MIDDLEWICH IN WINTER 2017

Snow is  not a very common feature of the Middlewich winter scene. Our low-lying and sheltered position on the Cheshire plain between the Derbyshire hills to the east and the Mersey estuary to the west usually means that we are protected from the worst of any snow showers (though we do get more than our fair share of rain). December 2017 was somewhat different, though, as exceptional circumstances brought a dusting of snow, transforming the town and bringing with it some great photo opportunities. At just after 8 o'clock on the morning of the 9th of December, Jennifer Jane Snelson, who works on Hightown, was able to capture this classic view of Middlewich town centre in the snow. Our magnificent Christmas tree takes centre stage, unusually seen with its lights switched off. This photo first appeared on the Middlewich Community Group.

Jim Moores of the Canals & Rivers of Middlewich Facebook page (link in the left hand column) took this frosty early sunrise shot of the junction between the Trent & Mersey and Shropshire Union (Middlewich Branch) canals.  The relentless road traffic in Booth Lane thunders on, while the canal sleeps.

A couple of miles outside Middlewich, spanning the SUC Middlewich Branch as it winds its way through the Cheshire pasture lands towards Nantwich, is bridge no. 26, known locally as 'Norman's Bridge'. Norman's Wood lines the towpath to the right. Norman's Bridge carries Coal Pit Lane, which runs from Stanthorne crossroads to join Chester Road just outside the town boundary. The picture-postcard scene is captured beautifully by Natasha Harrop.

Commentary by
Dave Roberts

SEE ALSO: WINTER IN MIDDLEWICH 2016

OUR MASTHEAD FOR SEPTEMBER 2017

Our masthead for September 2017 featured this striking view of the River Dane near Middlewich, taken by local photographer Jim Moores.

More of Jim's work can be seen on his Canals and Rivers of Middlewich Facebook group.

Here's Jim's original photo:

MIDDLEWICH DIARY MASTHEAD: NOVEMBER 2016 AUTUMNAL MIDDLEWICH by JIM MOORES

Our Masthead for November 2016 features a photo from that master chronicler of Middlewich waterways, Jim Moores, whose Canals & Rivers of Middlewich Facebook page can be found by clicking on our 'Best Of Middlewich' link in the left hand column of this page.

Jim calls his stunning photo Autumnal Middlewich and it was taken in October 2016. during one of the most spectacular Autumn seasons in living memory.
The location had us stumped.
Is this, perhaps, a scene taken on the almost completely rural Shropshire Union Middlewich Branch Canal, heading out towards Minshull Vernon in the middle of the rich farming land to be found out that way? Or is it a scene from the Trent & Mersey Canal as it wends its way through Cheshire meadowland on its way to Northwich?
In the end, we had to ask Jim for the answer, and it's one that may surprise you, as it did us.
It's the Trent & Mersey Canal all right, but this is no rural idyll. This astonishingly beautiful scene is right in the heart of Middlewich. The Newton Brewery Inn in Webbs Lane is just out of shot to the left, and Middlewich Town Centre is a mere two or three minutes walk from here.
This is an area once dominated by the old open-pan salt works of Henry Seddon & Sons; a short distance away on the other side of the canal (and the River Croco) once stood Middlewich Gasworks.
An astonishing transformation which we hope to explore further with the help of Jim's amazing photographs.

THE JUNCTION INN, LATE 19th CENTURY

The Junction Inn, Brooks Lane 

by Dave Roberts

We're grateful to local photographer Jim Moores for this 'photo of a photo' showing the Junction Inn which, until 1909, stood at the end of Brooks Lane close to the junction of the Trent & Mersey  and the Wardle and Shropshire Union (Middlewich Branch) Canals, giving the pub its name.

 This pub stood on the right hand side of Brooks Lane immediately adjacent to the canal bridge which, of course, still survives to this day. The building's site is today occupied by a modern house complete with  pleasure-boat mooring where once the wall of the pub rose up from the canal bank. Behind the buildings seen here stood Brunner-Mond's Alkali Works, the site of which is largely occupied now by Pochin Ltd.

It's not clear from this picture whether The Junction was another one of those 'stack pubs' so common in the town, with rooms at street level for patrons from the town and another at canal level to cater for the needs of the 'boatees', although a pub in such a position must have drawn a lot of canal trade.

Two of these interesting 'stack pubs' still exist in the town - the Big Lock and the King's Lock (although the configuration of the King's Lock is somewhat different, as the upper storey is at canal level, and the ground falls away behind the pub to give access to the lower storey where stabling for canal horses was once provided).

Another 'stack pub', 'The Navigation', once stood near to the Town bridge, on the corner of Mill Lane and Kinderton Street. An earlier Middlewich Diary entry features a photograph of 'The Navigation' taken at around the same time as this one and bears a striking similarity to it, although 'The Navigation', certainly in its rebuilt form, is on a somewhat larger scale. Take a look here.

When we say that The Junction Inn stood on this site until 1909, we're quoting local historian Allan Earl who, in Middlewich 1900-1950 (Countrywide Publications 1994) tells us that both this pub and 'The Carbineer' on Hightown (seen here) were closed because of the prohibitive costs of modernising them. Added to which, the local licensing magistrate was voicing the age-old opinion that there were 'too many pubs' in competition with them. In all probability although the pub was closed the building would have lived on, possibly as a private house, for quite a few more years.

On the left hand side of the bridge parapet can be seen a sign warning people that the bridge, which was built in the days of horse-drawn traffic, could not stand any amount of weight.

Until quite recently (the 1960s) there was another sign on the opposite side of the bridge which had the same wording but was rather more spectacular in style. It was diamond-shaped and stood sentinel over the bridge 

to warn people that the bridge was not designed to carry traffic weighing more than ' the normal traffic  of the district' or words to that effect, and, in an odd way, was a reminder that Middlewich was one of the far-flung outposts of a railway empire whose territory lay a quite a distance South of us.

This large cast-iron sign, headed 'North Staffordshire Railway & Canal Company' could possibly have dated back as far as 1847, which was the year that the Trent & Mersey was taken over by the railway which connected (and still connects) the Potteries with Cheshire via North Staffs junction at Crewe. At one time the sign was painted in the familiar blue and yellow colours of British Waterways.

Jim also went to the trouble of photographing the reverse of this historic photo, giving us the additional information that the two people at the front of the pub are 'Great Great Grandfather Hough' and 'Landlord Brody'.
We rather fancy that Landlord Brody is the one on the right.
And what of the enigmatic inscription 'Riders Money?'
Well, long-time contributor Cliff Astles comes to the rescue on this one.
'Riders', he says, 'was a house-to-house clothing company which local people used to use when they were unable to get out of Middlewich to do that 'special' bit of shopping. People paid for the items weekly.'

So obviously at some dim and distant point in time, someone wanted to remind themselves, or someone else, to put the money by to pay Riders and, as people will, used the first thing that came to hand. In this case an old photo of the Junction Inn.

Many thanks to Jim Moores, Gwen Hughes and Cliff Astles for the photos and information.

Reformatted 24th April 2020