Raymond Jones

A Memory of Northwich.

I was born in Sandiway but during my primary and secondary school days we would go to Northwich which I remember from the late fifties and when all the old shops, such as Joe Allman's cottage and Eachus etc were all doing a good trade, Northwich has many happy memories for me. I remember the Bull Ring when the shops were all wooden fronted and the Talbot Hotel and the Methodist Chapel next door where the current Santander Bank is. My great great grandfather was the landlord of the Druids arms in Leicester street before it collapsed due to subsidence long before i was born and then landlord at the Spinner and Bergamot in Comberbach. Three of my great uncles, all brothers, all played for Northwich Victoria, Jack, Arthur and Walter Lees, so i have a lot of family contact with Northwich.
We would go to the brine baths and in the late sixties go with my friends to the seafarer. I remember the Omega gang, I think that's what they were called, riding their lambretta scooters all decked out with many mirrors and other such regalia. I remember seeing the soul groups in the memorial hall such as Johnny Johnson and his bandwagon!! And of course the clothes we would wear to such events, young people today think they are fashionable, they are not a patch on the clothes we had in those days.
I also remember every Saturday an old lady that used to play the accordion for money which apparently she gave to charity and would travel from Chester where she lived. Those were the Golden days of Northwich for me, it has changed a lot and no doubt in 50 years time the present young people will be saying the same as me about Northwich. Northwich is a great place, just a shame shops like Bratts have gone, the wife loved shopping there and she loved walking round Northwich.