BEFORE THE MIDDLEWICH DIARY: RICHARD DEVANEY IN A KILT 1973

HERE'S ONE FROM MAY 2011

From Facebook, 13th May 2011


For Mr Ian Murfitt and all his other fans here by popular request is 
the  notorious 'Richard Devaney in a kilt' photograph, taken at the Middlewich Carnival 1973. Richard was one of the founders of the Middlewich Folk & Boat festival in June 1990.

If you look closely, you can see that Mr Devaney is also sporting some quaint kind of headgear, but we must stress that the sunflower is not part of it.

Mr Devaney does not wear giant sunflowers on his head (though we wouldn't put it past him).

Facebook Feedback:

Liz Mcguinness Haha!! Love it!

Geraldine Williams Was his headgear the prototype for Princess Beatrice's hat....??!!

Ian Murfitt A truly magnificent specimen.

Liz Mcguinness Yes it'll keep the kids away from the fire Dave!!

Angela Appleton I remember babysitting for Richard Devaney when I was about 15, sure he had twins. They had a Jack Russell dog and everytime I moved it growled at me. The babies were crying and I didn't dare get up.

First published 13th May 2018
Re-formatted and re-published 16th April 2020

BEFORE THE MIDDLEWICH DIARY: A GENUINE MIDDLEWICH WITCH

Here's one from May 2011

From Facebook, 28th May 2011

Here is a genuine Middlewich Witch, pictured at the Carnival of 1973 and treating the idea of being a Middlewich Witch with the reverence it deserves.

The other lady is a walking advert for Mr Kipling who, you'll recall, did make exceedingly good cakes. Mr Kipling was part of the same company which owned RHM Foods (now, like much else, consigned to history).

The Carnival that year was held on what had been the grounds of Middlewich Manor, so these two happy souls are sitting not too far away from where I'm sitting typing this - the difference being that they're in the middle of a field and I'm in the middle of a housing estate.

That's what 38 years can do. Does anyone know who these ladies are?

Note: This was, obviously,  written when we were living in Whitley Close.

Facebook Feedback

Geraldine Williams Powell's the Tailors used to have a brass band which I always thought was called 'St Henry' but I think it was just the Middlewich pronunciation of 'Centenary'! They always played for the carnival procession (and also the Carnival Queen's procession with her retinue round the field) and for a child living in Wheelock Street there was no more exciting sound than the opening beats of the bass drum as the band set off from Powell's.
The carnival was also held on land at the top of Sutton Lane on what is now the campus and housing estates.

Dave Roberts Yes, that's the place I'm referring to. Some people call it the 'Manor Estate', though I don't. The carnival procession used to end in that top bit of Sutton Lane, and everyone would go onto the field through a gap in the hedge, round about where Rushton Drive begins today. The Manor itself (now a nursing home, of course) is about 50 yards from where I am sitting now.
 ...and the Centenary Band, the last time I heard of it, had become the Roberts Bakery Band. I used to think it was 'St Henry' too!

VISITING WINSFORD ROYALTY 1973

For the 1973 Carnival our town was graced by the presence of Winsford's Carnival Queen in a handsome horse and carriage. It's not clear whether the carriage was provided by Winsford or Middlewich Carnival. Was Middlewich trying to upstage Winsford by providing such an opulent vehicle for their Queen, or was Winsford trying to put one over on Middlewich by sending along their Carnival Queen in a vehicle fit for a real Queen?
The only slightly  jarring note is the rather crude piece of paper with WINSFORD CARNIVAL QUEEN written on it in felt tip pen.
Nowadays something a little bit more sophisticated would be run up on someone's computer and, no doubt, laminated. There would probably also be a commercial sponsorhip message saying CHESHIRE FM or somesuch.*
The Queen is waiting to join the carnival procession outside the Big Lock at the end of Webb's Lane where it is joined by Finney's Lane. The building just in shot on the left is part of the pub  itself, although this particular part was not in use as such at that time. In those days the Big Lock was in  a rather strange condition with only small parts of it actually in use as licensed premises.
Looked at from Webbs Lane, or from the canalside, there were large areas of the building which couldn't be 'accounted for' when one ventured inside.
It was, and is, one of those canal side pubs which the late Brian Curzon referred to as 'stack pubs',  on two levels, with a bar at the top for the use of local residents and another on the lower level, opening onto the lockside for the use of the boating fraternity.
By this time the former shop at canal level, which was also provided for the benefit of people working the boats, had been converted into a function room where, the following year, the late Johnny McAlinden would, like me, be part of the early disco boom in Middlewich.
It was only in the 1990s that the entire pub was opened up to become the pub/restaurant we know today.
Note also the once ubiquitous red GPO telephone box (or 'kiosk' as some would insist). These are now very few and far between and found only in areas thought to be particularly picturesque.
There are none in Middlewich.
*Not any more. Cheshire FM closed down at the end of January 2012.

Facebook feedback:

Geraldine Williams Very impressed that the Winsford Carnival Queen's carriage had to be followed by a Group 4 security van (thought it was Del Boy at first!) so her jewels must have been real........!

First published 24th November 2011
Re-formatted and re-published 24th November 2016

CARNIVAL 1973 - THE STEVENTONS FLOAT

An evocative. if, sadly, rather low quality, picture of a float from the 1973 Carnival.
The float was put together by volunteers from Steventons, the fore-runner of Ideal Standard at the 'Potbank'. On the lorry's headboard are the words: STEVENTONS YOUNG ENTERTAINERS. The girls at the back of the float seem to be wearing some kind of uniform, and among them are at least two holding ventriloquist's dummies and one who seems to be dressed as another one of those 'Middlewich Witches'.(Editor's note: No she isn't! See Facebook feedback from Geraldine Williams below). Are you one of these young entertainers? Or do you know any of them? We'd be pleased to hear from you.
This float, from the days before everything was seen as a marketing opportunity, has a pleasingly home-made and traditional carnival look about it. Hours must have been spent on making the decorations and fixing them to the lorry. Nowadays, of course, such floats, if our Health & Safety culture allows them to be used at all, are festooned with logos and slogans promoting local business. There was, of course, always an element of that sort of thing in local carnivals, but not to the same extent.
The house in the right background, by the way, is in King Street, at the top of the footpath which leads down past Harbutt's field to the Big Lock. At that time carnival processions started at the pub and made their way into town via Finneys Lane.
In the days before the Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival the Middlewich Carnival was THE big event of the year in the town. In fact the two events overlapped by at least one year and we have in our possession a programme for the Middlewich Carnival dated 1991.

Note: Ideal Standard took over John Steventon & Sons, makers of Royal Venton ware, in 1968, but it was only in this year, 1973, that the new parent company began to make its presence felt in Middlewich. The miners' strike meant that investment, mainly in the form of  generating equipment from America, was needed. John Steventon & Sons originated in Burslem but moved to Middlewich in the 1920s, to a site vacated by ICI. .
Some of this information is taken from Ideal Standard - The first 100 years, by Michael Evamy (Ideal Standard 1996)
UPDATE (3rd September 2016): Ideal Standard, of course, is long gone and, despite attempts to revive pottery manufacture on the site under OURS Bathrooms a few years ago, the pottery works is no more. At the time of writing the site is being readied for its new role as a waste recycling centre run by ANSA, an offshoot of Cheshire East Council. A strong local campaign has been mounted, led by independent councillor David Latham, to stop this happening.

UPDATE (3rd September 2016):
Ann Barber has contacted us to say that she's the blonde haired girl in the pink dress sitting in front of the ventriloquist's dummy to the right of the picture. She also mentions Diane Smith and Helen Robinson.
And Julie Morris says: I was one of the Steventon's Young Entertainers, but not on the float that day. The girl in the clown hat is Jackie Connell-Cottam and the boy is John Plumb. His sister, Shirley Plumb, is in the middle, on the back row. Next to her, on the left, is Christine Cotterill, who lived in Wheelock Street. Her dad was the barber. 
Jackie Connell-Cottam says, 'Joanne Riley and her sister Jane are on it. Also Jane Littlemore (I think) and Louise Preston. There are also a couple whose names I can't bring to mind, but I'm sure they will come to me!'
Karen Reynolds adds: 'I'm there,sitting in front of Jackie, the one wearing the clown's costume.' 


Facebook Feedback:

Geraldine Williams I think she's a Pierrot, not a Middlewich Witch, Dave.

Dave Roberts Yes, I think you're right. Do you think this was a case of 'witchful thinking?

Geraldine Williams Hahaha! The girl standing on the right looks familiar, but I can't put a name to her yet. Wouldn't 'elf 'n' safety' have a field day with the lack of any guard rails? We used to watch the Crewe Carnival floats jerk their way onto the field from West Street, and that was pretty hairy - even with better precautions.

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