ATHERTON PHOTOGRAPHS.
Howe Bridge Mills lorry
Howe Bridge Mills Warehouse outing to Blackpool 1951
I went to see these Coronation Street stars at the Briarcroft when I was a kid and these are their autographs. Sadly, they are all no longer with us.
The Cenotaph, Atherton. Taken around 1957. I'm in the middle with my mam - Mabel - and my Auntie Phyllis Kirkpatrick is centre right.
A great photograph of the building of Howe Bridge Mills off Flapper Fold Lane. taken on November 28th, 1919.
Walking Day
Posted by Steve Glover, he says "Here's an attachment of a photo of the Chowbent Chapel contingent on Walking Day. I am almost sure it's 1969 but not 100% Yours truly is the mop headed youth at the front with a lot more hair than I have these days!
Market Street over 90 years ago.
The old Atherton Fire Station, Flapper Fold Lane - January 2001. Now flattened.
ATHERTON FIRE BRIGADE AROUND 1905
These are the brave lads of the Atherton fire brigade proudly displaying their horse-drawn engine around 1905
ATHERTON PARISH CHURCH ROUND THE TURN OF THE CENTURY.
The present Atherton Parish Church completed in 1897
An incredible picture of the old parish church which was built in 1810 and demolished in 1877 when work on the above church started ( and took 20 years to complete).
FOUNTAIN IN ATHERTON PARK.
This picture may surprise a lot of people. It is a fountain in a small pond on Atherton Park in July 1927. The area is still there but now it is known as the sunken gardens.
This is another old view of the park which shows the old house to the right which seemed like an enchanted cottage - until the council let it fall into disrepair and it was knocked down some years ago.
This dates from 1916 and is entitled "New Footpath, Bolton Road, Atherton." Atherton is not normally this rural-looking...
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MARKET STREET, ATHERTON AROUND THE 1930'S...
Note the Parish Church in the background and the tramlines in the cobbled Street.
The same view in 1999. There is still a wide variety of shops. I took this early morning. It gets busier than this! The area is now (so-called) pedestrianised.
THE "BACCA SHOP" - ATHERTON.
The Bacca Shop at the corner of Bolton Road and Church Street is where the miners and mill operatives would get their tobacco and toffees on their way to work. It still stands today. Atherton Town Hall is in the background.
ATHERTON DAY NURSERY - CHRISTMAS 1951
These are the "inmates" of the Atherton Day Nursery in Gloucester Street prior to their Christmas party in 1951.
Most of the children's parents worked in local cotton mills and mines - the work is no longer there but the nursery is still in existence.
Memories of castor oil, clogs and serial bedwetting.
LANE TOP SCHOOL ATHERTON - 1929
Lane Top School became Hesketh Fletcher School. Known locally as 'Ekky Fleck. My mum, Mabel, is fifth from the right.
Atherton Boys' Brigade Band- possibly late 30's. They're too busy playing on their Playstations these days...
This is a play that was put on in the Briarcroft Hall in 1942. The Briarcroft was originally a private house that became a youth club. It was neglected by the council and had to be demolished in the late 1990's.
The Atherton Collieries Dramatic Society was one of a number of active organisations that sprung from the local pits. Although no pits now exist, there is still a thriving Atherton Collieries Football Club in Alder Street, Atherton.
Atherton Park. Spent many a happy hour on here. Used to rub the slide with greaseproof paper to make it more slippy. Notice the concrete under the swings. Ideal for falling on! In the background to the left is the Howe Bridge Mills chimney.
The Fireplaces at Howe Bridge Junior School...
I took this in February 2000 when my old Junior School - Howe Bridge C of E had an open day. This brings back memories for me and it will do for generations of Howe Bridgers. It is the first thing you see when you walk through the door. A fireplace with a tiled proverb on the mantelpiece - in this instance "Manners Makyth Man". This was intended to impress the importance of manners upon the minds of little Victorian children. There were about eight other fireplaces around the school, all with pithy sayings such as "Look Before You Leap" and the incredibly modern-sounding "No Gain Without Pain."
Atherton Independent Methodists Football Team
This was taken sometime between 1905-1910 and shows the Atherton Independent Methodists soccer team of that time with my grandfather, Herbert Dutton as captain. The Independent Methodists are still going strongly in the same chapel in Mealhouse Lane, Atherton (but don't now have a football team as far as I know).
Prestwich Parkers Foundry
Take a good look at the faces of these children above. Do they look happy?
Why should they? They are around eleven or twelve years old and already working in a foundry. In this case, Prestwich Parkers' Foundry in Bag Lane, Atherton in around 1890.
After toiling in the oppressive heat and din of such a place, they were probably glad to have their picture taken outside to be in the fresh air for a few minutes.
Spare a thought for these Lancashire lads. How many of them survived the ravages of tuberculosis or the First World War or the inevitable coal mines?
My grandfather, Herbert (bottom row, second left) went from working in the foundry, to the coal mines, to the First World War (wounded twice and buried by an exploding shell) - then back to the Atherton coal mines. With his lungs weakened by these experiences, he died of pneumonia at the far too young age of 53.
The good old days.
A leaflet from the Atherton Employment Exchange, appealing to the married women of Atherton to help the Second World War Effort...
You too can help beat the U Boats by doing an "interesting" job in a cannery...
An Atherton miner laid low...
This is Jack Ryder. He was a miner from Hindsford near Atherton who broke his back down the pit. Can you imagine what it must have been like for a proud Lancashire pitman to have to be pushed round in an oversize pram?
The picture was taken around the turn of the 20th century. His brother Jim Ryder is holding the handle of the wheelchair.
He was the brother of my grandmother, Mrs Frances Dutton.
This is my great Grandfather Sam Dutton of Atherton - originally of Leigh. He is pictured with his wife Ellen. He was a hard man, as befits a Lancashire miner. The story goes that he once swung on a lion's tail when the circus came to town. He was born in 1847. When Ellen died, he was distraught and went walkabout all over England. He died in 1906 at the age of 58.
PAGAN ATHERTON..?
If you are ever on Market Street in Atherton, take a look at the above carving on the corner of the Wheatsheaf pub (or Owd Isaac's as someone has seen fit to rename it).. It seems to me that it represents a Celtic god - the Green Man - who was a symbol of fertility.
He was shown as having vegetation growing out of both sides of his mouth - as does the Wheatsheaf figure. The greenery below the man is a real hanging basket...