Memories of Alderley Edge
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Life on the Edge
I arrived in Alderley Edge in 1950, after spending my early years at Clockhouse Farm in Mottram St Andrew. I came to live in the Coachman’s House to Croston Towers, a large castellated residence torn down at the end of World War II, due to damage by American troops billeted there. It had been the home of the Schill Family, but Melland Schill had died in 1916, when a Lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers. His name is engraved on the village War Memorial. Croston Towers comprised the plot bounded by Tempest Road, Woodbrook Road, and Macclesfield Road; in the region of 6 to 8 acres. In 1950, the only buildings on the site were the Coachman’s House with its stables, coach house, and workshops, at the top of Tempest Road, and Croston Lodge at the junction of Tempest Road and Macclesfield Road. The drive to Croston Towers is now the private road into Croston Close, with houses costing up to £4,000,000. The difference between the standard of living of the ‘owners’ in residences like Croston Towers, and the ‘workers’ in the slums of the north-western mill towns must have been almost indescribable. The only vehicle access to the Coachman’s House was either through the main house drive or through a rear access gate halfway along Tempest Road. My parents built a new access at the corner of Tempest Road and Woodbrook Road and gradually broke-up the glazed yellow tiles that comprised the stable and coach-house floors, in order to construct a fascinating garden. As a small boy I had free run of the Croston Towers plot. The main house had been completely demolished and the site cleared by 1950, and the garden had become completely overgrown, with many hidden pathways and wild rhododendrons. It made for exciting and adventurous times, especially when playing Cowboys and Indians. In about 1954 the first new houses were built on the plot, with the Porter’s large family home being constructed right in the centre of the old garden. The Dick family built a new house on the foundations of the old house, and third house was built between the Dick’s house and Macclesfield Road. These were all large detached houses, and well away from the roads encircling the plot. Three more houses were built later, with access from Woodbrook Road. A footpath from Woodbrook Road wound around the back of Penn House and passed by the Wizard’s Well, well known for its legend ‘Drink of this and take thy fill, for the water falls by the Wizard’s will’; and went onto Castle Rock and Stormy Point. Bollin Towers was occupied by the Sellars family at that time, with Mr Sellars being an architect. His daughter Mariel and I used to be able to communicate at night by flashing our bedroom lights on and off. The house was later divided into two, with the Sellars family retaining the ‘tower’ portion of the house. It deprived us of a long polished hall, where we could run a wooden train. I remember going up some greasy wooden steps to the top of the small tower, and having one of the very best views in Cheshire. As a ‘paper boy’ for the Edge houses, I not only had a lot of papers to deliver but a lot of miles to pedal along house drives. Houses like Franklynn (previously the Firs), had every Sunday paper available and at least three daily papers. Its plot was almost as big as Croston Towers, stretching from Franklynn Lodge to a back gate on Underwood Road. It was only after 1956 that more houses were built on this plot. I attended the Methodist Chapel at the time and remember the annual walking parade through the village behind the band and the Chapel banner, and the annual Sunday school garden parties at the Moxon’s family house off Macclesfield Road. Adrian Moxon was afflicted with a ‘hare lip’, a condition corrected by routine surgery these days, but a permanent disfigurement some 50 years ago. Their garden was so large they even had a small train in it; very popular for the Sunday school parties. One of my few regrets is that I never got to see Croston Towers; so if any reader knows any of its details or even has a photograph or sketch of the house I would be very grateful to see it. Graham Dilliway 1, Corunna Drive Horsham West Sussex RH13 5HG 01403-254040 jgrahamd@aol.com Posted: 12/04/2007 21:24 by Graham Dilliway |
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