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Norden
Norden maps
Historic maps of Norden and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Norden maps
Norden area books
Displaying 1 of 4 books about Norden and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Norden
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Lancashire memories
A Rochdale Childhood
My first memory of Rochdale town hall was seeing the King and Queen on the balcony in 1937 when they were on their coronation tour. Another visitor seen there was Gracie Fields. During my childhood, (1930-1945) I remember seeing the Pace Egging play in the Town Hall, a fascinating and traditional event. Later I took part in meetings there of the Youth Council. Only recently did I discover that my Great-grandfather moved to Rochdale from Nottingham in order to work on the staircase when the Town Hall was being built in the 1860s- 1870s. I would love to know more about him. His name was John Knighton, but he disappeared from the 1881 Census and I cannot trace him. Perhaps he went off to work on other buildings. He was a carpenter.
I was married at St. Chad's Parish Church in 1952, which overlooks the... Read more
Drake Street
I was born in Rochdale in 1934. I attended Champness Hall Sunday School, 1940 -52, which was situated just below the Rochdale Observer offices (on the left of the photo). It was a large Methodist Central Hall with offices used by local people, a large auditorium used for concerts (eg Halle Orchestra) and public occasions (eg local speech days, visiting choirs etc). In the 1950s Drake Street was still home to a number of large shops (eg Co-op; Ivesons etc), but it began to decline in the 1960s, I think, with the building of new retail centres. I gained a scholarship to Oxford University in 1952 from the local grammar school which was situated just off Drake Street.
My Mum's GRAMMER SCHOOL!
Sadly Mum died 3 years ago - MARGARET MALKIN, nee HALL - but I always remember her saying "Green gym knickers" was what they had to wear. No doubt she hated them.
Rochdale Technical School
My grandparents were teachers at the school from 1895-1909. John Frederick Wiilkinson and his wife Lydie Wilkinson, who was French. He taught Maths and she taught French and German. I am told all records of the school were destroyed. I am trying to find any photos of them with pupils and staff of the school, any Registry books at that time. John had lost an arm in his youth and Lydie also played piano and taught at a Baptist Chapel where Gracie Fields went. Lydie taught her to sing and to whistle. In 1949 Gracie Fields visited her in a Nursing Home and gave her a signed photo (which I have). Does anyone remember them or have any school photographs? I would love to hear from any one with any information. Thanks.
Park Follies
Although I lived in London I spent much of the summer holidays with my Auntie Mabel and Uncle Bill in Greenhill Avenue, Rochdale. I was 12 then and spent a lot of the time on Lenny Barn with the local children. The rest of the time I remember was at a nearby park which I suppose was Falinge Park where I watched the Park Follies. I remember there was an Uncle Cliff and Auntie Jean and some very glamorous (to my young eyes!) twins. I forget how much I paid to get in but it couldn't have been much.After I would go back to Greenhill Avenue and have a tea of toast and dripping and orange juice and soda water. Happy days! Mabel and Bill are no longer with us so I cannot share any memories with them. I have fond memories of Rochdale and if anybody remembers the Park Follies I would love to hear from them.
Mozaics
I lived just a few hundred yards from St John's Church and attended mass every Sunday as well as Stations of the Cross or Benediction on Sunday Nights. There is an amazing area of mozaic behind the altar. I also attended the school from about 1946 - 1950 when I moved to St Patricks followed by Bury Convent. I was Marcia Tassiker then. My dad used to take photgraphs of the Whitsuntide processions and put them in our hardware shop window for people to buy.
ABC Cinema Rochdale.
I worked as a trainee projectionist at the ABC cinema in Rochdale. Happy days. I now live in south Germany as my wife is German. But I do miss my old job.
