Category: Local History

Vulcan Foundry: Locomotive History

Steven Dowd
The ENUII Website

Not sure how many people ever visited the ENUII website which Graeme Pilkington had put online, with its history of the Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows, unfortunatly his website went offline a few months ago, and his domain name was then purchased by an internet advertising company. I contacted Graeme the person who put together the ENUII website and the result is that he has found for me an old 2015 backup of the ENUII website content, I’ve uploaded this into my webspace. It seemed a shame to lose the resource.…

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The Lake – Poem by J H Lane

Steven Dowd

I. FULL sixty years ago, a pretty vale (Now hidden neath the waters of the lake) Extended, in a winding course, from where The railway arches span the road and brook, To Castle Hill, and thence, diverging, ran Eastwards to Golborne Dale, and westwards joined The little sylvan valley of the Dene. Adown each vale a rippling streamlet flowed, Which, at the hill commingling, journeyed on Twixt flowery banks, and murmured past the spot Where now the strong embankment separates The winding lake and willow-shaded brook, Until it reached the…

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Burtonwood RAF/USAF Airbase

Steven Dowd
Burtonwood RAF/USAF Airbase

Burtonwood Airbase, located in Lancashire, England, served as a pivotal logistical and operational hub during World War II and continued its strategic role into the Cold War. Established in the early 1940s, the base rapidly became one of the largest and most important maintenance and supply depots for the Allied air forces in Europe. This analysis explores the various facets of Burtonwood’s historical significance, including its strategic importance, operational roles, leadership and innovations, the challenges of personnel and training, and its impact on the local community and legacy. Understanding these…

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Bradley Hall, Burtonwood

Steven Dowd
Bradley Hall, Burtonwood

GATEWAY, BRADLEY OLD HALL. Within a distance of three miles from Bewsey Hall, stood the ancient manor house of Bradley, environed by its still perfect moat, and approached by the picturesque gateway or bartizan, which forms the subject of my third vignette. The estate of Bradley came into the family of the Legh’s of Lyme by the marriage of Sir Peter Legh, who was knighted after the battle of Agincourt, with Joan, daughter and heiress of Sir Gilbert de Haydock, the former possessor of Bradley. It is, therefore, not unlikely…

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Bold Old Hall

Steven Dowd
The Old Bold Hall - Views of Halls and Castles

BY CHARLES MADELEY: Curator and Librarian of the Warrington Museum. The Old Hall of Bold, in the township of that name and in the ancient parish of Prescot, stands in the fields some three quarters of a mile north of the Manchester and Liverpool Road, about four miles west of Warrington. The portion now remaining of the extensive structure shown in the vignette which adorned the original title page of Philips’ work, is probably represented in the plate by the tower-like block of stone building on the extreme left of…

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1154 – 1812: The Bold’s of Bold

Steven Dowd
The New Bold Hall

The Bold family of Lancashire, associated closely with Bold Hall and the surrounding townships, has a rich and storied history that dates back to before the Norman Conquest of 1066. This essay will explore the lineage of the Bold family, the architectural and cultural significance of Bold Hall, and the evolution of the associated townships over the centuries. Origins and Early History The Bold family’s roots in Lancashire trace back to a period before the Norman Conquest, suggesting an ancient lineage deeply embedded in the region’s history. The earliest documented…

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BOLD TOWNSHIP & MANOR

Steven Dowd
The Old Bold Hall

BOLD TOWNSHIP & MANOR Bolde, 1212; Boulde, 1332; the final e is wanting in some cases as early as 1300. The area, which measures 4,483 acres, (fn. 1) is divided by a brook, now called Whittle Brook, but formerly Holbrook, running across it from the north-west boundary to Great Sankey. Cambal Wood lay in the south-east corner; on the south was Bold Heath, with Crow Heath and Lunt Heath on the borders of Cuerdley and Widnes. In the south-west corner was Cranshaw Hall. The flat and open country is divided…

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1921: The Burtonwood Lychgate War Memorial

Steven Dowd
Burtonwood Lychgate War Memorial

Burtonwood War Memorial Newton and Earlestown Guardian – Wednesday 13 May 1920 The Question of the erection of a war memorial in Burtonwood for those in the village who made the supreme sacrifice in the war, had been under consideration for some time, and at a meeting of the churchwardens and sidesmen of the parish church, plans and estimates of the cost of a Lych gate were submitted for inspection. Burtonwood – The War Memorial. Runcorn Examiner – Saturday 29 May 1920The Burtonwood Parish Magazine:- “The Lych Gate War Memorial…

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The Parish Church of St. John the Baptist, Earlestown

Steven Dowd
St. John the Baptist, Earlestown

A Brief History with details of some of the individuals involved with the Church between 1878 to 1932 Some sixty or seventy years ago Earlestown was a small but growing collection of houses, built to meet the needs of the workers at the Viaduct Wagon Works and situated in the parish of Newton-in-Makerfield, the nearest Church being that of Emmanuel, Wargrave. As the works extended and a large increase of population became resident, Canon Whitley, then Rector of Wargrave, seeing the necessity of providing religious services and instruction, erected an…

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1939: Historical Burtonwood Church re-opened

Steven Dowd
St Michaels pre 1936 and post 1939

Newton and Earlestown Guardian – Friday 06 October 1939 Several years ago abandoned as unsafe and unfit for human habitation, St. Michael’s Church, Burtonwood. was re-opened and consecrated on Saturday afternoon us a modern church. It had been rebuilt and a more lofty tower has made its appearance, numerous structural alterations have been made to the interior, and the parishioners can now consider that the inconvenience of holding the services in the Church Hall, Green Lane, for the past years. has been well worth while. The church is one of…

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PUGIN AND THE RE-BUILDING OF WINWICK CHANCEL

Steven Dowd
Winwick Church

By the Rev. W. A. Wickham: 28th November 1907 Perhaps no man set so deep a mark, directly and indirectly, upon the English church architecture of the nineteenth century as Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, of whom Dean Stanley spoke as “that splendid, if eccentric, genius, who gave himself, though not with undivided love, to the service of another Communion” (qu. Scott, Recollections, p. 390). Ruskin, indeed, sneered at Pugin’s genius, and spoke of him (Stones of Venice, Append. 12; qu. Ferrey, Recollections, p. 164) as “one of the smallest possible…

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1865: GREAT FIRE AT NEWTON PRINTING WORKS.

Steven Dowd
Old Legh Arms Hotel - McCorquodales Printing

Manchester Courier – Saturday 18 February 1865 That portion of the railway and general printing works of Messrs. McCorquodale and Co., known as the old Legh Arms Hotel, Newton-le-Willows, and close to the Newton Station, was destroyed by fire on Thursday. Fortunately, the fire, though most destructive, did not reach the adjoining building, so well known in past years as the Old Conservative Hall, in which and adjoining is carried on a most extensive printing, binding, and stereotyping business, employing nearly 300 hands. The fire was discovered at about forty-five…

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1891: THE SANKEY VIADUCT DIVE.

Steven Dowd
Sankey Viaduct - Tommy Burns

TOMMY BURNS’ ATTEMPTED DIVE: Completed by local Collier.Newton and Earlestown Guardian – Friday 13 November 1891 The inhabitants of Earlestown, Newton and surrounding district were considerably moved last week end by the startling announcement that Tommy Burns, the champion diver, who has gained such notoriety around Liverpool, Runcorn and district by his swimming and diving feats, would dive off the Viaduct Bridge or “Nine Arches,” on Saturday afternoon at three o’clock. The bridge is nearly 70 feet high, while the water in the canal is only about seven feet deep,…

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Burtonwood: THE LIMERICK HOTEL

Steven Dowd
The Limerick Hotel

With some historical gleanings from the archives. The Limerick was a pub located at the very end of runway 22 on the north east of the airfield fronting onto Cow Lane (now Burtonwood Road). It was a typical country pub with few home comforts but served a good pint of Burtonwood beer and basic food was sometimes available. It was frequented by the local farmers and villagers from Burtonwood and suddenly burst into life when RAF Burtonwood was built. Initially the Irish navvies who built the base went there for…

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The parish of Winwick

Steven Dowd
winwick-church

The ancient parish of Winwick lies between Sankey Brook on the south-west and Glazebrook and a tributary on the north and east, the distance between these brooks being 4½ or 5 miles. The extreme length of the parish is nearly 10 miles, and its area 26, 502 acres. The highest ground is on the extreme north-west border, about 350 ft.; most of the surface is above the 100 ft. level, but slopes down on three sides to the boundaries, 25 ft. being reached in Hulme in the south. The geological…

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