ICI MIDDLEWICH WORKS COMMEMORATIVE PHOTO 1962

ICI MIDDLEWICH WORKS in Brooks Lane. Photo courtesy of John Bailey/Bill Armsden. Reproduced with permission.

by Dave Roberts

This photograph of the ICI Works in Middlewich is dated 1962 and has been restored to near-mint condition by Bill Armsden, who writes:

This photograph, taken in 1962, is of the ICI Works which could be seen from Booth Lane and was located to the right of where the Kings Lock Pub is.

Pochins now sits where this works was.

I have cleaned up and enhanced the picture and it is now almost mint. It is hard to believe that just over 50 years ago this dominated the view from St Anns and Kitfield Avenues.

Do you remember it? I do.


Bill says that the photo has the year 1962 written on the back, and was one of many copies given out to workers at ICI Middlewich when the works closed in that year. 

This particular copy belongs to John Bailey, who now lives in Knutsford.*

I have a vague feeling that this photo may have been taken before 1962, as the buildings and apparatus on the site don't look exactly as I remember them at that time. Then again, I was only a youngster in 1962, so I may be mistaken. 

Does anyone know if this is indeed how the works looked in 1962?

Here's a different view of part of the works, courtesy of Bill Eaton

ICI DISTILLER BUILDING

And a late 1950s view of the SUC Middlewich Branch, also from Bill Armsden's collection, which includes a glimpse of the works.

CANAL SCENE FROM THE LATE 1950s

Many thanks to Bill and also to John Bailey* for allowing us to feature this historic photo.

UPDATE (4th March 2018)

From Australia, Bevan Goodall writes:

'Thanks, Dave, for making this photo available.

I left ICI Middlewich in 1960 to emigrate to Australia, so I didn't receive a copy. 

I remember working one freezing winter thirty-odd metres up the side of the distillation plant, installing some removable panels.

I had my billy-can of tea laced with rum sitting on a steam-pipe nearby.

Harry Sandbach, the foreman - a lovely guy - was in the habit of helping himself to a drink when he came around to inspect what was going on.

He had a sip of my tea.

After a 'what the heck!' it didn't take him long to have another one!

Of course that wouldn't happen today with the current 'Health & Safety' regime...'



Many thanks to Bevan for this story, and how nice that he was able to get hold of his copy of the commemorative  photo of the works, albeit electronically, 58 years on -Ed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* Sadly, since this diary entry was first published, John has passed away. -Ed

Bill Armsden writes:

'My dear friend John Bailey sadly passed away suddenly in September last year from a massive heart attack. It was always his intention to make a private video of 'his Middlewich' as he was Middlewich born and bred.
Sadly, that will never happen but we can thank him for the 8mm film shot in his car during the late 1960's whilst he travelled from St Annes Avenue through to Chester Zoo. The Middlewich Diary was given a copy of that film and John was very happy to do that.'

We were very sorry to hear of John's passing. Here's the link to that precious film -Ed

GLIMPSES OF MIDDLEWICH AND WINSFORD IN THE 60s

Please note that this film is temporarily unavailable, due to a technical problem. We hope to have the link restored very soon -Ed.

First published 28th February 2014
Re-published 28th February 2018
and 27th July 2018

Links repaired. Entry re-published 26th February 2021

Re-published 2nd September 2021

EXCLUSIVE: GLIMPSES OF MIDDLEWICH AND WINSFORD IN THE 1960s

'....each a glimpse, and gone forever...'
                                         -Robert Louis Stevenson

by Dave Roberts

Courtesy of Bill Armsden and John Bailey here's a rare chance to see a few fleeting glimpses of Middlewich and Winsford as they were towards the end of the 1960s, captured on 8mm cine film and digitised so that we can enjoy them today. The scenes we see here are just part of a longer film chronicling a family day out at Chester Zoo, circa 1968, and offer us the chance to see our town at the very end of what we like to call its 'salt town days' (the open pan works all having closed in 1966/7) and before major housing development and 'gentrification' started in earnest. There are also some glimpses of Winsford taken at the same time.

Watch it here:

Or Watch it on YouTube

Here's what you'll see:

We start in Booth Lane, and ahead of us is the bridge over the canal junction. To the right is that long-gone building which once stood at the junction of Booth Lane and Brooks Lane (currently causing much controversy as drivers choose to ignore the 'one way' restrictions on the bridge). For many years the building housed a bakery, but the Lyons Maid ice cream sign shows us that this film was made in the period when the shop was operated by Clarence Costello and his wife Mary. Costello's had shops in various parts of the town, including Kinderton Street and Wheelock Street, at various periods in the town's history.

If you inspect the Booth Lane side of the bridge today, you'll see that the wall once curved round to join the canal-side wall of the shop.

Next we leap ahead to Lewin Street, and get a glimpse of the CofE Infant School on the right. 

And this is where we know we really are in the past because, instead of bearing right to go down into Leadsmithy Street and the Junction with St Michael's Way, we go to the left to pass over Hightown and thus into the town centre.
Dead ahead is the old Town Hall and a row of shops where the amphitheatre is today.

In the town centre we see Dewhurst's butchers shop and, to its left and set back from the road, the Vaults, the sign for which can be seen on the end wall of the shop next door. Those two shops are still there,and are now both hairdressers. The one on the left we made famous a few years ago as 'Sharon's cafe'

We turn into Wheelock Street and again we know instantly that we're looking at a scene from many years ago, as the traffic is travelling both ways.

Notice, on the right, the Davies School of Motoring in just one of the row of shops which are now given over completely to the justly famous Temptations business.

Ahead of us to the right we can see a building which spent many years as Brooks & Bostock, after its move from just across the road. On its end wall can be seen another long-vanished Middlewich sight, the billboard advertising the many delights of Belle Vue.

Now to Chester Road, and, on the left, where now we find Morrisons, is Middlewich Motors with its Mobil Garage. Beneath the Mobil sign you might be able to catch a glimpse of another sign saying Boosey's Nurseries.

Next we're on Spital Hill, climbing towards Winsford. Of all the locations in this short film, this is the one which has changed the least.

Next we're approaching the bridge just before Winsford Station (or, as older people will know it, Gravel).
Here we turn right for a pit stop at the Railway Hotel, which once sported a sign depicting a slightly wonky looking Stephenson's Rocket, and is now known as the Brighton Belle.

And next we're in Winsford High Street, before the dual carriageway was driven straight through the heart of the town. Unfortunately for us, the camera concentrates on the right hand side of the road, showing us the Brunner Guildhall and other buildings which are still very much with us. There are, though, tantalising glimpses of the now-vanished left hand side of the High Street.

And so this all too brief glimpse into the past comes to an end as we take the old road out of Winsford and head for Chester and the delights of its famous zoo.

You'll notice the road signs, which give us a clue as to the age of this film. This type of sign, so familiar to us now, was only introduced in the early to mid-sixties, so would have been quite new at the time of filming. They look a little incongruous here, surrounded as they are by much older road infrastructure.

Of course we have to remember that the scenes of Middlewich and Winsford seen here - all of them just a few seconds long - were just 'setting the scene'. They were included in the finished film (which was, don't forget, a record of a Middlewich family's trip to the zoo) to show where that family travelled from on their day out. There was no thought of capturing Middlewich and Winsford 'for posterity'. At least we don't think there was.

Apart from anything else 8mm cine film was very expensive and the majority of it would have been saved for filming the animals at the zoo.

But aren't we glad the cameraman/woman* decided to expend just a little of that precious film on the journey?

* Apparently it was either John Bailey himself, or his wife doing the camera work.

Here's the film again, in slow motion

Watch it here:

Or Watch it on YouTube

Our thanks to Bill and John for going to the trouble (and not inconsiderable expense)

of rescuing this rare film for posterity and also granting the Middlewich Diary the privilege of bringing it to you.

VIDEOS © Bill Armsden/John Bailey 2017

First published 19th January 2017

Reformatted and republished 9th November 2019

Vimeo videos replaced by YouTube versions.

Sadly, since this Diary entry was published both Bill and John have passed away. We`d like to dedicate this Diary entry, which we know will be enjoyed for years to come, to their memory. Ed.

9th June 2020

OUR MASTHEAD FOR FEBRUARY 2017

Our February 2017 Masthead (also used in October 2016)

Our masthead photo for February 2017 (also used in October 2016) features a foggy day in Middlewich captured by Bill Armsden. Bill says that, as far as he remembers, the photo was taken in the winter of 2015.
It's something of a mystery photo as, at first glance, it appears to be a rural scene, perhaps taken on the outskirts of the town on the Shropshire Union heading towards Minshull Vernon? Or maybe on the T&M somewhere near Whatcroft?*
In fact we're looking at a scene which is very urban indeed. This is King's Lock in Booth Lane. Out of shot to the left is the pub which takes its name from the lock - one clue to its nearby presence is those picnic tables which, during the summer, are thronged with people enjoying a drink in the open air. 
Out of shot to the right, on the other side of Booth Lane, is that justly famous Middlewich institution,Etta Mault's chipshop.
And lurking in the mist behind the bush, left of centre, are the utilitarian industrial buildings which were once part of the ERF Service Centre, built on part of the old ICI Alkali Works. 
Perhaps the only real clue as to the true location of Bill's photo is the HGV tractor unit on the right trundling through the fog on its way to Sandbach or the M6 motorway.
They say that every picture tells a story. But the story is not always what you might think it is...

* This would, of course, be impossible. There are no locks on the Trent & Mersey between Middlewich and Preston Brook.

THE BEST OF MIDDLEWICH: MIDDLEWICH PHOTOGRAPHERS and THE 21st CENTURY TECHNOLOGY & CAMERA GROUP

FLYER - MARCH 2015

Almost certainly the longest title yet for a Middlewich Diary entry!
We've put together the original Middlewich Photographers Group and the 21st Century Technology & Camera Group in this entry because, in this day and age, the two go hand in glove and many, if not all, members of Middlewich Photographers are also members of the new group..
Photography has taken to computer technology like a duck to water and, using modern computer software, many ordinary photographs can be made into works of art without the need to resort to the traditional darkroom. If you've just switched to digital from film photography, or recently upgraded your digital camera, you want to learn about the techniques used and the tremendous possibilities brought about by new ways of working, this group could be just the thing for you.
Meetings of the 21st Century Group are held at Willowmere in East Road and feature talks by group members and guest speakers, as well as opportunities to exchange information and ask questions.
Regular outings and photo-shoots are also held and the group also holds social evenings at the White Bear.
As you may have noticed, many of the modern-day photographs on the Middlewich Diary come from members of these groups.
We're always on the look out for photographs, old and new, taken in and around Middlewich, and we always acknowledge our sources and provide links to Facebook Pages, websites etc. when requested.

MIDDLEWICH PHOTOGRAPHERS FACEBOOK PAGE

21st CENTURY TECHNOLOGY & CAMERA GROUP ON FACEBOOK


Website:

Watch IT & C

Email (Cliff Astles):

21stctncg@gmail.com

Tel: 07971 136360

UPDATE - 20th DECEMBER 2014:

Cliff Astles writes:

TEENAGERS-plus our more mature community members...


YOUR LOCAL CHESHIRE TECHNOLOGY GROUP NEEDS YOU!!!

In 2015 the 21st Century Technology & Camera Group will be looking for many more TEENAGERS to join CHESHIRE'S quickly growing Technology and Camera group.
We would like you to share your own mobile phone and tablet knowledge / experience with members, who in return can offer you many years photography work and business experience, with guidance on how to gain places of work in the vastly expanding commercial MEDIA work places in the UK.

We intend to spend a considerable amount of the GRANT monies recently provided by Middlewich Town Council and Cheshire East, by providing a MEMBER TRAINING PC Work Station, with a very large TV monitor, fitted with the latest PHOTO POST PROCESSING SOFTWARE.

This will ensure our younger members can gain FREE...ONE to ONE personal training by experts and existing members with years of real experience, in using this type of software, in a real workplace environment.

What better for YOU in today's competition for jobs, to have on your own C.V. a note to say you already belong to a local technology and camera group, have worked with people in the group who have years of media experience, and to be able to show photos of your work, completed whilst being a group member.

INTERESTED to find out more? call 07971 136360 & speak to Cliff, or go to our on-line FACEBOOK site, and join the group today, if this is for YOU?
or SHARE info with friends who may wish to know more 


UPDATE - 28th MARCH 2015

Cliff Astles writes:

Have digital camera? 
Want to learn how to take real photos............not just snaps.
Check out the above Flyer and make your middle Wednesday of each month, one for you to find out more about photography, with like minded friends of all ages.

First published 7th December 2014
Updated 20th December 2014,
7th January 2015,
28th March 2015

MORRISONS COMES TO MIDDLEWICH

28th January 2013

A PHOTO FEATURE BY BILL ARMSDEN

with commentary by Dave Roberts

The opening of a new supermarket in other towns is usually a matter of fleeting interest to most people. A few lines and a display ad or two in the local newspaper  and a leaflet drop to let everyone  know the new store is in business are usually the only indication of a new addition to the local shopping scene.
This, it hardly needs to be said, is not the case in Middlewich where anything new on the (metaphorical) High Street, and in particular anything which adds to local choice is welcomed with great enthusiasm (leavened, of course, with the usual moans and complaints).
Middlewich's shopping woes date back to the late 1960s when towns all around had caught the Supermarket bug with a vengeance. Crewe, Northwich and Winsford (though not, oddly, Sandbach) all climbed aboard the supermarket bandwagon and the shopping pattern for the next forty or fifty years was established.
For Middlewich this meant travelling to a nearby town to do a weekly, or monthly, 'big shop' and picking up a limited number of other items in our town's smaller shops.
The nearest thing that Middlewich could boast to a 'supermarket' until Somerfields came on the scene was the 'Co-operative Superstore' in the town centre which replaced several shops around the town owned by the Winsford Co-op. Part of this enormous building is now a Tesco Express store.
It's important to remember that one of the main problems which Middlewich has faced over the years has been  relatively low population growth compared with other towns in the area. The 'magic figure' of 15,000 which has been quoted as the trigger-point for major chain stores and High Street retailers to look at establishing themselves here has still not been reached, despite all the house building which has gone on in recent years, so things have remained static, save for the take-over of the Somerfields store by Tesco and the building of the cut-price Lidl store on Chester Road.
The predicted 'Store Wars' which were supposed to have erupted when Morrisons built their store fizzled out in the very week of the new store's opening, with Tesco announcing that it would not, after all, be building a massive store in the centre of town - a store which, for once, would have merited that often misused 'superstore' tag.
So is it any wonder that when Monday 28th January came along all eyes were on the gleaming new Morrisons supermarket in Newton Bank/Chester Road which would herald the dawn of a new era for shopping in Middlewich?

Bill Armsden was there bright and early with his camera to capture the opening of Morrisons where Boosey's Garden Centre stood until only a few months ago

A NEW DAWN - Chester Road on the morning of January 28th. The finishing touches are being applied to the new road layout, designed to keep through traffic heading for St Michael's Way and Nantwich Road well away from the supermarket traffic. Rather surprisingly the entrance and exit to Morrisons are both exactly where the old Boosey's entrance and exit were, Cheshire East Council having decided that an exit on Chester Road, (behind the camera in this shot) would have been too close to the mini-roundabout at the end of Croxton Lane for safety. On the right of the picture it can be seen that the retaining wall for the supermarket car park is also not quite finished. There's a pleasing Victorian feel to this end of Middlewich with the gothic bulk of 'The Limes' on the left and the cemetery behind  it. To the right is the Golden Lion with the little alleys and cottages of Newton Bank and Newton Heath beyond.

ALMOST THERE: The retaining walls for the car-park, decorated with Middlewich Town Council's 'Roman Middlewich' design are almost complete. The stairways from Chester Road would not be open to the public until a week or so after the opening day. Middlewich Autos, and before it Middlewich Motors, occupied this part of the site for many years.

GETTING READY: The car-park starts to fill up as people arrive for the store opening

STANDING BY: Twenty minutes to go by Morrisons new clock, one of only two public clocks in Middlewich (the other, of course, being the church clock), although Boosey's Garden Centre did boast a rather attractive turret clock in its later years. Not immediately apparent from this photo is that the new Morrisons clock is actually in corporate colours of green and yellow on a white background.

NEARLY THERE:  It's nine o'clock and Store Manager Andrew Whelan (right) and John Roberts of Save The Children prepare to cut the tape which will mean that Morrisons Middlewich is officially open.

WE'RE OPEN! And a new era for Middlewich shopping has started.

CHECK OUT: The self-op tills which are a feature of all modern supermarkets

SPACIOUS: Morrisons Middlewich is a 'Morrisons Local' store and smaller than the company's main stores such as Winsford, but has been designed to give an impression of space.

CHOICE: The opening of the Morrisons store brings a far greater choice of goods to the town for the very first time

FRESH: Morrisons' innovative 'misting' technology ensures that vegetables are moist and fresh looking at all times.

MORRISONS PUBLICITY, JANUARY 2013

NOW OPEN: MORE MORRISONS PUBLICITY FOR THE LAUNCH OF THE NEW STORE

So there we are - Morrisons comes to Middlewich. Will it herald a new dawn for Middlewich shopping?

Will future historians be able to pinpoint the start of our  renaissance as a shopping town at  9am on the 28th January 2013? 

You may have gathered that we're unequivocally and unashamedly in favour of this new development. 

Tesco's abandonment of its plans for a giant store in the town centre has given us  an opportunity to develop the town in a much more attractive and positive way and the refurbishment of the existing Tesco store will mean that we have three medium-size supermarkets each catering for slightly different sections of the community, within a short distance of each other, something which not many towns of this size can boast.

For the first time in many years it is now possible to do that weekly or monthly 'big shop' entirely in Middlewich, and that can be no bad thing.

Facebook Feedback:

Geraldine Williams We paid a State Visit to the new Morrisons last time we were in Middlewich and were suitably impressed. The layout is very clever - and we're Morrisons (Crewe) devotees!

SEE ALSO:

THE MIDDLEWICH DIRECTORY: MORRISONS SUPERMARKET

MORRISONS WEBSITE

SAVE THE CHILDREN

FAREWELL BOOSEYS