The Wheatsheaf Inn c1950, Raby
The Wheatsheaf Inn c1950, Raby Ref: R413001
Memories of The Wheatsheaf Inn c1950, Raby
Mere Memories
My memory is not so much of the Wheatsheaf although I did visit a few times during my youth, a nice place to take a new girlfriend for a drive.
But nearby is the mere, a huge lake in the middle of an agricultural area.When I was a kid there were rowing boats that could be hired for a trip up the river. I can remember there was a small penny arcade near an old garage with flip ball machines and even a "what the butler saw" for a penny. The area was always clean and the air smelled of freshly cut hay except maybe when one of the local farmers was "muck spreading", the process of enriching the soil by spreading pig or cow manure across the paddock by tractor and machine.
Swing Boats
I spent a few summer holidays with my auntie who lived in Bromborough. I used to go to Raby Mere with my cousins, Gerrard and Chris. I remember some swing boats there, we used to love going on them.
Raby Mere & local memories
Read and share memories of Raby Mere and Merseyside inspired by Frith photos.
Learning to Row A Boat
A Sunday day out from New Brighton with my family, playing French cricket on the field above the mere, I watched the rowing boats. In 1958 I went a ride there on my bike one day. I wanted a row on the boat. The gentleman in charge said it was a shilling (5p), I could not afford that. He told me to come back on a Saturday morning and I could row all I wanted to for sixpence (2 1/2p), so I did. The kind man showed me the basics of rowing and off I went. I dropped many an oar and caught many a crab but after a few weeks I got the hang of it. Needless to say the water took over my life and I joined the Royal Navy. Couldn't row their boats though - too big!
Bike Rides From Ellesmere Port
I remember bike rides first with my dad and then with my brothers Glyn and Paul and cousins David and Neil to Raby Mere. The lake was so calm and peacfull and we hired the lovely clinker built skiffs for a row. My dad taught us to row there without 'catching crabs'! I remember the penny machines well and ice cream from the garage shop.
The mere seems so small now compared to our Lake Taupo in New Zealand but the memories are so sweet, another age! Small was certainly beautiful then.
P.S. The year was probably 1950-1955.
