pm7 August - 7.00 pm7 August - 7.00 pm7 August - 7.00 pm(tickets £25)Grand Centenary Ball - reception,dinner and dancing to the big bandsound form Wigan Youth JazzOrchestra with Mark Potter.

8 August8 August8 August8 August8 AugustFamily Fun Day - music,entertainment, children’s disco.

9 August9 August9 August9 August9 AugustChildren’s Playday.

Tickets for 6 and 7 August from:Rita Jones, Colliers Photographers,Railwy Road, Leigh (tel. 01942 671040).Dorothy Bowker, Cooks Shoes, MarketStreet,Leigh (tel. 01942 672567)

Leigh Town Centre14 August14 August14 August14 August14 August

Festival of Transport - variousdisplays throughout the day

Top right: The foundation stone of Leigh’s

new Town Hall was laid on 24 October

1904 by the Mayor, Alderman Henry

Cowburn JP.

Right: Three years later, on 24 July,

crowds gathered to witness the official

opening of the building.

This splendid title panel, which once stood

in Spinning Jenny Street, will be unveiled,

fully restored, in its new home in the Town

Hall on 5 August.

Arms granted to Leigh Municipal

Borough, 1899. The quarterings consist

of a spearhead (Westleigh), a mullet

(Pennington), a shuttle (Bedford) and a

sparrowhawk (Atherton). The crest is a

bear’s paw grasping a spearhead,

representing respectively the Powys

family (Lord Lilford) and the Urmstons

of Westleigh. The motto Aequo Pede

Propera means To make Progress

Steadily.

AS one of Lancashire’s historicsmall towns, Leigh has a veryproud history. As the centre

of an ancient ecclesiastical parish its

church embraced the neighbouring

towns of Atherton and Tyldesley.

Leigh was the scene of a skirmish in

the Civil War, the district siding with

parliament against the king. Its rich

dairy country produced a local

delicacy - the Leigh cheese - and

before the Industrial Revolution the

people practised traditional trades

such as hand-loom weaving and nail-

making. Linens and fustians made in

Leigh were important before the

large cotton mills came to employ so

many thousands of men and women

in Victorian times. Silk-weaving, too,

was developed in the 19th century

and had only just died out when our

grandparents were young.

The coming of the canals helped

the infant coal industry grow to be

one of Leigh’s major employers by

the early 1900’s. Engineering, notably

iron founding, was the other of

Leigh’s big three industries.

Yet until comparatively recently

Leigh town was divided between a

number of separate townships -

Bedford, Pennington and Westleigh

- which were only brought together

in 1875 to form the Leigh Local

Board. Following the 1889 Act of

Parliament, Leigh became an Urban

District Council in 1894. Finally, in

1898 the UDC sent a petition, signed

by 4000 ratepayers, to the Crown

seeking their town’s incorporation

as a borough. This was duly approved

and Leigh received its royal charter,

incorporating it as a municipal

borough, on 5 August 1899. On 23

December of that year the borough

was granted an official coat of arms.

Leigh’s splendid Town Hall was

opened in 1907. Leigh, of course,

remained a municipal borough until

local government reorganisation in

1974, when it became part of the

newly formed Wigan Metropolitan

Borough.

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15

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16

HISTORY SHOP NEWS

EXHIBITIONS IN THEHISTORY SHOP

The History Shop has aMeeting Room, with acapacity for 36. This is

available for hire by localgroups and societies at a

very reasonable cost:

£7.00PER MORNING OR

AFTERNOON SESSION

£10.50PER EVENING SESSION

COMMERCIAL RATE

£15.00(Day time only)

REFRESHMENTS ARE ALSOAVAILABLE

If you are interested, contactMike Haddon

(01942) 828121

FRIENDS OF WIGAN HERITAGE SERVICE

Registration Form

Name .................................................................................................... Title .....................................

Address ...............................................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................... Tel ....................................................

Subscription 2000 (£5.00)

Interests ..............................................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................................................

Please make cheque payable to: Wigan MBC and return to the History Shop, LibraryStreet, Wigan WN1 1NU.

THE TAYLOR GALLERY

2 - 31 July - Presenting the Figure - Anexhibition by Wigan Artists’ Network

21 August - 4 September - WiganPhotographic Society annual exhibition

8 - 23 September - Back To Your Roots -A beginners guide to tracing your familyhistory

25 September - 9 October - Atherton &District Photographic Society annualexhibition

12 October - 13 November - Back ToYour Roots

17 November - January 2000 - AroundStandish & Shevington - The exhibitionof the book

The Parish Map Display, organised bythe ladies of Wigan Soroptomists and theirartist Tony Unsworth, was a very popularshow. Many ladies from different groupswho have contributed to the project camein and brought their family and friends tosee their work displayed in our formalgallery setting. The work itself is of a very

high standard and of great local interest.The next stage in the project is pulling allthis work together and creating a single,huge, parish map. We wish all concernedwith the project good luck, and will keepyou our readers informed of plans for itsfinal resting place. The exhibition just closed was from theNorth West Sound Archive (see article inPast Forward 21 p.14) and explored thehistory of sound recording. This wassupplemented by an exploration of thewritten recording of events ‘Dear Diary’,an exhibition from our own importantarchive collection of personal diariesdating from as early as the 1660’s whenlocal Ashton apprentice Roger Lowebegan recording his life.

THE WICKHAM GALLERY

* Charter ‘96 - A Celebration of 750 Yearsof Local Government in Wigan* Reverend William Wickham - AVictorian Photographer

THE DERBY ROOMS, LEIGH

6 - 29 October - The Peoples Music - ACelebration of Brass

The FRIENDS project has really takenoff now with 150 paid up members.Don’t worry if you haven’t filled in aform yet, there is still plenty of time.Everyone on the old mailing list willcontinue to receive Past Forward to theend of this year, then will transfer to theFRIENDS mailing list on payment of the£5 subscription.

Anyone subscribing as a FRIENDnow will guarantee membership andtheir copy of Past Forward for the year2000. Remember as well as your threePast Forwards a year we are hoping tothat an active FRIENDS group willprovide the opportunity to attendprivate views, events and even work onprojects. A formal meeting of theFRIENDS group will take place onMonday 6 September at 7.00 pm. in theHistory Shop.

Please fill in the slip, make yourcheque payable to Wigan MBC andreturn to us at the History Shop.

FRIENDSOF THE

HERITAGESERVICE

17

HISTORY SHOP NEWS

The Year 2K and Beyond PhotographicProject at the History Shop, Wigan

We are very excited about this ambitiousnew project for the Millennium. In thelargest gallery of the History Shop, we willbe creating an innovative new museumdisplay with a difference. Set to run for thewhole of the year 2000 this display will dealwith today not yesterday, building up apicture of life in Wigan at this momentoustime.

The Display is something new and excitingfor us; new in that as a contemporaryexhibition it deals with modern concepts,ideas and objects; exciting in that it relieson bringing us into partnership with thewider community.

The idea is to document everyday life inthe area through photographs and objects,to look at the way we are living today, thetechnology that supports it and theimplications for the future. The main vehiclefor this will be a major photographic projectwhich we are commissioning to reflect lifeas it is today here in Wigan. This projectwill lead the display and also act as a lastingphotographic archive for the future. Theconcept is to take the visitor forward in time,through a context setting area, to around2080 - a time far enough in the future to belargely unpredictable yet not so far as to betoo remote.

The Exhibition will then be able to step backin time to the year 2000, and take a look at

everyday life in much the same way as ourWigan Pier Experience does for life in 1900.We are considering broad subject areas likehome life; working life; transport; trade &commerce, fashion & youth issues; health& lifestyle; education & public services; theenvironment. One area we would particularlylike to explore is the creation of timecapsules, which would sum up life in Wiganat the turn of the Millennium and could becreated by groups and individuals from allareas - schools, community and FRIENDS.

The Appeal is for help with the exhibitionitself, the objects, the ideas, the contactsand the time capsules. We need you to getinvolved, get to know the project, suggestideas and partners and provide objects forthe time capsules. For the exibition we alsoneed partners from businesses, privatesector, public services, community groups

and schools, providing us with ideas andobjects for the display covering each of thesubject areas outlined. We already havesupport from an encouraging number oflocal businesses and services, theAuthority’s Millennium Festival Co-ordinatorand national interest from the BBC History2000 Project.

The next step is to get involved and comealong to a meeting to find out more. Thereis not long to go now before the end of theyear so we need to act quickly. A meetingfor anyone interested in getting involved willbe held in the History Shop on Monday 26July at 7 pm at which the project will beoutlined in more detail. If you can help thenplease fill in the slip to let us know you arecoming and give us your daytime telephonenumber in case we have to change thearrangements.

The History Shop has recently received a large number of donations from Mr. TedCheetham of Shevington. These include copies of First Edition (c.1890) OrdnanceSurvey maps, scale 25 inches to the mile, covering all or part of the following areas:Billinge, Bispham, Bryn, Charnock Richard, Haigh, Hawkley Hall, Haydock, HindleyGreen, Mawdesley, Platt Bridge, Swinton, Tontine, Welch Whittle, Westhoughton andWinstanley. Also parts of the church registers of the following churches: Croston Hall R.C.,Croston Holy Cross., Croston St. Michael C.E., Mawdesley S.S. Peter and Paul R.C.,Wrightington St. James the Great C.E., and Wrightington St. Joseph R.C. Togetherwith graveyard plans of the following churches: Charnock Richard Christ ChurchC.E., Chorley St. Gregory R.C., Chorley St. Peter C.E., Coppull Parish church,Mawdesley S.S. Peter and Paul R.C., Wrightington St. James the Great C.E. andWrightington St. Joseph R.C. All this has involved Mr. Cheetham and his associate Mrs. Margaret Davies in agreat deal of work, and we would like to thank them for their generosity. Researchersshould note that all the maps are now available for consultation, but only a few of theregisters and plans have been bound and processed at the time of writing. Enquirerswishing to consult these items should telephone the History Shop (01942 828020) forinformation regarding the current situation. B.B.

RECENT DONATIONS TO THEHISTORY SHOP

YEAR 2K & BEYONDGeneral Meeting Monday 26 July at 7 pm.

In the History Shop

*I would like to attend this meeting

*I am unable to attend this meeting

*I am unable to attend but would like to help in this project(*Delete as appropriate)

Name ....................................................................................

Address .................................................................................

Tel: ........................................................................................

Return to the History Shop, Library Street, Wigan WN1 1NU.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

18

An accident of birth brandsme ‘born in Middlesex’ thoughI eschew the term Londoner. Myheart, loyalty and bloodlinebelongs to Wigan. My ancestorson my father’s side wereHighams, colliers and weaversfrom Wigan and Amberswood,Ince. My good fortune is that Ihave two uncles alive whobetween them have clocked up184 years! Edward Cain is ahale and hearty 93 this year andStanley Morris a young shaverof 91. Conversations with themhave provided a wonderfulinsight into life in Wigan earlierthis century, and I urge anyonewho knows a talkative oldWiganer to plunder theirmemory banks before thoseprecious jewels of recollectionare lost forever. My experienceis that older Wiganers can talkthe hind legs off Jane Green’sdonkey given the chance.

Running errands

Edward Cain was born inFrancis Street, off Belle GreenLane, Ince in November 1905.This was in an area of terracedhousing built in the shadow ofthe huge Kirkless iron and steelcomplex that closed in 1930. Hisfather, Jimmy Cain, had beenborn in Ince in 1883 and wasrunning errands at a halfpennyper mile (one fifth of a pencetoday) by the age of thirteen. Helater became a furnace keeper atthe ironworks and in later liferan Cains - the confectioners atthe bottom of Belle Green Lane.(See letter on page 2).

‘Let’s talk Wiggin’THOSE whose eyes have been attracted by the headline

may be in for a surprise, but hopefully not a

disappointment, as the following is not an article on

dialect. Much as I regret that the old language of

Wiganers is now a rarity, submerged by the awful

telespeak of today, this is rather a tale of two old men

and their memories. Memories of days when Wigan

was a different world; a world of hardship and

heartache for many, but stamped with a native wit and

humour. How doe the tale come to be told?

Earlier I made mention ofheartache, and to illustrate whatI meant I use the illustration thatin 1881 Jimmy Cain’s parentslost a daughter Margaret, agedtwo years, in January, and a sonEdward, aged five months, inthe April.

Life at the Ironworks washard. The heat from thefurnaces, together with the back-breaking toil led to manyillnesses such as pneumonia,hernias and blindings fromsparks. My late father recalledtaking beer to the men on the siteand watching in amazement asthey swallowed it withoutdrawing breath. He took overthis task from his brother Teddy(mentioned previously). Theironworkers tools were a prizedpossession. Jimmy Cain took tohiding his in the shallow part ofthe Leeds and Liverpool Canal,where furnace number ten cameclose to the bank. Are they thereto this day? I often wonder.

Hard man

Jimmy had married MaryElizabeth Stone in 1905 and onhis first shift at the ironworksafter their wedding hisworkmates laughed to see himso well turned out - marriagehad paid its first dividend.Mary’s father was a hard man,probably made more so bylosing his wife in her earlyforties after bearing him 13children. Mary, and her sisterSarah, sold ‘crumpets’ from abasket door to door in order tomake ends meet. I know they

walked from Manchester RoadInce to Sennicar Lane at Haighand back, which is a gooddistance for little girls carryingheavy baskets!

This hard side of life wasoffset by fun and jollity whenopportunity allowed. A potatopie evening seems to have beena favoured event. Supposedly adog at the Bush Hotel in Incehad a pie baked for him andafterwards was given a pipe to

smoke! What the animal rightscampaigners would have had tosay back then God aloneknows. Whether such talesowed anything to the ale at theBush is another question.

Whilst on the subject ofanimals, Jimmy Cain often toldof a cat that kept warm in theoven set in the range next to thecoal fire and a woman who lither fire each day by using apiece of flaming wax strip torn

from her windowblind!

Another wellknown source ofentertainment wasprovided by theattractions onKing Street inWigan - theTheatre Royal andthe Hippodrome,well known tomany readers ofPast Forward .One tale con-cerned a ratherimpress ionab lesoul who, havingseen a playentitled ‘The Faceat the Window’fled back to Inceand hid in a rainbarrel in terror!Strong stuff indeed.

Something of anexpert!

Jimmy Cain’s son Teddytold me in graphic detail of theday the flue became blocked inthe family’s bakehouse. Havingobtained work at the explosivesworks of Roburite at Gathurst,Teddy considered that, in spiteof his tender years, he wassomething of an expert in thefield. He was in no doubt that asmall charge would clear theblocked flue. Clear it did. Un-fortunately it blew the doorclean off the oven and causedthe family dog, Teddy’s

➯

James Cain, born CarolineStreet, Ince 1883. Furnace-

keeper at Kirkless Ironworks.

James Higham, born 1853 atCommon Bridge,

Amberswood, Ince, withElizabeth, wife and Elizabeth

daughter.

19

BOB DOBSONPublisher and Book Dealer

LANCASHIRE

YORKSHIRE & CHESHIRE

I buy, sell and search for second-handbooks relating to these counties: I searchfor books: I issue lists. I buy quantities ofother books.

LIST OF MY NEW PUBLICATIONSON REQUEST

BOB DOBSON

“Acorns”

3 STAINING RISE

STAINING

BLACKPOOL FY3 0BU

Tel: (01253) 895678

accomplice in the deed, to fleeall the way back to the top ofBelle Green Lane up the steephill! Needlesss to say Teddy’sexpertise was not sought infuture, as a hefty repair bill forthe oven had not been expected.

* * * *

My other uncle, Stan Morris,was from the Spring Street areaoff Darlington Street East. Hecan tell a yarn with the best andhas had a number of jobs in hislife from which to fashion hisskills as a raconteur. He knowsas well as anyone the hardshipsfound in Wigan in the 1920’s.As his father died while Stanleywas still small, he immediatelybecame the man of the house,selling pans from a cart in thestreets in and around the town.His face lights up when he getsto talking of his days on therailway, and an old photographshows him proudly swanking onone of the beloved locomotivesof the Great Central Railway.Stanley was based at the depotbetween Warrington Lane andDarlington Street East with aright motley crew of characters.

Cook on the shovel

One story concerns amorning turn onone of the engines.Between shuntingjobs the driver puthis breakfast tocook on the shovelclose to the firebox.Suddenly it becamenecessary to movethe engine andbelieving thatsuch a simplemanoeuvre couldbe entrusted to the young ladStanley, the driver instructedhim to get on with it! One yankon the control, a bellow andsnort from the engine and theeggs and bacon shot up throughthe funnel! The language thatensued is best left to theimagination so I am told.

After knocking off work atthe depot it was necessary torepair to the local, often the

Manley on Ince Green Lane.After a convivial evening onechap, known as Parky, couldhardly stand, let alone walkback to his home in Poolstock.Next day one of the lads askedafter Parky to be told he was“awreet, we set him ont’ cutbank, he’ll find t’ road” (Myapologies here for liberties withthe dialect). A drunken man ona canal bank in the dark couldwell have been a case of sinkor swim! What touchingconcern from his pals.

* * * *

As these snippets of life inthe old days are concluded I willkeep to the theme of railwayengines by mentioning anothermember of my family, my greatuncle Evan Williams from NewSprings. There may still be folksof a particular vintage that willrecall the day an engine haulingmolten slag overturned on thehuge tip abutting Henfield Road,off Belle Green Lane. Evan, thedriver, was trapped, badlyinjured but thankfully survivedas the newspaper cuttings of theday reported. Today these menwould be recipients of largecompensation settlements, thenthey got better and clocked onagain. Hard times indeed.

The memories of my twouncles have provided much ofwhat has gone before. I just hopethat like me you enjoyed theirstories, to me CD Rom isn’t apatch on old boys’ tales.

Neil Cain28 Sheridan Terrace

Whitton Avenue WestNortholt

Middlesex

UB5 4JS

Stanley Morris (top right) and workmates at Great CentralRailway Works, off Warrington Lane (c.1925).

20

THE 1997 summer issue of Past Forward featured

photographs of Wigan’s wrestling champions, including

pictures of Bob Perry, and Jack and Joe Carroll. Readers

may be interested to learn that these wrestlers were

accompanied by 12 other wrestlers from

the Wigan area, (amongst them Jim

Foster and Joe Smith, who may be the

two men pictured with the Carrolls).

These men competed in the National

Sporting Club wrestling tournament,

held at the Alhambra Theatre, London,

from 24 January to 5 February 1910.

This twelve-day professional ‘Catch asCatch Can’ wrestling tournament was thethird annual event held under thepatronage of the National Sporting Club.It attracted 195 wrestlers, with competitorsfrom as far away as Russia, India and theCaribbean.

Once the formalities were completedwrestling got underway in the three weightclasses. In the preliminary rounds a simpletouch fall was allowed, supplemented bya points system and time limit. For thesemi-finals and final, the pin fall no timelimit rule was introduced.

Next came the middleweights (under12st). Jack Carroll (Hindley) beat H.Mathin (Russia) in 15 seconds, and JoeCarroll (Hindley) defeated Londoner J.Moore in 41 seconds. It only took 27seconds for Wigan’s Bob Berry to disposeof Catford’s Charles Helf. JackCunningham (Spring View) and Jim foster(Pemberton) both won. F. Moffat (Bryn) wad eliminated.

At heavyweight (open), Wiganer James Stockley beatItalian Peter Pierri in 30 seconds, but was eliminated in thesecond round when he lost to Laurent Heaucarrols of France.

With four rounds at lightweight still to be contested aclash amongst the seven local wrestlers was always apossibility. It came in the second round when WillieWoodcock (Ince) came to grips with S. Daley (Standish),winning by a fall in 6 minutes, only to face Sam McKenna(Pemberton) in the third round, beating him inside 11minutes. However, by the fifth round only two of the sevenmen remained, Joe Shambley (Westhoughton) and WillieCharnock (Newtown). Joe Shambley lost to Peter Gots(Southern England), and Willie Charnock lost to young Olsonof Newfoundland.

Meanwhile at middleweight a place in the semi-finalswas at stake for five local men as the competition went tothe fourth round. Jack Carroll drew Indian Buttan Singh.The two men were well matched. After the full 30 minutes

had elapsed, during which time Carrollhad almost secured a fall, the match wentinto 10 minutes of extra time, before thejudge awarded Singh the match on points.Joe Carroll came up against JamaicanFrank Crozer, the defendingmiddleweight champion. Carroll caughtCrozer with a flying mare, bringing himfeet first over his shoulder, in the openingminute. He may have gained a fall hadhe not thrown Crozer from the mat. Thetwo men gave little away, and were forcedto wrestle two rounds of extra time, afterwhich the judges declared Crozer thewinner.Jack Cunningham lost to Peter Bannan

of Burnley, but Bob Berry beat Jim Fosteron points. He then went on to beat PeterBannan in the semi-final, earning himselfa place in the final against Buttan Singh.Berry, by all accounts a strong cleverwrestler, kept Singh on the defensive formost of the match. With 29 minutes goneBerry’s tenacity paid off, when he trappedSingh’s leg in a scissor lock, then forcedhis shoulders to the mat to gain the firstfall. Singh, who had earlier been engagedin a gruelling match with Frank Crozer,began to tire. Berry, still as strong as ahorse, stepped up the attack, at one point

driving the Indian off the mat onto the table occupied by thepress. Berry had obtained a crotch hold, which for somereason the referee allowed him to retain when the pairreturned to the mat. Berry, seeing his chance turned Singhupside down and drove his shoulders on to the mat for thesecond fall to win the match and the middleweightchampionship.

As one observer commented ‘Berry was a trifle lucky towin few will deny, but at the same time he is a greatlyimproved wrestler’.

Thomas Heyes

SOURCES

1. Takedown (issue no3) 1996 The Journal of the British Amateur Wrestling Association.

2. Wigan Observer January-February 1910

Following the feature on wrestling in Past Forward two years ago, Thomas Heyes, a keen

wrestler himself, has contributed this article on some other notable Wigan wrestlers in the

early years of the century. Ed.

Wigan Wrestlers at the AlhambraWigan Wrestlers at the AlhambraWigan Wrestlers at the AlhambraWigan Wrestlers at the AlhambraWigan Wrestlers at the Alhambra

Olson of Newfoundland

21

The Museum of the Century‘OPIE’S Museum of Memories’, whichopened its door at the end of May, islocated on the ground floor ofTrencherfield Mill and houses the famedcollection of Robert Opie, featuring over40,000 household items and images ofyesteryear.

The attraction provides a journeythrough life, covering each decade ofsocial history from Victorian times to thepresent day, and using the Pier’s awardwinning and imaginative interpretationand interactivity.

“Each decade has a dedicated area withdisplays of newspaper, comics, toys,games, music, advertising, furniture andfashions,” explained Wigan Pier Manager,Elizabeth Bates.

“The “Theatre of Memories” greetsvisitors, enabling them to explore thephenomenon of memory. The MemoryWall tests people’s recollections of thepast, and a street inside the museum hostsstreet parties and theatre performances”. “A major element of the museum is astreet which displays shop fronts frommany decades. There is a 1940’s AndersonShelter where visitors can sit in theblackout and sing songs from the war, anda 1960’s boutique from London’s swingingCarnaby Street where clothes from thedecade can be tried. Listening booths inGroove Records, the 1970’s record shop,allow visitors to listen to Hendrix and TheBeatles when they were cool the first timearound.”

Outside the well known 1907 mill, a

new pedestrianised piazza recreates afireside scene on a grand scale.

Additionally, the building’s facade hasundergone an exciting transformation withthe commissioning of a public artist tocreate a fireplace mantle-piece above theentrance and a collection of familyportraits on the ‘chimney-breast’, all ofwhich are cleverly designed to movecontinuously.

Elizabeth added “Wigan Pier is todayone of the more popular days out in theNorth West and with the opening of thenew attraction, it will consolidate thisposition for many years to come. Bringingthe exhibition to life will be innovativeinterpretation and of course the Wigan PierTheatre Company, following thegroundbreaking tradition ofinteract ivi tythat Wigan Pierbecame famousfor whenopening its doorsfor the first timein 1986.”

THEROBERT OPIE

STORYAT the age of 16, Robert Opie realised thatthe ever-changing style of packaging wasbeing thrown away, and from that momenton he saved contemporary packs (now forover 30 years). Within a few years, hissearch had begun to track down examplesof earlier packs, products and promotionalmaterial. Gradually, from all theseassembled items, the story of ourconsumer revolution emerged. In a sense,Robert had become a supermarketarchaeologist.

In 1975, part of his Collection went ondisplay at the Victoria and Albert Museum,London, in the widely acclaimedexhibition. “The Pack Age: A Century ofWrapping It Up”. By 1984, Robert hadachieved his ambition by opening theMuseum of Advertising & Packaging inGloucester, Britain’s first Museum devotedto the story of our consumer society.

Since then, Robert has written anumber of books, including a series ofScrapbooks, which cover all the subjectsnow encompassed within the Collection -newspapers, magazines, postcards, filmposters, radios, cameras, records, toys,comics, royal souvenirs, and much, muchmore.

With some 500,000 items, it is possibleto understand the pulse of the nation, it’sculture and lifestyle since the IndustrialRevolution. Through having the actualthings of domestic life, the story can beseen of how technology and mass-production brought about changes infashion, mass travel, the coming of the

supermarket era and,ultimately, the arrival of our“leisured society”. Theconsequences of thisrevolution have beenwidespread - from theemancipation ofwomen to improvedstandards for all.

22

TheKingand ILIFE, it may be said, is notentirely dissimilar to theprogress of solving one of thosegiant jigsaws without the aid ofa peep at the final picture. Westart with an amorphous heap ofunrecognisable bits which meannothing in particular, and it takessome little time before we findthat there are parts of a pictureon every piece. Later, we find, orare shown that certain pieces canbe joined together to make largersections of the picture and viathat step, it becomes evident thatgiven time, we could eventuallyproduce a complete picture. Aswe see the picture grow, theeagerness with which we hunt forcertain pieces increases.

But isn’t there thecontinuous re-appearance of oneor two pieces that findthemselves in your hand, only tobe put back to the pile asunbefitting at the particular stage.

One particular piece in mylife’s jigsaw concerns, for someunaccountable reason, KingCharles II. Needless to say, I haveno royal blood connection,unless I could claim my sharingof the Christian name with hewho perished as a result of that‘arrowing experience’ in the Battleof Hastings, as a legitimate line!

It must be said that on thefirst occasion I picked him up inmy life’s jigsaw, I was at thetender age of five or six when Iwas more interested, if that isthe word, in the atmospheresurrounding me on the occasionof celebrating a certain incidentin his life.

On 24 May we had EmpireDay, the day our village woke upto view a landscape of red whiteand blue, wafted by Union Jackswaving in the most unlikelyplaces, including the headgear atthe colliery of Stones’s (J & RStone Ltd.) and of course, mostimportant of all, we got a half dayholiday from school.

A typical scene in the St.Andrews Infant School onEmpire Day morning wouldportray 40 to 50 small pupils,suitably scrubbed and combedfor the occasion. Headmistress,

Mrs. Hamson would say a fewwords about the importance ofEmpire Day as Miss Huttonquietly drew a chair up to theancient piano, blew the dust offthe keys and, come the end ofMrs. Hamson’s homily, shewould thump out a couple ofintroductory bars whencefollowed the chorus, in 40 or 50approximations of the chosenhome key, the song:

What is the meaning ofEmpire DayWhy do the canons roarWhy does the cry of GodSave the King, echo fromshore to shoreWhy does the flag ofBritannia, float proud overfort and bay?Etc., etc., complete wordsavailable on request.

Any resemblance to school workthat followed that morning wasa little clouded by the thoughtsof being turned loose at thestroke of twelve, not to return tillat least 21 hours later.

Just five days later, we were,for reasons not understood at thetime, expected to wear a sprig,or even just a leaf of an oak treeabout our persons. This I didwithout question but now I see itas a picking up of Charles II’s bitof jigsaw.

It was most likely on the first29 May, on my way with otherchildren to the “big” school atDownall Green, that I learned alittle more about the reason forthe wearing of the oak but eventhen, I recall no mention beingmade of the name King CharlesII. That pearl of wisdom wasprobably dropped as I engaged,with other lads, including mucholder ones, in the dislodging ofsprigs of oak foliage from a hugetree standing at the side of ourroad to school. Eagerness toavoid the punishment for failingto display about my person asprig, or even a leaf of oak, i.e. a“nettling” at the back of the knee(no long ‘uns until the age of 14)or the contents of a rose-hipemptied down one’s shirt neck,was paramount. In betweenlobbings of whatever missilecame to hand, my informationwas probably imparted in termslike, “There wus this king thaknoes and sum sowdyers wusafter im, fert kill ‘im so, ‘e run ina wood an’ hud in th’ oak tree tillthey’d gone.” And so, I at leastlearned that a king was involvedand - for some little time, Ithought that our tree was THEtree. Alas, the name, KingCharles II never came to thesurface while at Rectory Schoolin Downhall Green!

Over 60 years flitted bybefore I picked up Charles’s pieceof jigsaw again. On this occasion

I was to learn more about oneperiod of his life than I wouldhave done in a whole term atschool. In my capacity ofprogramme secretary andpublicity officer of the SuttonColdfield Photographic Society,I joined one of the close season’sSunday morning short outings.On muster at Sutton Park, it wasannounced that we would bevisiting Boscobel House atWhiteladies, just over theShropshire border from here. Ihad to admit that I had neverheard of Boscobel House, but atthe same time I would have tolearn as much as possible in theshort time available as a fullreport in the following week’sSutton Coldfield News would beexpected.

On arrival at BoscobelHouse, the element of surprisewas almost tangible. In apaddock just by the house wesaw ladies in the dress of mid17th century, tending cookingpots over open fires, theirmenfolk cleaning their guns andother implements of war. Ittranspired that the historicalsociety, the Sealed Knot, wasvisiting Boscobel House toperform mock battles depictingscenes from the Battle ofWorcester in 1651.

But that was just thebeginning; or organiser had donehis homework well in gettingpermission for us to ramble allthrough the house and grounds,taking photographs of anythingthat we found of interest. Andthere was so much - includingTHE Royal Oak tree, or at least adirect descendent of same. Itwould be difficult to describe thefeeling at the sight of it.......

The extent of the materialcollated for my report faroutweighed the space I was likelyto be allowed in Sutton ColdfieldNews, but being on friendlyterms with the then editor, he didallow just a little more. The dayof publication, Saturday, was aday I shall always remember.After reading my report severaltimes, the smugness was almostunbearable and the rest of the daywas spent floating around onCloud Nine.. .....until the evening,that is.

Meeting my old friend,Barry, at our local that evening,his opening remark was, “Sawyer report in the Rag, very goodbut you are wrong about theRoyal Oak. A lorra folk make thatmistake, the actual oak tree is theMitred Oak at Hartlebury. There’san iron rail round the trunk toprotect it from damage. The pubacross the road is called TheMitred Oak.”

Barry was no fool, a seniormaintenance manager of anumber of power stations

throughout the West Midlands -and he had been born and bredin Stourport and was an ex pupilof Hartlebury Grammar School,no more than two cane lengthsaway from this now intrusiveMitred Oak. So I simply had tocheck his words. I wrote toWorcester’s counterpart of WiganHeritage Service. They tooksome little time to reply but whenthey did, it was more thancomprehensive, includingextracts from history books andold newspaper cuttings but mostacceptable of all, was a collectionof references to five separate oaktrees, all of which were subjectedto confusion with the authenticRoyal Oak at, with tangible relief,Boscobel House!

And so, once again, thatpiece of my jigsaw was put backin the pile, only to be picked upagain 10 years or so later andthis, believe it or not, is wherePast Forward finally, I hope, putme in my place.

Collecting a morning paperone morning in March 1996, Iwas amazed to see a pile oftabloid sized magazines on thesubject of Rugby League on thecounter. This would be theequivalent of finding a Bible inone of Handsworth’s(Birmingham) Muslim Mosques!Having been baptised at the fontin the “Hen-pen” at Central Parkat the age of seven when thelegendary Jimmy Sullivan was inhis second or third season withWigan and having beenreluctantly exiled therefrom forover 40 years, I just had to pickup a copy to find out who it waswho had dared to infiltrate intothe territory of Aston Villa,Birmingham City and a lesserfollowing of “the other” rugbygame.

It transpired that this 50p’sworth of Rugby League news wasa joint effort between Sky B TVand Birmingham Post & Mail toannounce the then new RugbySuper League. It was wellpresented, in essence, a colouredcollection of details of each of theclubs forming the new league,roughly one page per club. Itgave details such as grounds,colours, managers, coaches andeven the nick-names of eachclub. It was the latter connectionthat I immediately decided thatan arrest should be made, andso I went into print, in the WiganObserver.As a result of its publication, Ireceived, a few weeks later, aphone call from Mr. Neil Cain towhom I shall remain eternallygrateful, not only for hissubsequent correspondence butfor his introduction to PastForward. As promised in hisphone call, Neil posted to mecuttings from the defunct PicturePost, mentioned in my letter to

Wigan Observer, plus, I amdelighted to report, two backnumbers of Past Forward, one ofwhich was issue 13, Spring1996.The back of this issue isdelightfully illustrated in fullcolour, being the design ofGerald Rickards’ portrayal ofWigan’s Charter Mural.Interesting though I found this,coupled with the reference onpage 15 of the same issue, Icould not help thinking that herewas some kind of ethereal,belated reprimand for having, inthe past, opted to occupy a seatat the back of the class wheneverhistory lessons came on thescene.Perhaps now, with Charles II inmind, I can truthfully say, Godsave the King . . he may still beneeded to fill in the empty space.

Should be more Peers atWiganSir - As a follower of WiganR.L.F.C. for 72 years, albeit40 of these as an unwillingrugby league exile, anyscrap of news of R.L.appearing in this Midlandwilderness is avidlydevoured. In thisconnection I refer to a newpublication by theBirmingham Evening Mailheaded ‘Convert to RugbySuper League’ which seemsheavily biased towardsLondon Broncos and (dareI say it?) Sky Television. Interesting though thispublication might be, Ifound in the pages given toclub information theadoption of ‘Riversiders’ asthe nickname of WiganR.L.F.C. as ratherinnocuous and, I wouldsuggest, to any but the avidWigan fan, quitemeaningless.

It is doubtful if morethan a generous handful ofthe residents of Wigan areaware that the tricklingtributary of the River Ribblehas babbled behind thestands at Central Parksince long before the firstbrick was laid.

But to mention Wiganin any spot imaginablethrough the U.K. and theword ‘Pier’ will inevitablyfollow and, I might add witha rapidly diminishingdenigration that might havebeen the case long ago.

With the adage, ‘Ifyou’ve got it - flaunt it’ inmind, I suggest that thedefunct Picture Post had itright in the early 50’s.Unfortunately, my dearlycherished copy found its

➯

23

Dear Mrs. Banks,I write to express my

thanks for the informationcontained in your letterpublished in Past Forward

20. This information hasfilled in a gap in myknowledge of my family.

George Makinson, whoindeed founded theironmonger’s business inWigan, was the elderbrother of my great-grandfather, the familyoriginally hailing fromUpholland, where theywere staunch members ofthe Parish Church.George’s elder brother,John, was also abusinessman and was, atvarious times, an auctioneerand quarry owner. Heresided in Newgate,Upholland, at Hall GreenHouse, Upholland andlatterly at Orrell Hall, which

I believe lies somewherebetween the M6 motorwayand the Heinz factory, in thevicinity of the Old Enginepublic house.

I have little informationon the life of GeorgeMakinson but a report of hisdeath in the Wigan

Observer of 10 January1894 states that he died “athis residence, Collinfield,Wigan”. Until reading yourletter, I had not establishedthe location of the propertyor if it still existed. Hiswidow, Elizabeth, died in1898, four years after herhusband and they share agrave situated immediatelyoutside the north wall ofUpholland Parish Church.It is possible that theMakinson interest inCollingdale lapsed onElizabeth’s death. I knowthat George and Elizabeth

had three children - a reportof Ethel’s marriage waspublished in the Wigan

Observer of 10 December1898 - but again I have noinformation on them.

My paternal great-grandfather, NathanMakinson, struggled tomake his way in the world.His mother died at the ageof 43, leaving five childrenof ages ranging from 15 to7, Nathan being 9 years ofage. His father eventuallyre-married and, as Nathanreached working age, heworked on the family farmin Upholland. Eventuallythough he left home and isrecorded in the census ofthe period as working as afarm servant in the locality.Quite why he left home willremain uncertain. It ispossible that he didn’t seeeye to eye with his step-

mother but an equally likelyexplanation is that, with thecoming of the railwaybetween Wigan andLiverpool and its demandfor land, Bridge Hall Farmwas sequentially reduced insize and was eventuallyunable to support Nathan.He therefore moved to Inceand, I believe with the helpof his elder brother, George- and possibly also, John -he became the owner of agrocery business, situatedon Manchester Road. Therewas some experience ofgrocery in the family and Idate his move to Ince asaround 1891.

Since that time, the restof the family remained inInce. I was born in Ince andlived there until mymarriage in 1954, when Imoved to Manchester.Since my retirement in

1988, I have attempted totrace my familybackground and thedocuments in the HistoryShop, Wigan have provedinvaluable. As one getsolder, interest in the familybackground increases,especially when one hasgrandchildren in areas ofthe country far removedfrom Wigan, and I believethat it is essential that theyhave some knowledge oftheir family background.

Your contribution toPast Forward wasextremely valuable. Manythanks.

G.K. Makinson (Dr.)

123 Crossfield Road

Cheadle Hulme

Cheadle

Cheshire

SK8 5PF

Whilst reading a oldcopy of the Oxford Mail,the final edition of Friday12 August 1955 to beprecise, I was surprised tosee reference to the abovecolliery. The articleparticularly caught my eyebecause my lategrandfather, also PaulGaskell, was manager ofGiants Hall in the late1920’s and early 1930’s.

Under the heading“Miners’ visit”, the reportrefers to a football matchplayed the previous Aprilbetween Bletchingdon,which is a small villagesome eight miles north-east of Oxford, and thevisiting Giants HallColliery Sports Club. TheOxfordshire side won byfour goals to three. It goeson:

“It proved a wonderful

success and created a

strong bond of friendship

between the members and

supporters of the two

clubs. The Lancashire folk

enjoyed their visit so much

they recently wrote .....

asking if they could come

again in August to play

football or cricket.

The result is that a

cricket match has been

arranged for August 20.

The visitors are expected to

arrive about 1 pm. and the

match will start at 2.30

pm., with tea in the village

hall. The day will end, as

it did in April, with a

dance.

Giants Hall S.C. want

Bletchingdon F.C. to visit

them during the season

and it is hoped that the

necessary arrangements

can be made for this to take

place next April.”

I have now examinedthe local Oxford

newspapers for the periodimmediately before andafter 20 August 1955, andalso for the months of Apriland May 1956. I have beenunable to find any furtherreference to the plannedfootball and cricketmatches, and certainly noresults or reports appeared.

Possibly the readers ofPast Forward might wish,via future editions of themagazine, to share theirrecollections of theactivities of Giants HallColliery Sports Club. Doesany Past Forward readerrecall the fixtures referredto? Did any Past Forward

reader actually participatein them?

Paul Gaskell

28 Bulan Road

Headington

Oxford

OX3 7HT

Readers of Past Forward may be interested in this letter from Dr. G.K. Makinson to Mrs. Carole

Banks, following her letter in issue no 20. Ed.

KNOWLEDGE GAINED ABOUT THEMAKINSON FAMILY

Giant’s Hall Colliery,

Standish Lower Ground, near Wigan

Dawson familyrelativeswanted

Dear Sir,Would it be possible to

publish the following in oneof your future issues? I amtrying to trace any livingrelatives of the followingDawson family. There werebrothers and sisters of myGrandfather James “Fred”Dawson who was buried inWigan in 1934.

Newark ShipleyDawson married JaneLeech 10 September 1902in Wigan. May AgnesDawson married AlfredJohn Davies 2 August 1909also in Wigan. Caroline“Carrie” born 1883, Johnborn 1884, Ernest born1888 and Norah born 1890.I would like to contact anyrelatives and wouldappreciate any help youmay be able to give.

Margaret Hegan

(formerly Dawson)

67 Chester Road,

Stevenage,

Herts. SG1 4JY

Tel: 01438 233687

mhegan@dial.pipex.com

• Mr. Cain has made twocontributions to this issue ofPast Forward - see page 2and 18.

way via a covetous route toJohn Lawrenson, exWigan, Workington andSwinton. Oh how I wouldlove to get my hands onanother.

From memory, thecopy referred to had acover picture of Wiganplayers and a leader ofperhaps four pages headedin heavy print ‘The Peers’.

Admittedly this may, tosome, have a slightly cornyring but I suspect that thewriter had taken somejournalistic pride incoining this cleverhomonym. Why thencannot followers of the bestrugby league team in theworld be proud of thenickname, Peers?

J. Harold Smith108 Worcester Lane

Sutton ColdfieldWest Midlands.

B75 SN5

The King and IContinued from page 22

–––––

24

Wigan inthe 20’sand 30’sDear Sir,

I read the concludingmemories of HaroldKnowles in his article“Ashton-in-Makerfieldduring the 1930’s” withgreat interest. I couldidentify with many of hismemories although I livedin Wigan in the 20’s and30’s.

He mentions thedustmen who cameweekly to empty the bins.As kids we loved bincollection day. Thedustcart, horse drawn,would come upGreenough Street, turnleft into Turner Street andstop just round the corner.Although the horse wouldbe given his nose-bag,

kids from nearby wouldcome with tit-bits; brokenbiscuits from Mortons thegrocers, carrots, crusts, theodd lump or two of sugaretc. The horse seemed tolove these ‘starters’ beforetucking into his oats andputting up with smallhands patting and strokinghim. While all this wasgoing on the full dustcartwas being unhitched fromthe shafts and the emptyone which had arrived ona wagon was beingwinched down on metalramps and hitched up tothe horse, and the fulldustcart winched on to thewagon and taken away.What a performance!

We had a busker/singer, our very ownCaruso, who includedGreenough Street on hisregular rounds. He hadtwo props; one a bucket,painted red, to add a touchof glamour, two, a leatheror rubber skull-cap. Hewould, with great aplombdeposit his bucket on thepavement, secure hisskull-cap on his head andthen proceed to stand onhis head in the bucket andstart singing “Twinkle

twinkle little star”, andother long forgottenditties. When heeventually stood up, hisface .... well I can onlydescribe it as similar to avery bloated, creased andcrumpled tomato. He wasthen grateful for the oddcopper that was tossed inhis bucket. With a grandhistrionic gesture ofthanks he picked up hisbucket and moved on tohis next pitch. Whatentertainment!

One of my favouritemarket traders (I don’tremember what he sold)had a small woodengadget on his stall, and Iused to worm my way tothe front of the crowd tosee if I could unravel thesecret of this printinggadget. He would insert aplain piece of paper in oneend, turn a handle two orthree times and lo andbehold a ten bob notewould come out at theother end. I swore tomyself that I wouldacquire one of thesegadgets when I grew up.What riches! Dream onJoe!

At the bottom of

Greenough Street by thebridge over the Douglaswas a Gentleman’s, atelephone box and anextra wide pavement.Here, mainly on dayswhen Wigan RugbyLeague were playing athome, a man would arrivewith what seemed asmany lengths of chain thatyou would see in the drydock at the launch of aship. He would gather acrowd and obtain theassistance of some of theonlookers to chain him up.When they had finishedwith him he seemed to beall chains. However heeventually worked hisway out of the constraintsand showed the crowd themarks on his face, hands,arms and legs, while hisside-kick went throughthe crowd with his cap.What a Houdini!

Coloured people werevery few and far betweenin Wigan in those days,but we took for grantedthe few who were there.There was, for example, acoloured lad playing forWigan R.L. even then.One day I opened the frontdoor to see who was

knocking and there beforeme stood this seeminglyvery tall gentleman with abig beard and colouredturban. He was holding anopen case in which weredisplayed various sizes ofwriting paper, envelopes,wooden pens, boxes ofnibs, ink, rubbers etc. Icalled for Mother to comeand see him.

Unfortunately theSikh didn’t make a sale atour house because all thegoods he had we couldbuy at the Post Office nextdoor but one. The PostOfficer and his wife(Shepherds) kept a vastarray of goods, includingthe bamboo canes that ourHeadmaster at St. Mary’sused on us. I rememberthis well because he usedto give me money to buycanes from the Post Officeand take them back toSchool. To finish on atragic note Mr. Shepherdended his life on therailway line. R.I.P.

Thanks for thememories Harold!

Joe Brooks13 Ashfield Crescent

Billinge, Wigan

A LETTER FROM A LAD OF EIGHT – IN 1939Dear Sir,

After just moving intothe area adjacent toHaydock Park, I took astroll around theracecourse. My feet tookme to the Golborne-endof the massive car-park,and I have to say, it hadn’tchanged one bit sincemy last ‘visit’. To beprecise - that was over 60years ago, when I was alad of 8 years of age, in1939. The very sametrees that sheltered theexiled soldiers of Polandand Czechoslovakiawere still standing. Howeasy it was to feel deepsorrow for these people- many being boys verylittle older than myself.The tents they werebilleted in were no largerthan the ones we had forcamping-out, as youngboys.

Each and everynight, two or threehundred of them wouldbe waiting the arrival ofthe evening newspaper,and one would translatethe news to them. Therewas never a sound, asthey heard of home. Iused to find it hard tosink in, why many ofthese soldiers would beweeping unashamedly.It was a few years laterwhen we all found outwhy they were upset.

After them, c.1940,came the “Free-French”sailors. All had berets,with a small red bobbleon top. I got to know one,who stayed on in Ashtonafter the War. He wasknown to virtuallyeveryone as “FrenchGeorge” - a gentlemanin every sense of theword.

What I found quitestriking was the greatnumber of them whomarched to St. Oswaldsevery Sunday morningfor mass. All three lots offoreign soldiers andsailors had their ownpriests.

Some would arguethat the French werefollowed into HaydockPark by the Americans,in 1943. This was notcorrect, the troops fromthe U.S.A. were stationedacross the road inAshton, on Lord Gerard’sEstate. They alwaysseemed flush withmoney. Maybe that wasone reason why the girlsfrom miles around madea bee-line to the campalmost every night!

Then came the Italianprisoners-of-war, whotook the place of the

Americans. The interestsof the Italians, in general,seemed to go no furtherthan the girls, who werealways hanging aroundthe camp gates. In fact,on one occasion, therewas a near-riot. I daresayit was understandable,when young servicemencome home on leave tofind the ones they had leftbehind ‘involved’ with theones many had been atwar against. It wasn’tlong before the Italianswere moved on.

Then came theGerman prisoners-of-war. Most were extremelywell-behaved - muchdifferent than we hadbeen led to believe. Infact, one still lives inAshton, where hemarried and ‘settled’ afterthe War was over. I meethim most days, and we

do have many interestingchats. Anyone whoworked in the coal-minesalongside him, will tellyou that he was a greatworker. Many will recallthe German internationalgoalkeeper, BertTrautmann, who gainedfame at Maine Road forManchester City. He hadbeen interned at theAshton camp, where hebegan his footballingcareer as centre-half; heonly played in goalbecause he wanted toplay football.

Ah, those wonderfulmemories. Memories domake the world go round- that’s a fact!

John Scully11 Hampson Close

Ashton-in-MakerfieldNr. WiganWN4 9EN

25

SOCIETY NEWS

Whenshanksponywas theanswer

Hindley & Abram Grammar school 1st XI 1919?Causey, Gregory, Fishwick, Livesey, Hitchinson, Flitcroft

Lord, Rigby, Young, Smith, RuddHindley, Taylor

Aspull & Haigh Historical SocietyMeetings are held in the Village Centre, BoltonRoad, Aspull, on the second Thursday of themonth at 8.00 p.m. Further details from theSecretary, Mrs. Rosalie Naylor, 3 PenningtonClose, Aspull, Wigan (01942 256145)

Atherton Heritage SocietyMonthly meetings with talks on local historyheld at St. Richard’s Jubilee Hall, CrabtreeLane, Atherton, on Tuesdays at 7.30 p.m.Non-members £1.50, including refreshments.Everyone welcome. Visits throughout the yearto places of historical interest. Informationfrom Hon. Sec. (01204 651478)

JulyNo Meeting. HOLIDAYS

10 AugustRivington by Mr. D. SmithOne of our favourite local walking places. Mr.Smith will tell us all we need to know of itslong history and brings along his book on thesubject.

14 SeptemberDeadly Dwellings by Mr. N. Morgan“Home Sweet Home” sang the Victorians, butthe terraced houses built for the workers ofthe Industrial Revolution could be yet anotherhazard to health in the 19th century.

12 OctoberAGM, followed by The Archivist at Work byMr. T. Jackson.Our own archivist will tell us about thenumerous queries he answered over the year,and tell us some things that perhaps we didn’teven know ourselves about our town.

9 NovemberAtherton 0 - 2000 by Mrs. GilbertsonA ‘quick run through’ of Atherton history over2000 years. Afterwards a selection ofLancashire cakes with your drink.

Golborne & Lowton Local HistorySocietyFounded in 1984 the society now has anaverage monthly attendance of over 20.Meetings are held at Golborne Library on thesecond Tuesday of the month at 7.00 p.m.Non-members welcome. Further details fromRon Marsh, P.R. Officer (01942 726027).

14 SeptemberCroft and Culcheth by James Daxon

12 OctoberClandestine Marriages in the 18th Century byBob Blakeman

Leigh & District Family HistorySocietyMeetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of everymonth in the Derby Room of Leigh Library.For further details contact the Secretary, Mr.O. Hughes (01942 741594).

20 JulyVisit to Leigh Library

17 AugustGetting started and Question time.

21 SeptemberMembers evening, fiche and family historybooks and advice

19 OctoberHaigh Hall and the people who lived there byCarol Banks

Dear Sirs,Whilst visiting my

sister in Bolton I cameacross your Past Forward

magazine and being aHindley Grammar old boyshe told me about thearticles you had printedconcerning HAGS.

I thought I would sendthe only relic of the time I

spent there. I’m theyoungest member in thephotograph, about 15 yearsold.

Here’s one littleincident private to myself. Istarted at Hindley when Dr.Edkins was Headmaster. Atthat time we lived at HartCommon (no transport) sousing shanks pony was theanswer. Being the oldest offour a bicycle was tooexpensive an article. Beinga football fanatic and asthere was not traffic, Ipassed my small ball fromkerb to kerb running all theway to and from school.

At this time Fairbrotherlived at Willow Bank, ahouse in the fields, nearWesthoughton Golf Club.He cycled to school and onoccasions, to my sorrowwhen he saw me yelled“Hindley! On my step. I’ll

give you a lift”. One foot onthe step, one knee on thecarrier - the mostuncomfortable journey toschool possible to imagine.

I was delighted whenhe became Head thefollowing year - I could usemy legs!

Best wishes to you.

Jack Hindley (born 7/11/05)

55 King Street

Westhoughton

Bolton.

BL5 3AX

Leigh Literary SocietyMeetings are held in The Derby Room, LeighLibrary on Mondays at 7.30 p.m. Subscription£10. Visitors £1. Secretary, Mrs. H. Gaskell(01942 801743).

Leigh Local History SocietyMeetings are held in The Derby Room, LeighLibrary, on the last Wednesday of the month.For further details contact the Secretary, Mrs.Norma Ackers (01942 865488).

Tyldesley & District Historical SocietyMeetings are held at Tyldesley PensionersClub, Milk Street, Tyldesley, on the thirdThursday of the month at 7.30 p.m. Entranceis FREE. Further details from the Secretary(01942 514271).

Wigan Archaeological SocietyThe Society meets in the History Shop on thefirst Wednesday of the month at 7.30 p.m. Newmembers are always welcome.

Wigan Civic TrustThe Trust meets at 7.30 p.m. on the secondMonday of the month at Drumcroon ArtsCentre, Parsons Walk, Wigan. For furtherinformation contact Anthony Grimshaw,Secretary (01942 245777). New members arealways welcome.

4 SeptemberVisit to RibchesterGuided tours of both St. Wilfrid and St. Saviourat Stydd.

Wigan Family History SocietyMeetings are now held on the first and thirdTuesday of the month, at the Springfield Hotel,Springfield Road, Wigan, at 7.30 p.m. Forfurther information contact Mrs. Lynne Kearns,28 Wareing Street, Tyldesley, Manchester, M298HS (01942 878549).

26

It is ironic that George Orwell made apoint of staying in Wigan, my home town,wrote his book, ‘The Road to Wigan Pier’,but signally failed to describe the sort ofpeople among whom he briefly lived.

Orwell certainly gathered his statistics toshow house size, cost of living, and the levelof income which dominated the lives of manyWiganers at the time. Missing is an accountof the pride, the spirit, the humour, and thedetermination to survive, whichcharacterised these folk. But does it reallymatter, now, in 1984?

It matters for two reasons. First, thevision left by the book and its commentatorsdoes less than justice to the many familieswho overcame appalling social and economicadversity. Second and more importantly, itwould have brought into perspective the so-called hardships being suffered in the 1980s.

As local Wigan commentators add theirvoices to the Orwell pictures of Wigan, they,too, fail to bring out the will and spirit of thetime; living in the town but in such gardensuburbs as Beech Hill and Bottling Wood,how could they have experienced the sights,sounds and smells which told of a specialbreed of people.

The most serious indictment made byOrwell, admittedly based on a singularlyunfortunate choice of lodgings concerns theattitude to hygiene and cleanliness. DidOrwell never see the housewives on theirknees at their regular ritual outside theirfront doors? With bucket, mop, andscrubbing brush, they cleaned the first lineof flagstones outside their door and with therubbing stone (Donkey brand) produced awhitened finish to doorstep and outsidewindow sill. Indoors there was the dailyZebra black-leading of the fireplace andoven.

Another practice took me as a youngsterto an outstation of the Wigan healthdepartment at the foot of Library Street.There, for a nominal charge, a bottle wouldbe filled with black strong smellingdisinfectant. This was regularly poured downthe suff, our name for the outside sink, wherethe black liquid first produced a rainboweffect on the water and then turned milkywhite. But did it see off the flies.

We learned cleanliness the painful way.A visit to Wigan baths in Millgate - not the£3 million international pool which hasproduced swimmers like June Croft andOsgerbys - meant first of all a hardscrubbing with the coarsest brushesimaginable and an inspection before entryto the plunge. All good sense, because noteverybody used their tin baths regularly.

Sandwiched between the healthdepartment in Library Street and thepublic baths in Millgate was Dawsons, themanufacturing chemists. Their majorproduct which had a moving effect on thepopulation far beyond Wigan was thecelebrated Dawsons Squares. These werepacked in flat square tins and wrapped insilver paper to look like Cadburys, but thiswas no chocolate, but a powerful laxative.My father was a heath and heather manwho didn’t believe in chemicals, so we hadsenna tea (pods or leaves) every week.

So concern with hygiene was not justdomestic but related also to innercleanliness. We had the twice yearly bloodcleansing which was best brought aboutwith a daily spoonful of brimstone andtreacle; a never to be forgotten experienceis to meet a pocket of unmixed sulphur ina mouthful of treacle.

So much for the concern for cleanlinessin bug-ridden slum property. How didpeople make ends meet? Were there nopopular uprisings against impossibleconditions? The nearest we got to a riotwas when a certain Rev. Kensit of theProtestant Truth Society came to Wiganmarket square (second largest in thecountry) and declaimed against theCatholics. Each night his van, and possiblythe man himself, were turned upside down.The battle was for beliefs, not socialequality.

We did have some safety nets againstthe greatest rigours of poverty, and theyare reminders about the real nature ofchange since Orwell came to Wigan. From1925 to 1932 I attended Warrington LaneCouncil School, just round the corner fromGeorge Orwell’s lodgings in SovereignRoad. Prominent amongst many memoriesis the free meal service we received. Four

days a week, Monday to Thursday, week afterweek, month after month, we were given thick,green pea soup. The high point of the weekwas the meat and potato pie served onFridays. I have since had many dietaryexperiences around the world, but never shallI forget that pea soup, nor will I ever eat peasoup again.

A happier memory is that each year Ireceived a free pair of clogs which I collectedfrom Monaghans, the cloggers in WarringtonLane. The gift came not from the state, thelocal council, or some wealthy benefactor, butfrom the Chief Constable’s Clog and StockingFund. Whenever I saw Mr. T. Pey, the ChiefConstable, who with his helmet and swordlooked the spitting image of Kaiser Bill as hewalked in the mayor’s procession, I thoughtof my free clogs. Come to think of it, I ratherliked our local bobbies who patrolled Scholesand School Lane where I lived. I knew themby name, Bobby McNulty, Bobby Maguire. Ionce asked why they all seemed to beIrishmen. The answer I got was that you hadto be a Catholic to be in the police force. Ihope Northern Ireland readers note the reply.More seriously, though, such memoriesindicate the relationship between people andtheir children in hard times with the police.

The third example of a safety net startswith my arrival home one day with the newsthat “I have passed the scholarship for WiganGrammar School”. This was no time forrejoicing. I couldn’t wear clogs, my regularfootwear, at the grammar school. As for a suit,this simply was unattainable. The solution wassuggested by my father’s workmates at theWigan Coal and Iron Works, who suggestedthat as an ex-serviceman he should join theBritish Legion and I would be fitted out freeonce a year. This he did. I was measured upand duly arrived in my very first suit at WiganGrammar School in September, 1932. Atassembly in the schoolhall, it did not take melong to spot the other lads similarly attired.After all, this small arrowhead motif waspretty unmistakable - trainee convicts, we saidwe were.

J.H. Ollerton9 Fairfield Park

BroadstairsKent CT10 2JT

Orwell’s‘denigratorydescription’addressed

‘How George Orwell took a running jump atWigan Pier – and missed’

Dear Sir,I have just received,

by courtesy of my sister

Mrs. J.E. Dixon (neeOllerton), who lives inCarnforth, a copy of issuenumber 19 of yourmagazine Past Forward. Iam responding to the letterfrom Mrs. Muriel Swann,featured on page 21, inwhich she seeksinformation about theHigson and Ollertonfamilies.

I am the eldest of threechildren who lived at 5School Lane. Whilst I amnot aware of any bloodrelationship with theHigsons, I was for a longtime their errand boy.

Every Thursday, I wassent to Morton’s grocers inGreenough Street tocollect their tearequirements for a week.On one notable occasion,I was sent to get a gill ofmilk from Hampson’s inLower Morris Street. Itwas a wet day, and on theway back, to get moreliquid in the jug, I stuck itunder a down spout inButler Street, and handedover the jug withoutcomment. Not too longafter, the Higsons cameback quickly to ask aboutthe black spots in the milk.

I assured them I wastrying to help!

Two other incidentsmay be of interest to Mrs.Muriel Swann. I acted asguide dog to RichardHigson one foggy day andled him via the L and YRailway in Station Roadto Irlam and back. Thesecond sadder event waswhen Richard Higson wasill in Billinge Hospital. Iwent to visit him and heinstantly explained that hewas gasping for a smoke.For the first and only timein my life, I lit and puffedon a cigarette, which I

quickly handed to arelieved patient.

Clearly there are manymany other memoriesover the 15 years we wereneighbours. The elderlylady who spoke to Mrs.Swann was my mother,who died in 1988 (agedover 90).

Finally, I enclose acopy of an article I wrotefor the Guardian in 1984.The motivation for this atthe time was the extremeirritation I felt overGeorge Orwell’sdenigratory description ofordinary Wigan folk:

27

Published by Wigan Heritage Service, Leisure ServicesDepartment, Market Suite, Market Hall, The Galleries, WiganWN1 1PX.

The views expressed in this issue are not necessarilysupported by Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council, or by itsRecreation and Amenities Committee. Nothing printed may beconstrued as policy or an official announcement unless sostated.

Neither Wigan Council, nor the Editor, accept liability for anymatter in this publication.

Contributions are welcome but no responsibility can be takenfor loss or damage to contributors’ material.

© Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

July 1999

A pledge

fulfilledDear Alastair,

I thought I woulddispense with my usual “IRemember When . . . .”style of presentation infavour of a letter to theeditor for two reasons:

1) You will have toapologise to one lesscontributor by introducinga new name perhaps in thenext edition and

2) I am probably oneof only a few readers ofPast Forward whoremember your very firsteditorial in No. 1 in theSummer of 1991.

By the way I have areputation among Past

Forward readers of havinga phenomenal memory,when the truth is thatsometimes I can’t evenremember what I’ve gonein the kitchen for. Andperhaps a greater surprisewould be that I suffered atotal amnesia in 1940/41arising from the CoventryBlitz!

To revert to your firsteditorial in 1991. Youwrote: “We are concerned

with an area of very rich

heritage in which we

should all be interested

and of which we should all

be proud. I hope Past

Forward will help

convince you of that”. Iknow, Sir, I echo thesentiments of manyWiganers along with exWiganers and theirdescendants, who are veryproud indeed, some ofwhom have never evenbeen to Wigan, from farflung corners. You knowthat one Past Forward

reader could describeWigan in detail simply

from stories of her mum,now deceased (God resther), even to the Dog &Partridge pub down theentrance to Wigan ParishChurch from Market Place,when you had to remindher that it was now knownas The Bees Knees.

I didn’t know that,even, but I do rememberChris with his pavementbook stall at the entrance,all spread out onwaterproof covers. Namethe newspaper, periodical,special editions - they wereall there as well as themoney which customersleft as payment in hisabsence when he poppeddown the undergroundtoilets outside the TramOffice in Market Place.Chris was there at 6 a.m.and frequently stayed untilthe last tram (later buses)at 11.45 p.m.

Recalling Chrisreminds me of Bob Wrightwho stood at the corner ofKing Street and Wallgateall day from early morning

‘till late at night with morecopies of daily papersunder one arm than theaverage shopper these dayswould push in a shoppingtrolley! His brother was incharge of their wholesaleunderground bookstoreand newspaper business inthe Wiend, and all papershops for miles around hadaccounts with the WrightBros.

Yes, sir, your hope inyour first editorial that Past

Forward will helpconvince us that we shouldall be proud of our heritagehas been fulfilled.Personally I have alwaysbeen immensely proud ofthat fact, and I now lookforward to your projected“Friends of WiganHeritage Service” bringingto the surface many moreproud Wiganers and theiroffspring as it will, I haveno doubt.

Most overseas exWiganers emigrated in thedepression years on £10assisted passages to help

relieve the pressure athome of too many peopleon the dole and not enoughworkers paying into thekitty to cover the cost.Their descendants havegrown up and had theirown children who regardWigan as their spiritualhome of which they are allproud.

The thought continuitywhich can be conjured upwill be overwhelming andno longer will people say“You must be very proudindeed!” Much of it is due,in no small measure, to theHeritage Service activitiesunder your guidance andthe enthusiasm of yourexcellent staff. Well doneall of them.

Good luck to you sir inyour extended responsibilityfor Millennium activity inWigan.

Sincerely,Ernie Taberner

62 Westwood Road

Earlsdon

Coventry

CV5 6GE

DistancenoproblemDear Mr. Gillies,

I know that you willbe well aware of the greatdistances travelled bycopies of Past Forward soyou probably won’t be atall surprised by what I amabout to tell you.

A few days ago Ireceived a letter in theform of an audio tape froma chap called Joe Griffithswho lives in Australia. JoeGriffiths can make twoclaims on myacquaintance - his familyand mine were next-doorneighbours in StubshawCross until I was six yearsold. In 1932 both familiesmoved to the CrescentAvenue/Cansfield Grovearea of Ashton-in-Makerfield. Joe’s family

lived in Crescent Avenuewhile we lived about 50yards away in GroveStreet. Joe had seen myarticles in Past Forward

and, I am delighted to say,decided to write to me andrenew our acquaintance.

There were threechildren in the Griffithsfamily, Joe, the eldest wasabout two or three yearsmy senior, his brother,Bill, was my age and theirsister, Anne, was abouttwo years younger thanBill. Naturally, I saw moreof Bill than I did of Joebecause of his agedifference, but I distinctlyrecall that Joe wouldoccasionally join in ouractivities, usuallyproviding a more skilfuland mature approach. Asan example, I mentionedin my memoirs, recentlypublished in Past

Forward, that we boysonce experimented withhome-made modelparachutes in which we

used “pop” bottle screwcaps as the parachutist. Irelated that an older boywent a step further andcarved a realistic woodenmodel of a man as hisparachutist - Joe Griffithswas that older boy.

Joe didn’t go toAshton-in-MakerfieldGrammar School - he tellsme that his familyfinancial circumstances atthe time were such as torequire him to leaveschool at the age of 14years in order to begin tocontribute to the familyfinances. (Both hischildren, however, a boyand a girl, went to AshtonGrammar School and,later, made excellent useof the opportunity by, inboth instances, going on touniversity).

In the late 1930’s, thefact of not having attendeda grammar schoolconstituted a very severeeducational handicap, ahandicap in no way

mitigated by the fact thatits cause was, in so manyinstances, financialhardship. Nevertheless,when Joe was demobbedfrom the Royal Air Forceat the end of the war, heset about overcoming thiseducational handicap anddid so admirably,achieving the professionalqualifications ofA.M.I.Mech.E., M.I.S.M.

Joe went to Australia

in 1973 and now lives inWestern Australia, nearPerth. His son has aMaster’s degree incomputer technology andhis daughter, who also hasa degree, is a teacher inCanberra.

Harold Knowles

30 Drayfields

Littlemoss

Droylsden

Manchester

M43 7ET

Who?

Where?No suggestions for the bottom photograph in last

issue’s Who? Where? But an overwhelming

response to the other three! These have been

identified, in descending order, as:

St John’s RC, Wigan

Opening of St Cuthbert’s School, Wigan

Opening of St Edward’s School, Wigan, c.1959

This time, we would like your help with another

church, a couple of houses, a pub/hotel, and a

Home Guard parade. All suggestions, please, to

Len Hudson in Leigh Town Hall (01942) 404432