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Middleton
Middleton maps
Historic maps of Middleton and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Middleton maps
Middleton area books
Displaying 1 of 4 books about Middleton and the local area. View all books for this area
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Memories of Middleton
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memories of Middleton.
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Happy Haunting !
I spent my youth living just around the corner form the Hall. Many happy memories playing in the surrounding woods and snow permitting sledging down the steep hill just in front of the photo. You had to pull up really sharp though at the end of your run, or risk over-shooting into the river at the bottom of the hill.
There used to be an Italian ice crean dairy in the outbuildings just behind the hall, very tasty. There are also local ghost stories associated with the hall and woods. Most of these originate from the early owners, the Leaver family. Mr Leaver was a collector of curiosities including strange and deformed animals. I believe the collection eventually went to the British Museum.
Playing dares one night, me and a mate walked through the woods in pitch blackness to the hall and back. On the way back we heard a rustling and rattle of chains behind us. We dismissed this but never the less started to walk faster.... Read more
Barry Baker
Worked at David's greengrocers Long St 1960. Went to Dunford St school. Always ate at Tommy's chippie; pudding, chips and peas 2/6 and change. Lived on Hollins Estate then. Anyone out there remembers me? Bash Baker, teddy boy in those days.
Tommy's Chippy, Manchester Old Road
Tommy's chippy in Manchester Old Road had the best fish and chips in the country. Tommy and Joan always had a smile and a nice word for everybody, and the staff were the best.
Lancashire memories
Hill Top Farm, Holcombe And Peel Tower
My grandmother Ms Vickers lived with her mother and father and brothers for many years at the farm and had the keys to the tower. There are so many fascinating stories that I've been told about the farm and tower but I will put them all in here another day.
River Irwell
This is the weir on the River Irwell where it swings round and is bridged by the road up to Peel Brow. The mills on the right are on Kenyon Street. There were cotton weaving mills, towel mills and soap works. The Church spire is St. Paul's Church. I used to go past here everyday on my way to the railways station to catch the train to school in Haslingden. Sometimes the river was very low and a bit smelly and at other times it was a raging torrent. Just a little further down stream the river skirts round what was Ramsbottom Paper Mill, where my father worked, and on past Ramsbottom Cricket Club at Acre Bottom.
View Towards Holcombe
This is a view from the east side of the valley looking towards Holcombe Hill and the Peel Monument. The tower was erected in memory of Sir Robert Peel who repealed the Corn Laws in about 1846. The hill is a favourite local walk especially on Good Friday. Trains used to run from Manchester as far as Holcombe Brook at the foot of the hill and thousands used to enjoy the day. The railway to Holcombe Brook closed and for a few years the event was less popular but now it has been revived. The buildings in the foreground are part of what was Peel Brow School. In the 1950s it was in two parts: Peel Brow County Secondary School and Peel Brow Primary School. Mr Vernon Booth (Dinky) was the Head of the Primary School for many years. Rhodes Boyson, who later became a Conservative MP and Minister, was Head of the Secondary Modern School for a while. The mill chimneys show that manufacturing was still important in those... Read more
Peel Brow
Peel Brow was laid out in 1789. It links Ramsbottom on the west bank of the River Irwell with the districts of Shuttleworth on the east bank. It joined the Bury-Haslingden turnpike, now the A56. It was built in phases. The OS map for 1890 shows houses at the bottom end but not at the top. Some of the houses nearest the camera were demolished in the 1960s and 70s to make way for the M66 motorway.
I lived in the road for 19 years and went to the local primary school just off the picture to the right. The shop on the right hand side was a general grocers run by Mr & Mrs Kenna. There were other shops further down: a butchers (Taylors), a grocer (Browns), a fish & chip shop, a bakers (Beswicks) and a plumbers. Further up the Brow was a hardware shop run by Mrs Fish who had a bungalow opposite.
As can be seen from the picture people did not have cars,... Read more
