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Radcliffe
Radcliffe maps
Historic maps of Radcliffe and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Radcliffe maps
Radcliffe photos
We have no photos of Radcliffe, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Bury| Prestwich| Tottington| Walkden| Swinton| Bolton| Worsley| Heywood| Salford| Patricroft| Eccles| Holcombe| Ramsbottom| Barton Upon Irwell| Tyldesley| Turton| Norden
Radcliffe area books
Displaying 1 of 17 books about Radcliffe and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Radcliffe
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Radcliffe.
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Radcliffe Market
I remember queing for my first ice cream cornet in the town's market just after the Second World War, and this queue went all around the market, and, boy, did it taste good!! The market was such a busy place in those days. It was such a busy industrial town as well, but it is now, I am sorry to say, what might be called a "Ghost Town." There are quite a few well known people, who, like myself, are proud to call this town of Radcliffe, their "Hometown." It was the home of the famous "Radcliffes" from the 12th century, and one of this families ancestors is the one known as the, "Rat" in one of Shakespeare's well know plays --- Can you guess which play this was!! --- In the 1950s its cricket team had the likes of famous players Frankie Worrell and Gary Sobers playing for them, and, I think, Radcliffe's Cricket sponsers were the first to bring these two famous cricketers... Read more
Lancashire memories
Moving to Whitefield
I moved to Whitefield from Birmingham just before my 5th birthday. We went to live on Hill Top Close. We lived at the last house and there was nothing but fields for miles. I went to school on the bus every morning as it was too far to walk. I went to the primary school near Stand Church, I have forgotten the name, then moved on to Victoria Avenue where I stayed until I was 11, then I went to the new school opposite my house which was called Whitefield Secondary School. I have great memories of going to Stand church every Sunday and the Sunday School. Before that I went to the Congregational church at Besses oth the barn where I was in the Sunday School and loved it, we did so many things. As I got older I went to the youth club in Whitefield where I had great fun with my friends. My parents moved to Park Lane in Whitefield in the early 1060s and I moved... Read more
Playing Football on A Cinder Pitch
My only memory of Whitefield is turning out to play football for Manchester YMCA in a league fixture away from "home" in 1967. It was a reserve team game, we paid our own bus fares to reach the park, I grazed my knees badly on the cinder pitch and we lost!
There were no changing facilities and I dripped blood and cinders all the way back to Manchester on the bus!
Spring Water Area Off Lily Hill Street
My gran, lived in the little cottage down the hill near the old dye works and Springwater House - a mansion type house where the Rusden family lived till after World War 2. I am looking for any old maps or pictures of the area, and especially R & A Chambers - the works name and the big mansion, Springwater House. It was all fields and river Irwell in those days of 1959, and had not really changed much since 1940's. After grandpa died, gran moved out and it was all left derelict, the big house was already derelict in '58 but now all gone, and all that remains is the stone trough and gatepost in Springwater Park.
Farming in Harwood
We lived at Bury Meadows Farm, Roading Brook Road, Harwood near Bolton Lancs, by the time I'd written that down everybody else had been waiting ages at Bradshaw School. My sister Janet and I had many happy years at Bradshaw School with our cousins, John and Margaret Dewhurst who lived at Springfield on Roading Brook Road. Mr and Mrs Barker ran the school as headteachers. My first teacher was Miss Ivel. I loved school and we used to go to Brownies there. We were both in the Sprites, brave and helpful like the Knights. My friend was Rachel Dover. Because we were farming children we had freedom to roam and we did - all over what is now Harwood Golf Course and beyond. We used to dare to creep up on Alfie Blake and look thru' his farmhouse window. Arnold was our dairyman at Old Holts where my darling Granny - Marian Parker - lived, it was just up the field from our house. Arnold was a really good singer and used... Read more
13 Hardy Mill
My dad was away fighting in the war, so mum and I moved to live with my granny and grandad at 13 Hardy Mill Rd. I remember from about 1945 I had a special friend called Desiree and we used to play across the road where there was a river, many times we got home with our feet wet and got a smack for it. My granny was very strict , she had to be, she had brought up 10 children on just a policeman's wage, grandad was the local bobby and granny used to take in washing from the local butcher to supplement his wage. When she said to do something you did it, no arguing.
Dad must have been home on leave at some time as I had a baby brother born in 1943, he died when he was 10 mths old of convulsions. Dad never got to see him.
Harwood was a fairly quiet neighbourhood, not many people had cars in those days, but the little... Read more
Childhood in Affetside
Born at Baxterhead Farm in 1938, later lived at Butcherhead Farm. Attended village school, teacher Miss Davies, at playtime end she would blow a cuckoo whistle. Had to go to Sunday school but had to walk to Hawkshaw with my sister to church. Cars were a very rare sight, there was a bus every hour, it started from 200 yards up from the Pack Horse Inn next to the village shop, which was called Mynas, or you could walk down to the Bulls Head at the bottom of Watling Street and catch the Ribble bus to Tottington where I went with my mum to the Co-op. I used to walk to Tottinton on Saturday morning to go to the Palace cinema for the children's matinee, Roy Rogers, 'Flash Gordan' I remenber was the serial, always leaving you in suspense. The cinema has long gone and is now the health centre. Christmas 1944 a flying bomb landed across the road, destroying houses and killing 7 people, it was the talk of... Read more
