Month: September 2024

The parish of Winwick

Steven Dowd

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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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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1934: NEWTON-IN-MAKERFIELD’S INCORPORATION EFFORT

Steven Dowd
Newton-in-Makerfield 1934

PURSUING BOROUGH STATUS: The pursuit of borough status by town councils in the early 20th century reflects a moment of civic ambition and a desire for self-determination within growing communities. For towns like Newton-in-Makerfield, which lay between two industrial powerhouses, the application for incorporation as a borough in 1934 was not only about acquiring a charter but also about asserting its identity, securing greater autonomy, and enhancing its position within the wider region. At the heart of this drive for borough status was the belief that such a change would…

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1889: A “SMALL RIOT” AT BURTONWOOD.

Steven Dowd

Leigh Chronicle – Friday 20 December 1889 Nine boys named Schofield Jackson, Charles Jackson, Thomas Haverty, James Haverty, Henry Dalton, James Dalton, Joseph Dalton, James Millington, and Ernest Naylor, were charged with assaulting Thomas Dutton at Burtonwood by throwing stones on the 17th ult. Mr. H. L. Riley prosecuted, and Mr. Jenkins defended. Mr. Riley stated that his client had been a witness in several cases in which Burtonwood boys were interested, and in consequence of that he seemed to have become obnoxious to the boys who formed something like…

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1880: A walk around the Newton-le-Willows Neighbourhood.

Steven Dowd
Warrington Examiner

Letters to the Editor…Warrington Examiner – Saturday 24 April 1880 Sir, As “the mild season, that time when rain from above falling makes all things green, and springing flowers awake from sleep and hail the wished-for day,” invited to take a walk, and the time being convenient, I strolled into Burtonwood, or, as perhaps it ought to be called, Bowyer-town-wood, passing the ruins of the mill erected by T.P.L., 1793, and under the viaduct, a picturesque object, as seen from Newton Common, and on to Bradley Hall (similar in name…

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