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Woodbank
Woodbank maps
Historic maps of Woodbank and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Woodbank maps
Woodbank photos
We have no photos of Woodbank, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Shotwick| Puddington| Great Sutton| Mollington| Little Sutton| Childer Thornton| Willaston| Hooton| Ness| Ellesmere Port| Shotton| Queensferry| Chester Zoo| Connah's Quay| Eastham| Manchester Ship Canal| Neston| Raby| Hawarden| Chester| Parkgate| Bromborough| Saltney| Thornton Hough| Gayton| Heswall| Rowton
Woodbank area books
Displaying 1 of 13 books about Woodbank and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Woodbank
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Cheshire memories
The Horned Lady of Shotwick.
Back in 1959, when I was training as a teacher at Chester College (now University), I spent a week doing an environmental studies project in and around Shotwick. Unfortunately my final study was handed in for assessment and never returned. One thing that fascinated me at the time was that a Shotwick lady was reputed to have grown horns. I would be pleased if anyone can refresh my memory of this little piece of Shotwick folklore.
Childhood in The Village!!
I was devastated in 1964 when my mother told me we were to leave the village so that my mother could pursue her dream of owning her own small business elsewhere. It was a dreadful culture shock, one that has remained with me ever since. For now it is my dream to one day move back into the village I grew up in to retire.
I have wonderful memories of halcyon days in the village. We lived in a small cottage on Well Lane and my grandmother Nana Caine lived in another small cottage just a bit further on from us in Willow Cottage. My father's parents, my other grandparents, originally lived in School Cottage on the corner of Gypsy Lane opposite the original old village school where I attended. Nana and Grandad Godwin had a small 'shippon' on the side of the cottage where he kept a few cows for milking and I believe he also worked as a wheelwright. Grandfather rented several fields off a lady in... Read more
The Queen's Visit
I cannot be specific as to the date of the Queen's visit because I was very young at the time.
On the left hand side of the road you can see what was at one time the post office but which later became a carpet shop. On the right hand side of the road (slightly obscured) was Harold Jones's coal merchants yard and next door to it was the green grocers shop which was run by his wife. Everyone was very excited because they were going to see the Queen.
Ledsham Road and Chester Road were lined with people all penned back behind metal barriers with innumerable police men trying to keep the heaving throngs back. The rain poured down and no one could see for the umbrellas. Everyone was soaking wet. The Queen came speeding around the corner in her black, shiny car and everyone cheered and waved their flags even though no-one could see her properly. Luckily I was sitting on top of Harold... Read more
St. George's Presbyterian Church
St. George's Presbyterian Church stands in the forefront of this photograph between what was the Co-operative shop and Tommy Jones the fishmongers shop. How long the Presbyterian Church has stood on this site I don't know but the Church itself was established in Little Sutton in 1838.
Legend has it that that two travellers passing through Little Sutton were stoned by the local youths and upon finding out that there was neither Church nor Chapel in the village paid for it to be built! How true this is I do not know. The Church Hall which was sited next to the old Black Lion pub was demolished in the late 1950s early 1960s and this building was, I suspect, old enough to be the original Chapel/Church which was the subject of the story. I would also add, although this is immaterial, that I was born in Black Lion Lane, and that my ancestors had lived in Little Sutton since at least 1750.
However, I attended at St. George's... Read more
The Rec!
Ah yes, The Rec! Scene of many a battle and many a cup final, in later years there was romance! You could get through the hedge and down onto the railway line to put halfpennies on the line that got flattened by trains as they ran over them.
At the End of Heath Lane, or more accurately at the junction with New Chester Road, a bobby did point duty at busy times. I can remember one day going to school and making a dash across the road and the bobby grabbed me before I went under a car! Probably wouldn't have been fatal - cars didn't get up to much speed in 1959.
When my father was a boy he and a friend were playing in The Rec and Dad got a swing seat thumped into his face that drove his front teeth right through his top lip. He still has the scar at the age of 80!
Also at that junction there used to be a... Read more
Rivacre Baths
We moved to Rivacre in 1960, within sound of the baths. I spent most of my summer holidays there. My cousin Paul James's mum worked on the gate and the owner's son Stephen Williams was my friend at primary school.
The Cubbin Twins
Yes, the Cubbin twins - Alison and Janet. They had an older sister, Shirley, who became a dancer.
I was in love with Janet for years! She was full of life, always laughing and fooling around. I never got up the courage to ask her out and never got round to telling her years later how much I had admired her. I can't now.
The twins' father, Ronnie, was my father's best friend. They grew up together in Childer Thornton and remained friends. Sadly, Ronnie died some years ago but I do remember him so well, a cheery, red-cheeked man, a true son of the soil. He used to work at Pulford's farm in Ledsham and I sometimes went with him at Christmas to slaughter turkeys. Later, he worked at Bowaters when I worked there.
My older sister Sue got married when I was 16. I worked for Hyde's Jewellers in Ellesmere Port at the time and Janet worked at... Read more
