Rokeden – Poem by J H Lane

Steven Dowd

There is not in dear Newton a picture so pretty As the green rocky dean at the north of the town; Oh, the sight of this valley inspires a sweet ditty, Of sprightliest measure, its beauties to crown. From the old Castle Hill to the Lady Hill stretching, What a sylvan display greets the visitors eye! A succession of scenes worth an artistic sketching In bright colours to equal the bow in the sky. First the bridge oer the lake claims the life-limning brushes, With its background of trees on…

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The Newton in Makerfield Volunteers

Steven Dowd

In 1803, when there commenced a period of twelve years of imminent danger of invasion, and a force of volunteers, stated to amount to 463,134 men, was raised for local service. At this time a corps was formed in Newton with Thomas Claughton, Esq., of Haydock Lodge, as colonel, from the Orderly Book of which corps (now in the Warrington museum) we give a few extracts:- Newton, Octr. 2nd, 1803 R.O. Mercury, 10 die Augusti, 1803 Resolved, nemine contradicente Ordered… That a copy of the resolution of the House of…

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Tommy Burns jump off the 9 Arches?

Steven Dowd

Tommy Burns was a young Widnes man who had been causing no end of a sensation up and down the country by his high diving feats. He laid no claims to being a great) swimmer but he had cer?tainly perfected the art of diving. Height never daunted him, he always gave a per?fect performance and did not demand very deep water for he had no sooner cut the water than he was swimming on the surface Burns was travelling about the country giving exhibitions of diving for what he could…

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Castle Hill (Road)

Steven Dowd

This road is clearly visable going straight across the fields towards the mound, at some points the trackway (road) is over 2 meters higher than the surrounding fields. This next image will take a while to download as its 150kb, sorry its a little larger than normal, but its a full 360 degree view of the area. You can see clearly in this view that the Castle Hill Rd, snakes across the fields from Newton high st directly to the mound, The M6 moterway being the first thing to break…

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ST. John the Baptist, Earlestown Parish Church

Steven Dowd

Canon Whitley, Rector of Newton-in-Makerfield, recognised that the population of Earlestown was growing and there was a need for their own Parish Church. On May 27,1874, Canon Whitley, called a meeting at which it was decided to build a new church in the Earlestown area. The Original Design by Whitley & Fry of Dover The original plans for the Church were drawn up by Messrs. Whitley & Fry of Dover and they produced a design for a building in Early English style to seat 900 persons and costing an esitmated…

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Vulcan to Warrington: The Roman Road

Steven Dowd

THE ROMAN ROAD FROM NEWTON BROOK TO THE SOUTH OF THE PARISH CHURCH, WARRINGTON. An account of the investigation carried through by G. A. Dunlop, F.S.A., and Colonel B. Fairclough, C.M.G., D .S .0. [Reference Maps, Ordnance Survey, 6 inches to 1 mile ; Lancashire, sheet CVIII, NE., 1928 ; Lancashire, sheet CVIII, SE., 1929 ; Lancashire, sheet CIX, SW., and Cheshire, Part sheet XVI, 1908 ; Lancashire, sheet CXVI, NW. Cheshire, Part sheets XVI and XVII, 1929.] INTRODUCTION. THE Ordnance Survey Maps, Lancashire, sheet CVIII, NE., and Lancashire, sheet…

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A visit to the works of the Vulcan Foundry, 1927

Steven Dowd

The party travelled by 1.0 p.m. train from Exchange Station, Manchester, to Earlstown Junction, a saloon having been engaged for their accomodation. On arrival at the works at 1.45 p.m., the party were welcomed by Mr. Whalley, and also Mr. Lane, Works Manager, who together with other members of the staff, personally conducted the members round the works. Much interest was displayed in the three-cylinder compound engines which were being built for the L.M.S. Railway Company. There was evidence on every side of up-to-date methods of manufacture and good workmanship.…

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Randalls Nurseries / The Arch, Newton High St

Steven Dowd

Colonel Thomas Peter Legh was the person who originally Built the Archway we now see in Newton High Street, It was built as a gateway to Haydock Park/Lodge, Peter Legh was still a serving Officer at the time the Arch was being built, and while away at camp he apparently left orders with the workmen that he should be the first person to pass through the arched gates after their completion. His orders were of-course obeyed, but unhappily for Col. Peter Legh, he was borne through them first when Dead,…

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The History of Newton Hall

Steven Dowd

The History of Newton Hall , Newton-le-Willows Introduction During the course of the research many details were found relating to Newton Hall in Newton-le-Willows (formerly Newton in Makerfield). These include not only the names of a number of the owners and occupiers but also a description of the interior of the property and some of the earlier history of the site. It would appear that Newton Hall stands on the site of or at least very close to the site of another property, long gone. Built in 1634, the later…

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Emmetts Brow and Earlestown Wagon Works

Steven Dowd

In the website forums the last few days there have been a few requests for information about Emmetts Brow, where it is and who was its named after, I thought that this extract from an LNWR Book I have would help answer a few questions. Mr. J. Watson Emmett EARLESTOWN came to be the primary wagon manufacturing and repair works for the LNWR. The origin of the Works can be traced back to before the formation of the company. The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was opened in 1837 from Birmingham…

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Highwayman – Winwick, Red Bank Mill

Steven Dowd

I posted last week about a newspaper article I read about a local Highway Robbery, here now are the details: GENERAL POST OFFICEWednesday, November 12, 1800. The post-Boy carrying the Mail on Horseback from WARRINGTON to WIGAN was stopt about Half-past Two oClock in the Morning of Sunday 9th inst.. between Winwick and RED Bank MIll, by a Man on Foot, who after a struggle with the Rider pulled him off his Horse which the Robber mounted, and rode away with the Mail, containing the following bags of letters, viz.The…

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Nobel Prize for local born man

Steven Dowd

He served as professor of immunology at St. Marys Hospital Medical School, London, until 1967, when he joined the faculty at the University of Oxford. Porter approached the problem of antibody structure by using an enzyme, papain, to cleave the bloods immunoglobulin molecule into functionally different fragments, which were then amenable to structural analysis. Edelman, working independently, used different methods to break up the molecule, and concluded that rather than a single chain of amino acids, it was a multichain entity. Porter and his research team were then able to…

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The Curzon Cinema, 28th October, 1935

Steven Dowd

Heres some history for the Curzon Cinema, which I have transcribed from an original opening day booklet. Since the Curzon is now but a burned out shell I thought it appropriate to add some history on the building into the website OPENING CEREMONY At 6.15 p.m. on Monday the 28th of October, 1935. The Managing Director will introduce Mrs. Frank Haslam, who has kindly consented to open the Curzon Luxury Cinema. Following the Opening Ceremony, a bouquet will be presented to Mrs. Haslam by Miss Houghton. On behalf of the…

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Roman Road – Archaeologists Evaluation Dig

Steven Dowd

The Demolition The odd thing is, this was all happening right besides my house, I was overlooking the whole archaeological evaluation. It was like having my own personal Time Team, right next door. The house beyond this evaluation trench is my own humble residence. I may have to revise this text later if my understanding of the evaluations prooves wrong, but as I understand it, the archeaologists were looking for remains of the Roman Road and also a Tannery, from published information and local maps from different periods its well…

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£200 REWARD – Red Bank Highwayman

Steven Dowd

I found this interesting bit of history while searching the web, this is a bit of text about the “THE SUN” Newspaper, from Thursday 13th November 1800. This Issue features a prominent front page advertisement announcing a £200 REWARD for the arrest of the HIGHWAYMAN who robbed the WARRINGTON MAIL between WINWICK and RED BANK HILL. He pulled the post boy off his horse and made off with the mailbag. Nearby were found a pistol, cap, plate and feather suggesting that the robber belonged to the QUEENS OWN REGIMENT OF…

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