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Books > Warrington Photographic Memories
Broomedge, the Post Office c1955 (ref. B560001) | The post office and general store were essential parts of village life, so not surprisingly they feature on many of Frith's postcards; these were later sold at the post office counter and the village store! Meanwhile, the residents of Broomedge were being bombarded with adverts for Oxo - notice the advertising hoarding near the parked cars and the poster in the shop window. |  Add your own Memory
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Broomedge, Burford Lane c1955 (ref. B560003) | It is hard to believe that this classic image of rural England was actually taken three years into the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and not at the beginning of the 20th century. | Add your own Memory
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Daresbury, All Saints' Church c1955 (ref. D151002) | One of All Saints' best-known features is the memorial window depicting characters from Lewis Carroll's 'Alice' stories. Lewis Carroll (his real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) was born at Daresbury parsonage on 27 January 1832, and lived at Daresbury until 1843. Much of the present church dates from the rebuilding of the 1870s, financed by Sir Gilbert Greenall, Lord of the Manor of Daresbury. Gilbert's twin brother, Richard, was rector of Stretton, and sometimes preached at Daresbury in the Dodgsons' time. Perhaps Carroll was later inspired by the Greenall twins in his creation of look-alike brothers Tweedledum and Tweedledee. | Add your own Memory
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Fearnhead, Station Road c1955 (ref. F135007) | The Fearnhead post office on the corner of Fearnhead Lane (right) advertises Sanpic, which 'Destroys Sink Odours'. Soon the atmosphere of Fearnhead Cross itself would be destroyed with the redevelopment of the former RAF camp. The cobbled entry to the left would become Insall Road, named after a Group Captain Insall, V.C., former commander of the base. | Add your own Memory
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Fearnhead, Fearnhead Lane c1955 (ref. F135008) | Time for a lunchtime pint at the Farmers Arms - but the owner of the bulbous Morris Minor on the forecourt had few drink-driving laws to worry about. | Add your own Memory
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Grappenhall, the Village 1953 (ref. G200004) | Grappenhall, or 'Gropenhale' (as it was then called), has the distinction of being recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086. Bypassed by the Bridgewater canal, the cobbled village centre has retained much of its quaint atmosphere. Perhaps Frith's photographer sought refreshment at the imposing sandstone Ram's Head Hotel. Note the sundial set high above the door. | Add your own Memory
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Grappenhall, the Canal c1955 (ref. G200005) | The Bridgewater canal, built between 1759-1776, was a key transport network of the early Industrial Revolution, linking Manchester to Runcorn and carrying freight and passengers. The towpath on the right bank was used by the horses which once pulled the barges. Grappenhall has two of the characteristic narrow hump-backed bridges designed to carry road traffic over the canal. | Add your own Memory
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Grappenhall, Church Street c1955 (ref. G200007) | St Wilfrid's church has been central to Grappenhall life for almost 900 years. Although much modified over the centuries, it contains a font, parish chest and effigy of a knight from Norman times, and medieval stained glass. A stone carving on the tower might have inspired Lewis Carroll's Cheshire cat, as his father, the Reverend Dodgson, often visited St Wilfrid's. | Add your own Memory
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Grappenhall, the Canal c1955 (ref. G200012) | First railways and then the motor age signalled the end of the canal network for commercial use. Colourful pleasure craft and anglers now enjoy the tranquillity of the Bridgewater Canal as it passes through the south Warrington districts of Lymm, Thelwall, Grappenhall, Stockton Heath, Walton and Moore. | Add your own Memory
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High Legh, Swineyard Hall 1897 (ref. 40498) | Formerly home to a branch of the Legh family, Swineyard Hall was sold off by Lt Colonel Cornwall Legh in 1919. The sale catalogue described it as a 'charming old-world residence, in black and white chequered design ... partially surrounded by a moat'; it was 'a comfortable and commodious domicile ... (with) interior fittings of rare old oak'. | Add your own Memory
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Higher Walton, Walton Hall c1955 (ref. H526026) | Begun in the mid 1830s, Walton Hall was to be both the family home and the country estate of Gilbert Greenall, a wealthy local brewer and prominent businessman. In the 1870s the hall was extended to accommodate the children of his second marriage and the enlarged household necessary now that he was Warrington's Member of Parliament and a baronet. By the death of Lord Daresbury, Sir Gilbert's son, in 1938, Walton had become a model agricultural estate. This view shows the original 1830s wing in Elizabethan style with its distinctive pinnacles (right), and the 1870s extension in Scottish baronial style (left). | Add your own Memory
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Higher Walton, Walton Hall c1960 (ref. H526027) | This view shows the visitor's entrance below the oriel window (left) and the single-storey gunroom next to it. The adjacent bay-windowed section contained the library below and Lady Daresbury's bedroom above. The three-storey wing (partially hidden by the tree) included the housekeeper's room and the butler's pantry. It was largely demolished in the late 1970s apart from the clock tower. | Add your own Memory
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Higher Walton, Walton Gardens, the Lily Pond c1955 (ref. H526053) | Lady Daresbury took great pride in developing botanical gardens at Walton with specimen planting in the style of Kew; thousands of local people enjoyed visiting them on annual open days. In December 1941 Warrington Borough Council purchased the Hall and 171 surrounding acres from the Greenall family for £19,000. Since 1945, Walton Gardens have been a popular public park. | Add your own Memory
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Higher Walton, Church c1960 (ref. H526032) | St John's was designed by Paley and Austin, the distinguished Lancaster architects, and built in the local red sandstone by Fairhursts of Whitley. Consecrated in May 1885, the church was entirely financed by the first Sir Gilbert Greenall, a devout Anglican. St John's was the Greenall's family chapel, and Sir Gilbert, his son and grandson lie buried in its graveyard. | Add your own Memory
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Lymm, the Cross 1897 (ref. 40483) | In the distance a lone horseman rides into Lymm village as it basks in the hot sunshine which has compelled the draper, the ironmonger, and Whitelegg the grocer to put up protective awnings and blinds. It is the summer of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year, but Lymm's celebrations are not complete. To commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession, Lymm decided to restore the ancient cross, the centrepiece of village life. The distinguished architects Paley & Austin were commissioned to reface the worn stone steps, fix more appropriate finials and replace the cockerel with a symbolic golden crown. | Add your own Memory
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Lymm, the Bridge c1955 (ref. L122025) | A delivery vehicle waits outside Henry Milling & Co's shop in this view from Lymm Cross towards the Bridgewater Canal. With the end of wartime rationing, the windows are stacked with groceries, perhaps to fight off competition from Burgons' opposite. Evans' family chemist's appears to be prescribing Whitbread's ale and stout, possibly available from the renamed Golden Fleece Hotel. | Add your own Memory
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Lymm, the Dingle c1955 (ref. L122030) | This view from The Groves shows The Cross (right) and Eagle Brow (left.) Today Martin's Bank (centre left) is occupied by an estate agent, reflecting Lymm's status as a housing hot spot, whilst Barclay's Bank (centre) trades from a less harmonious modern building. Nowadays the sound of birdsong and rushing water at The Dingle is likely to be drowned by impatient car horns! | Add your own Memory
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Lymm, the Post Office c1950 (ref. L122003) | Taken from the canal bridge, this photograph shows Bridgewater Street, looking towards Eagle Brow. Lymm post office, with the public telephone box outside, is on the left; on the right is the site of the present Saddler's Arms on the corner of Legh Street. The half-timbered facade of Martin's Bank can be seen in the distance. | Add your own Memory
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Lymm, the Church 1897 (ref. 39084) | This picturesque view shows the church of St Mary the Virgin from Lymm Dam. By 1850 an earlier 14th-century building was in disrepair, and the famous Newcastle architect John Dobson was commissioned to rebuild it. The 1521 tower was retained and raised, but the additional stonework proved too much for its foundations, and the tower was rebuilt in 1887. | Add your own Memory
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Lymm, Arley Hall 1897 (ref. 40496) | This early Victorian mansion in Jacobean-revival style was built between 1833-45 on the site of an earlier house. The Nantwich architect George Latham found that his client, Rowland Egerton Warburton, demanded constant alterations to the design; this increased the cost from an original estimate of £5-6,000 to £30,000. The octagonal domed tower above the porch was removed in the alterations of 1968. | Add your own Memory
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