You are here:
Brown Lees
Brown Lees maps
Historic maps of Brown Lees and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Brown Lees maps
Brown Lees photos
We have no photos of Brown Lees, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Biddulph| Kidsgrove| Goldenhill| Brown Edge| Astbury| Burslem| Endon| Stockton Brook| Church Lawton| Timbersbrook| Congleton| Porthill| Rudyard| Wolstanton| Alsager| Hanley| Rushton Spencer| Newcastle| Cheddleton| Bosley| Wetley Rocks| Wincle
Brown Lees area books
Displaying 1 of 4 books about Brown Lees and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Brown Lees
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Brown Lees.
Add your memory of Brown Lees
or of a photo of Brown Lees.
Brown Lees Village
I was born in Brook Street, Brown Lees, within the civil parish of Biddulph. The village is situated about half a mile north of the site of the former Biddulph Valley Ironworks and the Brown Lees and Victoria Collieries, where many of the residents would have worked in the past. The Ironworks ceased in the 1920s and coal mining finished in 1982. I went to school in 1938 at Knypersley, walking through the fields by footpaths in local farms. In 1950, I commenced work at Victoria Colliery as a Dust and Air Sampler to monitor ventilation in the pit. Later, I qualified as a mine surveyor and worked at Victoria and Norton Collieries. I recall attending many performances of Handel's Messiah at Brown Lees Chapel which was a few yards from my home. Brown Lees is much enlarged now, and the air is cleaner with the demise of heavy industry, but I remember it well.
Staffordshire memories
Postwar Childhood in Knypersley
Born in 1940 at Tunstall Rd, I spent hours of my childhood at the edge of Cowlishaw Walker's pool, reached through our neighbour, Mrs Sargent's garden, which sloped steeply up to the railings round the pool. I only had to put a jam jar among the rocks for a stickleback to swim into it. Pussy willow and hazel catkins hung around the pool and in spring it was a mass of frogspawn. The tiny froglets would find their way down the bank and into our gardens and even into Mrs Sargent's kitchen. I heard that there had been a tragedy in the winter I was born when 2 boys fell through the ice on the pool and one of them drowned. At school we skipped to a rhyme unique to the area: 'North Staffordshire Railway Loopline! I call number 1'. On the word 'Loopline' the rope was held aloft until the next skipper ran in. Another rhyme was 'I am a girl guide dressed in blue,... Read more
Would You Believe It
The young man on the outside of the pavement is me, the group standing in the distance are family members and the two on my right are demanding to know where I am going, as it happened I was going to see my Gran.
Did not know who the kids were and still don't but if you look at the picture my fists are clenched I was ready for a fight but they backed off, I still walk with clenched fists to this day!
If you took a picture in the same place today it would look very much the same, todays pictures would be in colour but then that is how we saw it anyway.
Best Regards David Bailey.
The Old Vicarage
In the 1970s I lived in the Old Vicarage and remember being able to view the church from the house. My fondest memories are a lovely gentleman named Tom who used to take me to the shop each week when (I think) he collected his pension. He would always buy me Smiths Salt and Shake crisps - and even to this day they remain my favourite.
Child of The Butler/cook
As a child I grew up close to Biddulph Old Hall and spent many hours playing around it and listening to stories of an old lady who was a neighbour and who had grown up at Biddulp Old Hall as the child of the Butler/Cook. She was very proud of this and spoke of a red chair in the shape of a triangle which was said to have dated back to the time of the Civil War and was reputedly given to the Biddulph family by King Charles II. As with legends you always wonder if such a chair existed and where it is now?
Biddulph,Early 1960s,Fondest Memories.
My father was transferred from a North East Mining Community,to a beautiful place called Biddulph.While he worked hard in the pits,we enjoyed many long days playing in some of the most wonderful places of beauty; Biddulph Old Hall and The Chinese Gardens. The surrounding countryside was well explored by myself and two sisters and three brothers. We would walk for miles and take advantage of milk left in urns at the bottom of the farmers lanes, still warm from the cows. Walking to Rudyard Lake for a day out with our parents was a wonderful experience. I also remember the carnivals in Biddulph itself. I am living back in the north east now along with the rest of the family. Biddulph is still a talking point in our family and the memories of school next to a farm, where the geese would chase you when you dared enter, are priceless memories. We remember the street, Church Close, and the football matches which were played on... Read more
A Wonderful Christmas Time
We arrived in England on 15/12/1988. My hubby Stephen and I were to be married on 7th January 1989 in Biddulph. I was amazed at the size of Heathrow Airport and for the first time in my life, I saw an English taxi, the ones we only see in pictures in South Africa. Mom Ivy, Dad Roy and sister-in-law Helen fetched us at the airport. Once in Biddulph, I was astounded by the beautiful greenery, the friendly people and the tranquil surroundings. I also was surprised to find out that people in Biddulph drive on the same side of the road as us here in South Africa. During our five week stay, I met some of the most awesome people, we went to Wales and London. Piccadilly Circus was astonishing, just as we have read in articles back home. On 7th January 1989, we got married in a beautiful church in Biddulph. It was raining softly. The most beautiful day of my life. We had a little reception back at... Read more
