You are here:
Latchford
Latchford maps
Historic maps of Latchford and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Latchford maps
Latchford photos
We have no photos of Latchford, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Stockton Heath| Grappenhall| Warrington| Thelwall| Padgate| Higher Walton| Woolston| Fearnhead| Moore| Winwick| Lymm| Daresbury| Oughtrington| High Legh| Broomedge| Warburton| Dutton| Newton Le Willows| Halton| Earlestown| Comberbach| Great Budworth| Pickmere
Latchford area books
Displaying 1 of 13 books about Latchford and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Latchford
No memories of Latchford have been shared yet - be the first!
Add your memory of Latchford
or of a photo of Latchford.
Cheshire memories
An American Boy in Stockton Heath, England
I was a 13 year old boy from Wilmington, North Carolina, USA. My father was a Sergeant in the US Air Force, assigned to Burtonwood RAF Station. We rented a flat at 35 London Rd, Stockton Heath. It was over Mr. Alfred Ward's Butcher Shop. His wife operated the Sweet Shop on the opposite side of the road. Their son was named Terrance.
London Road was lined with small shops; several butchers, bakery, candy shops, the post office, a shoe shop and others. This was a big change for an American boy. I enjoyed following my mother when she shopped at the different shops.
I would watch Mr. Ward in his shop serving customers just the right amount of meat or eggs, to serve their family for one day. I would also watch him in his kitchen, where he prepared boiled hams, hoghead cheese, blood pudding, and spotted dick, just to name a few of the things I had never heard of. I remember that his boiled... Read more
Growing up in Grappenhall 1980''s And 1990''s
Having grown up in Grappenhall I've seen it develop with time, but its managed to keep its identity, even though there's been a growing demand for redevelopment in the area.
Within the space of a few streets you were able to experience several ages of British history. Like a timeline, starting on the higher ground you have the quaint village life within the cobbled village centre. This was no doubt made more picturesque and saved from further building by the Bridgewater canal that has acted as a kind of 'moat' since its completion in the 18th century.
Here you will still find a village school, two pubs, a church, Village Stocks, community hall, scout hut and cricket club. With a Post Office and second community hall in close proximity. (The development of land at Grappenhall Heys has kept and partly restored the Walled Gardens and provided a new school, but no further amenities.)
Moving out of the village and downhill with the sloping gradient... Read more
Childhood
My friend and I would await the arrival of American ships on their way to Manchester. We would shout "got any gum chum?!" to the crews. We would occasionally be rewarded by a packet of sweets being thrown from the ship. Far tastier than the English equivalent!
Ike Smith''s Hardware And Bicycle Store
My grandfather, Isaac Smith, had a hardware and bicycle shop on these premises, known universally as the 'Tudor Cottages', from some time towards the close of WW1 to the late 1930s. The premises were owned by Rylands Bros, the nearby wire works, at which Ike (also Ikey) had worked at one time (I infer from census records), and at which his oldest son Arthur later worked until 1955. He set up his business, my father told me, with the compensation he received from being temporarily blinded (for about 6 months), while working on top secret poison gas research while he was a foreman at Warrington Gas Works, sometime around 1916. The whole family, including the children, were apparently required to sign the Official Secrets Act, and my father (also Stan) only told me this story just before he himself died in 1980. At some time in the later 1930s, Rylands Bros persuaded my granddad to move out of the shop while they redecorated it, I understand, with the promise of... Read more
Happy Times
The building at the top of the picture with the advert on was a grocers called Hendrey Millings. I worked there as a young man and had my first encounter with the opposite sex!!!
The Queen's Visit.
I remember as a youngster my mum and dad talking of the Queen's forthcoming visit to Warrington and how the statue of Oliver Cromwell was to be covered so as not to upset her. They eventually moved the statue to a less visible place and the side of the Academy.
Sad Demise
Sadly we see very few ships passing down the Manchester Ship Canal these days. When I was a kid I lived in Latchford not far from the locks. We used to spend many hours watching the ships pass through the locks on there way to Liverpool or Manchester. We were occasionally rewarded by a pack of cigarettes or sweets thrown by the crew to us kids. Happy days.
