FREEMASONS IN LEWIN STREET

 

Photo courtesy of MARJORIE PACE

In August 2023 Marjorie Pace posted this photo on our Middlewich Diary Community Page, under the title of 'Freemasons', pointing out that one of the people featured is her Grandad, Frank Cliffe (third from left).

But who are the others? Does anyone recognise anyone else?.

Our only contribution can be to point out just where the photo was taken.

They're in Lewin Street, in what was called 'Victoria Square' at one time - the space in front of the Victoria Building (Middlewich Town Hall). That's the distinctive 'tower' of the Wesleyan Methodist  Church in the right background. Left background is the now empty shop that was originally a branch of the Co-op and has also been, among other things, a laundrette, a Land-Rover agency, Stott's Chemist (later Mistry's Pharmacy) and was last used as Middlewich Post Office.

ANOTHER MIDDLEWICH GUARD STONE

by Dave Roberts

When we looked at this subject in February after receiving several photos of the town's other 'guard stones' from Mike Jennings, quite a few people pointed out that there was another one  at the end of the alleyway which runs between Lewin Street, opposite Dave Costello's angling supplies shop, and Bembridge Drive.

Here's that stone, as seen in March 2012.

Its position is a bit of an enigma. Normally guard stones were positioned at the corners of buildings but this one is alongside the end wall of a row of terraced houses. Quite possibly it has been moved over the years - the option of taking it away altogether being ignored either because it would have been too much trouble or, we'd prefer to think, because someone was aware of its history and decided to leave it at least close to where it started out.

But what was there down that little entry which generated so much horse-drawn traffic coming and going that it merited a guard stone to protect the wall?

Another enigma, that of why the alleyway itself has never been given a name, seems to be answered by our other photograph, taken at the same time.

It can be seen that there is nothing in this section of the passageway which could justify it being given a name or a postal address. The gate to the right leads to the rear of premises on Lewin Street and the pathway leading off to the left (next to the bollard) also gives access to houses with addresses in  Lewin Street.

Everything above that bollard can be considered as being in Bembridge Drive.

The guard stone we're talking about, by the way, is just out of shot to the left.

UPDATE: After publishing this Diary entry we received a lengthy comment from Cliff Astles which is so interesting we thought we'd incorporate it into the main text of this entry so that no one will miss it:

The stone in question has always been at the same spot since at least the early 1950's, and has probably been there from long before that time.It was at number 68 Lewin Street where I then lived, one door away along Lewin Street. The stone is next to number 66 Lewin Street.
Why there ....? My own view is based upon the fact that the Ally Way ( with no name )was in those days NOT an Ally.It was a link from this part of the town ( Lewin Street) to Derbyshires land that was used to grow whole ranges of vegatables and fruit for Middlewich.The land in question was behind Lewin Street, along Sutton Lane to the canal bridge, along the canal to meet with St Annes Road, where the land then went all the way to Derbyshires Old Cottage (I delivered papers to hear via the back door :). Between the cottage and about half way to the St Annes Road / Canal Bridge was Derbyshires wooden work sheds that housed both the work horses and the farming tools for the fields etc.My great Uncle John used to look after the horses and work the fields with them when I was a boy. Half the land was used for fruit (many knds of apples / pears etc) and the other half was used for vegetables.

Getting back to the pathway from Lewin Street to the land. The gateway ( 5 bared gate in wood, near to where you can now see the hedge) would have been extensively used to both access the land to take away goods by horse and trailer, and also for access to place the "soil" from the outside toilets in much use in Middlewich in those days, on the land the make it grow food stuffs quite well :(.Therefore, I think the stone was placed there very early in the life of Middlewich to ensure that number 66 Lewin Street was not subject to the cart wheels hitting the walls of the house.

Additionally, the other side of the Ally, now used as an accountancy shop on Lewin Street was a traditional butcher shop ( DRIVERS ?)and behind the shop where some out-house now stand, was the shops Slaughter House. ( Cows / Pigs etc) and I was always awakened on a Sunday morning by the sound of the sloughtermans gun, with the noise from the animals awaiting their turn :(.Well before big the British Legion was built, at the time of their first Army Hut, there were some very old houses behind the current building that formed part of an old farm ( whose ?). We used to play in these, the Old Farm Buildings and the land around. This is where the back of the British legion Club now stands, and where the bolwing green is is where we used to play and DRIVERS the butchers used to bury ( most of the time )all of the old animal bones that were left after they were stripped of their meat.

The land behind the 5 bar gate and Ally was used to allow for the horses to stay ( after they had finished their useful work). It was hear that we used to get the horses to come to the gate for fresh grass, and whilst they were eating this we would jump from the gate posts onto the hoses backs and get a ride up the fields at full gallop. Those were the days :)

The ALLY was probably never given a name as it was NOT an Ally, it was the entrance to the farm that was at the rear of the British legion Club, plus access to Derbyshires land.

Hope this gives you some new info and stimulates thoughts for more.

Cliff.

Many thanks to Cliff for that. In fact we did touch on the subject of that un-named 'alleyway' in this entry about Lewin Street in the 1950s, surmising (rightly, it seems) that it was probably a former entrance to Derbyshire's land.- Ed

Originally published 22nd March 2012

Re-formatted and re-published 19th June 2020

1984 LEWIN STREET LORRY CRASH

Photo courtesy of Joan Smith

by Dave Roberts

From the collection of  the late Frank Smith of Ravenscroft, courtesy of Joan Smith and Bill Eaton, come these photographs of the  aftermath of a dramatic traffic incident in 1984.

Bill has sent us this note to accompany the images:

'Frank's notes for these photographs say:

In a heavy morning mist a heavy goods vehicle ploughed into three cottages on Lewin Street.

A child in the front bedroom of one of the cottages woke early and was taken to a room at the rear of the

building shortly before the crash happened. The damage was so bad that all three cottages later had to be completely demolished.

Frank also drew attention to the decorative brickwork over the windows of the right-hand cottage (below)'

Photo courtesy of Joan Smith

Note, to the centre right of the top photograph,  Dave Costello's Angling Centre which was, at that time, still in use as St Paul's Methodist Chapel.

In a small town like this, so beset with traffic problems and with such relatively narrow streets, the wonder is not that something like this could happen, but that it hasn't happened more often.

The cottages destroyed in this incident were replaced not long afterwards by modern housing.

Facebook Feedback:

Andy Kendrick I remember that crash in 1984, and the old cottages. Shame they were lost. But it's nice to see the old St Paul's as it was. I used to go to Sunday School there. Happy memories

Rachel Walklate I have shared this link with the lady who I think was 'the girl taken from the front room to the back'.

Geraldine Williams I didn't know about the crash. I assumed that the cottages were just demolished as part of Middlewich's regeneration. My paternal grandfather was born and brought up in one of the cottages in the late 1800s.

Denise Appleton We had just moved out of one of those cottages months before the accident, but Reg Hunt was still living there.

Robert Sheckleston I remember the crash. Reg Hunt and his partner Thelma lived there. Thelma worked on the salt-floor at RHM Foods.

Susan Nugent I seem to think Mollie Wilkinson lived in one of those cottages. I'm sure she had her first daughter then. I'm sure someone will know.

Mark Joyce That was all down to a Ken Elsby's truck. My Auntie and Uncle used to live in one of those cottages

KathAndBarryWalklate This was my sister's house. It was early in the morning when the lorry ran into the house next door and took half my sister's house with it. She had a six month old baby which she had not long taken out of her cot before it was full of bricks from the wrecked wall. She was very lucky. That little baby grew up to be Nikki Wilkinson who had the Turnpike at one time.


UPDATE 30th April 2020:

When this Diary Entry was used as part of our 'Middlewich Diary Revisited' series in April 2020 Nikki Wilkinson, who was indeed the baby involved in the crash, herself posted the following stunning account of what happened on that fateful night when she was just a baby. We've reproduced it here with her permission - Ed

I was apparently about 8 months old. Obviously I don’t remember it actually happening but have been told the story many times. 

I only got to see the damage and how lucky I was, because of this story popping up. 

Across from these cottages is now the accountants business, if you notice there is a bend in the road there.

My dad, for whatever reason, had parked his car across the road on the bend the night before. Due to the bad weather and it being a grey/silver car, the lorry driver didn’t see it until the last second and swerved to miss it.

Unfortunately it meant he lost control and hit the gable end of the first cottage and ploughed through the other 2. We lived in the middle one.

As you can see on the picture, the front bedroom wall is completely missing. This wall fell on top of the drivers cabin and killed him instantly.

My cot along with a nursing chair was against the window of this room and ended up with the wall in the cab. 

Not long before the crash, I had woken wanting a feed. My mum was breast feeding so my dad didn’t stir.

She went to get me and was so tired that she decided to take me back to her bed and fell back to sleep with me feeding.

The lorry then hit and my dad woke and went running to the front room. He was hanging through the wall space on his belly pulling the rubble out of the cab screaming my name.

He didn’t know I was safe.

If my mum had decided to feed me in the chair, we both would have died.

I now live on the same road again by the narrow path next to D&D autos.

I often wonder if lightning will strike twice!!

A very dangerous road to live on.

When the papers printed the story, they mis-heard Nichola and printed my name as Baby Jessica. 

Nikki Wilkinson

29th April 2020

Originally published: 8th June 2012
Re-published 9th March 2014
Expanded and re-pub;ished 30th April 2020

Editor's note: This Diary entry was re-published not because of any additional information or updates, but because of the unfortunate comment added by an obvious internet troll which added nothing but gave local people and those who really know the town a chance to tell us what they think. As is our invariable custom, we immediately deleted the actual comment. Suffice it to say that it described the town as 'soulless and horrible', a description so manifestly unfair that, just before consigning the comment to oblivion, we canvassed opinions from people who really know the town to see if this wind-up merchant's views had any currency. The short answer is a resounding 'no'.

In case you don't know, an internet 'troll' is a sad, lonely, and ultimately irrelevant individual whose sole source of enjoyment is making fatuous comments on websites and blogs in order to 'wind people up'. Which can only work on those with a  feeble intellect similar to that of the 'troll' him/herself. Those who know and love this town would never get drawn into a pointless argument with such a weird individual. Nice try though.

As expected local people and people who have left the town and miss it very much were quick to jump to the defence of Middlewich. We've published some of the feedback from Facebook below (comments pertaining to the original subject matter - i.e. the 1984 lorry crash - have been added to the feedback at the end of the article, above), and it's also well worth taking a look at the comments on the page itself (including the original sad and misguided comment from someone who didn't deign to give us his/her name).
I think it was the use of the word 'soulless' which rankles with most people (although calling somewhere 'horrible' is hardly likely to endear anyone to its inhabitants), because soulless is precisely what this town is not.
 It's suffered terribly in the past from the ravages of industry, bad town planning and maladministration and, despite all that, has managed to pull itself up by its bootstraps and turn itself into a lively and pleasant town to live and work in.
No one denies that there's a long way to go, but people here have the enthusiasm and determination to make sure that what Dr Johnson described as 'a mean old town' is a place to be proud of.

New Facebook Feedback:

Lisa O'Toole I think this is a lovely town, full of history.

Susan Nugent If they don't have anything nice to say, well they shouldn't say anything at all. I love this town.

John Wood  Nothing wrong with Middlewich. Great little town for live entertainment and a great festival I never miss.

Gill Bowker Whoever wrote this clearly doesn't live in a town which pulls together in times of need, which has helpful neighbours and people to stop and chat to wherever you are in the community. Yes, Middlewich may not be to everyone's liking, but it does me and my family just fine, thank you.

Steven Doyle I have lived in Middlewich now for six years and it is anything but 'horrible and soulless'. Like every town Middlewich has its problems and undesirable people but, putting that aside, I cannot fault this place which has become home to me. I came to this town as an outsider and was made very welcome from the start. I think the town has a lot of character and lovely people living in it. Friendly, welcoming and helpful. I have the friendliset neighbours, who are more than I could wish for in terms of being good and helpful. It could never beat my home in Ireland, but it certainly gets second place in my eyes and is my home now. I love it here.

Sharon Barnard My view is that this anonymous person is an arse and that is all!

Richard Emblen As a Londoner who moved here nearly ten years ago all I can say is Middlewich is like heaven on earth. Appreciate it!

• 
  

SEDDON'S WORKSHOPS 1972

Here's an interesting group of buildings in  Lewin Street, and a photo which will take some explaining. The original slide caption says 'council buildings', indicating that this was part of the MUDC depot (it will have connected with the council's yard which had an entrance on Town Wharf next to the BW warehouse). Originally this was Seddon's waggon repair workshop, associated with the Wych House Lane works behind it. Here all kinds of repair and maintenance work was carried out for Seddons where 'everything was done in-house'. On the right hand side was a long building, or series of buildings, opposite Middlewich DIY, which ran down the length of Wych House Lane and part of which is reputed to have been Middlewich's first Catholic Church. To the left, out of shot, are the Wesleyan Chapel, 'Square One' and the C o f E School. as seen in a previous slide. We're standing outside the then brand new Middlewich Library and the site is, of course, occupied now by the Salinae Centre and its associated gardens.





Facebook Feedback (11th May 2011):

Colin Derek Appleton I don't remember anything of these buildings, but I do remember the building that is just creeping into view on the right hand side of the frame, it was a couple of terraced houses and yearsleys clothes shop

Dave Roberts That's right now replaced by flats called 'Halfpenny Court'.

Geraldine Williams There certainly was a Catholic church in Wych House Lane and a stone cross from the building is now mounted in the porch of the present St Mary's Church.

First published 17th July 2011
Re-formatted and re-published 18th February 2019

THE ROYAL OAK - THE TRUTH REVEALED!

Photo: Maureen Condra

This Diary entry is a follow up to: THE ROYAL OAK, circa 1900

                                                        LAST REMNANTS OF THE ROYAL OAK circa 2012

UPDATED 9th APRIL 2015 (PLEASE SCROLL DOWN THE PAGE)

The last piece in the jigsaw, as supplied by Malcolm Hough, finally vindicates Trevor Williams in his assertion that the still extant wall behind the site of Niddrie's former bus garage was, indeed, part of the Royal Oak - Ed.

by Dave Roberts

Our convoluted theories about the Royal Oak in Lewin Street (see previous Diary entries - links above) came down, in the end, to a simple truth - that The Royal Oak ended its days not as a public house, but as a private house, sandwiched in between the White Horse and, at first that three storeyed house with the steep steps and, later, Niddries new building.

The red herring, and the thing that threw all our calculations out, was Trevor Williams' assertion that one of the walls of the former pub still existed at the rear of the old Niddries site. There was no way we could make the 'footprint' of the pub fit where it was supposed to if we placed one of the walls of the pub so far back and so far to the left of the site.

In one of our earlier entries mention was made of Maureen Condra, nee Hitchen, who now lives in America and is an avid reader of the Middlewich Diary. 

Maureen sent us the above photograph a couple of years ago, explaining that it showed her former home at 40 Lewin Street.

Obviously Maureen's family home and the erstwhile Royal Oak are one and the same building. It had obviously ceased to be a pub and been converted into a private house many years before.

So that is the reason no one could remember a Lewin Street pub being demolished in the 1950s.

Maureen writes:

We occupied the whole house. The right hand side with the single chimney was where my bedroom was. My brother Jimmy and sister Margaret were born there, as was my daughter Leona, with the assistance of Dr Brown and Nurse Benger*. I remember it as if it was yesterday. And, yes, the new building on the left was being built by Niddries. I left in 1958 and came back for a visit in 1960 and my family were living in George VI Avenue. The photograph was taken while the pavement was being repaired.

* One of the town's well-known and well-respected District Nurses. Geraldine Williams says she remembers Nurse Benger, along with others including Nurse Adamson.

So Malcolm Hough and Trevor Williams were obviously quite right when they said that the building was demolished at the same time as Niddries was built, but it was many years after it had ceased to be a pub.

I wonder if the thorny problem of the remains behind the site of Niddries garage can be solved with a little lateral thinking? Are those remains perhaps part of a retaining wall at the rear of the pub's yard, or maybe the last remnants of an outhouse of some kind? The pub's yard may have extended behind those adjacent buildings.

UPDATE: 9th APRIL 2015

Actually Malcolm Hough and Trevor Williams have the final word on this  Royal Oak enigma, with virtually no lateral thinking needed.

Malcolm writes:

Hi Dave,

 I have only just read your edited article on the Royal Oak. I like it very much. Nice to see other people interested. Trevor Williams may have been right about the remnants of the pub though. Take a look at the attached image. It shows the footprint of the pub on the 1909 O.S. map, it is the reversed [Z] shape [yellow]. The left-hand side does go back a fair way. It looked a large building in those days.

 The White Horse [blue]; looks like there were three buildings there in those days. Maybe that’s how the car-park came about, after the demolition of the first two buildings or part of. 

 Regards

Malc

Photocapture: Malcolm Hough

So we can consider Trevor Williams vindicated!

As for the Royal Oak and the White Horse being immediately adjacent to one another, as we've explained before, this was by no means unusual at one time. Malcolm Hough has kindly sent us a list of pubs and beer houses in the town in 1860 and we can see that the two establishments did indeed flourish side by side.

As time went on, however, it may well have been that there was not enough trade for both pubs, and this could explain why the Royal Oak became a private house, leaving the White Horse to cater for all the local drinkers.

Many thanks to everyone who has enthusiastically joined us in solving another little Middlewich mystery!

• HOTELS, INNS, TAVERNS & LICENSEES IN MIDDLEWICH 1860

BLACK BEAR: MARY DEAN. PEPPER ST

BRASS HEAD: THOMAS WARBURTON. KINDERTON ST

BULL’S HEAD: SAMUEL BURGESS. KINDERTON ST

CARBINEER: SARAH BAILEY. HIGH TOWN

CHESHIRE CHEESE: JOHN WALTON. NEWTON

GOLDEN LION: SAMUEL PERCIVAL. NEWTON

GRAPES: GILBERT EGERTON. LEWIN ST

HORSE & JOCKEY: JOHN MAULKIN LOWER ST

KING’S ARMS: FRANCIS EARL. HIGH TOWN

NAVIGATION: JAMES OAKS. KINDERTON ST

RED COW: ROBERT MILLS. WHEELOCK ST

RED LION: WILLIAM WOODWARD. NEWTON

ROSE & CROWN: JAMES ELLISON. LEWIN ST

ROYAL OAK: JOHN LUNT. LEWIN ST

SPREAD EAGLE: FRED WHITTAKER. HIGH TOWN

TALBOT: CATHERINE BOLSHAW. KINDERTON ST

WHEAT SHEAF: JOHN LEECH. LOWER ST

WHITE BEAR: THOMAS BARRATT. WHEELOCK ST

WHITE HORSE: JOHN HOLFORD. LEWIN ST

WHITE LION: WILLIAM EGERTON. WHEELOCK ST

BEER HOUSES

NEWTON BREWERY: WILLIAM BRAITHWAITE. WEBB’S LANE

PLOUGH: FRED DALE. LEADSMITHY ST

ROBIN HOOD: JOHN HURST. NEWTON

KINDERTON ARMS: EDWARD LOWE. BOOTH LANE

JUNCTION: WILLIAM SIMON OAKS. BROOKS LANE

KINGS LOCK: WILLIAM OAKS. NEWTON

LORD HOOD: NO RECORD. PEPPER ST

PAUL FRY & RING ‘O’ BELLS WERE CLOSED PREVIOUS TO 1860

First published 19th January 2015
Re-published (with amendments) 9th April 2015)
Re-published 18th January 2018
Re-published 15th January 2019

THE ROYAL OAK, LEWIN STREET circa 1900

by Dave Roberts & Malcolm Hough

Waiting patiently in the wings for many  months now has been long time Middlewich Diary correspondent Malcolm Hough of Wych House Lane who came across this photograph of Lewin Street with an inscription on the back indicating that it was taken during Middlewich's celebrations for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. At first Malcolm was inclined to take this inscription at face value.
Later, after the photo was cleaned up by his wife Jen, Malcolm took a second look at it, and had a change of mind, thinking that the photo may have a connection with the second Boer War (1899-1902) because of the letters CR fashioned out of flowers which can be seen on the wall on the right of the shot.
Malcolm was wondering if the letters CR might stand for Cheshire Regiment?
The Cheshires certainly took part in the 2nd Boer War, although the troops involved in the Siege of Mafeking were mainly recruited from Rhodesia and surrounding areas by Colonel Baden-Powell who had decided to hold the Cape Colony town due to its strategic position. He successfully did so for 217 days from October 1999 until the 17th May 1900 when British troops from Lord Roberts' army brought the siege to an end.
After a chance meeting with Middlewich historian Allan Earl and consulting Allan's book Middlewich 1900-1950 (Cheshire Country Publishing 1994) (see Page 16 - Ed) Malcolm decided that the photo may well have been taken in May 1900 as the people in the photo are dressed in light Summer clothes.
In 2012, when we were looking at a photo of Hightown donated by Kath and Barry Walklate, we mentioned the then unusual way in which the people of Middlewich first heard the news about the Relief of Mafeking. The article can be read here.

Malcolm writes:

'I have been talking to Trevor Williams, who has lived in Lewin Street for most of his life. He remembers Maureen Condra (nee Hitchen)* very well. We have come to the conclusion that the 'Royal Oak' was demolished at around the same time as Niddries shop was built in the 1950s.
This was around the same time as the Cotton Houses (see this diary entry -Ed) where I used to live were demolished and we should have moved to George VI Avenue. The Hitchin family did move there, but we moved to Hayhurst Avenue instead. This would be in mid-1958.
On the extreme left-hand side of the photo you can see the corner of a three-storey house. Trevor said it was Georgian and was demolished at the same time as Niddries was built.
I can vaguely remember this building, as my Auntie and Uncle lived there in the early 1950s. It had tall stone steps and wrought iron railings and, from the top, it looked like miles down to the footpath.
I think that's why it sticks in my mind so much. Terrifying!
Trevor Williams says that part of the back wall of the 'Royal Oak is still standing, with a fence on top of it. He is now in the process of doing an oil painting of this photo.
Returning once more to the CR letters, on the right hand side, I wonder if the man with the ladder is hiding more lettering?
There is a sign below the letter C, with what looks like it might be a steam train. Could it have been to do with the opening of the Cledford Railway Halt in 1911? (I think it very doubtful. The opening of Middlewich Station itself in 1867/8 was not, it appears, an occasion for much ceremony, so the opening of Cledford Halt, which was some distance away and was only a small wooden platform probably wouldn't have caused a lot of celebration either. The halt only lasted  a few years, closing during World War II - Ed).
We do know that the picture has to be after 1898, which is when the Victoria Building opened.

- Malcolm Hough

* Maureen now lives in America and is an enthusiastic reader of the Middlewich Diary -Ed.

Let's take another look at Malcolm's photo in order to compare it with a modern-day shot. The imposing bulk of the  Victoria Technical Schools can be seen, patriotically flying the flag, in the background. This building later became known as the Victoria Building, and housed the council chamber and offices of the Middlewich Urban District Council, as well as Middlewich library, replacing the old Town Hall on Hightown. 

More recently it has been the home of the Middlewich Town Council and has been officially given the name it should have carried for many years - Middlewich Town Hall. The small area in front of the building was, at one time, called Victoria Square. To the right of the building and the three Lewin Street chimney pots the castellated roof of St Michael's church tower can just be seen.

To the left of the Victoria Building the white roof with the ball ornament at its apex belongs to the Working Men's Institute, which was later converted into the town's second fire station and is now the site of a floral clock and flagpole.

Next come two houses, White Horse Alley, and then the 'White Horse' pub.  It's unclear whether the building actually was a pub  at the time of this photo. If it was, it would have been right next door to the 'Royal Oak', but such a situation has never been very unusual in this country. Certainly the fact that the alley-way next to the building was named after it tends to indicate that the White Horse has been there for a very long time.*

Then comes the 'Royal Oak' itself which is, of course, long gone and its site given over to the 'White Horse's' Car Park and part of the now-derelict Niddries site.

The buildings on the right hand side of the picture still survive (see below).

* subsequent information from Malcolm shows us that the White Horse was certainly there, and operating as a pub, as long ago as 1860. So the two pubs were indeed in business right next door to each other -Ed.

Here's the same area on  January 14th  2015. The Victoria Building still dominates the scene, but looks a little foreshortened without a flagpole and flag waving in the breeze. The White Horse has come into prominence with the demolition of the Royal Oak and the other buildings to its left, and that surviving wall from the old 'Royal Oak' must be just out of shot to the left in among the rubble and desolation that  once was Niddrie's toy shop.*

Remarkably, though, the shop on the right which was being garlanded with flowers all those years ago seems little altered.

To prove that appearances can be deceptive, please note that there is not a vehicle in sight in this view. Had it been taken a second before or a second after it was, the photo would have been chock-a-block with vehicles of all kinds. In fact, a true comparison photo was impossible as it would have needed to be taken from the middle of the road. 

Standing in the middle of the carriage-way in modern day Lewin Street is, it need hardly be said, not recommended..

The whole area looks a little forlorn and sorry for itself on a freezing cold January day but, come the Summer, when the crowds descend on the town for the FAB Festival, this area comes to life and looks a little more like it must have done when the town was celebrating the Relief of Mafeking (or was it Queen Victoria's Jubilee, or even George V's Coronation?) all those long years ago.


*Update (15th January 2019) The White Horse finally closed its doors on the 10th March 2018 (see link, below). As of even date it's still standing and looking much the same as it always did. It's been converted into offices and stands empty. There are those who think that it will stand for a few years yet, most probably untenanted, until a decent interval has elapsed and it can be demolished. To coin a phrase - You may say that, we couldn't possibly comment. - Ed.

THE CLOSURE OF THE WHITE HORSE

UPDATE - 17th January 2015:

This Diary entry generated a lot of interest, with 86 views in the first hour after it was published.

On Facebook Geraldine Williams came up with an alternative theory to explain the letters on the right of the photograph:

Geraldine Williams Could the year be 1911 and the floral letters actually be G and R for George V's coronation?
This sounds eminently plausible. George V ascended to the throne in 1910 and his coronation took place on the 22nd of June 1911, which ties in nicely with Malcolm's theory about the Summer clothes worn by the people in the photograph. So, is that a 'G' rather than a 'C'?

And Bill Eaton of New King Street emailed to say:

What a very interesting photo. I too can remember two cottages in Lewin Street with steep steps at the front, and the Hitchen family lived there, as, at one time did a Mrs Maddock and her son John. John emigrated to Australia at an early age and he and Maureen Condra, nee Hitchen, both attended St Mary's school at the same time as I did.
I also remember that, across the road from Niddries there was a dairy, which I think was owned by Maudley's.
Also, I was once told that the double fronted shop in the photo had been a bakery, which is, presumably, where the name 'Bakers Yard' (see below) comes from. I believe the premises were owned at one time by the Foster family.

          

Bill.

Meanwhile, Malcolm Hough still favours the Cheshire Regiment theory and  has  emailed us with this:

I am not certain if I have mentioned this to you before, but after a bit more research where the letters C. R. are on the wall, below them, surrounding the window frame and the window itself, are the Cheshire’s regimental colours. See image (below). - Malcolm Hough

Photo: Malcolm Hough

BAKERS YARD - circa 2011

Malcolm also sent us this view, culled from Google Earth's Streetview, showing the buildings opposite the former Royal Oak/Niddrie's site, complete with plaque indicating that the area is known as 'Baker's Yard'. As Malcolm points out, Google Earth is only updated occasionally, so this view will be a few years old, as evidenced by the shop just beyond the Victoria Building which is, at the time of the photo, still being shared between Rowlands Pharmacy (since moved to new premises in St Ann's Walk) and  Middlewich Post Office. Our caption, dating the view as '2011', is an approximation.

SEE ALSO: LAST REMNANTS OF THE ROYAL OAK

                      ROYAL OAK - THE TRUTH REVEALED

 First published 15th January 2015

 Updated 17th Janury 2015
 Updated and re-published 15th January 2019

LAST REMNANTS OF THE ROYAL OAK circa 2012

Photo supplied by Malcolm Hough

Following on from Malcolm Hough's early 20th century photograph of Lewin Street showing the long-lost Royal Oak public house, here's a modern snapshot, taken from Google Streetview, which shows the last remnants of the pub, demolished in the 1950s (?), which are to be found at the rear of the site of Niddrie's bus garage, next to the famous toyshop which itself bit the dust in 2012. The last remains of the pub, according to Malcolm, who had the information from local resident Trevor Williams, are the walls in the middle of this shot, underneath the modern wooden fence. To the right is the left-hand wall of the toyshop, complete with security camera and signs warning that the premises were under 24 hour surveillance - a testament to the vandalism and crime which plagued the business in its final days.

And now we seem to have another mystery on our hands. We recommend that this Diary entry is read in conjunction with the earlier one showing the Royal Oak,

Here are a couple of photographs of Niddrie's shop taken during its closing down sale in 2011:

Photos: Peter Cox

And here is the title from an earlier Diary entry about Niddrie's, called The Beginning Of the End

Photo: Salt Town Productions

It is evident from these photos that Niddrie's actually consisted of two parts - an old part and a new part, the left hand side being older than the right hand , which, presumably, was the portion of the premises built in the 1950s.  Beyond the old part of the building (out of shot to the left in the third photo) was the bus garage, the site of which is shown in our top photo.

If the walls behind that garage were those of the Royal Oak, how do we fit that building into the space where Niddrie's was, and what was the 'old' part before it became part of Niddries? Was it part of the Royal Oak? Or was it built separately? Or was that the part built in the 1950s, to be followed later by an even 'newer' part?

And where was the three storey house with the steep steps? Did that become part of Niddries in the 1950s? Or was it  originally part of the Royal Oak? Malcolm Hough and Trevor Williams are of the opinion that the Royal Oak was demolished 'in the 1950s when Niddrie's was built'. Did part of it survive?

How do we account for the whole space between the still extant houses, and the White Horse?

To make the problem clearer here, again from Google Earth, is the entire site as it was in 2011 during Niddrie's closing down sale. As can be seen from Malcolm's early 20th Century picture, the Royal Oak was very close to the White Horse, which can be seen on the right, with, at most, a small alleyway between the two. If the wall underneath the modern wooden fence in this picture formed part of the Royal Oak it must have been a truly enormous building. 

Surely the truth must be that the Royal Oak disappeared long before the 1950s. Geraldine Williams and her husband certainly seem to think so, as evidenced by this comment;

My husband and I have been comparing notes. We both remember the house with the steep steps (and John Maddock, Bill) which we think was in the space to the left of The White Horse and was sideways on to the road. Neither of us remember any pub-like building and think it must have been demolished long before the 1950s.

- Geraldine Williams

Whatever the truth of the matter, the site is in a sorry mess these days, after Niddries was rather unexpectedly demolished when it was, apparently, on the verge of becoming a plumbers shop.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Thank you for your patience.  We appreciate that the whole Middlewich Diary Royal Oak saga is highly confusing, in the good old traditional Middlewich Diary style. Here's the final chapter in the saga in which, we hope, all is revealed:

ROYAL OAK - THE TRUTH REVEALED

The last remains of Niddries shop in Lewin Street, January 2015

In 2015 one last reminder of Niddrie's remains on the site in the form of this advertisement for Philip's luxury car business.

SEE ALSO: NIDDRIES - THE BEGINNING OF THE END
                     GOING, GOING...
                     THE END OF AN ERA
                     ROYAL OAK - THE TRUTH REVEALED

FIrst published 17th January 2015
Re-published 18th January 2018
Re-published 15th January 2019