CHAIRMAN'S SUNDAY 1940s

© Phillip Shales 2012 All Rights Reserved. With acknowledgments to Kerry Fletcher and Dave Thompson at Middlewich Town Council

by Dave Roberts

Today we're featuring another of  Phillip Shales' collection of black and white photographs from the 1940s, and we're being deliberately vague about the precise year.
This, of course, is through sheer necessity as the photos, rescued from a computer at Middlewich Town Council, do not have any real background information with them.

We've seen pictures from the 1948 Chairman's Sunday processions before and we're hazarding a guess that this is another of those occasions.

Something about the clothes worn by these solemn-looking civic dignitaries seems to suggest that it is from slightly earlier in the decade, and they do not appear to be the same people we saw in, for example, this 1948 shot.
Then again, this could just be a different group of council chairmen on the same occasion.
Presumably that is the then Chairman of Middlewich UDC in the middle of the shot, complete with robe, chain of office and ceremonial hat? And could that be the clerk to the council look rather self-effacing at his side?
The other gentlemen in the group give the impression of being at a state funeral.
Then again, Chairman's Sunday was always a somewhat sombre affair, as is only right and proper.
So what was the year? Was it 1948? Does anyone recognise the MUDC Chairman in this picture? If we could put a name to him, we're halfway there.
As always, though, it's the Middlewich streetscape which steals the show and we can  easily put this very old photo into a modern context and identify the scene as Hightown.
The main clue is the White Bear which we can see above the heads of the group of Chairmen.
 Left of that is the old Coopers shop which we had a good view of here. This shop was formerly Kinsey's, and the location of one of the first telephones in Middlewich, as recounted here.
 To the left of the gentleman we're presuming is the Chairman of the MUDC is the National Westminster Bank (a small part of the Fittons/Vernons butchers shop can also be made out).
But who knew that the labour (or employment) exchange once occupied that shop on the left which later became Brockley's wallpaper shop?
Out of shot to the right was Middlewich Town Hall and the row of shops seen here were demolished in the 1970s to make way for the 'Piazza', now in its turn replaced by the amphitheatre which was memorably photographed by Paul Greenwood at the end of last year. Here's a reminder of that wonderfully atmospheric winter scene.

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Geraldine Williams It's certainly the late 40s, judging by the girls' clothes. The Chairman looks a bit like Clement Attlee but, as this is unlikely (!), might it have been Mr Powell from the Gents Outfitters in Wheelock Street?

Dave Roberts When we published an old Powell's Tailors bill last year one of Mr Powell's relations got in touch. I wonder if he might be able to confirm whether or not Mr Powell is the man in the picture?
(see comment below)

SEE ALSO: CHAIRMAN'S SUNDAY 1940s (2)


First published 9th April 2012
Re-formatted and re-published 16th April 2018

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THE BULLRING EARLY 20th CENTURY

by Dave Roberts

We're very grateful to Kath and Barry Walklate of Warmingham Lane for this beautiful framed photograph of the Bullring, Middlewich, which they came across in a shop in Cornwall while on holiday there about fourteen years ago.

It's rather an unusual photograph which, we think, dates back to around 1908, or possibly even earlier.

The main clue to the approximate date lies in the fact that The Carbineer Inn, halfway up the slope of Hightown (its sign can be seen in front of the church tower) was, according to Allan Earl, forced to close around 1909 because it was out of date and would have been too expensive to modernise. The Junction Inn on Brooks Lane Bridge closed at the same time for the same reason.

To the left of that Inn sign is another shop sign painted, in the fashion of the day, under the eaves of the shop's roof, which, as Kath pointed out when we were looking at the photo, is almost a pointer to  shopping days to come in Middlewich. We're talking, of course, about Summerfield, a name which would make a comeback - albeit with a different spelling - eighty-odd years later when Gateway became Somerfields.
Now, of course, it's Tesco's main Middlewich store.
Across the road from  Summerfields and the Carbineer are a group of very old buildings which would later be demolished to make way for Fitton's/Vernon's butchers (in the 1920s) and the National Westminster Bank (originally the National & Provincial)
Moving to the right we can see Kinsey's Grocery shop.
Interestingly, again according to Allan Earl, it was Mr William Kinsey, owner of this shop and proud possessor of one of the few telephones in Middlewich at that time, who received the news of the Relief of Mafeking on behalf of the town in May 1900. He told the Council of the news and an impromptu torch-lit procession, accompanied by the Centenary Band,  was organised on the spot.
By the 1950s Kinsey's had become Cooper's, as seen here, but disappeared at the end of the 1960s to make way for the Co-operative Superstore, part of which is now Tesco Express.
Next to Kinsey's is the County Stores, with its prominent adverts for GIPSY Brand black lead.
The curly-haired little girl in the doorway, according to Kath, looks very much like her Mother.
And that crowd of children has obviously gathered because of the photographer being there.
In the early 20th century someone taking photographs was a rarity and must have been fascinating to those children.
Cameras in those days were enormous polished wood and brass boxes mounted on equally enormous wooden tripods and used large glass plates instead of negatives.
More than likely the photographer would have had his head underneath the voluminous black cloth necessary at that time for him to see the scene he was photographing, upside down in his ground-glass viewfinder.
The children must have thought him some kind of magician.
By coincidence I walked by the very same spot today with my Blackberry phone snapping digital photos right left and centre, and no one gave me a second glance.
The shop behind that ornate gas-lamp on the left was Lees Butchers (but always called, in Middlewich fashion 'Butcher Lees'). 
This shop, oddly enough, served its time as the National & Provincial Bank before being demolished to make way for the war memorial in its original setting, the bank by then having built its new premises across the road.*
The gas-lamp itself is interesting. It served to light up the whole of the town centre and was also the traditional place for the Town Crier to stand to make his pronouncements. Originally, before the widespead use of newspapers, these would have included 'news headlines' letting people know what was happening in the wider world, but later became much more localised with news of Middlewich events, sales being held in the local pubs, and all the other information needed to make small town life run smoothly.
Thus our present Town Crier, Devlin Hobson, is carrying out very much the same role as his distinguished predecessor and when he stands under one of the new LED street lamps at the Wheelock Street end of the amphitheatre, he's very much following in the old Town Crier's footsteps.

Devlin Hobson, Middlewich Town Crier

Many thanks to Kath and Barry for letting us see this fascinating photograph.

The Carbineer Inn on Hightown during one of those well-attended Middlewich celebrations. (Photo: Ken Kingston. From his book Middlewich Hospitality
[Middlewich U3A Local History Group 2014])

*UPDATES: What had by 2015 become the National Westminster (or NatWest) Bank on Hightown was, in the late Summer of that year, being converted into a carpet shop. Only the general design of the building betrays the fact that it was ever a bank.
In the event the carpet shop never materialised either and as at Summer 2016, the premises remained empty and waiting to be put to some good use.
Also during the Summer of 2015 our town's one remaining bank, Barclays, announced a reduction in its hours of business - a sign that its days, too, might be numbered, leaving Middlewich with no bank premises at all. A sign of the times.
By March 2018, both our banks had shut up shop; the NatWest had become a furniture showroom, and the Barclays branch, which closed in 2017, remained empty.

First published 20th March 2012
Re-published 16th September 2015,
19th June 2016, 21st March 2018