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Firgrove
Firgrove maps
Historic maps of Firgrove and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Firgrove maps
Firgrove photos
We have no photos of Firgrove, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Rochdale| Littleborough| Castleton| Shaw| Whitworth| Denshaw| Norden| Heywood| Delph| Chadderton| Oldham| Walsden| Grasscroft| Stacksteads| Bacup| Waterfoot
Firgrove area books
Displaying 1 of 17 books about Firgrove and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Firgrove
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Lancashire memories
Smallbridge And All That
The place name comes from a narrow bridge over a stream that forms the boundary between Rochdale and Wardle on Halifax Road, by The Red Lion pub as it was then. Folk who lived in Smallbridge were once called "Sandknockers" apparently from a family called Kitter who knocked the local stone to sand to spread on floors.
We lived on the main road opposite the Congregational church with Kitter Street at the end of our row. My Dad was a cobbler - intially a clogger till shoes became more affordable. In those days you could buy practically everything you needed within about 300 yards from Buckley Lane to Wardle Road, excepting things like clothes, furniture etc, things that you only bought once in a Blue Moon. Now there are no shops at all in Samallbridge.
As a pre-teen us kids could always eat more than we got, not that we were starved. There was no such thing among my friends of refusing food at any time. I... Read more
Around Rochdale
I enjoyed reading Peter Butterworth's memories of Smallbridge. I went to the same school( Halifax Rd), 1937-44. My name then was Sylvia Higgin (now married to Stanley Rudman - since 1959). My younger brother, Trevor Higgin, also went to the same school, and we lived on Albert Royds St. My memories of those days are still strong and vivid. The area then was more rural than now. I remember the beautiful bluebell wood down Buckley Lane. I also remember many of the boys and girls who were in my class at school, including an Amy Butterworth. Later we moved to Syke and I was a pupil at Greenhill, the girls' grammar school in Rochdale. Since I retired I have found that my father's family were farmers in the Burnley area (Cliviger) from the 17th century. He always said, 'Don't confuse Higgin and Higgins!'
Ken & Margaret Davis.
I remember Smithybridge with great liking and fondness. I was fortunate to have my sister and her husband living there, Ken Davis being an ex police officer who decided to retire there. My visits to them from Tasmania were made in winter, and I remember the snow and seeing fires shining through windows as I went for walks around the lake and through Littleborough.
The great feeling of having lunch in a warm cafe with the smell of the good food still lingers in my memory. I must admit, in many ways my visit there and trips to Hebden Bridge for a bit of site seeing and a meal even though it was overcast and freezing was like stepping back in time into an era when simple things in your life really mattered. Unfortunatly, Ken and Margaret have passed on but I still hanker for a visit and stay in Smithybridge as it has so many happy memories and pleasure for me.
I hope it never changes and becomes... Read more
Billy's Greengrocer
Billy's Greengorcer - a small shop on the corner of Hebron Street where you could buy fruit and veg, and almost anything else. In those years there was not an awful lot of choice.. two lots of potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, and lovely spring cabbage (although I hated anything green at that time). Billy Greenwood was a very enterprising older (at least he seemed very old, but probably only about 40 ) purveyor of goods. You could ask for almost anything, if he didn't have it stock he would somehow magically produce the item the next day. Mrs Greenwood boiled beetroots in her tiny kitchen behind a heavy curtain that separated the shop from the living quarters. Her home boiled ham was second to none... Many times my mother would ask for 1/4 lb of boiled ham with some salad, and tomatoes and that was our Sunday tea for 4! No wonder there was never any question of being "overweight". Further up the road was "Alfie's" sweet shop, complete with a small... Read more
Learning to Bell Ring
I learned to bell ring with Brian Heginbottom in the 50s. After many years of the bells not ringing we were able to repair the the bell room and the bells and rang for the millennium, they are now rang every Sunday, they have a practice night every Tuesday, anyone interested should contact Myles Hargreaves at the church.
My Favourite Place
I was christenedin St John's Church. My parents were marries there, as were my two uncles. I was born at 8 Meadow Cottages and my life-long friend Mavis Ellis (nee Lock) was born next door but one to me. I lived with my grandma and grandad, Hannah and Walter Ufton. At some time in the 1920s my great-grandmother lived at Meadow Cottages also. Most of my uncles and aunties attended St John's School as I did for a short time. I was there when the two Miss Smiths were teaching there. I had a wonderful childhood. At aged nine due to family circumstances I had to leave. I have returned many times to Facit because it is a very special place and means so much to me. I was there last, in October 2009, visiting my very good friend Mavis and paying my usual cisit to Facit cemetery to my my grandparents, and my auntie and uncle, both of who lived in Whitworth and Facit. That last visit was very special to... Read more
