MIDDLEWICH BRINE WORKS OPEN DAYS 2023

 

Middlewich Heritage Trust


Website: wwwmiddlewich-heritage.org.uk

Direct email link: heritage@middkewich.org.uk

MIDDLEWICH HERITAGE TRUST TALKS PROGRAMME 2022-3

 

Kerry Kirwan writes:

Middlewich Heritage Trust are starting their first talks programme this winter. We are not a replacement for the previous Middlewich Heritage Society, which we were all sad to lose. We've been receiving comments from people who wanted to know if talks on Middlewich heritage could be put on and so the Trustees took the decision to do just that.
All the information is on the poster attached. Our first talk had to be postponed out of respect for the late Queen, so we are starting with the Romans on 13th October.
We hope people will come along and support us, any money we receive will go to support the work of the Trust, working on projects, education, exhibitions etc.

Direct email link: heritage@middlewich.org.uk

Find out more about Middlewich Heritage Trust and the Virtual Museum

MIDDLEWICH HERITAGE TRUST TALKS 2022-2023

 

LIVE EMAIL LINK

THE MIDDLEWICH VIRTUAL MUSEUM

 

A link to the Middlewich Virtual Museum featuring thousands of images charting the history of the town from Roman times, through the long years of salt and food manufacture, to the present day. Presented by Middlewich Heritage Trust.

THE MIDDLEWICH VIRTUAL MUSEUM

MIDDLEWICH HERITAGE TRUST SURVEY

Here's your chance to let Middlewich Heritage Trust know what you'd like to see at a future Middlewich Museum based on the preserved Murgatroyd's Brine Pumps

Kerry Kirwan writes:

Please can you pass this link on to anyone who is interested in heritage! It only takes two minutes to do; there are seven questions in all and everyone's input will be  very valuable to us in  getting people’s feedback and, we hope, support for our project.

Just follow the link and take part.

Thank you!

MIDDLEWICH HERITAGE TRUST SURVEY

(Revealing Murgatroyd's Brine Pumps)

Find out more about Middlewich Heritage Trust on their Facebook page:

Middlewich Heritage Trust

Middlewich Heritage Trust

MIDDLEWICH HERITAGE DAY - 30th JUNE 2018 (ARCHIVED)

Kerry Kirwan writes:

Middlewich Heritage Day on Saturday 30th June - our first step towards creating a better heritage programme for our town and making our service more accessible.

We're at Middlewich Community Church, doors open at 9.30am and finishes at 1pm. 

Our speakers are Dr Michael Nevell and Claire Moores, and we will be able to update everyone on the Brine Pumps project.

Only £4 a ticket, £2 for members of the Trust, 

For advance tickets please email

heritage@middlewich.org.uk

First published 31st May 2018

Archived 1st July 2018

ROYAL VISIT TO MIDDLEWICH 1946

by Dave Roberts

Following a discussion on Facebook, Emma Westmacott of Nantwich Road has kindly allowed us to use this photograph of crowds in Wheelock Street, Middlewich on the 17th July 1946. They're all waiting for the arrival of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on the occasion of a Royal Visit to Middlewich that year.

Emma writes:

This is the photo I was talking about, Dave. On the back my Mum, Jenny Sant, has written:

'This photograph was taken just after the war, in 1946, in Wheelock Street, Middlewich.

We are all waiting for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to pass by on their Royal tour.

Notice the rainy day fashions, the Co-op shop window display and the baby's pram!

I am the little girl holding my Mum's hand and a big flag!'

I think this is a newspaper photograph . I'm sure there are a few (very old) faces which people might recognise!

There's a much better known photo of the same occasion, which can be found in many 'Old Middlewich' photo collections:

Notice that even as long ago as 1946 Reg Taylor's Newsagent was well established and can be seen on the left of the photo. It's now the office premises of Carrie-Ann Sudlow's web-design consultancy, and to its right is the shop long known as 'Luther Walton's' which is now Chimichango's Mexican restaurant. Next to that is the fondly remembered 'Meadow Dairy', now the site of Betfred's betting shop.

Here's a slightly abridged version of Allan Earl's account of the Royal visit. The full version can be found in Allan's  Middlewich 1900-1950 (Cheshire Country Publishing 1994). See pages 180-182.

The highlight of 1946 was a Royal visit on July 17th, the first to Middlewich since Queen Margaret in 1459. Their route would be over Wheelock Bridge, Chester Rd, Wheelock St, Lower St, Leadsmithy St, Hightown, Wheelock St (to Whiston’s Garage) and Nantwich Rd. (to Wallange Bridge)*. Because of the expected crowds from the surrounding towns, footpath space was reserved for schoolchildren and elderly people and for ex-servicemen in front of the War Memorial. Before the day an arch was erected over the road from the Golden Lion in Chester Rd. to the cemetery railings. Across the top it said, “Loyal Greetings to their Majesties the King and Queen”. Coloured light bulbs ran underneath the length of the arch. On the day of the visit approximately 1,200 children from the Sandbach area were brought to Middlewich in two special trains and given reservations on either side of Chester Rd., from Wheelock Bridge to Williamson’s garage. The older citizens were given seating accommodation at Newton Bank and the Junction of St Anns Rd. and Nantwich Rd. and in Hightown, in the churchyard. In front of the war memorial stood several ranks of ex-serviceman, plus the chairman of the council (Mr Blease) along with other members of the UDC and officials. Sandbach U.D.C. members and Holmes Chapel and Byley parish councillors stood alongside. One hundred and eighty Girl Guides and Brownies lined Leadsmithy St. and Lower St., together with all the Middlewich schoolchildren and teachers, plus children and teachers from Congleton, Hassall Green and Brereton private school. A special place had been reserved for the children from The Manor, which was now a residential school for the deaf. The parish Church bells had been ringing at intervals since mid-morning but about 15 minutes before the King and Queen were due to arrive they stopped. The bell ringers also wanted to see the royal visitors and so had posted a lookout at the top of the church tower so that when the Royal cars came into view, in Chester Rd., he could dash down to the ringing chamber and give the news. The bells rang out again as the Royal cars made the return journey through the town.

* Can anyone please remind us just where 'Wallange Bridge' is? We ought to know, of course...-Ed

Acknowledgments: 

Allan Earl
Middlewich Heritage Trust

THE VENABLES SCREENS PROJECT

Middlewich Heritage Trust

THE VENABLES SCREEN PROJECT

by Kerry Kirwan

Middlewich Town Council Heritage Development Officer

What's in a surname?

That's one of the questions as we explore the world of the Venables family, Barons of Kinderton?

Not heard of them?

The Barony of Kinderton ran from the Norman Conquest up to the mid-nineteenth century; a family of myth, war, intrigue and power based here in Kinderton, Middlewich.

The Venables Screens Project has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and focuses on two large oak screens painted with heraldic shields dating back to the 13th century which can be found in the church of St Michael & All Angels.

These rare survivors were commissioned by the Baron of Kinderton in 1632; they were removed from the Baron's chapel and placed in the bell tower, where you'll find them today, in quite poor condition.

These uniquie screens are not only important for genealogy and heraldry, but also history and the story of the Norman 'barony' in Cheshire.

This HLF funded project has provided an opportunity for local people to rediscover the Venables; on Thursday 12 April we will be holding an event at Middlewich library to celebrate and share what we have learnt.

During the day we will be getting creative, running Children's workshops at Middlewich library from 11am until 3pm, where families can learn about their own heraldry and make their own shields. 

So if you're looking for something to do with the kids, come along and discover your very own coat of arms!

At 7.30pm local author and historian Tony Bostock will tell the story of the Venables Screens themselves. What have we uncovered so far? This will be followed by a short talk on what we have discovered during our research.

The night will be finished off by a presentation on the St Michael & All Angels Restoration Project.

A fact-filled night out for free! So come along and join us!

We hope you can join us. Please pass the word on via friends, Facebook, Twitter etc.

This is the last event for this Heritage Lottery funded project.

Middlewich Heritage Trust

MIDDLEWICH HERITAGE TRUST ON FACEBOOK

TALES OF WYCH AND WATER CD

The 'Tales of Wych & Water' CD, with reminiscences from people who worked in the Middlewich salt industry and on the waterways which served it, together with original music and song from local musicians, is available from Middlewich Heritage Trust.

'Tales of Wych & Water' was produced for Middlewich Town Council and Middlewich Vision in 2009 by Salt Town Productions.

TALES OF WYCH & WATER CD

REVEALING MURGATROYD'S - OPEN DAYS 2017 (ARCHIVED)

Final open days for this season:
SATURDAY 9th SEPTEMBER
SUNDAY 10th SEPTEMBER

Site open 1pm - 4pm

Find out more about the Murgatroyd's project on the

Middlewich Heritage Trust blog

As any schoolboy knows, this area has for centuries been famous for its salt industry, and Middlewich still flies the flag with one of the most important salt manufacturing plants in the country. 
And the Murgatroyd's brine shaft, its brine pumps and associated infrastructure, are a very special part of the story of Cheshire Salt, with the Murgatroyd's site having the distinction of being the only one of its kind still in existence.
Middlewich Heritage Trust is working hard to preserve it for posterity so that Middlewich can take its rightful place, alongside the Lion Salt Works, as part of the history of Cheshire salt. Don't miss your chance to find out more about this important national project. Click on the link above for pictures of one of the 2016 open days, and for more information about the Murgatroyd's site and its preservation.



UPDATE (FEBRUARY 27th 2017)

BLOG UPDATE

First published 15th February 2017
Updated 27th February 2017
Re-published 30th July 2017
and 7th September 2017

NOW & THEN: SEDDON'S BROOKS LANE WORKS 1969 and 2017

by Dave Roberts

We were very taken with the Middlewich Heritage Trust's new logo, illustrating as it does the 'Wych & Water' aspects of Middlewich's history, by showing a stylised representation of Seddon's Salt Works in Brooks Lane with an equally stylised canal boat  floating sedately by. In actual fact the boat appears to be floating sedately along Brooks Lane itself, but we'll have to put that down to artistic license. What's very striking about the logo is the colours used, which reflect those used by Seddon's Works right up until their closure in 1967.The large brine holding tanks which were a feature of all three works in Pepper Street, Wych House Lane and Brooks Lane were painted in red lead and signwritten with the words SEDDON'S SALT WORKS (or simply, when space was limited SEDDON'S) in white with black shading.

This encouraged us to  take another  look at our own photo of the Brooks Lane Works, taken on Kodachrome film in 1969 using the then popular Kodak Instamatic camera. The works themselves had closed two years earlier in 1967 but remained remarkably intact, demolition only beginning in earnest in the early 1970s. You can read a detailed description of this photo here. Take particular note of the feedback this photo generated.

Brooks Lane, 7th March 2017

...and this in turn, encouraged us to return to Brooks Lane to see what the scene looks like in 2017. It's still possible to tell that this was once an open pan salt works, as several sections of the original retaining wall along Brooks Lane remain, although the lane itself has been widened (this happened in the early 1970s as part of a deal with ERF Ltd who opened their Service Centre further up the road in 1971 and needed better access for deliveries and trucks travelling to and from the ERF repair shop on the site). Most of the site has now become home to Tarmac Readycrete and presents a rather dismal face to the world these days. The old salt works, while no oil painting, did have a sort of gloomy utilitarian grandeur to it, which the hotch-potch collection of concrete making apparatus and modern industrial buildings lacks. There are ambitious plans to transform the whole area surrounding Brooks Lane into a housing estate and marina development which will change things beyond recognition, if it ever comes to pass. It's worth remembering that the Sandbach-Middlewich-Northwich railway line is just a few yards away on the other side of these industrial buildings and the site suggested - 'suggested' being the operative word - for our new railway station is just out of shot to the left. If the new development does happen as planned, and the new station is indeed situated here, local residents will be ideally situated for travel to Manchester and Crewe. But isn't that a lot of 'ifs'?
Note: Murgatroyd's brine pumps, which are currently undergoing restoration are just at the top of the hill, behind the gym and tankwash buildings.

8th APRIL 2020

HERITAGE OPEN DAYS: REVEALING MURGATROYD'S

Middlewich Heritage

Kerry Fletcher, Middlewich Town Council Heritage Officer, writes:

Every September across England 5,000 events are organised to celebrate our fantastic history, architecture and culture. It's a chance for communities to see hidden places and try out new experiences – all of which are FREE to explore. In Middlewich this year we open our doors to show how heritage works behind the scenes and invite people to see the Murgatroyd’s Restoration Project. See the efforts being made to save this industrial heritage scheduled monument, why we are saving it, what plans we have for the future and how you could get involved.

The site on Brooks Lane, Middlewich, is open to visitors between 1pm and 4pm on both days. Parking is on the community church car park CW10 0JG and signs will guide you to the site where our volunteers will be on hand to welcome you and introduce the project.
For the adventurous there is also a tour running from 1pm until 3pm which tells the story of our town and it’s amazing historical links to the salt industry, 2,000 years of salt production and still going strong. The start of the tour will be from Victoria Building, Lewin Street CW10 9AT, there’s a free car park at the rear of the building. The walk will take us through a couple of parts of the town, looking at Iron Age, Roman and Medieval sites in particular then come back onto the canal and walk up to the brine pumps. The tour is free but booking will be required, Sunday is almost full but we still have places on Saturday.
A wonderful and unique way to learn about Middlewich!

MIDDLEWICH HERITAGE WEBSITE