Post War Memories

A Memory of Eccles.

I was born in 1950, in the front room of 168, Wellington Road, Eccles. This was my grandparents' house. My mother, Barbara, worked as a telephonist for the GPO, at their exchange on Half Edge Lane. My grandad, Lionel Payne, was a railwayman driver, at Patricroft sheds, whilst my uncle Leonard Payne was an accident inspector for the railway, later rising to become area controller. My grandad rented a small allotment, next to the Railway Mission, which was tucked away under the Four Bridges, across the road from our house. I attended Eccles Parish School, and also the Emmanuel Church Sunday School, also on Wellington Road. Sadly, all the above have now gone, (with the exception of the Four Bridges), which was named so by the engine drivers, because it was the fourth bridge from Eccles Station.
I grew up on the railway shed at Patricroft, and as a child had unrestricted access to all. Try that on now, with 'elf & safety!
In later years, I attended Winton Senior School for boys, and spent a lot of my free time at Eccles Youth Centre, which I think was on Chadwick Road.
I joined the Army in 1967, and never returned to Eccles.
Dave Parkinson.