Visiting My Grandmother In Newton

A Memory of Newton-le-Willows.

Every school holiday from 1959 onwards, my brothers Tony, Brian, and later my sister Karen and I stayed with my grandmother Sarah Stones & Harold Stones. Gran owned the Stones greengrocers shop in High Street (number 65) next to Cunliffes chip shop and the bakers the other side. I loved staying with my grandmother. I learned how to become very independent at an early age.
My gran was so hardworking! She ran the shop, getting up at 5am to go to Wigan market to get the fruit & veg to sell in her shop, she was back home before we woke up! She had lodgers in her shop bedrooms and she had a bungalow built at 68 Mercer Street where we stayed. She had a couple of greyhounds that she raced at the weekend at St Helens, Chester or Bolton. She also had a couple of caravans at Talacre Beach where she used to take us and also rented out to families. The people I remember playing with was George Pagett and his sister Jean at 61 High Street ( I wonder what happened to them?) we used to go to the park by St Peters Church to play. It looked enormous and so mystical, and often wanted to see ' the White Lady' who was the ghost rumoured to reside there in the lake!! but when I visited it recently, it was amazingly small and I still haven't seen the White Lady! !
I used to walk the greyhounds down Rob Lane. The motorway had just been built and one of the dogs ran off down a 'works entrance' onto the motorway! I was chasing after it and found myself on the motorway. Scary moment! I remember meeting an Irish family in Rob Lane, they had 2 beautiful girls. I don't know how their names were spelt but they were called Graunia & Shane, my sister and I used to play with them & take them for a walk. My grandmother had regular customers, a couple I remember were called Nora & Lilly Thompson, I believe one of them bought gran's shop after she retired in the late 60's
My grandmother taught me many skills, crochet, washing clothes, ironing, washing up, cooking, cleaning, peeling potatoes at a very early age. She used to grow beautiful gladioli flowers in her garden & sell them in her shop, they remain one of my favourite flowers. I also used to go down Crow Lane to another park we played in, no one these days can have the sort of freedom I had back then. I also loved washing day which was Mondays, the washing was hung out in the 'backs' the space between High Street & Mercer Street. Everyone hung their washing out at the same time and the smell of white clean washing on the line always brings back memories. Does anyone remember my grandmother?