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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 photos
We have no photos of Middleton, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Chadderton| Heywood| Castleton| Prestwich| Oldham| Shaw| Rochdale| Bury| Norden| Salford| Swinton| Tottington
Middleton area books
Displaying 1 of 17 books about Middleton and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Middleton
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Lancashire memories
My First Memories of Harpurhey
Let me amend my memories of Harpurhey, after looking at some old photos of Manchester I can now remember and recollect other things, like for example holding on to the rails outside St Edmund's Junior School on the first day and my poor mother having to take me home, only to bring me back one week later, I think that was 1951. My first clear memory of Harpurhey was the Coronation in 1953. I expected the Queen to walk down the very street I lived in which was Mitford Street, just off Conran Street, it had a greengrocer's on one corner and an ironmonger's on the other. I remember that the street was concrete because it had to take heavy loads on oit during the war years, transport etc, it was excellent for roller skating on as most other streets were cobblestones, and we had a large Back Street which had no traffic on it, this was where all the children played in safety. Dewhurst's the meat factory was situated... Read more
Turkey Lane Hip
It was around this time the old Hippodrome closed. Well everyone thought it had, us children knew better, we could just open the loading door slightly and squeeze in, many costumes had been left, but we never tried them on, just looked at them and said how nice they were, but we knew all about the ghost that walked the stage and we talked in whispers in case they heard us.
Someone must have realised what was going on, because a new lock went on this door and we could not get in. Mind, we then found an air vent and many of us could crawl through this, so our trips continued, until this was found out and closed off. Wonderful, innocent, fun loving days.
Mrs Jemmison
How we must have given this lady a headache. She lived at the bottom of the lane and we children used to go to the side of her house and play ball. Many times she came out, not to complain, just to ask us to move further up the wall away from the room they were sitting in. What a lovely lady, and a belated sorry for the noise. Another time we were playing on Rileys wall, and the windows were covered in wire netting. I ran under my friends arms and the netting went into my head. On a bus to Booth Hall hospital for two stitches. My family I fear must had despaired of me.
Harpurhey Childhood 1942/1950
When I was born in William St in 1942, Harpurhey was very different from today. Horses and carts delivered the milk and coal, the horses following the carters down the st, knowing where to stop for the next drop. Mam would let us give the horse a crust covered in jam, as it waited at the step. The rag and bone man was a regular sight, with his cry echoing the surrounding streets. Out we'd run with a few old clothes or some jam jars to be rewarded with a balloon, or if you took something really good a goldfish, that's if mam didn't want any donkey stones for cleaning the steps. He recycled all our rubbish. On May Day the horses were all dressed up with shiny leather and brasses, ribbon and braid in their plaited manes and tails, such big shirehorses but such gentle giants, so resigned to their working lot. There were no cars in our st so it was safe to play out, which all we... Read more
FAILSWORTH
We came to live in Failsworth in l956 when I was 8, we lived in Firs Avenue where the school clinic was held at what used to be Firs Hall, where I believe the owner or manager of the local mill lived. There was an air raid shelter still in the back which wasn't knocked down until the mid 1970s - so it had 30 years of kids playing in it, sliding down it on coal shovels when it snowed. A lot of my relatives lived in Failsworth, Dean Street, Dalton Street and Mather Street where I went to school until I was ll. There was a pig farm nearby and an old clay mine which was still dug out, full of rubbish and water in which we floated about in old, leaky tin baths - in all that muck, getting covered in lead paint and burning oily rags in tins with holes in, my sister used to make with a handle made out of string so they could... Read more
I Remember Firs Hall
I remember Firs Hall, I lived on Oldham Road next to the Brown Cow pub, our house was 303a. It was this number because it apparently used to be part of the house next door and so when it was made into two they could not re-number the whole road so we got an 'a' after our number. I also used to play in the air raid shelter just like Jaques and I remember the brilliant bonfires we used to have in "the backin" as we used to call it, all the mums used to make food hot pot and parkin and toffee and the dads let off fireworks, good good days they were.
St Johns's School
I was at St John's about this time and I am looking for infomation re teachers' names, the name of the sweet shop on the corner of Flag Alley, plus any other interesting info of that time. I lived in Hibbert Crescent and was born in 1937. Thank you.
