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Wiswell

Wiswell photos

Displaying the first of 1 old photos of Wiswell.   View all Wiswell photos

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Wiswell maps

Historic maps of Wiswell and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis.   View all Wiswell maps

Wiswell area books

Displaying 1 of 17 books about Wiswell and the local area.   View all books for this area

Memories of Wiswell

Wiswell memories
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Displaying a selection of personal memories of Wiswell.
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The Best Weeks of Our Lives

During the 1950s my brother Brian and I (Peter) were what can only be described as whisked to paradise in Wiswell. We left the slums of Hulme on a vacation that has stayed with us forever, it was like taking part in our own fairytale. We went to stay with Mr & Mrs Wearing in the big white house across from the farm on Back Lane, they were very kind and caring people, who opened their home to two boys giving us an experience that would stay with us for a lifetime. We worked on the farm with the lads, hay making, sheep dipping, not forgetting going out on the country lanes in the Wilis jeep, every moment was a treasure, it was our holiday in paradise. The big black and white horse Rodger who I will never forget bit me on the arm. As I look back on the time spent in Wiswell, if I had a time machine it would be my first stop, and probably I would stay there. I... Read more

Lancashire memories

Schoolboy Memories

Born at the Risedale Maternity Home in 1933 we first lived in James Street. I think it was 1937 when we moved to Clevelands Avenue in the new Beacon Hill estate. Barrow was bombed in May 1941 but it was the older part of the town that suffered the most damage. I recall, as a boy, going round the streets looking for shrapnel from the AA guns I suppose. It didn't half tear holes in our pockets. Of course it was the shipyard that was the main target, but we could also see the flames from Liverpool on tha horizon.
In 1945 I started at Barrow Grammar school under Mr SM Price the headmaster. Very strong on discipline, I remember being scared stiff of him but he was probably fair.
I left Barrow in 1947 as my dad decided to move to Rugby.

Langho Hotel

Hi I've been doing my family tree and found out that my grandparents and great-grandparents and my great great grandparents lived and worked in the police in Blackburn. My great-grandfather William Whalley was married to Betsy and lived in the Langho Hotel. But I cannot find out any information about the Langho Hotel! Please can anyone help with any information on the Langho Hotel, or was it a place at all? In the 1911 census it said he lived there with his wife Betsy and their children, at the Langho Hotel, Langho! Please can anyone help?

The Place Where I Was Born

I was born in Whalley, in the second cottage opposite the Catholic Church in the Sands, in December 1924. Next door to us was Mr Sutton who was well known around Whalley for his ice cream. He used to stand outside the abbey gates with his ice cream and he always had raspberry vinegar to put on top of the cones. I went to Whalley C of E School.  Mr J Chew was the headmaster, Miss Edith as we knew her was my kindergarten teacher, other teachers I remember were Miss Forster, Miss Baxter [ who I was in Love with], Miss Roberts, Miss Dyson. I was in the church choir when I was 7, also the Boy Scouts when I was 11, and a bell ringer, when I was 14. In 1932 my parents opened a greengrocery and wet Ffsh business in Park Villas, next door to the Post Office where my grandfather was the Postmaster. In 1935 for King George's Jubilee the Whalley Scouts camped on Kemple End... Read more

The Derbyshire Family - Park Villas

My cousin Eileen Vera Derbyshire was born in Blackburn in 1905 and was adopted by the Derbyshire family, when she went by the name of Nelly / Nellie Swales Derbyshire. She was apparently taken in by Nuns at a convent, so I don't know how she came to live with the Derbyshire family. The family lived at Park Villas for some years, and her adopted father was Samuel Derbyshire, who was a joiner (carpenter), and her mother was Mary Elizabeth Haydon.

From what I can remember Eileen had several siblings - Clare Cecilia, John William, and James. Eileen married in 1934, to Clarence Walton, and I believe there is a line that follows on from them to the present day. Eileen was a school teacher when she married, but I don't know where she taught - probably nearby where she lived in Whalley. Later on, she lived in Mellor, but died in Coventry in the 1990s.

You may remember her as Miss Derbyshire,... Read more

Friends

Whalley Road From Stuttards Mill c1955
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I GREW UP IN SABDEN AND HAVE MANY FOND MEMORIES I LIVED IN WATT STREET BEFORE MOVING TO CLITHEROE RD I WENT TO ST MARYS SCHOOL. I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM OLD SCHOOL PALS .MY NAME WAS TAYLOR

Growing up in Sabden

Whalley Road From Stuttards Mill c1955
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I was born and brought up in Sabden and loved living there, it holds many very happy memories for me. I was born in 1956 Susan Rushton and went to the Nursery School at the Baptist Church Hall before going to Sabden Primary School. I returned to the Baptist Church Hall in my teens as the Youth Club was held there on a Friday night, if anyone remembers these times I would like to hear from them. I have three brothers and two sisters.

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