Living There

A Memory of Balderstone.

As a young boy I used to stay at my aunt's house in Commons Lane. It may well be the house pictured? During summer school hols my brother Ken and I were often taken by our 'mam' on the Ribble bus to Mellor Brook, from where we had to walk to get to auntie's house, probably about 3 to 4 miles. The whole outing was someting of an adventure as often we were accompanied by mam's friend(s) and their offspring.
In good weather we could run ahead and play in a small wood until the grown ups caught up. If we were only going for the day the time sped by and the reverse journey could be tiring, and we were glad to reach the Millstone pub to wait for the bus. Lemonade outside for us kids and stronger stuff, inside, for the grownups.
If Ken and I were to stay for a few days this was great, there were some lads, the Kelsalls, and they showed us much of the surrounding district incl. the Horseshoe Bend and lots of other intersting places. Our cousins Barbara and Pauline Smith were friends of the Kelsalls and we went around as a group.
Later in life I used to cycle from Blackburn to spend happy days at Balderstone. My aunt and uncle are long gone, cousin Pauline lives at Mellor, Barbara is at Blackburn, Ken is also at Blackburn, I live near Wigan.