The White Cottage

A Memory of Upton.

I was born in that White Cottage that once stood at the top of Moreton Road and have many happy memories of it and old Upton Village. In the days before the Catholic Church was built, Gemmels Wood used to stretch from Moreton Road to the start of Miss Gemmels Garden and her house which fronted Church Road. The laneway at the back of the Stonehouse Cafe was called Quinesway and they operated a hardware shop which you can just see in the picture. The shop was taken over by the Coop and they sold linens to Manchester. My grandfather lived in that Cottage from before 1900 and raised 10 boys and 1 girl. The one girl was my mum. 5 boys served in the first war, and the other 5 in the second. The board in the front garden advertised my Uncle Walters handiman business, he operated as the 'village handiman' from the end of the war until the end of his life. I moved out in 1958 when I got married and the cottage was knocked down in 1967. My mum, dad and brother where then moved onto the Woodchurch Estate..