The Broome Family And Parbold

A Memory of Parbold.

My great grandparents Samuel and Emily Broome lived at 12 Bradshaw Lane, Parbold during the 1950s and until his death in 1960. They had 9 children, my grandmother Mary being their sixth child. Every Sunday, Broomes from all corners of Wigan and we from Newton le Willows would descend upon Parbold. It was a great adventure, by bus from Newton to Wigan, then by train (steam train in those days) to Parbold. We would pass the canal and wave to the people on the boats and run up the hill to Bradshaw Lane, passing The Plough, where great granddad would enjoy a pint. Great Granddad would be waiting for us to arrive and would pretend he didn't know who I was, and go inside and hide and Great Grandma would say "Don't torment the child, Sam". She would have been baking all morning, the smell of her baking was divine, and we would polish off all the goodies. Our parents would have taken baskets of food as well, as in those days you didn't visit people without taking a little something to share. They were wonderful days, my great grandparents were lovely people. Last year some of us, my aunt, two cousins and one cousin's wife and me, went back there by train to remember those days. Parbold hasn't changed too much, but it wasn't the same without those two wonderful people who made the journey so worthwhile. If all the Broomes (and there are loads of us) wrote a memory of Parbold, it would take many hours to read them all, there will be so many.