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Acton Bridge, the River Weaver c1965
Acton Bridge, the River Weaver c1965 Ref: A235032
Memories of Acton Bridge, the River Weaver
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 Acton Bridge, the River Weaver near Acton Swing Bridge c1955 (ref: A235011) |
Year: 1957
Acton Bridge Cruising Club
My memories of Acton Bridge go back to the mid 1950s and early 1960s. The picture of boats at Acton Bridge Cruising Club takes me back to my teenage days. We had a boat called 'Scampi' which was a 32-foot ex-Norwegian lifeboat. It was our family boat. It was kept initially on the Mersey at Wallasey Dock, then my dad decided to join the then very newly formed Acton Bridge Cruising Club. And so we moved 'Scampi' up the Weaver to Acton Bridge. The boat in the forground on the right is 'Hannah', an ex-fishing boat. 'Hannah' was eventually sabotaged by British Waterways and sunk at Level Lock. What a destructive act on a vessel with quite some history! All because the owner had not kept up the licence. Our boat was more or less moored where the camera would be to take the picture. I can remember names of club members in those days: Stan Davies, Ken Binns, Fred Warburton, Barclay Guy, Henry 'Hatch' Hatchard (my dad), Ken? Shields, Mr Brandon, Mr Sumner. Mr Noden was living in the cottage and retired by this time I think. We used to swim in the river every weekend and sometimes in the week. I used to dive off the 'Hannah' into the river. I once swam from Saltersford Locks all the way down to Dutton Locks. There used to be a bylaw which stated 'Persons swimming in the River Weaver Navigation on a Sunday may be liable to deportation to Australia'! I must have earned at least 100 tickets at that rate. The river in those days was busy with boats carrying to and from ICI. ICI Packet Boats came in various sizes. Some were still under steam power, I think 'Decempedes' was maybe steam-powered, but by this time or certainly a little later bigger boats with Gardner 8-cylinder diesels were being used - 'Davenham' and 'James Jackson Grundy' I think were two of them. I can remember the moorings being dug out at the club and the crane being put in position and the slipway being made. Not sure exactly what year, but probably about 1957/8. I have fond memories of our time in the club well into the mid 1960s. I have often wondered what became of our boat 'Scampi' and would love to hear from anybody who knows what happened to it in the late 1960s and after. My email is plantandmachinery@msn.com Laurie Hatchard. Kingsley. Cheshire. Last edited: 18/12/2008 16:34 by Laurie Hatchard |
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Year: 1955
Island Cottage
My nanna and grandad Noden lived at Island Cottage. Grandad was a bridgekeeper along with Jack Powell and Syd Bebbington at Acton swing bridge from 1945-1960. There was an enormous flood in 1946 when my grandparents were the first to be rescued. The water rose over 12and a half feet. A Bulldog Drummond film had its location at Acton Bridge when his car was supposed to go into the river and he had to be rescued. My grandad was standing by with his rowing boat. During the 1950s the River Weaver was a very important waterway and some very big boats went up and down to I.C.I Winnington. Once when the lock gates further downstream got stuck all the water drained out of the the river and all the boats were stranded in the mud. Also the swing bridge got stuck one day and all the traffic had to be re-routed via Winnington Bridge at Northwich. I used to live at Field Cottage in Acton Bridge, and was a minshall before I married. Last edited: 28/11/2006 02:11 by Christine Ruskin |
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Year: 1958
A memory of Weaverham, Cheshire We moved to Weaverham in 1958, at that time it was a good place to bring up children, and a good place for children to grow up in. The village was surrounded by fields and woods, where we played. There was of course the usual childish mischief, knocking on doors, and swiftly running away for one. I left Weaverham in 1968 and only ever went back there to visit my folks. I have now retired, and am enjoying it, but I don't live in Weaverham and I think most of my generation have left the place now. Last edited: 19/02/2008 12:32 by Jeff Green |
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Year: 1955
The Old Becoming New! A memory of Weaverham, Cheshire I arrived in Weaverham in one of its transition periods. ICI had built many houses to house its workers in all the surrounding villages including Weaverham. So Weaverham had already transformed in a way when I got there, but of course for me coming from a city like Liverpool it was a quaint, peaceful village, there just happened to be the old Weaverham and the new! Several farms still survived and I was fortunate to work on one at weekends for a few shillings. But the days of the big farms had long gone. The one that I worked on had one milking cow and a dozen hens and that was it! But Weaverham despite its Liverpool influx remained a peaceful village with very little crime or social disorder. Seems a far cry from today. There were still orchards to 'scrump' in and ancient country lanes to ride to school on. I rode from Weaverham to Winsford everyday for several years come rain, hail or snow. Computers and the internet didn't exist in those days so we were amused by TV and social events. I joined the Boys Brigade and danced rock and roll at the Owley Wood club and camped out in Delamere Forest and everything seemed sublimely simple and good and clean! We visited even smaller villages on our cycle jaunts, but Weaverham was home and met all our needs, apart from a good cinema which we found in Northwich and a few bigger shops. After Liverpool it was really a breath of fresh air - a new stab at life - a new beginning - the old could still be remembered but cast off! We had gardens and vast amounts of fields and rivers and orchards and sandpits - the world was an oyster and Weaverham was the pearl. We fell in love for the first time in Weaverham, fell out of love just as rapidly and avoided getting married too soon. We were schooled, found our first jobs and then finally spread our wings and many left. I don't believe I have any bad memories of Weaverham - it nurtured me and grew me up and finally let me go! Last edited: 10/01/2007 16:10 by David Yates |
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Year: 1980
Old Shops A memory of Barnton, Cheshire i remember when dillas owned the sweet shop on lydyatte lane and we used to go with pocket money we would always get a few more i also remember the butchers shop was up and running with an abatoire on town field lane then their was the butchers on runcorn rd which used to make the best pies around i remember goin threr after school when the infant schol was there, Posted: 24/11/2007 18:57 by Sandra Bailey |
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