MIDDLEWITCH MAYHEM?

Photo: Drollerie Press

'Just because Alicia Meldrew is a witch doesn't mean that everything in her life is double, double, toil and trouble. Then again, trouble does have a way of finding her over and over again, even in the cozy little town of Middlewitch...'

Sounds like a good read. I wonder if Heather Parker imagines she has made the name up (or very nearly, at least) or has ever heard of our own 'cozy (or even cosy)  little town'? Heather is a well-established author from the Lake District. Here's a link to her website: Heather Parker.

Then again, it may be that the name has been used deliberately as a tribute to its near namesake in Cheshire.

This book is apparently the second in a series called 'The Middlewitch Chronicles' ( the first one being called, simply 'Middlewitch').. Is this mere coincidence, or does it betray a knowledge of this area, imparted with a sly nod and a wink?

Should you be interested in reading this or any of Heather's other books, here's a link.

This is not the first near-miss by any means. The all time classic, of course, being 'The Midwich Cuckoos' by John Wyndham of 1957, later filmed as 'Village Of The Damned', which you will find appropriate or not according to point of view.

And does anyone recall a few years ago the furore caused by a cartoonist on a national newspaper who created a satirical cartoon about the education system (I forget the actual burning issue, but it was something to do with education) with a picture of a school in it? Seeking a nondescript but  likely-sounding though obviously fictional name for his school he lighted, unfortunately, on 'Middlewich High School', causing apoplexy among Middlewichian readers of the quality press. Did anyone keep a copy of that cartoon? I'd dearly love to see it again, and possibly reproduce it here.

I think the real irony there was the unintended comment on the education system made by the fact that said cartoonist had, seemingly, never heard of Middlewich.

Surely generations of schoolchildren have been taught about the salt towns of Cheshire?

Or is the following scenario more likely these days:

Teacher: Who can tell me where salt comes from?
Pupil: Please sir, is it Tesco?

Dave Roberts


P.S. Aw...forget it. Apparently 'there are lake monsters and the occasional spectral goat'. There always were. I could tell you a thing or two. In my day....etc....


P.P.S. Following the comment from Heather (see below) I took the trouble of reading an excerpt from the original 'Middlewitch' book. It's a light-hearted and very well written tale which struck me as something like the classic 'Bewitched' reinterpreted for the 21st Century. And yes, it's true, the sleepy little village in the story is originally called 'Middlewich' and is renamed 'Middlewitch' in honour of the heroine. I'm going to suggest to the Town Council that we should do the same...


See also: A MIDDLEWICH WITCH

SEABANK SEEN FROM TOWN BRIDGE 1973

This is Seabank which, for the uninitiated, runs from Kinderton Street, alongside the Kinderton Hotel and down to the River Croco. In reality it is a continuation of Kinderton Street and the modern day road which curves off to the right heading for the Town Bridge is a diversion, albeit an ancient and well-established one. As we've pointed out before the route via Seabank was the original road from Kinderton to Middlewich. On the bend in the canal and river (close to the white garage) can be seen the blue brick base for the footbridge which we talked about here. The building above the garage is an early incarnation of Andersen Boats' workshop in Wych House Lane which runs down from Lewin Street from the right of the picture. To the left you can just make out that there were, at this time, houses on the right hand side of Seabank, below the car park. Above the left hand cottage, the two remaining chimneys of Seddon's works in Brooks Lane can be seen. The date of this slide is 1973 so, without wishing to labour a point, we can see that none of the chimneys in Pepper Street, which disappeared two years earlier, can have  been 'the last salt works chimney in Middlewich', whatever type of chimney we are talking about.
This area, unsurprisingly, was at one time very prone to flooding and one major flood occurred in the 1950s when people in these cottages had to escape via upstairs windows and across yard walls to reach safety in Kinderton Street*. No one will be surprised to hear that houses in Booth Lane suffered at the same time due to long standing drainage problems which have only recently been addressed.
There is a similar, black and white, photograph taken around the same time as this one on page 118 of Middlewich  - Images of England by Brian Curzon and Paul Hurley (Tempus Publishing 2005) and I'm afraid that we once again have to take Brian to task for dating the scene as 'during the late 50s'. This has to be incorrect as, in the photograph in the book  and in this one,  there is no sign of the Wych House Lane salt works which didn't close until the 1960s.
The origins of the name 'Seabank' are obscure. Brian Curzon surmised that it may have originated in the trade in salt between Middlewich and the sea via the Trent & Mersey Canal, but this seems to be stretching things a bit. And there is evidence that 'Seabank' predated the canal by a long way. An earlier version of the name is 'Saybank', but its origins seem to be lost in the mists of time.
* Middlewich 1900-1950, Alan Earl

KINDERTON-MIDDLEWICH FOOTBRIDGE REMAINS 1974

Now here's an elusive bit of  bygone Middlewich  from 1974. The slide looks slightly ever-exposed, but this is because we've lightened it up somewhat to bring out the detail of the blue brick. It's the last remains of one end of a footbridge which once spanned the River Croco and Trent & Mersey Canal and carried people from Kinderton to Middlewich via Seabank. On the retaining wall between canal and river there's another, smaller, section of blue brick   lining up with the bottom of Seabank and the top part of this now-vanished structure, which stood just to the left of the British Waterways warehouse building. This brick section would have supported the bridge as it spanned both waterways, and is now the only remaining clue that there was ever a bridge here. The sloping part of the blue brick bridge abutment will be where steps once led up to the footbridge itself. This is the route of the original road from Kinderton to Middlewich when the two were separate townships Before the coming of the canal this road would have crossed the River Croco which, as we've seen elsewhere, once 'meandered all over the valley bottom' before being channelled alongside the canal to act as an overflow, by a small bridge or possibly even a ford. The fact that the structure is of blue engineering brick suggests that it was built by the canal company. There have been suggestions that the footbridge may have been built to provide a link between the railway station and the town wharf but, in that case, surely a full sized bridge capable of carrying traffic would have been more useful?
Does anyone have information on when this footbridge was built and taken down?  A photograph of it, framed by the last remnants of the old Town Bridge can be seen on page 38 of Profiles of Middlewich by Alan Earl  (CC Publishing 2006) and  it can be glimpsed on an old aerial shot taken in the 1920s. The probability is that it became redundant when the new Town Bridge was built in 1931 and the main route from Kinderton to Middlewich was simplified and straightened.
The rear of the Wesleyan Methodist chapel looms over the wall in the top half of the shot. 
(Dave Griffiths contacted us (see comment below) to say that he thinks that the building doing the looming is not the Wesleyan Chapel but the CofE Infants School. At first I thought he was right, but, after studying this photo:

I decided that the buildings shown are indeed part of the old Chapel and that the school was a little over to the right. We're open to argument, as always, though. What do you think? -Ed)
Although a section of the original salt works wall is still in place next to the warehouse building, there is a gaping hole where this staircase construction was. A little further along (in the direction of Brooks Lane), even the wall has gone, to be replaced by a very low wooden fence, behind which is the lawned area below the Salinae Centre.

THE WHITE BEAR 1960s

A rare colour foray into the 1960s today with this slide taken by Jack Stanier sometime in that decade and showing the White Bear, complete with its Wilson's Brewery signage. In fact there are two versions of the same photograph here; the original and a zoomed shot showing more details of the pub and the now notorious 'two shops' next to it.
Looking at the wider shot first: Note the grocery shop on the extreme left and the drop in the pavement next to it. Can that small entry possibly be the bottom end of Dierden's terrace? And who ran the double fronted grocery shop we're talking about? Was it one of the original Co-op shops, replaced in the 1970s by the 'Co-op Superstore'?
Turning to the right hand side of the road we can see that even in those days the pub was not maintained to a particularly high standard. The frontage looks distinctly shabby and down-at-heel. Returning to the 'two shops' which we've spent so much time considering, I can't make up my mind whether or not the right hand one was Johnson's The Cleaners at this time. The colour scheme looks slightly wrong in this picture, but the lettering, just in shot, says 'Dyers, Cleaners', so it most likely was.
The other shop, which will now forever be known as 'Sharon's Cafe', was, as can be seen, Pimlott's which, I seem to recall, was a dress shop. I think this is the same firm which had a much bigger, grander shop in Winsford High Street now, like so much in that stricken area, fallen into rack and ruin. Pimlott, of course, is a very popular Mid-Cheshire name, famous in the worlds of salt boiling and boat building.
Those are my initial thoughts. I am, as always, open to correction.
There is a much older photograph of the White Bear on page 67 of  'Middlewich - Images of England' by J Brian Curzon and Paul Hurley (Tempus Publishing 2005), showing that there was once a door where the side window (below the lower 'White Bear' sign) is on this photo.
Feedback from Facebook:
Geraldine Williams Yes, it was the old Co-op shop but there was also a large grocery store, Cooper's (formerly Kinsey's) in that area at the bottom of Dierden's Terrace. Pimlott's also had a dress shop in Sandbach.

WHITE BEAR REFURBISHMENT 2011

Here's the White Bear in Wheelock Street as it looked on the 4th August 2011. This town centre pub has had a...er...chequered career over the last few years ending up as a 'kid's pub' to rival the nearby Vaults and the now departed 'Cat's Bar' at the other end of the street. An undignified use for such a potentially attractive pub. Now, as can be seen, it's being given what I suppose we'll have to call a 'makeover', and a really substantial one. Even the white rendering on the walls has been removed. The black and white woodwork was patched up a couple of years ago but appears to be receiving more attention now and being upgraded to a very high standard, with certain period details picked out in gold. More than this we can't say, as we could only give the place a cursory glance in passing.
Word on the street - well, on Wheelock Street at least - is that the White Bear is to become what's usually called a 'gastropub' (surely there must be a better, less queasy-sounding term?) serving high class food in high class surroundings.
The bunting and banner, by the way, are left-overs from the Middlewich Transport Festival on the 23rd and 24th July.

NOTES and QUERIES: THE R.O.C. POST IN HOLMES CHAPEL ROAD

Photo: James Towill/Geograph (Creative Commons)
(Sanquhar, Scotland ROC post)

• • Colin Derek Appleton writes:
    
    
    Hi Dave. I wonder if you can help me out on this? I'm doing a bit of research on the Royal Observer Post that used to be situated on the old playing fields off Holmes Chapel Road.  I know that it was demolished when they built the industrial units but do you know of anyone who worked in it before it closed in 1991? Or anyone who went down inside and maybe has photos? I've hit a bit of a blank with this one  Cheers, Col.
• 
  
  
  
  

  Dave Roberts

  • Hi Colin. That's a tricky one. I remember looking at the place many years ago. It was right in the corner of Station Field, next to the railway line. If I remember rightly there was a big metal hatch, rather like one on a submarine by which you gained access, but it was always securely locked. I take it you've looked at Subterranea Brittanica, the usual source on these matters? There's an entry, but not much info and no photos. 
• • Colin Derek Appleton:
    I've been on Subterranea Brittanica and, as you said, there's nothing more than a grid ref. I do know that it was built mid 60's to a standard plan that most, if not all, ROC posts were built to and it was decomissioned in 1991 at the end of the cold war.

    It was manned by unpaid volunteers from the ROC so my thinking is these may have been local people ?

    It would be a shame if another piece of Middlewich history vanished without trace ?
• Dave Roberts

  It would. So how about it? Were you a member of the Royal Observer Corps? Did you spend time in this 'secret bunker' on the edge of Station Field?

  • Or do you know someone who did?
    Any information would be much appreciated.
    
    
    Obviously Colin's first thought, like mine, was to visit the 'Subterranea Britannica' website, which is the number one source for information on this kind 
    of thing. The obvious problem, of course, being that these places were 'secret' and no one talked about them. That's why photographs are always going to
    be scarce. Photography would be strictly forbidden
    while the post was operational and most likely 
    no one would have thought of taking pictures when
    it was decommissioned. However, you never know,
    someone might have thought it worth taking a few
    snaps for posterity.
    Here, for what it's worth, is a link to SB's entry
    on the post:
    
    
    MIDDLEWICH ROC POST 1965 - 1991
    
    
    and here's another link which may be of interest:
    
    
    CONTENT DELIVERY CO
    
    
    Here's a thought - if we can't turn up any photos of this ROC post, perhaps we could do what we did with
    Niddrie's old school bus and find a picture of one that looked like it? After all, if they were all built to the same design...
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    • • Feedback from Facebook:

        Geraldine Williams I don't know about the Cold War but there was an ROC post there during the Second World War. My father-in-law, Chris Williams, was an observer there, as was Mr Blackburn from the Gas Board (which was mentioned in your piece on Lower Street).

        Saturday at 21:21 · 
      • 

        Dave Roberts Interesting! So it looks like the 'Cold War' post was not new, but converted from the WWII one. This must have been the case with other ROC posts too, I would imagine.

      
      

      
      

      John Capper kindly supplied this link to the 28 Days Later site forum which contains a section on a restored ROC site with photographs giving an idea of what the Middlewich site may have looked like.

      
      
      
      
      
      

      RESTORED ROC POST

    • UPDATE: On 14th August 2011, Geraldine Williams advised us that on Page 70 of Alan Earl's book 'Profiles of Middlewich' there's a map of the
      WW2 anti-tank defences at Station Bridge which
      also marks the ROC post.
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

WHITE BEAR CAR PARK 1974

Actually, the original title given to this slide was 'Rear of the White Bear' but there are too many smart alecks on the internet for that to go unnoticed, so we've changed it slightly. At the time of writing (August 2011) the White Bear itself is undergoing a much-needed refurbishment and so we thought we'd take a look at the old stable block at the rear of the building. In 1974 the lower part of the building was being used as a garage - its main use, we suspect, for a very long time before the time of the photograph. The upstairs area was used for many years as a clubroom for various Middlewich clubs and societies including, in the 20s and 30s, the Middlewich Ramblers cycling club, the revived version of which my Dad was a founder member. I still have one of the club's original enamel badges, with a description in his handwriting, which will feature here before too long..Since the 1970s, of course, these buildings have been used for various purposes as shops, offices and showrooms. The upstairs room was even, for a period, an art gallery. At one time an attempt was made to gentrify the area by giving it the name 'Lady Anne's Court', but this was obviously so appallingly and mind-bogglingly twee that it had to be abandoned*. I'm not sure what the state of play is at the moment, with these buildings. I think that NFU Insurance still use part of them. But it's time, I think, for another photo showing the area today. Who knows, with the transformation of the pub itself, big changes may be coming soon

* Well, actually, it wasn't. A recent (2011) visit to the area revealed that the 'Lady Anne's Court' sign is still there.

Facebook feedback:

Geraldine Williams I can remember (but don't know what year it was) someone setting up tables and chairs by the entrance as Middlewich's first attempt at continental cafe culture. Oh no! Don't say that was the clue to Sharon's mystery cafe all along........!

SEDDON'S CHIMNEYS 1971

Another colour slide taken from our privileged vantage point at no 33 King Street on a dismal day in 1971,  probably a few days before this one. The chimneys are all that is left of the Pepper Street Works and they only have a few days to go before demolition. When the very last one was felled (and it was, literally, felled, like a tree  - more on this later) the garden of no 33 took on something of a carnival atmosphere with neighbours calling round for cups of tea and sandwiches. Among those present, I recall, were Alice Moreton from Pool Head Farm, and Mr and Mrs Jack Rose from across the road.
The chimneys were felled not by dynamite or even by the immortal 'Fred Dibnah method' with pit props and a bonfire, but by the simple expedient of hacking away at the base with a sledgehammer until the whole structure weakened and crashed to the ground (the sledgehammer wielder having got out of the way as best he could - Health & Safety anyone?).
In Middlewich ('Images Of England', Tempus Publishing Ltd) Messrs Curzon and Hurley have some great photographs of the last days of these chimneys (pages 125/126). Unfortunately Brian has chosen to label one of the Pepper Street chimneys as 'the last salt works chimney in Middlewich', which it wasn't - the Brooks Lane chimneys lingered on a little longer, but that's a small point. In fact, if we want to be pedantic, we could say that the 'last salt works chimney' in Middlewich is still in situ and still in use at the British Salt works.
Slightly more worrying is the quirk which leads the book to call Pepper Street 'Pepper Street Lane'.
Also in our colour photo is the field behind no 33's garden which, remarkably, still survives as an open field, despite several scares over the years. If anyone ever does succeed in filling it with houses the superb view of the town centre we enjoyed for all those years will be gone for ever. Let's hope it never happens

FOR A DRAMATIC SHOT OF THE LAST OF THE PEPPER STREET CHIMNEYS IN ITS DYING SECOND SEE THIS POSTING