Past Postings about Atherton from visitors all round the world.

Email: ft@blackpool.ac.uk

Sender: Fred Taylor Cleveleys

Comments: Hi Dave

Thanks once again for an interesting site. I wonder if any readers can help I would like to find out what happened to Margaret Rowlands a teacher at Chowbent School.

Thanks Fred Taylor

Email: monkeyhut@btopenworld.com

Sender: Howe Bridge

Comments: Dear Dave,

What a super site, I lived with my family in the Wheatsheaf Hotel on Market Street from 1982 to 1997, one of the nicest buildings in Atherton.

I now live in Rose Cottage at Howe Bridge. This house is well over 100 years old. It's behind Leigh road at the side of the Gardeners Arms pub. Anybody know any history about it?

Thanks Cock.

Email: repickford@netzero.net

Sender: Ron K Pickford, Toronto, Canada

Comments: Dear Dave,

My name is Ron Pickford, born 1938, Hunt Street, Atherton. My dad, Frank Pickford was a well known photographer & was was one of the founding members of ADAPS the Atherton District Amateur Photographic Society. Firstly I must say how much I enjoyed visiting your site. I am only a recent convert to "E" mail and the "Web" and am really enjoying doing research and finding sites such as yours. I enjoyed the ADAPS site, and sent them as message telling them so, was thrilled to see a picture of "pop' front page in the history section. We emigrated to Canada late 1953 and although mom and dad missed Atherton greatly they made a good life for themselves over here. They are both gone now but I am sure there must be still some folks who remember him as he was a true "character". Over the years in Atherton he earned a living working for Ernest Stavely (who was my godfather) also Prestwich Parkers and the LUT driving a bus. Photography was his passion and it was he and a group of other young enthusiasts who were the driving force in getting the club going. I attended Lee Street School and then Lord's Commercial School in Bolton. Just before we emigrated I had started work at Mather Lane Spinning Company. In Canada I was employed by Air Canada for 34 years before retiring a few years ago, my interests were always in mechanics and I have been restoring antique and Classic cars since the late 50's. I don't know if anyone would remember me or my Mom and Dad however I would like to hear from anyone who would like to say hello. Once again Dave thanks for your effort. Ron K Pickford

Dave: Ron. Thanks for that. I am sure your father will be remembered by many. I certainly remember him.  If anyone remembers Ron or his dad, drop him a line...

Email: truechristian86@christianitymail.com

Sender: Sydney, Australia.

Comments: A Mr. Peter Wood of Rotorua, New Zealand was making enquiries about a photographer by the name of "B. Partington", Gainsboro Studio, Atherton, Lancs. England. I have in my possession two (2) photographs of my late father Mr. John Smith, who would have been about 6 months old when the photographs were taken and if he was alive today he would be turning 100 years of age on 2nd July, 2003. I have no idea where in Atherton the studios were as there is no address on the photographs.

Email: ssrjbanks@aol.com

Sender: banks atherton

Comments: I do like the Atherton memories. I would like to know the names of the factories

down Bolton old road in the 1900's

Email: ninrick@optusnet.com.au

Sender: Richard Watts, Perth, Western Australia

Comments: Dave,

Great to find a website dedicated to Atherton. Was born in Billinge but lived in Atherton from day one. Remember some of the things you talk about especially "Chanters estate" and I spent most of my time with mates in the waste land behind the Methodist church on Tyldesley Road I think digging for bottles and playing down the brook. Went to Freddies and remember walking up to the Bay Horse Chippy at lunch time for a barm cake with specials. My father Derek played rugby for Leigh and was fortunate enough to play at Wembley for them in 1971, my mother worked at Yates & Greer in Market Street, Atherton and brought home the best pork pies and black pudding (don't taste the same in OZ) then Sidroys restaurant at night. Geez, those were the days and you certainly got the memory ticking over.

Anyone who remembers me or the olds, drop us a line, I'd love to hear from you.

Email: st.peter@paradise.net.nz

Sender: Peter Wood, Rotorua, New Zealand

Comments: I am trying to date an old family photograph taken in the 19th century. The photographers were "B. Partington, Gainsboro Studios, Atherton".

Does anyone know anything about them/him please?

Email: bardot5@hotmail.com

Sender: Adelaide Australia

Comments: My family lived in Tyldesley until 1969. My parents were friendly with the people who had the Royal Oak on Elliott St. Does anyone have a photo of this pub as I am sure my parents would love to see it again. Many thanks. Dot

Email: aligurn60@hotmail.co.uk

Sender: alison gurney, blackpool, england

Comments: I am looking for any information on my late grandmother, Beatrice Ellen Battersby. Her maiden name was Green. Her first husband was Herbert Gregory (died early 1930's).Her second husband was Walter Battersby (died early 1940's). Her son from first marriage is my Dad Eric Gregory.Also chippy on Bag Lane. .

Email: puddycatuk@hotmail.com

Sender: Jane

Comments: A message for VINCE EMMISON. I have tried e-mailing twice now, unsucessfully.I am the youngest daughter of Leonard Emmison, please feel free to write me at the above address.

Email: sydwinward@e3.net.nz

Sender: Syd Winward Otematata New Zealand

Comments: Re Baxendales shop. No.1 Market Street.Baxendale muts have been the original owner, I used to go in there many times with my fatherin the 1940s and 50s it was owned by Peter Wilson although it was always called Baxendales.

Email: SAMNROBW@MSN.COM

Sender: Livesey/Atherton

Comments: I am looking for a photo that was take round about 1963 to 1966 at st phillips school I do know that on the front row is a boy called Robert livesey with blonde hair and holding the football one other persons on it I think is a little girl named lynn Harrison if any one as this I would be very grateful for you help THANK YOU

Email: jandbaldred@supanet.com

Sender: Barbara Aldred Atherton

Comments: Does anyone remember the Kinks playing at the Formby hall, I remember getting our tickets from the Zambezi cafe on Market st. They had sold to many tickets and when the group appeared people were being trampled, quite a few fainted but what a night to remember.

Dave: I was there. I interviewed the Kinks backstage for the local paper and got their autographs. They turned up late and only did a few numbers. It was almost a riot - policemen linking arms to stop the fans rushing the stage. One of the craziest nights in Atherton's history.

Email: vince.emmison@virgin.net.co.uk

Sender: Beith, N/Ayrshire, Scotland.

Comments: Please forgive me for the previous incorrect E=Mail address. May be I'll get some replies now it as been put right. Thanks DAVE AN OLD BENTER -Vincent Emmison

Email: jandbaldred@supanet.com

Sender: Barbara Aldred Atherton

Comments: I am trying to find out where church passage was in Atherton it is where my husbands ancestors lived can anyone help.

Email: jandbaldred@supanet.com

Sender: Barbara Aldred re Redford Atherton

Comments: Looking for any school friends from Hesketh fletcher 1963 to 1965 Miss Wildings class then mrs Molyneaux.We had miss Wilding for two years she was so nice. If any one has any photos i would be realy gratefull,hope to hear from you all soo

Email: doug@polbox.com

Sender: doug robinson warsaw poland

Comments: I was born and bred in Atherton, attended Gloucester street nursery, laburnum infants, bluebell (st Phillips) and hecky fleck. Most of my life has been in Africa and the far east. There must be someone left who remembers my grandparents Bill and Emma Clift. We all lived in Carbank Square, and of course my uncle Bill Clift, the Atherton Chindit of MM fame and his brother Jimmy. I remember hearing my gran say"e could've walk't under th'essole (ash hole) wi' a tall 'at on" I think it referred to the amount of ale grandad had supped. The other expression was used by my mum a lot was " tune as thowd cay deed on" I think this was me or my sister Susan crying or wailing for something. Any replies or comments welcome.

I wonder if there are any members of Atherton Heritage Society on here?
If so, I would like to suggest that the society, which does a great job and is doing really well I believe, forms a Friends of Atherton Cemetery Society or Committee.
The brief would be to keep an eye on things there and liaise with Wigan Met and local councillors  as, for example, although the cemetery workers do their best, some headstones have fallen over and need putting upright; there is litter about, trees are growing out of some graves and the paths are uneven. There could also be a voluntary patrol on a rota basis to make sure there are no unsavoury characters hanging about.
Could someone suggest this at the next meeting please and report back to this site.. I would be very grateful.

Email: bob.evans@virgin.net.

Comments: see website http://www.marjory.fsworld.co.uk/index.html

Email: vince.emmison.@virgin.net

Sender: Vince Emmison Beith, Scotland

Comments: I'm vince emmison formerly of car bank crescent I would love to talk to any pupils of classes 1 1b to 4b HECKY FLECK SCHOOL YEARS 1947 TO 1950. AWAIT YOUR REPLY. VINCE

Email: st.peter@paradise.net.nz

Sender: Peter Wood, Rotorua, New Zealand

Comments: If memory serves me correctly, Baxendale's was a hardware shop on the corner opposite the Church on Market Street (Mountain Dew side of the street. There was a large glass(?) panel above the door & windows that said Colliery Hardware, or something similar. Is it still there, if not, what became of it? Could be the same Baxendales who the previous anonymous referred to?

Peter Wood

Email: eric@ericjune.fsnet.co.uk

Sender: Wigan

Comments: as a follow up to my previous posting I would like change the address of my mother, she came from bridge st HOWE-BRIDGE not as stated Hindsford. The part of the family from Hindsford were the Rigby's sorry about that, the old grey matter seems to stick.

Email: eric@ericjune.fsnet.co.uk

Sender: Wigan

Comments: first congrats on a fine site. I remember coming to Atherton in my early years to visit relatives. I used to travel from Ashton in Makerfield on the trolley bus[ i remember as if it were yesterday] I used to visit my uncle [Robert Baxendale]who lived in a small street [Rowland St?]near some hall, my mother Helen Baxendale]was brought up in Bridges St Hindsford, worked in her early life at a butchers in Tyldesley. I also had a cousin Norman Baxendale also from Atherton, we lost touch many years ago]i could go on all day about the happy times i spent visiting Atherton. but when you reach 70 years young i am afraid the past is all we seem to talk about. Thanks for giving me this chance to live some of my past if anyone knows of the Baxendales I would love to hear via the net. THANKS AGAIN

Email: krmwr@yahoo.com

Sender: Christian. Walkden

Comments: I see that the open cast area between Walkden and Atherton is now starting to get covered with grass and trees. I wonder if this is how the rucks in Atherton first came about, and if its left, the same thing will occur again.

I hope Salford council decide to leave the area as it is.

Email: seamonkey41@hotmail.com

Sender: sue robinson (penzance)

Comments: I wonder if there is anyone in Atherton who would be kind enough to put a remembrance cross with poppy on the memorial in November for me. My mother used to organise this but unfortunately she has now passed away. I will pay any expenses incurred. Thanks

Dave: That's a nice thought - if anyone can help, please contact Sue. Don't forget to turn out on Remembrance Day - there was a good turnout at Atherton Cenotaph last year - which is as it should be.

Sender: Kenn Wright Ladysmith B.C. Canada

Comments: My 3 aunts manned the Telephone Exchange in Atherton during the First World War. I am in the process of doing my family tree. I would be obliged if anyone has any information and/or pictures of same. Their names were, Charlotte(LOTTE) Violet and Cicely (Cissy) WRIGHT. Any and all information and photographs would be of great assistance to me. Many thanks and a big HELLO to all in Atherton. Thanks a lot,

Kenn Wright , Box 783 ,Ladysmith, B.C., Canada, v9g1a6

Dave: I would try the Journal - see link above.

Email: ALANWIG@ahilton.fslife.co.uk

Sender: Alan &Margaret Hilton[nee] Birchall ,Prestatyn N.Wales

Comments: I Alan Hilton am a Wigan lad and I married a girl from Howe Bridge in 1956 at St.Michael and All Angels, her name was Margaret Birchall,and her Dad had the chippy opposite the slipper baths in Howe Bridge. We used to go to the Drill hall Friday-Sat. dancing also Formby Hall. I did go to MICKS for a pint, and had a bet on the fixed odds coupon every Saturday lunch time before playing soccer [Briarcroft,Mountain Dew] I also enjoyed Atherton charity cup played on Flapper Fold. I worked at Chanters Pit, Margaret worked at Howe Bridge Mill. We have 3 children 2 girls 1 boy they were all born at Fir Tree Maternity Home Leigh, We are both now retired.  

Sender: Mark, Tyldesley

Comments: I feel sick to see, in print and on local tv news spots when the town names of Atherton and Tyldesley are ignored if mentioned and the word Wigan is used instead. Atherton has always had a Manchester address, never a Wigan one and the day those two towns, including Leigh were put under its name was a sorry one. Wigan is roughly 7 or 8 miles away from these 3 towns, and since 1974 they have been run down yearly, while Wigan has gone from strength to strength. Being almost 20 miles out of Manchester, i believe Wigan would not have made it into Greater Manchester but for Atherton Tyldesley and Leigh. When the uneducated press and tv reporters use the name Wigan instead of either the aforementioned towns in news reports people must think that we live miles away from Manchester Salford and Bolton. And this is simply not the case. I hate pies too.....

Sender: Tony Salford

Comments: Atherton like most towns around Salford, is slowly becoming a shutter city, with most shops and businesses hiding behind ugly steel shutters, making the place look unwelcoming. Still our towns on the west side of Manchester still have more attraction than most south of the city centre. At least they manage to hang onto some of their former identity.

Email: anthonyjohnson13@ntlworld.com

Sender: kathleen johnson royston herts

Comments: I have been looking at the page showing pubs past and present. The pub that I cannot find any mention of is the Park Hotel that was in the valley next to the Rope and Anchor, that is of course in Red Street. I was 14 yrs. old when I painted it sat on the hill facing the valley and terraced houses along Red Street. Can someone remember the Park Hotel?

Email: st.peter@paradise.net.nz

Sender: Peter Wood, Rotorua, New Zealand

Comments: To Marian Guest (as you were). I lived at 95 Tyldesley Road, the end house in a terrace, up to 1948 when our family moved to Devonshire Road up Hag Fold. I remember playing with a boy called Tony Guest who lived further down Tyldesley Road. I also remember a small shop run by a Mrs Guest further down the terrace towards the Valley Brook. I know Tony was related to Mrs Guest, but I can no longer remember how. Sounds as though there may be a connection with you Marian. Am I right?

Regards

Peter Wood

Email: marianmannion@hotmail.com

Sender: Johannesburg, South Africa

Comments: I have really enjoyed reading Atherton Memories. My husband and I both hail from Atherton, I was Marian Guest, my parents had a grocers shop in Tyldesley Road, and my husband came from Thomas St. My Aunt and Uncle owned Kiddies Corner opposite the Parish Church, our families still live in the town and we will be visiting the old sites at Christmas. There is nowhere else on earth quite like Atherton.

Dave: Ah, Kiddies Corner. What a treasure trove of delight that used to be. Not any longer unfortunately.They were a lovely couple your aunt and uncle. I hope you enjoy your visit to Atherton Marian.

Email: wl.johns@yucca.net

Sender: Clovis, New Mexico, United States of America

Comments: My father, Charles Johnson was born in Atherton June 1, 1889 to Lee and Mary Johnson. The family came to the United States six months after Charles' birth and settled in the area around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During World War I, my father returned to England while serving in the Canadian Army He couldn't pass the physical for the American Army).

After WWI, he returned home to Pittsburgh and married Iredale Little. The couple had two children, a girl named Mary Ella (now deceased) born on Christmas of 1923. I, Wilfred Lee arrived in this world on Dec 4, 1929. I served in the United States Air Force as a fighter pilot and as an avionics officer. I served during the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War.

Upon retiring from the service I was an engineer for a local television station and am now enjoying my second retirement.

I certainly enjoyed finding out about Atherton on the internet. Thank you very much.

Wilfred L Johnson

Dave: Wilfred, I wish you a long and happy second retirement. With your work record, you certainly deserve it - and thank you for your kind comment.

Email: truechristian86@christian.hm

Sender: Mary Campbell, Sydney, Australia

Comments: Hi Dave,

Ladt night I read the Leigh, Atherton & Tyldesley Journal. In the reports there was one about a lady in Atherton having been attacked in a "ginnel" at the back og Market Street, Atherton. Would you please explain to me what a "ginnel" is as I have never heard this word used before. Thanks.

Dave: A ginnel is another word for a narrow passage between streets.

Email: virgolibrian@hotmail.com

Sender: Ian PLIMMER/manchester,uk

Comments: Dear Dave

Can you please tell me the names of those people of the Atherton Collieries Dramatic Society who appeared in the play at Briarcroft Hall in the 40s?It was not clear enough to see. Many thanks.

Dave:It was sent to me. The only names I can make out are Alice Ormesher; William Harrison; Arthur Leyland; Wilfred Charnock; Mildred Bradley; Arthur Clewes; Roy Boardman; Kathleen Wood (or Ward); and possibly Thomas or Isiah Ormesher. Hope this helps...

Email: barbtombo@paradise.net.nz

Sender: Tom & Barbara Boardman Wainuiomata. N.Z.

Comments: Hi Dave,

Still nice to log into the old Bent site, and read all about what's happening ,was over on holiday in 2000, had a look around the old Town, and visited the flower show at the Parish Church brought a bit of Coal back from our friend in Market St, saw that the old Gem was up for sale, visited Ecky-Fleck, but it was holidays-missed out. Since my last memories were sent to you we have changed our e-mail address. Would like to hear from any one who remembers Atherton North-End Soccer Club, from Hag-Fold late 40`s early 50`s enjoyed my games with them. Also Atherton Recs Rugby League Club, also played at Hag-Fold. Players would obviously be now late in life.

Keep Smilin` Tom Boardman

Email: seamonkey41@hotmail.com

Sender: sue robinson cornwall

Comments: Dave thanks for putting the link to my site, I have had so much response from people I haven't seen for 30 or more years. I have included 2 boys on it who were killed in world war 2 their names were Albert Thorpe and Tommy Aldred if any of their relatives read this please contact me for further information.

Email: truechristian86@christian.hm

Sender: Sydney, Australia.

Comments: Hello Dave,

I have had a good response to my queries re. friends of mine in the Atherton and Tyldesley districts. I mentioned three friends whom I haven't been in contact with for over 30 years and through your column all three have been in contact with me. Thanks Dave. It is great to hear from long lost friends.

Mary Campbell.

Email: reluise@hotmail.com

Sender: Reanne Worthington, Atherton/Tyldesley

Comments: After looking at the emails which have already been sent I read one about Boydells shop and that the woman who wrote the email liked the pasties from there. i also heard, from a relative who visited the site before that you have mentioned the pies and pasties. The point of this is that my grandfather delivered his pies and pasties there. His name is John Kennedy and he used own a bakery on Bag Lane opposite the 'top shop' now known as the Albion. He also ran a mobile shop run for many years around Hag fold and Atherton. As well as all this he started off the taxi firm JK Taxis. He would love it if any of his old friends would get in contact him. also on another note when you mentioned on the website that Tracey Bennett is from Atherton. my family actually know her she used to go to school with my mother.

Email: smjkmlnmdm@bigpond.au

Sender: Janice Millington ,Perth, Western Australia

Comments: Hi, really enjoyed your site, i've been in oz since 1989 and have two young sprogs who think that I almost speak another language especially when the rellies arrive to visit, Im originally from Boothstown/Tyldesley. Could anyone help me find some photo's of my grandfather (in law) who was a fiddler in the 30's (i think) at the Theatre Royal and the Carlton Majestic in Tyldesley. The year could be wrong but it was in the days of the silent movies! His name was Clifford Millington. Hope you can help..Ta very much..

Email: seamonkey41@hotmail.com

Sender: sue robinson penzance cornwall

Comments: Thanks very much for putting the link in to my uncle Bill's web site. If anyone remembers him please get in touch with me either via the email on the site or through my email, any stories about him at all gratefully received know he used to drink in the soldiers and sailors and the Wheatsheaf Atherton. Also the "bug" at Westhoughton this was obviously a nickname for a pub but I don't know which one. Thanks again Dave

Email: susan@sherwooddrive.freeserve.co.uk

Sender: Susan (Yorkshire)

Comments: Just viewed your site. Fab. Directed on to it by a one woman ambassador for Atherton, in every sense of the word. Her name is Sue Robinson -she has worked so hard compiling and setting up her web tribute to Bill Clift MM, a real benter. Her site is www.chindit.org.uk she also pays tribute to two other men from Atherton - and gosh darn it, even gave a wee space to my own uncle,a pie eater.I am blowing the trumpet for her, I know, but all she has done is relevant to Atherton, real people. I thought she may be on a link from your site. She is a good lass, top of the pops with me and the present day Wiggin family. Something real good from your town. This is a testimonial from Yorkshire (Daddy was a Wigan ex-pat), and I rest my handbag on it. Love the site, Best Regards, Susan Lupton.

Dave: Susan. I have put the link on. What a great tribute to these local heroes...well done Sue. It shows people still care.

Email: LouieLou1971@aol.com

Sender: Margaret Henaghan Pemberton

Comments: This is in response to the information Ken Mort of Desert Springs Ca. USA requested; Just found your Notes on Dave Dutton's web page. Yes! You were born in Spring Gardens. This is you and I together. I remember when you moved to the shop. How wonderful your Mom was! At that time we moved to Hag Fold on Devonshire Rd. Still came to your shop for toffees. Times sure have changed. We Athertonian's have moved all over the world. I have lived in Ohio, USA for 40 years. I think we must have been 3 or 4 years old when this well worn photo was taken.

Margaret Henaghan Pemberton

Lake Milton, Ohio USA

Dave: Margaret. Great to have reunited you two! I haven't received the picture you speak of. 

Email: tonybessick@hotmail.com

Sender: Tony Cooke, Over Hulton

Comments: Hi mate! I grew up on Spa Road on Hag Fold (awful name), And spent many happy years playing and often camping "up Rucks". I am 36yrs old now and would love love to hear about anyone else's memories or experiences of growing up and playing in this area. I still go down Atherton for the odd pint, and bump in to a few old friends now and then. I would be particularly interested in finding out how various areas of "the Rucks" got their names..."the devil's chair", "The Floods", "The Border" etc. I am an actor by profession, and play Vernon Bradshaw-the cabbie who pops up in "Coronation St" every now and then. Cheers all! Tony.

Dave: Tony. I've done a bit meself in Corrie (six parts). Hope we meet on the Street sometime. The Hag in Hag Fold means Hawthorn. I used to love sliding down the rucks on a piece of corrugated iron. Wouldn't do it now for a million pounds...

Email: phil.peacock@blueyonder.co.uk

Sender: Boothstown, Manchester

Comments: I wonder if anyone remembers my grandad or dad, both John (Jack)Peacock of Lilford Street, Howe Bridge and of Cherry Tree Grove, Atherton. All our family were from the Atherton / Leigh / Blackrod area. My grandad used to lead the Remembrance Day Parade (Ex-Sergeant Major Peacock) with The Royal British Legion. I would love to hear from anyone who remembers any one of the family.

Email: Chadwick@whitewell1.fsnet.co.uk

Sender: Alan @ Clitheroe

Comments: Gave the poems to my mum she loved them.

She also told me they have a memorial cup for my uncle(Pigeon racing)Norman Coop, do any of your readers know if this is still the case.

Thanks

Email: steven.glover@cwctv.net

Comments: Dave,

Many thanks for reproducing the article written by Robert Greenhalgh which I gave you recently. As I said to you at the time, there is a second instalment to this fascinating story and I am in the process of trying to find it for you. As soon as it becomes available, I'll no doubt pass it on to you over a pint in "The Letters" or "Athy Arms" one Sunday Afternoon. This of course reminds me that I am almost 100% sure you didn`t buy me a pint for the first instalment!!! Cheers, Steve Glover.

Dave: Steve, your pint is in the pumps. Can't wait to read the next instalment of this fascinating article.

Email: seamonkey41@hotmail.com

Sender: sue robinson cornwall

Comments: Dave can you link my site www.chindit.org.uk to your Atherton site, my web site is a memorial to my Uncle Bill, Atherton born and bred. thanks

Hi Dave 
Can you tell me where you got the advertisement of Prestwich Parkers from and was it your grandfather who used to work there when he was a lad ? Do you have any more information on P& P's 
You're probably wondering why I'm interested , I'm a Parker and would love to gather as much information as I can about the old factory in Bag Lane-memories, photos etc 
I only became interested in the factory when I started doing the family history and I suddenly realised there was nothing left of the old place really . I wish I'd taken more interest in it when I lived in Atherton, but maybe it's not too late as lots of people must have memories of it both good and bad and maybe someone out there will respond
Here's hoping 
Sue Gregory

Dave: Hi Sue. I got it from an old Atherton street guide from around the 60's. My grandfather did indeed work there when he was a boy. If I were you I would write to the Journal c\o http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/lancashire/leigh and ask them to print an appeal to people for memories and pictures. Or try Atherton Heritage Society ( the town library probably has contact details)  If anyone can help through this website, email Sue at shgregory86@hotmail.com.

Good luck.

Email: meachem@lineone.net

Comments: looking for anyone who met Harry Oates from Sheffield who served with Duke of Wellington regiment during World War II. He was with Column 76 in Chindits in Burma probably in 1944.

Email: truechristian86@christian.hm

Sender: Mary Campbell, Sydney, Australia.

Comments: Hi Dave,

Could you please help me. I have been looking for the e-mail address for the Tyldesley Historical Society on their web page but there isn't one. They say e-mail them but I can't as there is no e-mail address. Could you find it out for me. I would be appreciated if you would.

Mary Campbell.

Dave: Sorry Mary. Don't have the info. Can anyone help - if so, please email Mary.

blackies_@ntlworld.com

Hi
58, Bolton Old Rd, Atherton.
We have lived at this address for 8 years now & in that time we have tried to acquire a photograph of our house when it was a shop
I believe it was a bakery & is right opposite Chowbent chapel
Do you know anyone who can help

Regards
David Black

Email: truechristian86@christian.hm

Sender: Sydney, NSW, Australia

Comments: Dear Dave,

Once again I am using your e-mail facility to try and locate a friend of mine who may or may not be living in or near Atherton. Her name is Pauline Cameron (nee Jamieson) and before marriage she lived in Lodge Road, Hindsford with her parents, brother Peter, sisters Wendy and Suzanne. Pauline married Jim Cameron from Atherton, Peter her brother went to Southern Rhodesia, Wendy stayed in Hindsford after she married a man with the surname (Foy) -sorry I have forgotten his christian name and Suzanne became a nursing sister and married a doctor from Pakistan. It is Pauline I am trying to contact but if anyone knows any of the family's whereabouts I would be obliged if they would pass on my enquiry. My name is Mary (Mollie) Campbell and before I came to Australia I lived at 7 Shuttle Street, Tyldesley. Again thanks for your column it is a worthy thing you have going.

Mary Campbell.

Email: anniepurna@tiscali.co.uk

Sender: Mike Lewin / Poulton-le-Fylde

Comments: Just read the query from Martin Harrison regarding Professor Eric Laithwaite`s birthplace.

My mother, Kathleen Lewin (nee Chadwick) informs me that he was born in Thomas Street, possibly No.17 or 19.

Email: scicod@aol.com

Sender: John Aldred

Comments: Re: The Valley Mission:

Was the Valley Mission destroyed by fire? I seem to remember my parents (both deceased) telling me this. I believe a relative of mine, a great uncle called John Davies was associated with this Mission. Would love to see a copy of the newspaper article or hear from anyone with further information.

Sender: Ken Sharples

Comments: The Valley Mission - re article in Leigh Reporter Thursday January 10th 2002.

The Valley Mission was made of corrugated iron, painted black which caused it to be known as "The Tin Mission." It stood on Laburnum Street Atherton, behind the back street of the houses on Bolton Old Road, and the front of the houses on Hilton Street; this area is now occupied by the playing field of Saint Philip's Primary School. It was built by a group of towns people one of whom was Mr Robert Burrows a member of the coal mining family; another person was Bob Holding a member of the Weslyan Chapel, called "Laburnums", just across the street. Was it built for the poor families in that part of the town? It was undenominational. One memory is of a concert given by children under the leadership of Miss Gertrude Holding, a memory of over 70 years ago. Do any other people have memories they can share?

Email: seamonkey41@hotmail.com

Sender: sue robinson penzance cornwall

Comments: We have just visited Atherton again after many years away, I cant believe how much it has changed. Went to the cemetery to visit family graves and found them no trouble due to being dragged there every week as a child summer and winter I even remembered certain gravestones that had poems on them my mother used to read them to us. No Ecky fleck on market street anymore I already knew this but it was strange to see houses there. I loved being in "Bent" again even though all my family are now dead so we have no one there anymore. Visited the Wheatsheaf and Spinners arms and was very shocked to see the Queens arms on Bolton road had gone. Thanks for a brilliant site Dave.

Email: chadwick@whitewell1.fsnet.co.uk

Enjoyed a look at the site printed some of the poems off for my mum and late dad, they were born in Atherton & Tyldesley but moved to Clitheroe when they got wed, we moved back to Atherton for a couple of years when I was 9 or so, we lived in Spa Rd, next to Laburnum mill were my dad worked, I went to Chowbent School, but got run over going to the play ground across that cobble street, they stopped traffic going down there not long after during school time.
Moved to the newly built Meadowbank school then I miss the Rooks where me and my mates used to play sliding down the shale on an old car bonnet, been back for a look-  its all buildings now. 
We moved back to Clitheroe around 1973 where I have now live and work 
Still got lots of relatives round there and they always give us a warm welcome when we meet, Chadwicks and Coops. My late uncle Norman Coop had a pigeon loft in Tyldesley he used to race them won a few prizes too. I will be keeping a close eye on this site, noticed my cousin Wayne has sent a note, haven't seen him in years.
Alan Chadwick

Email: christine.pomfret@gmpte.gov.uk

Sender: Christine Pomfret nee Buckley, Atherton

Comments: Dear Dave

Brilliant site. Even though I still live in Atherton, I was born in Bolton at Havercroft Maternity Home, because my parents lived at Daubhill then, but we moved to Atherton when I was two, so I suppose I am an Athertonian once removed, and proud to be so.

I went to Howe Bridge School, then Hecky Fleck, then passed the 13+ exam, and went to Leigh Tech.

I remember the trolley buses changing ends at Punch Bowl because I lived in what was then the radio and television shop which was in the small row of shops next to the Savoy Cinema. Next door at the end was Margaret Kaye's hairdressers, daughter of Kaye's at Central Station as mentioned by someone else on your memories page. Next door the other way was Miss Threlfall's ladies outfitters, and next to her at the end nearest the Savoy was Mrs Brook's sweet shop.

I remember going to the Savoy, sometimes twice a week, as they showed two different films, changing on Thursdays if memory serves me right. I remember the Maypole grocers next to the Conservative Club, and seeing the butter being made up into pats according to what the customer wanted. I can still smell the sawdust they used to put on the floor, when I was a small girl. I remember the Zambesi coffee shop where we used to meet our friends on Saturday afternoon, and the temperance bar at Punch Bowl where the local motorbikers used to meet in the evenings. The AYPA on Sunday evenings in Hecky Fleck, but only if you had been to church first! The Church House for the more adventurous amongst us. But best of all, and where I met my husband, was the Formby Hall on Saturday nights, when music was live and they used to play records during the intervals!!! Those were the days.

If anyone remembers me, my name was Christine Buckley then, I had a sister Glenda (died 1988 age 41) and still have a brother Richard who has defected and lives 'down south'.

Just a few memories, Dave. I am sure there are plenty more out there.

Cheers, Christine Pomfret nee Buckley (married to Tony for 35 years.

Email: truechristian86@christian.hm

Sender: Sydney, Australia

Comments: Dave,

I wrote a few days ago tryingt to find a friend of my sisters and mine by the name of Doreen Charnock (nee Reece).So far I have had no replies. No wonder. I didn't give my full e-mail address. I may have had someone trying to find me but unable to do so. Thanks once again for your column.

Mary Campbell

Thank ee Dave fert gradely site.

I hope you have time in the future to put up some audio renderings of your work. I have difficulty explaining to my friends how people speak where I am from,as my Lanky is weak at best.We moved to Canada in 68, when I was 3, altho have been back to visit many times I was born in Leigh, my father in Atherton, and his brother and parents still live there---Uncle Kevan on Lancaster Ave just above the Valley (reet gradely place to play, magical to us back then), and Grandad on Tyldesley Old Rd.

Grandad owned a chippy when you were a lad, but soon after started G. Menzies and Son, painters and decorators. All they ever did were pubs, and Grandad specialized in doing the sign boards, he was a very talented artist. Reading your site is like listening to Grandad talk.

One year he brought to Canada an album by a band called the Westhoughton Weavers (I think, I was 9 yr old), and on it was a poem bout "a caw got is yead stook in gaite" In the end the lad in the poem (fro'Ouffen) had to saw the caw's yead off. The line I remember at the end is "do ye all think I'm daft and I don't know me job when caw cost 2 shillings and gate 3 bob?" Do you know where I can get an audio or text version of this poem? Have you heard it? I don't even remember the name. Also, same visit, Grandad brought a song about Lowry called "Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs" This song, when played, never fails to bring our family to tears. For some reason it epitomizes for us what Lancashire means, especially me ma, as she remembers seeing Lowry painting on the streets when she was nowt but a wee Lanky lass. Sorry to be such a burden, but if you know of the artist or where the song can be found (audio or text), I would forever be in your debt, as we are now reduced to a 26 yr old cassette that is on its last legs. Keep up the brilliant work, poetry et al. It was a real pleasure visiting. I've just sent me dad your link. He was a lad same time as you. I asked him if he remembered the wakes and he has emailed me back. His response "Yes I went on wakes every year ont Brickie" Thanks Again Paul Menzies, Edmonton, Alberta

Dave: If you do a search for the Houghton Weavers, that will bring up their records and you should be able to order from them. Matchstalk Men was recorded by Brian and Michael  and should be still available from somewhere. If you search Matchstalk Men on www.google.com, it brings up loads of sites with the words. You could also try Amazon records - www.amazon.com (or co.uk). Good luck.

paulm@powersurfr.com

Email: kevincook1@btopenworld.com

Sender: Kevin Cook\Brentford\Middx

Comments: My step-father Richard Yates and of Railway St worked for 49 Years at Gibfield Pit off Bag Lane and a favourite meeting place for the lads was the Railway pub. Dominoes and darts the popular games along with smoking woodbines and idle chat.

I had my first ever pint in the Railway and remember the trains were steam when I was little.

Sender: Maureen Ellison, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Comments: Just seen an E-Mail from Colin Thomas, Auckland, N.Z. Colin, are you the same Colin Thomas that lived in Wardour Street, Atherton?

Dave, love to read the messages and browse the site. Very good job.

Maureen Ellison (nee Harvey)

mail: truechristian86

Sender: Mary Campbell, Sydney, Australia

Comments: Hello Dave,

Happy New Year to you. Through your pages my sister and I would like to see if we can contact a friend of ours from our school days. Our friends name was Doreen Reece and she lived in Tyldesley as did my sister and I. We attended The Tyldesley Girls Secondary Modern School (which is now Fred Longworth's) and then went on to Loreburn College, Manchester. Doreen worked for a firm in Salford (Alexander Kenyon's), I worked in Manchester for (Barlow Bros. & Greenwood Ltd) and my sister worked in the office of John Grundy Ltd., the Foundry in Parr Street, Tyldesley. Whilst in our teens we went to the Formby Hall on a Saturday night and enjoyed the dancing. Doreen married a Derek Charnock from Atherton and had a son by the name of David. She also had a daughter but zI don't remember her name. My sister married a Derek Cook from Tyldesley and they had two daughters and one son. I married and divorced Glanmor Evans and we had two sons. I re-married and emigrated to Australia in 1967 where I had a daughter in 1968. My sister and family and my mother and father followed to Australia shortly after. If Doreen or her family are on the Internet and would like to get in touch with either myself or my sister our names are Kathleen and Mary (Mollie) nee Smith and we lived at 52 Elliott Street, Tyldesley when attending school and prior to marriage.

Thanks again Dave,

Email: jackb@smartchat.net.au

Sender: Jack Banks, Sydney, Australia

Comments: G'day Dave, This site is going from strength to strength. Bent and Bongs seem to be known the world over probably due to a lot of great people that still roam that part of the world. This I can vouch for after spending the Christmas period with my Sister and Brother-in-Law Barbara and Derek Bainbridge. It has been 21 years since my last visit but once we stepped into the Mort Arms it seemed like only 21 months. My first night in town took in the Mort, the old Dragon and a look in at Bryn's place at the Moon. We played "spot the face" in every pub and even though it was around 40 years since I last saw some of these faces I think I came up at about 95% success rate. One face that was immediately recognisable was that of Dave Peacock. We were just getting the Christmas grog in when I spotted Dave in the Supermarket. Apart from a few extra pounds around the midriff Dave hadn't changed one bit. Lucky I bumped into Dave as unknown to me he later arranged for an old pal of mine Johnny Phillips to meet up with us. Johnny and myself were virtually inseparable in our teenage years. I am humbled to say Johnny was one face I could not place, maybe because he was about the only one of us that had not put on a bit of weight. Dave gave us a great day out in Liverpool which took in Anfield,lunch in the Liver Building, a trip down the Mersey and a tour of the Beatles Museum at Albert Dock. Top day was that and we didn't have a pint all day.

Afternoon sessions in the moon proved very popular with Bryn telling a good tale. He even evacuated the pub one day, maybe he just wanted an early mark. Must say it wasn't the quickest evacuation I have witnessed. Will never forget the tale he told us about the Siamese sisters.

I nearly fell off the stool laughing. Didn't get chance to do the Atherton pub crawl but what we packed into 3 weeks are memories I will treasure forever. Memories of a great group of people whose sincerity and hospitality are without question. People one would feel proud to call "mates".

Jack Banks, Sydney, Australia

Dave: Sounds like you had a great Christmas Jack. Hope you can make it again sometime...

Email: daphne.cross@sympatico.ca

Sender: Daphne Cross, Brampton, Ont. Canada

Comments: Hi,

Found your site by doing a search on Horridge Fold, Bolton. See that someone mentions that their ancestor worked at a pit, Horridge Fold. Was wondering if anyone can give me any information on the history of Horridge Fold. My GGG grandfather, George Horridge, was born in June 1784 at Horridge Fold, Over Hulton. I believe that Horridge fold is now a residential street. I'm doing my family history, so would love to hear from anyone who can help. Thanks in advance, Daphne Cross (ne Horridge)

Email: minijeep@ihug.co.nz

Sender: Colin Thomas Auckland New Zealand

Comments: born Atherton 1943 left for New Zealand 1960

love the site

Sender: Graham Edwards Ex Athertonian in exile outside Blackpool

Comments: Just read the interesting piece on the wakes and thought that I should correct a few mistakes.

Having lived on Factory Street from the age of 2 to the age of twelve I remember the wakes twice a year very well as those big caravans used to pull in.

The first caravan on Factory Street at the Flapper Fold Lane end was always Sylvia and Joe Howcrofts.In my teen's I used to spend my summers travelling the fairgrounds of northern England with them. They had the very large hotdog/hamburger/toffee apple and candyfloss stall that was always situated next to Butterworths.Their slogan "Imitated by many, surpassed by none" was emblazoned on the side of their stall. Joe had once run a boxing booth and had some good boxers in his stable. He was the first person in Lancashire to do hotdogs,etc. on a fairground.

The next caravan up the road changed occasionally often the Cubbins family who ran the rides for the little children but the one after that belonged to the Hart family.The Hart family used to have the big wheel and the paratrooper. Chuller Hart gave up travelling and sold his big wheel and bought Harts amusements at the end of Red Bank Road in Bispham.Next up was usually Lawrence Silcock who had the dodgems.Lawry sold up for a while and lived in Kirkhall Lane at Leigh so that his kids could get a decent education.

There was always a gap at the top of Alma Street to allow entry to Howe Bridge Mills football club.

The next two caravans belonged to Billy Cubbins and his family. It was Old Billy who always wore a bowler hat and not old Mr Silcock as suggested in the article on the wakes.The Cubbins family hail from Bolton and used to run the side shows that ran around the outside of the Brickfield. along with many of the side shows (darts, hook a duck, etc.) in the circular stalls in the centre of the showground.

Next came Mitchells' caravan. It was Mitchells who ran Atherton Wakes and not the Silcocks family.Mitchells had the Speedway. and next to their caravan would usually be one of the Collins Family who would bring such delights as the caterpillar or the whip. Then there would be an assortment of other people who would fill up around the edges.

Places along Factory Street were fought over as the regulars new would allow them to tap into an electricity supply for the week they were in town.

My parents made a tidy little sum as did Kenny Manley for this service.

The fair moved from the Brickfield to Wigan Road in the seventies near Gibfield Bridge but was never the same and did not attract the crowds the same. It was no surprise that it was lost.

It wasn't just the girls either who made a few bob babysitting. I used to make a few bob and get free rides for going to Blackledges chippy at the corner of Alma Street and Mealhouse Lane.

Dave: Magic memories Graham. Thanks for that. 

Email: sodemall@hotmail.com

Sender: Poulton le Fylde, UK

Comments: Anyone remember,Grimes butchers,or Walshaws coal,or evn the Whitehead sister who taught at St.Georges Junior School.Anne later married and became Anderton,Christine became a Pendlebury

Email: bntjben@aol.com

Sender: john eastcote london

Comments: does anyone remember the church house youth club?

Email: shgregory86@hotmail.com

Sender: Sue Gregory Brandon Suffolk

Comments: Great site It really brings back memories

I was born on Wigan road, near Schofield Lane We used to go to the Bethesda Chapel Sunday School.

There were two farms, one on the corner of Lovers lane and the other on the corner of Schofield lane I think they were owned by Wolstenholmes and Greens

There was the Mason Arms pub and Lilly Albrooks shop-She sold wool and sweets and stayed open late. There was also a Post office and grocery store

We spent all our spare time playing in the fields at the back of the houses. There was a brook that ran from Gibfield pit- it was always yellow and the water stained your clothes I was always in trouble for falling in it but it wasn't my fault you see my sister and her mates used to try to throw me across cos I was too small to jump it but they were rotten shots and I always landed in the water instead of the other side!!

Happy Days

Does anyone else have memories of Wigan Road

Email: mrpetersaile@aol.com

Sender: Peter Saile, Ladybank, Fife Scotland

Comments: I stumbled across your website, when looking for an old street guide, circa 1891. I must add, unsuccessfully, so if anyone has a copy I would be most grateful. The address that I am looking for is either Ramwell or Ramswell Passage, Atherton. Incidentally I was a pupil at owd ecky from 59 to 63 so I found your website very interesting thanks

Dave: Peter - I have a directory for 1885 and there is no mention of such a passage. Sorry...

Stop Press! Peter, by sheer coincidence at the weekend I was looking at a list of voters for 1892 and there IS a Ramwell's Passage. It was between 72 and 74 Market Street, Atherton and it lists the voters as Thomas Boydell and John Davies. Hope this helps...

Email: m.geoff@tinyworld.co.uk

Sender: Geoff Mannion

Comments: Any memories from past football teams especially Atherton LR (Laburnum Rovers)1974 onwards. anybody who played in the old Levenshulme league and the old Cheshire league not to the old Bolton  combination. please contact on above e.mail address

Email: howard.3.hughes@bt.com

Sender: Howard Hughes - Tyldesley

Comments: I'm currently gathering info on a book about Tyldesley (Bongs) Rugby Club many people from the surrounding area played or have visited Well Street over the years. The Club has now moved to a A Million Pound + Rugby Facility on Astley Street so any old photos, stories and the like are appreciated.

Sender: B. Davies.

How many cracked flags are there in Market Street? Can someone count them and let us know? Shame on BigWiggin. Get em fixed now!

Sender: Dot Adelaide Australia

Comments: Does anyone remember Johnson and Davis Bolt makers. My mother worked there for many years.

Email: bardot5@hotmail.com

Sender: Dot Treloar (nee Cook) Adelaide Australia

Comments: I was born at Bolton & Districts Hospital in 1957 but lived in Tyldesley until 1969 when I emigrated to Australia with my family. I attended St Georges Junior School in Tyldesley then went on to Fred Longworth School. My best friend was Ann Birchall and if anyone knows her whereabouts I would appreciate them contacting me. I have many happy memories of my life in Tyldesley and still get very home sick. One day I hope to return to my home town.

Sender: J Robinson, Atherton

Has anyone spotted the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in Market Street?

Next time you are outside the Atherton Conservative Club, have a look at the gutters. There is more shrubbery hanging from there than there is in Atherton Park. I have never seen gutters that need mowing before! They must be a scruffy lot who run the place. It is a disgrace - plus the rendering could do with a coat of paint. I knew the Tories were doing bad - this is proof. The club is a grot spot par excellence...

Get it sorted - you are dragging Atherton down.

Dave: Had a look last time I walked past and the shrubbery appears to have been removed. Your point about a coat of paint still holds true though.

Email: Mary Campbell. Truechristian86@hotmail.com

Sender: Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Hi Dave,

I wrote to you a few days ago re: my husband's late grandfather Albert Bethel and I asked if his name was on the obelisk in Market Street. You informed me that it would be on the Cenotaph in Leigh Road. Today we have received an e-mail from a lady by the name of BETTE, who gave us the information my husband has wanted to know for years. Through your pages we would like to thank BETTE for the information. It has been gratefully received.

Mary Campbell.

Dave: Well done Bette. 

Mary. I have found some more info for you. The following is available on the Commonwealth War Graves site www.cwgc.org.uk which traces the graves of service people who died in the world wars. I recommend it highly. Heroes such as Atherton's own Albert deserve the recognition it provides.

This is the information it provides on Albert Bethel and where he is buried.

In Memory of ALBERT BETHEL 
Private
M/346346
Mechanical Transport Coy., Army Service Corps
attd. 19th Siege Bty, Royal Garrison Artillery who died on 10th November 1918. Age 27.
Citation: 
Additional Information: Son of Ralph Bethel, of Atherton; husband of Isabella Bethel, of  Market St., Atherton, Lancs. 

Commemorative Information 
- 
Cemetery: ST. SEVER CEMETERY EXTENSION, ROUEN, Seine-Maritime, France 
Grave Reference/Panel Number: S. III. FF. 11. 
Location: St. Sever Cemetery and Extension is situated about 3 kilometres south of Rouen Cathedral and a short distance west of the road from Rouen to Elbeuf. Coming from Elbeuf/Caen on the N.138 follow Avenue Des Canadiens right down to the roundabout. Take the fourth exit into Rue Stanislas De Jardin, and the cemetery lies 150 metres on the left. If coming from station Rive Gauche, Gare St Sever, follow Quai D'Elbeuf, Quai Jean Moulin, Quai Cavelier De La Salle into Avenue Jean Rondeaux, Av. De La Liberation, Bd. Du 11 Novembre to the roundabout. Take first exit into Rue Stanislas De Jardin, the cemetery lies 150 metres on the left. St Sever is part of Le Petit Quevilly. The first CWGC signpost is just when you get to the entrance of the cemetery.
- 
Historical Information: During the 1914-1918 War, British camps and hospitals were placed on the Southern outskirts of the city, a Base Supply Depot and the 3rd Echelon of General Headquarters were established at Rouen. The Hospitals at Rouen remained there in almost all cases for practically the whole of the 1914-1918 War. They included eight General, five Stationary, one British Red Cross and one Native Labour Hospitals, and No. 2 Convalescent Depot. A number of the war dead from these Hospitals were buried in other cemeteries, but the great majority were taken to St. Sever; and in September, 1916, it was found necessary to begin using the Extension. The last burial in the Extension took place in April, 1920. In the Extension there are 8,363 Commonwealth burials of the 1914-1918 war, 28 of which are unidentified. There are a further 310 Commonwealth burials of the 1939-1945 war. In addition 8 Foreign Nationals are buried here. The cemetery covers an area of 49,885 square metres. The War Stone is on the boundary of the original Cemetery and the Extension, facing the City of Rouen War Memorial. The Cross is raised on a terrace on the further side of the Extension. The Chapel, cruciform and surmounted by a dome, is in the middle of the Extension. 

Sender: Val Seddon, London

Comments: I've just read Mel Shaw's message about him being a butcher at Hindsford Co-op in the early 50s. When I was a (very) little girl, I would go there with my mum, to collect a weekly leg of lamb for my grandmother. Invariably, my mum would say:

"I've come for Mrs. Statham's leg" and I found this extremely funny. Like I said, I was very young.

Email: jackb@smartchat.net.au

Sender: Jack Banks, Sydney, Australia.

Comments: G'day Dave, Its a few years since I contributed to your "Memories" page, but still love to visit the web site. As an ex Athertonian I have finally bit the bullet and decided to re-visit the old town again after 20 years living in Oz. To again spend Christmas and New Year in the cold climate is an experience I am looking forward to, and hopefully will catch up with some of the old mates that may still be around from the 1954-58 era at Ecky.

There will be little doubt that along with my brother-in-law Derek Bainbridge we will again chance our arm in what used to be and hopefully still are some of the finest watering holes in the Northern Hemisphere. God willing, we will soon be continuing what was a Saturday night ritual some 40 odd years ago.

Boddies, Holt's and Tet's will again be the topic of conversation as I well remember all were a top drop in the 70's. I'm informed the Half-Moon in Tyldesley serve a top drop running neck and neck to the infamous Holt's Bitter in the Mort Arms. After a night on the town it used to be commonly known that one needed to ensure the urinal was always vacant for the first few hours on Sunday morning after a night on the Holt's. Will soon be again putting that theory to the test.

The odd pub crawl along Market Street will again be re-visited although the pace may well now be down to a crawl. One thing is forsure that we will enjoy many a chinwag.

The family have been staunch City supporters for over forty years so a nostalgic visit to Maine Road must be on the itinerary.

Many years have passed and I expect parts of the town will have changed but one thing I expect will never change is the hospitality, friendship and sense of humor of the locals.

Will shout you one if we get the chance Dave.

Best Regards. Jack Banks, Sydney, Australia.

Dave: Jack.  Hope you have a good Christmas in Atherton and meet up with your old mates. There is a Holts pub in Atherton now - the Atherton Arms (formerly the Labour Club) - which does a good drop of ale. Sunday afternoon gets quite busy...

Email: wayne0299@hotmail.com

Sender: Wayne Chadwick Blackpool lancs

Comments: The story about the wakes was just how i remember it. Brilliant web Site i will see if i can dig out some old photos off my mum she has loads Irene & Harry Chadwick they used to live across from Billy Kays shop by the Central,one of the letters mentions Mr Wilson Who used to swing is huge galosher about , Mrs Stavely, English, Mr Webster, Physics and the dreaded Mrs Vickers Tech Drawing) Not forgeting Mr Ross, Mr hunt who use to take us for Football. I left in 1975 Worked in Waterfields in Leigh before Joining up in 76 i now live in Blackpool. P.S i Know Mel Shaw

Hi Dave
Just visited your website for the first time after being told about it by a school mate from Ecky (Tony Pomfret) it kept me up till 2.00am reading the memories pages.
The Site is Great and brought back lots of my memories.
I remember whilst at Ecky we made a Lectern for the pulpit at Chowbent Church and I was sent to install it, crouching down in the pulpit to fix the brackets I heard the door open and foot steps, being in the church on my own and a bit nervous I just shouted who’s there?, There was a shuffle of feet and a door bang, I never knew who the boy was but by the line of water on the floor he didn’t need the toilet any more. The rumour went round for weeks that the church was haunted.
I lived on Mealhouse Lane (Punch Bowl end) went to Howe Bridge School (also got the cane from Dagnall) then to Ecky in 1953, moved to Hindsford in 1951. After my time at Echy I started work as a slaughter man / butcher at Hindsford Co-op till at 20yrs old I moved to St Annes-on-Sea then Blackpool still as a butcher.
I now live in Poulton le Fylde and retired from the meat trade and work. (on health grounds)
KEEP UP THE GREAT WEBSITE
H. Mel. Shaw (HMS)

PS  Ecky Class Photo 1955/6        ( I’m in the middle of back row)

Email: truechristian86@hotmail.com

Sender: Mary Campbell, Sydney, NSW Australia.

Comments: Hi Dave,

Thank you for replying to my last e-mail. My request now is to see if the obelisk is still standing in the middle of the road outside the Atherton Parish Church? My husband's grandfather's name is on it. His name was Albert Bethel. He was killed in November, 1917. His wife Bella Pomfret (before marriage) had a newsagents shop somewhere on Market Street or Mealhouse Lane. My mother's Auntie Kitty Allred had a shop on Mealhouse Lane many many years ago. She was a milliner and corsetiere. Her other sister Nellie Allred was a teacher at Lane Top and Bolton Road Junior School until her death in 1947. Thanks for your help. Keep up the pages of Atherton. Great to hear about the place.

Mary Campbell.

Dave: You're getting mixed up Mary. The obelisk is still standing outside the Parish  Church (the area has just been "beautified"). You mean the cenotaph down Leigh Road. 

Email: kfswood@aol.com

Sender: Bolton

Comments: Hi Dave, Congratulations on the Atherton website. Those interested in the history of the town might be able to find copies in Atherton/Leigh libraries of 'The Coalpits of Chowbent' (112 pages, published 1984, ISBN 0 947928 006), and 'Richard Hodgkinson, A Lancashire Gentleman'(400 pages, published by Allan Sutton, 1992, ISBN 0 7509 0286 8).

The first is a history of coalmining in Atherton, and the second is the edited family papers of the man who ran the Atherton and Lilford family estate from the late eighteenth century to the 1830s. Hodgkinson's son was the vicar of Leigh for a short time and died in 1826 in a lunatic asylum at an early age. His illness was almost certainly exacerbated by the bitter row over the appointment of a curate for Astley Chapel in 1822 which in turn led to 'Frying Pan Sunday', the Riot Act being read etc.

Regards, Ken Wood

Email: lancasterross@hotmail.com

Sender: Ross Lancaster - Athertonian Forever!

Comments: In reference to wanting to know the whereabouts of Pretoria Pit : Off Newbrook Road, Broadway or Woodlands Drive will both lead down to Lane End Farm. There is a dirt track leading to the two pit shaft caps, there is also a monument to the lives of the miners at the bottom of Broadway towards the old woods.

have fun researching Ashlie

Ross

Sender: mark Heaton ross on wye

Comments: Anyone remember the Cart and Horses pub in Astley, is it still there anyone remember the three card brag card schools on Saturday afternoons back in the early seventies

Email: truechristian@fsmail.net

Sender: Mary Campbell, Sydney, NSW Australia.

Comments: Hi Dave,

It is a long time since I was in Atherton and Tyldesley. In fact the last time I was there was in 1981 and my sister and I had made arrangements to travel to Lancashire in February next year but due to the terrorist attack in the USA we are a little scared to fly just yet. We have also read in the International Express (the English paper) we get our here that Lancashire has been taken over with Muslims and that there is quite a lot of trouble especially in Oldham and Rochdale. We also understand that Bolton is full of Pakistanis. What is Atherton and Tyldesley like? Is there much trouble there with the Muslims and are there any mosques in these two towns.? I would like to see Lancashire as it was when I lived there except that it will have been modernised. This I understand. I wrote to you a little while ago asking about 9 Church Street Atherton, Hillock Farm and Chanters Farm. I received an e-mail from a Mark Lancaster, the grandson of Sam Lancaster who for many many years farmed Chanters farm. Sam Lancaster was my fathers uncle. I hope to come back to Atherton and Tyldesley in the near future and I hope it hasn't changed too much (people wise).

Mary Campbell.

Dave: Don't believe everything you read in the papers...Lancashire has not been "taken over" by Muslims. They are part of the community like Methodists and Catholics. There was isolated trouble in the two towns you mention which has now been addressed. As far as I know, there are no mosques in Atherton or Tyldesley and definitely no trouble with Muslims but with some local pondlife who enjoy smashing shop windows with the result that most Market Street shops now have to put up unsightly steel shutters at night. That's the change in people...

Sender: Sue Gregory Suffolk

Email: shgregory86@hotmail.com

Comments: Does anyone know anything about the Parker family or have any old photographs of Prestwich Parker Nut and Bolts in Bag Lane

I love this site as I was born in Atherton

Sender: Ashlie Atherton

Comments: A short while ago I went to Pretoria pit to find out that it was 336 men and boys that had died in the Pretoria pit incident. I go to Hesketh Fletcher school and there are a lot of changes being made to it so it has changed a lot since it was Lane Top school.

Hello from Mark Lancaster.  I've read your enquiry and my grand father was Sam Lancaster, I spent the first few years at Chanters Farm then moved to Hillock Farm with my dad Robert Lancaster, mum Jenny and brother Sam.  Fond memories of Aunt Meria's shop next door.  We took the farm on after my father's uncle Bob's death. The family left Hillock Farm 31yrs ago, it was pulled down for road widening.  We now farm at Lodge Farm just further down Millers Lane.

Mark.

Email: quercus2@bigpond.com

Sender: Pauline, Wonthaggi, Australia

Comments: I have just discovered that my grandmother, Elizabeth Annie Lewis was born at Atherton in 1869. I have to admit that I've never heard of Atherton, even though, (thanks to the war) I was born at Lowton St. Mary's. I know nothing of the area and would like to find out more of the area where my grandmother was born. She died in 1948 in Manchester. Her address in 1871 was 9 Princess Street, Atherton. I can't find this road on any map and wondered where it was and what is there now. Her parents, Amos and Margaret Lewis were silk warper manufacturer and silk weaver respectively. I'm not sure when they moved to Manchester, probably around 1880. Thank you for the interesting site.

Email: dougell@btinternet.com

Sender: Doug Carter, 55 Lime Tree Road, Codsall, West Midlands.

Comments: I,m looking for any info` about the decendants of Samuel Walters(miner) who lived in Atherton late 19th cent.1870-1925.He lived in Alma Street and Powys Street.G.G.Son inquiring.

JUDY REDFORD - N. LONDON

Comments: DOES ANYBODY REMEMBER MY GRANDAD, JACK REDFORD OF FACTORY STREET EAST OR HIS WIFE, ANNIE, NEE ALDRED?

THEY DIED IN THE 60'S AND WERE LIFELONG MEMBERS OF CHOWBENT CHAPEL.

MY DAD - HARRY (NOW 84) - IS STILL GOING STRONG AND HEARS THE LOCAL NEWS FROM A CURRENT MEMBER OF THE CHAPEL.

I AM PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN MY GRANDMOTHER'S FAMILY - THE ALDREDS. THERE WERE LOADS OF THEM AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY!

GREAT SITE DAVE (NOT QUITE AS FUNNY AS YOUR BOOK!)

Dave: Course I remember Mr Redford. He looked after the bowling green in Gloucester Street. A very nice man. As for your research on the Aldreds, good luck! One of the oldest family names in Atherton.

Sender: Val Seddon, London

Comments: Granny Jones must have made a right good parkin. I followed her recipe on Saturday and even my effort was quite tasty. And, like you Dave, I like a bit of best butter on mine - whether it needs it or not.

Dave: Florrie would be proud that her recipe is bringing so much pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it Val.

Email: krmwr@yahoo.com

Sender: Kenn Wright, Nanaimo B.C. Canada

Comments: My Aunts manned the telephone exchange during ww1. One aunt was said to have been the first lady tram person during ww1, looking for pictures of telephone ex. also 18, Hampson street Atherton. My father was born there.

Dave sez: If you look in the Atherton memories archive page, you will see another reference to the exchange from a Canadian branch of the family!

Email: jdcllan@aol.com

Sender: B Cooper

Comments: Found your recipe for Parkin. I used to make a brilliant one years ago, but lost the recipe. Tried yours, but although it tastes great, it is a bit dry. Do you know why?

Great web site, keep looking for names that I used to know but haven't found any yet. Will keep trying.

Dear B Cooper: I have changed the recipe now to one I found that belonged to my wife's grandmother Mrs Florrie Jones. This is definitely the best one. (See below). Let me know what you think.

Dave
I found your site by doing a search on Black Peas, but I can't find any reference to them on the site.
I'm originally from Bolton (not Atherton I'm afraid) but now live "deawn Seawf". I've been invited to a Bonfire but was disturbed to learn that there'll be no black peas or parkin - worse still, they've never heard of 'em down here. So what I'd really like to do is get my hands on some and educate these Southern Jessies.
If you've any ideas how I can go about this, I'd be most grateful.
Thanks & regards -Sean

Dave sez: Sean. Just for you, here is a recipe for Parkin and Blanketlifters.

The Parkin is from an old recipe by Mrs Florrie Jones of Atherton.

GRANNY JONES'S PARKIN


Cooking time 50 minutes
Oven temperature Moderate 180 deg C, 350 deg F, Gas Mark 4

175g/6 oz plain flour
175g/6 oz oatmeal
1 teaspoon ground ginger
100g/4 oz brown sugar
1 egg
little milk
100g/4 oz margarine
3 tablespoons black treacle
1½ tablespoons golden syrup


Mix the flour, oatmeal, ginger and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat in the egg and add a little milk. Melt the margarine and stir in the black treacle and syrup. Mix well into the other ingredients in the mixing bowl. Place the mixture in a greased 30 X 20-cm/ l2 x 8-inch baking tray. Bake in a moderate oven for 50 minutes. Serve sliced and buttered.

Black Peas.

Get a 1lb of Maple Peas from the supermarket (or even the Pet Shop but check they are ok for human consumption!).

Wash thoroughly, removing any stones. Soak overnight. Drain. Place in a large pan. Cover with water. Bring to boil. Simmer for 2 or 3 hours. Keep checking and top up with water if needs be. Eat when soft, adding salt and vinegar to taste. They are best made and left to stand overnight I find. The "gravy" thickens and the flavour develops.

Now get 'em made and show them Southern Jessies what proper jackbit is.

PS The reference to Black Peas is on the bit about the Wakes.

Email: carysmuffin@talk21.com

Sender: Jayne Prescott, 27,Newport, Wales

Comments: I didn't know just how much I missed Atherton until I wandered around in this site for a couple of days. I'm Atherton Born and bred, went to St. Georges juniors and Ecky Fleck. Reading your comment about Johnny Orsi's ice cream van brought back some great memories. I remember coming back from Athy park and popping in to the back of his house to see if we could still get an ice lolly, he used to sell lolly's called Black Magic, Black they were and magic probably because they turned your tongue and lips black! I used to think his van would fall apart coming down our street (Sumner street) Cause it was still cobbled, still is I think. I remember playing on the street and in Summer when it was really hot there was loads of tar all over the street and our parents would go mad because we'd get tar all over us and it took ages to get off, I think my mum used to use a brillo on me! The Wakes was the highlight of my year, it was on wigan road. My Mum would always make me wear my wellies cause you were always knee deep in mud there! I remember when I was a kid loads of us from our street going to that bit of grass behind that Methodist church on factory street because we thought we could see a UFO! There were people with telescopes there. I also remember when Athy bypass was up and running. Me and my friend, Dave Brown and a couple of others decided we'd walk to Pennie Flash. We set off with our rucksacks and binoculars (we thought we'd watch the birds!) It took for bloody ever! We could have only been about 10. We must have looked a sight trundling up there, single file!

I used to play down the Brook as well (just off Gloucester street)We weren't supposed to but I'd always give myself away when I'd come back soaking wet 'cause I always managed to fall in! Does anyone remember the bridge? It had Elvis painted on it in lilac paint!

I loved Mrs Boydells shop (corner of Factory street, Wigan road end) She sold everything in there and did indeed sell the best meat and potato pasties.

I remember when the pop van crashed on Gloucester street. We all formed a line and nabbed the pop off the back, we put it in the house on the corner of Sumner street. Can't remember what the Pop man thought of that! lol! But we were drinking cherryade for weeks!

Email: parryke@tc.gc.ca

Sender: A. Kevan Parry\Ottawa\Canada

Comments: My father used to speak of a pub that his mother and father ran in Atherton. They were known as Jimmy and Edna Parry. This would be in the early 1930's. Any idea whether there was a 'Bay Horse Inn' there at that time?

Thanks.

Dave: Not only was it there at that time- it still stands today and is still operating as a pub! It is at the corner of Bolton Old Road and High Street. It was rebuilt around the time of the first world war.

I was browsing the messages on this splendid web site, when I came across the one by Jill Morris about Lee Street Undenominational School. How that stirred up the memories. I started at Lee Street the day before my 4th birthday in August 1945. Going to school at 3? Well, there was a war on (just) and they bred us tough in those days. That was the theory, but I skriked my eyes out all day so I guess I didn't fit the heroic, stoic mould too well. I remember little of infant school days except for nice Miss George, and trying to poke a straw into frozen milk through a cardboard top raised above the bottle on a column of white ice. 
I was at the senior school during Daddy Unsworth's reign. I can see him in his grey suit, standing at the door as we marched in from playtime. His cane gently patted his palm in anticipation, and the look in his eye said there was little to distinguish us from a line of bacteria swarming over the steps into his nice clean classrooms; one foot wrong and the penicillin of his cane would take a cleansing swipe across some streptococcal fingers. Not that his distaste didn't have a factual basis. We sometimes had health inspections. After the bell rang to end playtime, we all stood in class rows in the yard while a nurse walked the lines and gauged how lousy we were. I was standing right across from Eddy in the next class up, when he was humiliated for having too many nits in his matted thatch. Nobody laughed; Eddy was not the sort of lad one made fun of. 
On the south side of the school were the terraced houses of Hamilton Street. Across Lee Street itself the wall of the Dan Lane cotton mills, belts driving the ring frames visible through the mucky glass, and on the north side was the Baptist Chapel  
I remember the 6th of February 1952, the day King George VI died. On a cold grey afternoon, a grave Daddy Unsworth called the school together and told us that when he first heard the news on the wireless he could not believe it, but after walking outside and seeing the shock on people’s faces, he knew it must be true. Not having any prior experience of monarchs dropping dead around me, I had no idea how we were expected to react, but Daddy Benson (I think that was his name) set the tone with a quiet mutter “Oh good – new stamps” (those being the days when British philately meant the royal head in a range of discrete colours, or wait another 100 years for the next Festival of Britain). Coming from a dripping-red socialist family, with republican sympathies, and having a small stamp album of my own, Daddy Benson’s lese-majestie appealed to me greatly. 
General elections created a political fervour at school that is hard to comprehend now. I can’t remember if it was February 1950 when Attlee won, or October 51 when Churchill won, but I do remember small gangs of the big lads roaming around at playtime picking on smaller kids with the question “Labour or Tory?” Tough times for any poor lad who was politically naïve and took a punt on Tory for the answer. One day, during the run up to the general election, a friend grabbed my arm as we poured out the front door at 4 o’clock, and said in all earnest “If Winston Churchill comes round here I’ll stick his cigar up his arse”. No doubt a direct quote from his dad. On a corner of Kent Road as I walked home from school, the Labour candidate was stridently justifying his opposition to the Conservatives to the few men who had stopped to listen. “Tha’t weystin thi time mon’, said one affably “ther’s no Tories up 'Ag Fowt”. Nor were there that anyone knew about for certain. There were suspicions that Mr Lewin, a couple of doors along Devonshire Road from our house, voted Tory. He never admitted it, but he was a Londoner and therefore under suspicion of political deviancy from the word go. 
On a fine day I walked home from Lee Street to save the bus money (No.30 'Ag Fowt to Blackiemoor and back). Along Market Street and down Flapper Fold Lane past the Ena Mill, where I played a game to pass the time. It was a variation of not stepping on a crack in the flags – see how far you could walk in a straight line without stepping on a green golly. Not far actually. It's not like that these days is it? 
Popper Riley was the champion merps player. Steely, dobber or glass alley, he could cannon them in at rinkie like laser-guided smart bombs. I wonder if “Popper” came from pop-alley, the scruffy frosted plain-glass marbles that started life as pop bottle stoppers or washers. Marble ownership provoked many a school-yard fight, but I don’t remember naked aggression being a serious problem. There was even a fun side, as when a big lad would grab a smaller boy with the question “Wanna feyt?”. “Not wi’ thee – a’ve done nowt wrong.” Hoots of laughter “7, yer daft sod”. (Dave: For the hard of understanding this is a play on words - ie One off eight!)
Clodding snowballs was generally banned, especially when the snow had become slushy, and watching Tony Draper in action, I knew why. He’d scoop up a handful of slush and clinker, squeeze it into a solid ice ball and hurl it across the yard like a grenade. It was best to be standing behind Tony when he was snowballing. Another big lads’ game that got banned involved boys lining up like a linear rugby scrum while other lads ran like hell and threw themselves onto their bucking weaving backs; the name of the game escapes me, but I've a vague memory of it being something like Tom Thumb or finger-thumb-a-dum (which simply sounds daft at this distance in time: maybe those are real but different games?). Why was the game banned – maybe there was too much potential for cracked skulls and broken arms. A curious craze for a while involved hyperventilating and then blowing hard with mouth closed on the back of the hand. It was supposed to make you go cheerfully dizzy and faint. Funny way to get a buzz, but you must remember they hadn't invented poly bags and solvent-based glues in those days. And last but not least was pissing-up-the-wall. If Jill Morris found the toilets yukky on her side, she'd have been absolutely disgusted to see what occurred on our side. As everyone knew, the real challenge was to get so high it went over the top into the girls toilets. But no one ever got remotely near that olympic achievement, and I'm sure the men who built lavatory walls so high were well aware of boys' aspirations and also the limitations of juvenile bladders. 
In 1952 I had my one and only visit to Ecky Fleck to take the 11-plus on a miserable rainy day, the air reeking of wet gaberdine macs. The educational axe swung and I came out on the top side. After that it was a trek to Bolton and back every day, while Lee Street became an ever more distant memory. 
Peter Wood, Rotorua
New Zealand

Dave: Peter - you brought back a lot of memories. We played Finger, Thumb or Dumb at school. I am sure many an osteopath is kept in business today because of that daft game!

Sender: ashlie Atherton,Manchester

Comments: I am only 11 years old but when I found this site I was over the moon because I had been trying to find research for History and we were doing about mines especially Pretoria pit. I had wanted to know the location of it and when I had asked my dad about it he said that it was near our house I was gobsmacked because I thought it was near Tyldesley.

Email: aatherton@breathe.com

Email: adid1@hotmail.com

Sender: carrie and adi, atherton

Comments: er's it gooin??

We are on holiday in Toronto at the moment on our cousin's t'internet. We came across you website and it was good to look at all of the pictures of old Atherton.

Carrie; I recognized a few names and a few relatives ie; geraldine anderson and bette stewart. I am the daughter of John Hodgson (school teacher at Ecky Fleck) and Janice (journal) Stewart from the family in Howe Bridge. We both are regulars of the Letters Inn and were only in there last Sunday talking to Dave himself. 

Adi: Does anyone remember the Dwyer brothers? ie; Vincent, Colin, Jack, Michael, Jimmy or Paul. I am the son of Paul Dwyer.. Anyway just thought we'd log on and say something, we will be back in Sunny Atherton on 29th September, see you in the letters on Sunday along with Grainey, Selfy, Gregs, Jimmy, Pete, Paddy Biffo, Clarence, Bob, and all of the other regular's.

IEmail: marharri@essex.ac.uk.

Sender: Martin Harrison, Colchester, UK.

Comments: URGENT CALL TO ALL THOSE WHO WANT TO STAY LANCASTRIAN!

What a BRILLIANT site! So many memories.

I have just spent a couple of enjoyable evenings looking through the Atherton site and all the recollections of Athertonians past and present.

I am sure that I was at school with a number of your correspondents Howe Bridge 1968-1975).

I used to live in Bolton Road opposite Jack & Doris Peet's butcher's and greengrocer's shops. So the logic of my parents sending me all the way to Howe Bridge School is anyone's guess. Except, I suppose my 2 older brothers and 2 older sisters and father and all his sisters went there. I moved away to Aberystwyth Uni in 1983 and haven't lived in Atherton since.

One of my earliest memories of local humour was being in the local chippy next to Mosses Bathroom & Kitchen Show Room when Doris came in and asked for half a bag of chips "...because there's only me having chips tonight and a whole bag would only go to waste" The next afternoon I was in Doris's shop when the woman from the chippy came in and asked for half a tomato "..because there's only me having a salad for tea tonight and a whole tomato would only go to waste!"

Another early memory was regularly being sent to buy a block of Lyons Maid ice cream from Kays sweetshop next to the chippy. It used to come like a brick in a waxed card box and was a treat to have on an apple pie instead of custard.

That part of Atherton, just by Central Station, used to have a butcher's, greengrocer's, post office/grocers, corner-shop, newsagent, chippy, sweetshop, and the kitchen showroom. It was fairly self-sufficient - in that you could get most staples without a trip 'down Atherton'.

I suppose that we all have to move on and things have certainly changed a lot now. I just think that its a pity that local shops have gone and that everyone has to go to town just to get a bit of shopping.

I was intrigued to learn about Atherton being the birthplace of Professor Eric Laithwaite. Does anyone know where he born/lived and where he went to school? I 'phoned my brother John in Sheffield, who is a bit of a science freak, and mentioned about Professor Laithwaite being from Atherton, he was really chuffed.

Unfortunately, I looked him (Eric Laithwaite) up in Chamber's Biographical Dictionary (1997 - Centenary Edition) and GUESS WHAT? Well I am dumbstruck and close to tears I can't bring myself to tell you Dave, but we have been living under a misapprehension. I shall merely quote:

"Laithwaite, Eric Roberts 1921 - 97

English electrical engineer and inventor

Born in Atherton, Yorkshire, he studied at..."

I have spent the last 18 years trying to explain to everyone who enquires, just exactly where Atherton is (for goodness sake, even Bill Bryson found it in Notes From A Small Island, although he wasn't exactly complimentary about us). Now I find that one of Atherton's few truly great sons is listed as coming from Yorkshire. Well now, I'm as tolerant as the next man, I don't mind Yorkshiremen, I JUST DON'T WANT TO BE ONE!

Please all those that love being Lancastrian, write to Melanie Parry, Editor, Chambers Biographical Dictionary, Larousse plc, 7 Hopetown Crescent, Edinburgh EH7 4AY, and remind her that (in relation to Eric Laithwaite) Atherton is in Lancashire (let's just forget Gtr Manchester) and NOT YORKSHIRE.

Thanks for a great site Dave.

Martin Harrison, Fingringhoe, Colchester.

Dave: Martin. Thanks for a very funny anecdote and for pointing out this abomination. I will write - and please will everyone else write too.

I have a feeling that Eric was born in or lived in Car Bank Street. If anyone else can help - especially his relatives, please email me.

Email: americanpie@eurobell.co.uk

Sender: penzance

Comments: does anyone have memories of Bill Clift, royal artillery and burma chindits,used to live in carbank square in the 40s?also does the soldiers and sailors club have a site thanks

I've just found your brilliant web site and enjoyed a couple of hours getting lost down memory lane. I left Atherton many years ago to live in Cornwall,I have just started constructing a web site in memory of my uncle Bill Clift Atherton born and bred holder of the military medal in world war 2.I wonder if anyone remembers him? I received 5 newspaper articles about his exploits from the journal 1942-44.It appears that he was pretty well known. His pals as a child were john& cecil thompson who went on to become doctors practicing in bolton rd.I went to ecky fleck 1959-1961 the story about the wakes brought back many memories especially the black peas. The site made me so homesick that I intend to visit next month. Keep up the good work Dave.Thanks.Sue Robinson

Email: willis@xmission.com

Sender: Dave Willis

Comments: Hi there Dave,

This is from Jack Pendlebury...

Some months ago a few ex-Athertonians now living abroad wondered where the sign of the first telephone in Atherton (Atherton No 1) went to – well I’ve done a little research with the owners of Manley’s Joiners in Rosedale Avenue, which was formerly Factory Street. Southern and Howarth the new owners kindly allowed me to take the photograph displayed. When I discovered it, it was lying in a corner of the joiners shop covered in wood shavings, cobwebs and lots of unwanted rubbish.

However Mike Southern and Gordon Howarth realising an interest being shown in the picture decided to restore it and now it takes pride of place in their office.

Dave sez: Fantastic!

Jack, you deserve a medal for your detective work in tracing this brilliant piece of Atherton history. Also congratulations to Mike and Gordon for preserving it and keeping it safe. Perhaps if we can get a museum\local history centre for Bent it can be put on display. (You can see the pic on the main Atherton memories site.) PS I spoke to someone the other day who reckons that he has traced Johnny Orsi's old ice-cream van and it is still in one piece! What a centrepiece of memories that would be for any Atherton local history centre. I will keep you posted....

Email: TracyPartington1@aol.com

Sender: Tracy from Atherton

Comments: Great website!! I'm only 32 but some of the things on your website are fascinating.My dad talks of things like this all the time and now I have a picture in my mind of how Atherton used to be. thanks very much. Tracy

Email: jillb@08002go.com

Sender: Gillian Brockbank, Atherton

Comments: Does any visitors to your site have any memories of living in Car Bank Street in or after 1930's especially if they remember a family called Highton who lived at 271 Car Bank Crescent. They were my grandparents. They had 6 children James, (Jimmy), William, Wilfred, Thomas (Tommy), Doris, and Joan, my grandparents were called Annie and William (Bill). My mother is Joan. It would be interesting to hear of any memories involving any of this family. Enjoyed reading about old Atherton and some of other people's memories of Atherton. Will continue to visit your site. Thanks

Email: colin@colincunliffe

Sender: Colin Cunliffe - Pontefract, Yorks & Cardiff

Comments: I came across your website whilst doing some research for 'my old man'.

Dave: Try the Leigh Journal, Railway Road, Leigh Lancs. The War Museum or Public Records Office in London might advise re the Manchester Reg. Also try a search on the Net.

Email: truechristian@fsmail.net

Sender: Mary Campbell, Sydney, Australia.

Comments: Hello from Sydney Australia,

Could you please tell me if 9 Church Street, Atherton is still standing. In the early 1940's my grandparents had a bakery there.

My father's uncle Sam Lancaster had the Chanters Farm house and surrounding land as a farm for quite a long time. My father's mother had a shop at the corner of Millers Lane and Hamilton Street and another uncle of my father's also had Hillock farm next door. Are any of these buildings standing? My mother's auntie Miss Mary Ellen Allred was a teacher at Lane Top before it became Hesketh Fletcher and then taught at Bolton Road Junior school. Such a long time since I was in Atherton but hope to visit in March, 2002.

Dave: Sorry - I think the only one standing is Chanters.

Email: rooanne@xtra.co.nz

Sender: Feilding, New Zealand

Comments: Oh dear!!!! I laughed and laughed when I read this and it has made me feel SOOOOOOO homesick Dave!!!! I am now longing for BLACK PEY"S in a white cup!!! As for the Waltzer, I never had the guts to get on it, or someone would most certainly have been wearing my black pey's!!! I lived there and went to Hecky Fleck from 1975 to 1980. We moved to Preston shortly after that and then finally to New Zealand. Don't they have the Wakes anymore???? Poor do if not!!!!

Regards

Valerie Jefferies (nee BIRCH)

Email: angela.madin@btinternet.com

Sender: Angela Madin from Chesterfield, Derbyshire

Comments: My grandmother, Florence Grundy, was in service in Atherton 1916-1920 to Doris Burrows who, I think, was a mine owner in the town. She lived at Carthmere or Garthmere. I have a reference written by Mrs. Burrows when my grandmother left Atherton to return to Chesterfield to marry my grandfather, Bertie Jones who recieved a Military Medal for bravery in the Great War. My grandmother had a twin sister, my Great Aunt Edith, who stayed on in Atherton and married Great Uncle Frank Rhoden who was from Howe Bridge. As a child, in the 1960's, we visited the town. My memories are very vague but they lived at 11 Car Bank Crescent. Can anyone help with information on the Burrows family, the house they lived in (is it still there?)or any other information about Atherton when my grandmother was there? I would be very grateful.

Angela

Email: lynnenoone

Sender: Lynne Noone, near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

Email: meereatwhom@netscapeonline.co.uk

Sender: athy

Comments: does anyone have any memories of the "Lancashire nights" that were held at Tyldesley rugby club during the seventies?

Email: Vmhamilton@btinternet.com

Sender: Vivienne Hamilton(nee Lamb) Atherton

Comments: I loved the memories of the Wakes. I used to live at Spring Gardens in Atherton. I was only three at the time and my memories of seeing the wakes have stayed with me. My mother said that I couldn't possibly remember because of being so young. I then looked back on the memories that I had as a young girl and the fun I had with my brothers and sister and our friends. We lived on Warwick Road and then on Somerset Road. We used to play on the old railway lines and towards North Road under the subway that was there, this used to be a great hiding place when we where playing rally. 

We also used to go down Coal Pit Lane through the old coal yard and in an old building that used to be the pit showers and this was also a great hiding place. We were just kids having fun, but when I look back I realise the dangers we could have been in. I just wish that we could go back and my daughter who is 9 could have as much fun as we had. 

Our time was always having fun playing with our many home made toys, like the buggy that my brothers had and the stilts that my dad made for us they where that big we had to climb onto the wall to get on them. My sister and I used to nick my mother's American Tan tights and cut the legs out so we could put a ball in and then put it on our ankle swing it round and jump over it at the same time. What about the bikes, my brother Gordon had a chopper sister Tracey and brother Howard had a chipper each and me I had a Raleigh shopping bike. I must have been on it once or twice and then it would be back in the garage no wonder. 

We used to go on Hag Fold Park on the big bumper and when you got on there the big ones would bump it so hard you would be screaming and crying to get off but you had no chance it only stopped when someone else wanted to get on and then you had to make a jump for it. That park was lovely and the bowling green was beautiful you could also have a game on the putting green. We used to go to Atherton baths on Saturdays and the baths used to be packed. Then off we would go on our way home calling at the shop that is now Quality Save for a bag of broken biscuits. I also remember going to the pictures sometimes on Saturday and I seem to remember that if you collected some sort of tickets -I think they were off tea - you could get a free bag of sweets. If that failed you could always get up on stage and do a turn for a bag of sweets before the picture started. There were never any lack of volunteers. I could go on but I won't I will just reminisce.

Dave: Lovely memories Vivienne. Didn't them broken biscuits taste good when you'd been to the baths!

Email: charlie@gofree,co,uk

Sender: Ian Charlson, Atherton

Dave: My mate Ronnie Shone of the Second hand Bookshop in Market Street informs me that it was behind the Swan Inn at the junction of Mealhouse Lane and Water Street. It was spelt "Swan Street".

Email: Alan.Davies@ukgateway.net

Sender: Alan Davies, Tyldesley

Comments: Dear Dave,

Just come across the site, should keep me busy reading for quite a few hours! It's good to see people worldwide are spotting the site as well, as their reminiscences are important historical records of the future.

It's hard to explain to non Athertonians why we think the place is so special, although looking worse for wear today.

When I was growing up in the late 1950's the town was a gem, spotless, neat and tidy, everything intact, jobs a plenty. Atherton Urban District Council had real pride in their town which showed in the parks etc.

Atherton was of a size where as youngsters you could get to know every square inch, exploring as we did. However depressing Atherton may seem today, mainly we all know due to our 'friends' at Wigan Metro, it can always fall back on it's fascinating history.

Rather than write a huge piece now readers can have a look at my website www.coalpits.co.uk which has a page about myself, but also has a page about a photographic book I recently produced titled "The Wigan Coalfield".

You'll find rather more Atherton photos in the book than other areas!

The web page links with Amazon for orders. I don't get any of the profits so am not promoting it for that reason!

In the book I enthuse about Atherton, Howe Bridge School, and Fletcher Burrows attitude to their workforce.

Now that really was teaching. No National Curriculum, Mrs Howard, Mr Angus, and Mrs Lamb all loved their jobs and made us excited about learning.

Mr Dagnall the headmaster just loved caning us! The school thrives today under an energetic headmaster who cares for it's history and place in the community, Mr Johnson.

If anyone who reads your site has an Atherton coalmining question they can give me a try. Until recent closure I was the curator of the Lancashire Mining Museum for fifteen years, but have been studying Atherton's mining history for the last 30 years.

Some day in the future I hope to write a monster study of Atherton coalmining, of doorstopping proportions!

I can supply photos of all the pits, from 1905 onwards, plus facts and figures.

By the way I think a collection of the best reminiscences sent to you would sell really well in Atherton library or at Ronnie's bookshop.

If anyone remembers me I was born at the back of the Savoy Cinema, Bowden View in 1955, went to Howe Bridge School till 1966, then became a 'grammar bug' at Leigh Boys.

All the best and I'll be back in touch when I get a spare four hours!

Alan Davies

Dave sez: I went to Howe Bridge and got the cane off Dagnall. Have visited your site and it's a tremendous resource for anyone interested in Atherton and Lancashire mining history. Agree with all you say about what's happened to Atherton. Just glad I grew up in the town at the right time. Still not too late to get Atherton back to what it should be - all it needs is the will of the people of Atherton to get together and do something about it.

PS: Get that book on Atherton coalmining done now!

Email: aatherton@breathemail.net

Sender: Ann Atherton. Astley (fairly near to Atherton)

Comments: I married in to the Atherton family-they lived in Atherton and had a newsagents on Market Street.

I have been "doing" the family history for the past few years- my husband's Grandfather-James Hunt, who died in 1918 played for Atherton Celtic Football Club. Does anyone know anything about it?

I have a photograph- if any one's interested.

Love the site Dave.

Email: j.a.lawrence@tesco.net

Sender: Jill Morris, Newcastle-under-Lyme,Staffs

Comments: I have just spent an hour or so reading the comments on your site. I lived in Atherton in the 1960s attending Lee Street School before moving on to Leigh Girls' Grammar School.

My memories of Lee Street are still very vivid. I'm sure I could name most of my classmates - Marie Green, Olive Birchall, Ian Speakman, David Atherton, Gillian Lowe, Janet Grimes, Lynne Potter, Mandy Bennett...... I could go on, but won't. Mrs Green, Miss Sutcliffe (Mrs Sharples)Mrs Massey, Mrs Cooper, Miss Murphy and Mr and Mrs Ormeshaw were my teachers, the headmaster was Mr Greenwood. I remember walking across the back yard to go to the toilets(yuk) and having lessons in the building where the crisps were sold at break times. My mother started the Atherton Pre-scool playgoup which moved from the Formby Hall to the old Lee Street School after several years. It was really strange to go back there - everything seemed so small - and I could see out of the windows!

I remember being taken by Mr Greenwood to visit the new school building - I think it was called Park Lee - just before I left school and the new one opened. I remember being impressed by the open-plan arrangement and the "white boards" - very modern!!

I am now a teacher myself, largely due to the thoroughly enjoyable and high quality of teaching at Lee Street Undenominational School.

Email: and.ed@cwctv.net

Sender: andrea coupe

Comments: Having lived in Atherton since I was born till the time I turned 18 and have never returned there (I am now 26) fore now I live in Portsmouth would like 2 thank you 4 yr wonderful website. It bought back wonderful memories especially ecky fleck!!!!

Dave

What a brilliant website, brought quite a lump to the throat.  I attended St Georges in 1965/66 and then moved on to Ecky leaving in 1971

I stumbled across your site while trying to find ways of renewing contacts with old school pals.  I know it's a cliché but I really feel that my time at Ecky was one of the best in my life.  We had some great teachers (Mr Wilson, Geography, Mrs Stavely, English, Mr Webster, Physics and the dreaded Mrs Vickers Tech Drawing) and some really good times. 

I have lived in Gloucestershire now for 23 years, the Forest of Dean for 18 or so.  Just after I moved to the area I went into a chippy in Cinderford, the guy serving had a very familiar accent, I asked where he was from, "Atherton" he replied "my dad used to be the landlord of the Prince Saxe Coburg on Market Street"  Small world isn't it!!

Keep up the good work I will check back regularly.

Regards

Alec Thorpe

Dave sez: I used to love the Prince Saxe (or Mick's as it was known). Us Benters get everywheer...

Email: shiny@hendry.freeserve.co.uk

Sender: atherton

Comments: been here since 1959, biological mater, is a Scot by the name of hendry...but my dad is Atherton born and bred! i am 51, and i have raised 3 children in this town. lost my son, six weeks ago)

did my time at lee st, and ecky, worked at george whittle's farm, as a kid (i lived across the road in bag lane) i remember having many a "battle with charlie (his son) and then playing "kick out ball", or hide an seek on the farm itself.

started work at the Laburnum mill, and then moved on to E- MILL.

did my "penance" as a nut and bolt maker, workind at first blakemores, then thomas smiths. and finally finishing up at Atherton fasteners.

in 1978, i joined and enjoyed for the next 22 years, the fire service. and did all my time at leigh. i retired (due to ill-health) last year at the age of 50.

who knows whats around the corner???

my dads family are called gregson, and in his honour, (he is a REAL gentleman!!)i have given ALL my 3 chidren the middle name of gregson.

HIS relatives are the aldreds, of which there are LOADS!!it,s his 70th, birthday today, and (knowing my interest in things local) my brother Dave, has kindly forwarded your web-site to me, I didn't know it even existed!!(he's clever...and I'm not ..what can i say!!)..thanks for the memories.....john.

I happened across your site by accident and found it really interesting, bringing back memories of my childhood in the 1960s (I was born in Farnworth and haven't stopped travelling since but my maternal Grandparents always lived in Atherton, in fact my 95 year old Gran still lives in Stanley Street and I get back there occasionally). My Grandfathers, now sadly passed on, were in their day Works Foreman at Parkers and Landlord of the Concert Inn. 

Best Wishes
Geoff Hilton

ps ... memories... I do remember the 'little hollow' sweet shop on Market Street and the Temperance Bar near the Punch Bowl where as a child my Grandfather took me for Vimto also being there when they blew up the chimney at the old Gin Pit ... and as for your picture of the swings at Atherton Park ... well that brought me back (especially the coke ground cover .. boy did that hurt when you fell on it ... no rubber matting in those days)

Email: glyn.dawson@virgin.net

Sender: Glyn Dawson Bolton

Comments: Do you know anything about the Church Hall at the side of Atherton Arms which is now a car park. There was a secret room which was opened up and they found items from the English Civil War. I have always wondered what happened to these things. I used to go to Ecky Fleck (the old one) we used to take technical drawing at the Church Hall around about 1965. That is when I saw some muskets, swords and something like a Halberd. Found your web site very interesting and it brought back some memories! Hope this is of interest to you , please let me know if you know anything about this.

Dave sez: fascinating this- but know nowt about it. Anyone shed light?

Email: loischell@hotmail.com

Sender: Lois Chell, Lincolnshire

Comments: Hello,I`m so pleased to have found your brilliant website. I am tracing my family history and I am trying to date a photograph of my Gt Gt Aunt. It has the label, J West, The Studio, Market Street, Atherton. Perhaps someone out there could help or advise me I would like to find out when this studio was in business.

Dave Sez: J West went west some time ago (don't know when). If you want to pass on your relative's name and details, someone might be able to help.

Email: meyowzer@hotmail.com

Email: scottsharratt@hotmail.com

Sender: Scott Sharratt, Atherton

Comments: I just wondered if anyone knew my Father, Fred Sharratt?

Sender: Susan Haynes Kincardine Ontario Canada

Comments: I spent several summers in Atherton staying with relatives. Their names were Winnie & Tom Gaffey, their children were Michael, Barbara & Gemma. When I stayed there they had the newsagents shop on Market Street, (next to the old cinema). I remember the big wooden props at the side of the house to keep it from tipping over. My other relatives there were Jack & Nellie Collier, Jack had lost an arm as a young boy in an accident in the pit, he wore a hook and I believe that he was maybe the manager at one of the pits