A WARTIME TAILOR'S ACCOUNT

Another wartime bill from the collection of Carole Hughes, this time from the celebrated 'practical tailors, clothiers and outfitters', Joseph Powell & Sons Ltd.
Sadly we will never know what exactly Mrs Annie Sant bought from Powell's all those years ago, as the bill simply says 'To balance of account'.

Powell's Tailors, or at least the retail side of the business, survived until quite recent years. As well as providing high quality men's clothing, they also hired out dinner suits and wedding outfits for many a posh Middlewich occasion.

The last time I had dealings with them was in the 1990s when I hired a dinner suit in order to 'represent' the Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival at the Borough Mayor's Ball in Alsager. This was the first  time I had ever attended such a function, and will, in all likelihood, be the last.

For a time in the early 2000s Powell's shop was occupied by Eric Alcock Electrical, but as at the 20th November 2017 remained empty. There have been signs of  a potential revival of at least part of the premises, but it is unclear what's happening with the rest of the shop.

The firm's clothing factory at the rear, which was accessed from Pepper Street, was swept away many years ago, its site  now forming part of a new housing development fronting onto St Michael's Way.

E-mail feed back:

Following the publication of this posting we received the following e-mail from Mr Peter Lindop:

I was interested to see the bill and receipt on Joseph Powell & Sons bill head. Joseph Powell was my great grandfather; his daughter Elizabeth Ann Powell married my grandfather Thomas Lindop and after they married they went to live in Northwich.

I remember as a child going to Middlewich on several occasions, visiting the family there and walking around the factory.

My great uncle, Walter Powell, was one of the sons on the bill head, and he used to play euphonium in the Middlewich Silver Prize Band. When I was there I used to hear them practice in the factory. I have a smokers cabinet that was presented to Joseph Powell by his employees in January 1926.

Regards

Peter Lindop

First published 18th November 2011
Updated and re-published 20th November 2017

HENRY SEDDON SALT ADVERTISEMENT 1895

by Dave Roberts

A familiar image to anyone who has studied the history of Middlewich and, in particular, the history of the local salt industry.

This advertisement from C F Lawrence's celebrated History of Middlewich of 1895 has appeared in many articles, books and treatises on Middlewich and its connections with salt, not least because in 1967 Henry Seddon's works in Pepper Street was one of the last open pan works to close, along with the company's other works in Wych House Lane and Brooks Lane. By that time, all three of the Seddon's works were owned by Cerebos Salt Ltd.

Seddon's Salt Works in Pepper Street in the 1960s.
 Middlewich's gas works is to the right.

But over the years we've all become so used to seeing black and white versions of this advertisement  that it may come of as a bit of a surprise to see that the original carried a little bit of what is now called 'spot colour' when first published. 

Who knew that in the original book, those ornate Victorian borders were coloured red?

The only other colour on the page is caused by the ageing of the paper. In 1895, of course, it would have been as white as the salt it was advertising.

It's tempting to think that salt is just salt. That fine, free running stuff that you sprinkle on your chips and  might easily mistake for sugar.

But, actually there are many different types of salt and they all have different uses.

This was as true in the open-pan era as it is today.

This is why Henry Seddon's advertisement talks of 'Cheese Salt', 'Butter Salt', 'Curing Salt (for hams and bacons)' 'Table Salt', 'Agricultural Salt', 'Rock Salt' and 'Bay Salt'- many of them reminders of Middlewich's position in the very centre of the largely agricultural county of Cheshire.

All these salts (except one)  were made in the salt pans of Middlewich, fired at different temperatures and with additives like bulls blood, sawdust, and glue which produced different types of salt crystals and, thus, different types of salt.*

Rock Salt, of course, is mined rather than produced from brine, and would, presumably, be bought in by Seddon's either from Northwich or Winsford.

Bay Salt, which is usually produced from sea water, may well have been produced by Seddon's at Pepper Street. 

They had a large open air pan which, with a very low fire underneath it, may have used the action of sunlight during the balmy Middlewich summers to produce this soft 'bath salt'. 

You'll note that Henry Seddon claims that  Pepper Street salt was 'manufactured under the personal superintendence of the Proprietor, at the old original address, Pepper Street, Middlewich'.

Victorian hyperbole, of course, which sits nicely alongside the usual exhortions to 'Use No Other' and to 'Beware Of Spurious Imitations'.

As for that 'old, original address': as we've said before, we have always assumed that the salt works found itself in Pepper Street because someone in the local administration of the time had a sense of humour when it came to coming up with street names.

On the other hand, 'Pepper Street' is quite common in the area as a street name; there are examples in nearby Chelford, in Nantwich and in Chester. There's also a very well-known example in London, not far from Canary Wharf. Most Pepper Streets are named for the fact that they were places where Pepper and other spices were sold, but we are wondering if the prevalence of the name in Cheshire comes from an association with some long-forgotten family which also bore the name. Cheshire historians have long pondered the origin of our Pepper Streets, concluding that 'Pepper' is probably a corruption of a much older name - possibly 'Pepur' - but that the derivation is 'not certain'. Whatever the truth of the matter, 'the salt works in Pepper Street' was always a source of amusement locally.

*One of the very first articles I wrote for the Middlewich Heritage Society back in the 1980s was based on an interview with Joe Clarke who had worked in the open pan salt industry for many years. He told me that workers in the industry were under strict instructions not to tell the public about the often strange and potentially off-putting additives used to produce different types of salt.

MEET ME ON THE CORNER - LINDISFARNE AT MIDDLEWICH 25

by Dave Roberts

I always have to chuckle whenever I look at this video of members of  Lindisfarne performing one of their greatest hits at the 25th Middlewich FAB Festival back in 2015.

The members of the band  are showing their age -  aren't we all? - but the the music sounds as good as ever, and this classic folk-rock band still has a goodly amount of 'street cred', particularly among those of us who are past the first flush of youth.

But what always makes me laugh is that 'Middlewich FAB 25' logo which floats onto the screen at the start of the video.

Those who follow these things, and surely there must be a few FAB obsessives about, will realise that it's not an 'official' MFAB design, but a typical cobbled together Middlewich Diary creation.

It's before the days of stock photos of girls in sunglasses and people being exhorted to 'come to their senses' at Middlewich (which, to me, always had all the makings of a classic 'contradiction in terms').

With  2015 being the long-awaited 25th anniversary of the festival, I was anxious to start publicising it  as soon as possible.
I looked around for an official 'Middlewich 25' logo but could find nothing.

So in traditional Middlewich Diary make do and mend style, I cobbled together my own logo, using the festival's then current logo and a bit of lettering.

All done, fact fans, with Page Plus 10 and Professor Franklin's Magic Photo Effects - both venerable, not to say almost obsolete, bits of computer software from many years ago. The whole thing took me about ten minutes to put together.

When the festival's own FAB 25 logo appeared it was a lot more professional looking and we used it on the Middlewich Diary very enthusiastically. Well, that's a bit of an understatement, really...

So it came as a bit of surprise when, after the festival, Lindisfarne issued this video featuring our hastily assembled 'temporary' FAB 25 logo, obviously gleaned from a quick Google search.

Fame at last!

Enjoy the video!

MEET ME ON THE CORNER

Lindisfarne at FAB 25

(YouTube link)

DOWN THE FACTORY LANE - FINNEYS LANE 1968

by Dave Roberts

When I was a young boy my Mother would sometimes suggest going for a walk or a bike ride. Our 'long route', only achievable by bike, was 'round Byley' but, if we wanted a shorter ride, or a walk, we would go 'down the factory lane'.

Finney's Lane, in those days, was an isolated spot at the end of Webb's Lane, dominated by the British Crepe Factory, known simply as ' the silk works'.

The silk works was a vast, sprawling, industrial complex which loomed over the Big Lock pub like a brooding giant. It started life as a condensed milk factory and opened as a silk works in July 1931.

Ten years later, during the second world war, its roof was set alight by incendiary bombs*.

The factory has now been replaced by up-market housing.

The 'factory lane' was reached  by one of two ways. You could get there by going 'down Bill Hewitt's', the pathway that ran from King Street across the site of old salt workings to a point close to the Big Lock, and then crossing the footbridge which still stands at the end of the lock itself. Alternatively, the pathway which runs down from King Street alongside Harbutt's Field to reach the same point could be used.

Once Webbs Lane, the Big Lock and the silk works had been left behind, Finney's Lane took on a  rural aspect, reminiscent of the country lanes found all over Cheshire,and one had a feeling of being 'out of town'.

Thick hedges flanked the road on both sides, relieved only by an entrance to Middlewich Athletic's football ground on the left hand side, shortly before reaching Middlewich Cemetery.

This entrance was rarely used,  usual access being from Seddon Street off Webbs Lane, which gave the ground its appropriately Middlewichian name.

Once the cemetery itself was reached, a left turn into Croxton Lane led back to Chester Road and the hustle and bustle of Middlewich.

* with acknowledgments to Allan Earl in Middlewich 1900-1950 (Cheshire Country Publishing, 1994)

The original Kodachrome slide showing Finney's Lane in 1968 and looking towards the Big Lock, which is hidden behind the factory buildings. The alignment of the road has changed over the years and it now heads straight towards the pub rather than veering off to the right as it did back then.

Facebook Feedback (2017):

Sheila Hardy writes:

I was born in Webb's Lane, and my Mum worked at the factory both when it produced milk and when it was the silk works.
We had a massive party in the canteen on Coronation Day for all the kids in the lane.
A great day!

We called Harbutt's Field 'Harvest Fields'* in those days, and we kids used to cross it for a day out by the River (Dane).
We were on our own - no parents in tow... My Gosh! Health and Safety gone mad! But we survived!

*Sheila is quite right. In former days 'Harbutt's Field' was always called 'Harvest Field' or 'Harvest Fields' by most people -Ed.

Dave Costello writes:

When we lived in New King Street, 'Billy Hewitt's' was our playground. We found lots of Roman pottery at the south end of the field. Everyone called the main pathway 'Harvest Field' at that time. I remember the old deserted bungalow at the bottom of the 'Stone Houses' hill alongside the River Croco. We called it the 'old woman's house' and it was our den. Does anyone know the history of the house?

SEE ALSO: CONDENSED MILK FACTORY 1968

Facebook Feedback:

Geraldine Williams 

A lovely word picture Dave. Brought back some lovely memories. My Mother was born in Seddon Street and, as was the norm for all the girls who lived in the Webb's Lane area, worked at the Nestle's Condensed Milk factory. I think there are still traces of the tunnel down which the barrels were rolled straight down to the awaiting canal barges. As you say, it then became the Silk Factory (as it was known to Middlewichers!) and continued to provide employment for all the locals. My husband's family had strong connections with Webb's Lane and Finneys Lane, as you describe, was a lovely 'country' walk, pushing babies in prams and hunting for blackberries, etc. The land behind the factory was always waterlogged though. I think the original 'new build' off Croxton Lane was aptly named!! (a reference to 'Waterside Way' -ed)

First published 24th November 2011
Revised and re-published 24th November 2017

MIDDLEWICH TOWN CENTRE FROM KING STREET c1971

 by Dave Roberts

This is a bit of a mystery photo. It shows part of the view from the garden at no 33 King Street in the early 1970s. The slide itself is marked 'Town Centre from King Street c1969' but the condition of what remains of the Pepper Street salt works would seem to suggest that it is slightly later than that. The chimney on the right, part of which has crept into the shot, has whitewashed brickwork at the bottom of it, a sure sign that the salt pan and associated roofing which were formerly in front of it have gone. And the gas-holders which once stood between us and the canal and River Croco have also disappeared. 
For these reasons, we've revised the date to 'c1971', which is the year that the chimneys themselves were felled.
The slides in this collection are all marked with a brief description and date which is something of a small mercy all these years later as we can, at least, give a rough estimate of the date each was taken - the year, if not the month in most cases. The drab colour, by the way, is largely due to the fact that we used Agfachrome for this particular slide - always a second choice after Kodachrome, but we had to use whatever slide film local chemists felt like stocking at the time.
Middlewich Town Hall is on the extreme left and the  white painted buildings, centre right, are the Vaults in Wheelock Street, seen from the rear.

First published 10th November 2011
Revised and re-published 10th November 2017

FAB FESTIVAL WINTER WARMER 2017 (ARCHIVED)

DIRECT WEBSITE LINK

LOVE AMONG THE SALT PACKETS (SONG)

Photo: Carole Hughes Collection

Here's one of the superb songs about the Middlewich salt industry written by Andy Roscoe for Tales Of Wych & Water, a CD containing reminiscences from people working in Middlewich's traditional open pan salt industry and the canals which served it.

Love Among The Salt packets is the story of a young girl, Betty Hill, who found romance while working among the dust, noise and confusion of the packing room at a local salt works.

Tales Of Wych & Water was commissioned by Kerry Kirwan (nee Fletcher)  the Town Council's Heritage Officer  and was compiled by Salt Town Productions from recordings made by Kerry and others, together with songs and music written and performed by Andy, Dave Thompson and Craig Moores.

This particular version of the song was recorded by Salt Town Productions at a live performance at the Boar's Head in 2013, so apologies for the slightly ropey sound quality. It's the audio equivalent of what a photographer would call a 'grab shot'.

The song features Andy Roscoe (main vocals/guitar), Dave Thompson (backing vocals/guitar) and Craig Moores (harmonica).

LOVE AMONG THE SALT PACKETS (SOUNDCLOUD LINK)

or you can go to our SOUNDCLOUD page

and press the

symbol for the relevant song.

Song © Andy Roscoe 2009
Recording © Salt Town Productions 2017

RE-DEDICATION OF THE WAR MEMORIAL 1972 (6) SERVICE AT THE PIAZZA

Hymn singing at the service of re-dedication of the war memorial in its new setting on the 'piazza'. a  feature which served as the Middlewich's 'town centre' for 33 years until the coming of the Roman amphitheatre in 2005. The steps leading up from the former Lower Street to the upper level are directly in front of us.

 The gentleman half out of shot on the extreme left is, I think, Christopher Summerfield.

First published 2nd November 2011

Re-published 2nd November 2017