THE TURNOVER BRIDGE

by Dave Roberts

I suppose if you're not familiar with this local landmark you might think that the 'turnover bridge' is some kind of mechanical structure, like a swing bridge or a transporter bridge, designed to move traffic or canal boats from one place to another in a Victorian Engineering Marvel sort of way.
But no, the 'turnover' bridge' gets its name very simply from the fact that the road from Middlewich to Sandbach switches from the right hand side of the Trent & Mersey  Canal to the left at this point.
It's real, official, name is 'Tetton Bridge' and it lies in the middle of what was once an industrialised area.
From the 1770s until the 1960s it was just another of those 'hump-backed' canal bridges seen all over the area (although, being on a main road, it didn't have much of a 'hump'), until it was replaced by a more modern structure during a road improvement scheme.
Or was it?
Certainly it looks like a modern structure, particularly from the 'Middlewich' end. In fact, when you stand underneath it and look towards Middlewich, it bears an uncanny resemblance to the Town Bridge:

Looking at  the 'Sandbach' side of the bridge , however, it's plain that part of the structure, at least, has its origins in a traditional canal bridge:

This side of Tetton Bridge has the gracefully curved arch seen on many bridges in the area, albeit clad in ugly concrete. In front of the arch is one of the brine pipelines which criss-cross the area like a spider's web.
So is Tetton Bridge ancient or modern?
There's a clue in this notice, to be found on the 'Middlewich' side:

The 'sudden change in bridge profile' is a reference to the point where the new part of the bridge meets the old:

..and the sweeping arch of the old bridge is very evident. Also evident on the left is  damage to the brickwork where something has dealt the old bridge a severe blow.

So the 'turnover bridge' is actually an interesting amalgam of old and new.
The old bridge was never actually demolished, merely cocooned by the new bridge and hidden away from all except canal users.
From the road above, there is no hint of the interesting bodge-up which lies beneath:

Notice the sign on the right pointing the way down Tetton Lane to Warmingham where the brine for making Middlewich salt comes from.
Beyond the hedge in the background lies the site of Murgatroyd's Chemical Works (most recently operated by Brenntag, who  still have a presence at the Middlewich end of the site, including a Combined Heat and Power Station).
The area will change out of all recognition one glorious day when the Middlewich by-pass is completed and joins the Sandbach road at a point somewhere near the top of this photograph.

All the photographs in this entry, by the way, were taken on Wednesday 20th June 2012, one of the few warm and sunny days in  the wettest June in a hundred years.

Facebook Feedback

Paul Greenwood Fascinating entry, Dave. I've been going back and to over that bridge most days for the last thirty-four years, and never knew its secrets.

Geraldine Williams I can remember the old Turnover Bridge, but wonder what happened to the Middlewich-Sandbach traffic during the modifications? Must have been jolly if it was all diverted through Warmingham!

Dave Roberts I was wondering that, too, Geraldine. Possibly they  built the new part of  the bridge and diverted traffic over it while they were constructing the new roadway over the top of the old bridge?

Does anyone remember? -Ed

UPDATE (1st April 2018):

Ian Murfitt has pointed out that, though this may be THE Turnover Bridge, it's not actually A turnover bridge.

A 'turnover bridge', or 'roving bridge',  'changeline bridge' or even 'snake bridge' in usual canal parlance means a bridge where the towpath moves from one side of the canal to the other and the bridge is constructed in such a way that the boat horse can follow the towpath across the bridge without the hauling line having to be detached.

If you hold the copyright on this photo please let us know

This photo illustrates how the principle works: you can see how the horse could walk up the ramp on the right, cross the bridge and then walk down the ramp on the left without the tow-line ever having to be removed.

There are several 'turnover bridges' not far away on the Macclesfield Canal.

In other areas the problem was solved by splitting the bridge into two, leaving a narrow gap which the tow-rope could be passed through.

None of which has anything to do with Tetton Bridge. Although the road switches from one side to the other, the towpath doesn't.

So in this case the name 'Turnover Bridge' appears to be simply a local one denoting the place where the road crosses over to the other side of the canal.

Many thanks to Ian Murfitt.

UPDATE (7th April 2020)

Canal & River Trust volunteer Bob Shoosmith writes:A very awkward bridge to negotiate in a boat due to the change of direction. I have taken many a C&RT "Tug" (a misnomer, as it pushes, not pulls) through there, and as they are fairly tall, it takes some careful negotiation at very low speed to avoid scraping the walls. You can see that some have also had difficulty when looking at the picture from the Sandbach side, and the very neat right angled chunk out of the brickwork on the right side of the arch.

Photo: Bob Shoosmith

For those who are not aware what they look like, this is a Tug & Hopper we brought down the T&M a couple of years ago. The tug is 30' and the hopper 40', so a total of 70' which is pretty much as long as you can fit into a lock, and definitely something to be carefully negotiated under Tetton Bridge.

Many thanks to Bob for this 'insider' knowledge - Ed.




First published 22nd June 2012.
Updated and re-published 1st April 2018
Updated and re-published 7th April 2020

7th APRIL 2020

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OUR TOWN

'OUR TOWN'

A nostalgic look at Middlewich's salt town days in old photos,

with musical accompaniment by Iris Dement.

A Salt Town Production

Watch it here:

Or watch it on YOUTUBE(recommended)

YouTube Feedback:

Debs Johnson That was lovely!

Patrick Collins That's brilliant, Dave!

Pauline Butler Wow! That was an amazing watch! So many memories of old Middlewich - well done, Dave!

Catherine Wilson Aww...Really enjoyed watching that.

Celia Burt Memories! You can't beat them! Lovely song!

Philip Stephen Appleton Well worth watching...

Sarah Burrows That is brilliant. I really enjoyed it x

Lorraine Yearsley Wonderful! The sun won't set on Middlewich while we have Dave Roberts to keep it alive!

Susan Johnson Brilliant and well done, Dave!

Angela Healey Fab walk down memory lane!

Helen Beardmore Brilliant! Thanks! xx

Chris Thornton I don't come from this town, but I found it very enjoyable.

Barbara Cooper My Auntie Annie used to live in the middle cottage, and I slept over quite a few times with her when I was a little girl. Happy memories!

Gemma Louise Barthorpe Lovely.

Ann Appleton Yes, I can remember parts from when I was little.

Gillian Willox That was great - thank you!

Andrew Bebbington  Thank you!

Nicola Such What a great video. Some fabulous memories of Middlewich xxx

Mark Concar That's great. Well done Dave.

Fiona Boote Well, that's really brought a tear to my eyes. How you forget! I remember watching those chimneys fall. So very well put together, and I loved the song! very well done! x

Elizabeth Moreton Absolutely brilliant! Brought a tear to my eye. So many lovely memories. Thank you, Dave.

Lorraine Yearsley Great photos, great production, but English folk music would have been more to my taste.

Dave Roberts Mine too. But My Town sums up exactly what I had in mind for this video so well that there was no real alternative - at least, not one that I could find.

When I come across a song by an English group which expresses that yearning for the past, that sense of loss, and that intangible feeling that this town, however imperfect it may have been, was, at least Our Town; when I find a song that can recapture that lost (and quite possibly illusory) feeling of 'belonging' to a town half so well as Iris Dement's song does, I'll remake the video with an alternative soundtrack. Until then, though, I don't think this can be bettered.

Lorraine Yearsley Still a lovely memoir of Middlewich. Thanks!

Originally published 23rd August 2015

Re-published (with additional feedback) 23rd August 2016

Re-published 5th April 2020

Editor's note:

This was originally published in 2015, apropos of nothing in particular.

During the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 we felt it was appropriate to re-publish it along with the following Facebook message:

At times like these we want to feel close to home, and to cherish the familiar and the commonplace. And that, believe you me, is all this humble video is about.The last time we published this homage to our own little town's past we were astonished to receive a very grumpy message from someone who said he 'didn't agree with the sentiments'. There's nothing to agree with or disagree with. All we're doing is remembering how Middlewich used to be, within living memory for many of us. If you're a long standing Middlewicher (or Middlewichian, if you're posh) we hope you'll once again enjoy this trip into our past. if you're a relative newcomer, we hope you'll gain a little insight into just why some of us find the place so fascinating. Take care, everyone. - Ed.

Comments

WHITE BEAR COMMERCIAL HOTEL EARLY 20th CENTURY

by Dave Roberts

Here we are back in the familiar surroundings of Wheelock Street, a thoroughfare which seems to stay the same the more it changes.

The main focus of this particular picture from the Paul Hough collection is, of course, The White Bear Hotel, currently enjoying a new lease of life and certainly looking more spick and span these days than it did when this picture was taken, in the days when it was a 'commercial hotel' and catered for travelling salesmen (known these days as 'reps').

It's interesting to note the side door, long ago bricked up and replaced by a window.

Middlewich (Images of England) by J Brian Curzon and Paul Hurley (Tempus Publishing 2005) features a photograph taken around the same time (page 67)along with this one (page 105).

Messrs Curzon and Hurley also tell us that Wheelock Street  boasted several other pubs at the time (circa 1904) and they were: The Commercial, The Bulls Head, The Black Bear, The Red Lion, The White Lion and The Red Cow. 

This is useful, because we've been trying to identify the pub on the opposite side of the road in this picture and, so far, can only make out the word 'Inn' on the sign.

We can, of course, rule out the Red Lion and the Red Cow, which were both at the top end of the street, so that leaves us with a choice of the others.

The pub in question looks too small to be a commercial hotel with the same status as The White Bear, so that might rule out The Commercial (although it would make sense for two commercial hotels to be on opposite sides of the street).

So could this 'Inn' be The Bulls Head, The Black Bear or the White Lion? The word 'Inn' could follow any of those. Anyone know which it is?

We can safely date this photograph as prior to 1920 because that is when the familiar Alhambra cinema was built, its arched ornamental frontage fitting in perfectly between the two gabled buildings on either side and replacing the much lower and much older building seen here.

In fact so well does it fit into its surroundings that it gives the impression of always having been there, to such an extent that to see this still recognisable Wheelock Street scene without it comes as a slight shock.

Editor's Note:

This proved to be the shortest-lived and most easily solved 'conundrum' so far, largely due to the fact that Geraldine Williams has a good memory, particularly when it comes to her own collection of postcards:

Geraldine Williams: One of the previous Wheelock Street postcards showed the inn sign from the other direction and it seemed to read The Bull's Head Inn'

Here's the link to the relevant Diary entry, which reveals that we've already answered our own question...

WHEELOCK STREET EARLY 20th CENTURY

...there's also some additional information about Wheelock Street and the Alhambra

'THROWBACK THURSDAY' FEATURE

3rd October 2019

THE HEART OF CHESHIRE ON FACEBOOK

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 3rd OCTOBER 2019
RE-PUBLISHED 5th April 2020 (TEST)

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CHAIRMEN IN CHESTER ROAD, CHAIRMAN'S SUNDAY 1948

© Phillip Shales 2012 All Rights Reserved
With acknowledgments to Kerry Fletcher and Dave Thompson at Middlewich Town Council

Looking very much like they mean business, and don't expect  any nonsense from anyone, this group of Council Chairmen (and one lady) stride purposefully along Chester Road on Chairman's Sunday 1948.
Originally we thought that these people were all visiting dignitaries, but the gentleman on the left could well be the Chairman of Middlewich UDC wearing the original 1897 badge of office and the 1935 badge.
 It was (and is) the custom of neighbouring Council Chairmen/Mayors to visit each other's civic services, carnivals and other town events.
Can anyone identify any of the other worthies and tell us which towns they represent?
Note the stylish motor-coach, the rear end of which can be seen on the left in front of Middlewich Motors, and the alternative Chester Road entrance to Boosey's Nurseries in the background, above the right hand Chairman's head.
Chester Road then, and for quite a few years afterwards, had an almost semi-rural air about it which has now largely gone..
At the time of writing Boosey's Garden Centre and Middlewich Autos provide a tenuous link with the area's past but even this will disappear very soon as progress, in the shape of a Morrison's supermarket, severs that link during 2012.

SEE ALSO SCOUTS AND CUBS IN CHESTER ROAD 1948
                   MIDDLEWICH GUIDES IN CHESTER ROAD 1948
                   AND ASSOCIATED ENTRIES (FOLLOW THE LINKS)

Originally published 15th March 2012
Revised and republished 1st February 2020.    t1

INTIMATIONS OF DISASTER

UPDATED 8th April 2015: PLEASE SCROLL DOWN THE PAGE

by Dave Roberts

 Like most people I have never seen a railway accident, and hope I never do but, many years ago, on a bitterly cold evening in the winter of 1962-3 the Roberts family witnessed something  which we couldn't at first account for, and the explanation for which only became clear to us as the story of a disaster unfolded before us on our TV screen.

'...caused by the last coach of the Birmingham train rearing up and
striking the overhead wires'.
Photo: Middlewich Rail Link Campaign

It was Boxing Day, Wednesday the 26th December 1962, and we were all huddled around our ten-year old black and white television set. 

Snow had started to blanket the country just before Christmas and the famous Big Freeze would set in in the New Year, lasting through until March without a break. Almost the whole of England and Wales was frozen solid for weeks on end, bringing the country to a virtual standstill (and, incidentally, delivering a crippling blow to the canal carrying industry).

On this night, which was clear and very cold, we hadn't drawn the curtains on our living room window, which overlooked our back garden, Middlewich gasworks and Seddon's salt works.

 A few miles away, beyond the town, were the outskirts of Winsford where the West Coast Main Line ran on its way from Crewe to Liverpool and Scotland. The line had only recently been electrified and brand new colour light signals, some of them automatic, controlled the new electric and diesel hauled trains.

Suddenly, shortly after six o'clock, we saw a vivid  flash of light in the night sky above the salt works.We  were all stunned for a few seconds and at a loss to account for what we'd seen. It was rather like a flash of lightning, but, it seemed to us, about ten times brighter and a deep, vivid blue in colour.

We had to assume that it was some kind of strange meteorological phenomenon. There seemed to be no other explanation, but the experience was, somehow, deeply unsettling.

We continued with our television viewing (I'd love to know what programme was on that night. We only had a choice of two channels - BBC TV and Granada (with ABC TV at the weekends). I wonder what we were watching?)

I do know that, about an hour after we'd seen the bright blue  light in the sky, the programme was interrupted by a newsflash - something which doesn't seem to happen often in these days of 24 hour news but was a fairly common ocurrence back then when something really important happened. It was always rather nerve-wracking, especially when the NEWSFLASH caption was kept on screen for several minutes before any announcement was made.

This particular report brought us dreadful news.

A diesel-hauled Glasgow to Euston express had run into the rear of a Liverpool to Birmingham train at Coppenhall Junction, near to the former Minshull Vernon Station, just four minutes away from Winsford (drivers on the road to Nantwich pass close to the site when they cross the bridge a few yards away from the Verdin Arms).

Frozen points at Crewe had caused delays and the Birmingham train had been halted at a red signal. The driver of the London train had also been stopped by a red signal further down the line but, fatally, decided that this was a fault with the signalling (he had tried to phone the nearest signal-box but couldn't get through). He moved forward and, failing to see the train in front of him, crashed into it at about 25 miles per hour.

The bright blue flash we had seen just after six o'clock was caused by the last coach of the Birmingham train rearing up and striking the overhead wires. Eighteen people were killed and 34 injured in the crash.

This, it has to be remembered, was the time of transition from steam hauled trains to diesel and electric ones (although there were still plenty of steam-hauled trains on this and other lines in the North-West where steam wasn't phased out until August 1968) and the drivers and signalmen involved were all from an older tradition where things were done rather differently. 

The driver of the London train was used to steam locomotives which could not 'make up for lost time' as easily as the new diesels and electrics, and was thus very anxious to be away. 

The fact that the next signal ahead was at red should have told him that there had to be another train there but, unfortunately, this changed to a yellow as he approached. The brightness of this yellow signal apparently made it difficult to see the tail lights of the train in front. These factors, coupled with the atrocious weather conditions, had conspired to cause this terrible accident on one of the safest railway systems in the world.

The 1962 Minshull Vernon crash was the first major British railway accident which did not involve a steam locomotive.

It wasn't the first time that disaster had struck this section of railway. It had happened before, in 1948, and was to happen again (though with much less serious consequences) in 1999.

But none of us will ever forget that strange vivid blue flash in the sky all those years ago.

A more detailed account of the crash can be found here (pdf file) on the Railways Archive site,  and the definitive accounts of both this and the 1948 Winsford accident are featured in Disaster Down the Line by J.A.B. Hamilton (George Allen & Unwin Books 1967)


Facebook Feedback:

Philip YearsleyAs we had got off the train at Winsford after returning from Runcorn, I have often wondered about the facts of this accident.
I seem to recall hearing that a soldier on his way home on leave was travelling on the first train, and, as he lived in the Minshull Vernon area, pulled the emergency stop cord, then fled off over the fields.
Thanks for the info, Dave.

Geraldine Williams Yes, that was the tale we heard Philip. It must have been a rumour that spread round Middlewich. Glad to know it wasn't true.

Dave Roberts Sadly the story of the soldier is true, but it relates to the 1948 crash and not the 1962 one (the Winsford area has had three train accidents, 1948, 1962 and 1999). The soldier was coming home on leave and, realising that he was near his home in Winsford but that the train was not scheduled to call there, pulled the communication cord to stop the train. He then ran across the fields to his home. He later came forward and owned up. All he was trying to do was save himself the additional journey from Crewe Station back to Winsford. But he didn't cause the crash. A train brought to a standstill like this should be perfectly safe, but the train crew didn't take the necessary precautions to protect it and the crash happened. That soldier must have blamed himself for the rest of his life, but the train could have been stopped for any number of reasons. It was a million to one chance that his actions should have resulted in disaster.

Lindsey Daniels Thank you for publishing this story. I didn't know about it and found it an interesting read

UPDATE (2013)

Richard Maund contacted us during 2013 with a link to more information on the circumstances surrounding this tragic accident (see 'comments'). Here's a direct link to that information:

http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/MoT_Coppenhall1962.pdf

The Ministry of Transport report 1963

UPDATE (DECEMBER 2014):

Following our re-publication of this diary entry on Boxing Day 2014 (the 52nd anniversary of the accident), Geraldine Williams wrote:

...this brought back some memories. We lived in Kinderton Street at the time and Jonathan (Jonathan Williams, the late Middlewich Town Clerk - Ed) was only seven months old. Father Down, our Parish Priest, called to see us on his way back from the Post Office. He'd just arrived when the Newsflash came on, so he had to rush off back to the Presbytery, as he was expecting he would be called out to the scene of the crash.

Facebook Feedback (2014):

Darren Roberts That was a good read and very interesting. I'll admit I've not heard about this before. It just goes to show how easily mistakes can be made in bad conditions on the railways as well as the roads.

Facebook Feedback (2015):

Joan Barnes I remember this train crash well, as I worked at Northwich Telephone Exchange when it happened. it was awful.

Jacqui Cooke I was only 12 years old, but my brother worked at Winsford Station signal box at the time.

First published 26th December 2012

Updated and re-published 26th December 2014, 8th April 2015, 26th December 2016, December 17th 2018. Re-published 26th December 2018, 

Updated and republished 26th December 2019

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM THE NAVIGATION INN 1917

Pat Nancollas/Malcolm Hough

Here's a small reminder of how Christmas cards looked  a hundred years ago. This card which was sent from the Navigation Inn in Middlewich  by Mrs Ida Malpass is tiny, measuring only 10cm by 7cm (approximately 4 inches by 2 1/2 inches), but its lack of size is made up for by the elaborate way it has been made.

Its sentimentality is, perhaps, partly explained by the fact that the Great War was in its penultimate year. Many postcards of the same era also carry similar messages showing a collective yearning for some sort of security after long years of war and the heartbreak of separation and loss.

A card such as this would have been very expensive to produce and to purchase and only the relatively well-to-do, or people 'in trade', such as Mrs Malpass, and her husband George (landlord of the Navigation from 1903-1928) would have been able to afford such extravagances.

We're grateful to Malcolm Hough, who runs the House Of  Feathers in Wych House Lane for passing these items (along with many others which will see the light of day in the Middlewich Diary in due course) to us.

Pat and her husband Derek are regular customers of the House Of Feathers and Pat, knowing of Malcolm's interest in the history of Middlewich, lent him the Christmas card and the photo of Ida, who was Pat's great-grandmother. 

According to Malcolm, Ida's husband George was also landlord of the nearby 
Talbot Hotel in Kinderton Street for a time.

We have looked at the Navigation Inn before in the Middlewich Diary, notably in this entry:


NAVIGATION INN circa 1894

The pub, which was in Mill Lane, off Kinderton Street, was, according to Ken Kingston ('Middlewich Hospitality', Middlewich U3A Local History Group 2014), at one time called The Coffee House, then the Canal Coffee House, the Canal Inn, the Bridgefoot and finally, from around 1816, the Navigation.

The Navigation Inn, on the corner of Kinderton Street and Mill Lane around 1894. Middlewich Town Bridge and the Trent & Mersey Canal are behind the building
Paul Hough Collection

Acknowledgments:

Malcolm Hough

Pat Nancollas

Ken Kingston

This was the first Middlewich Diary entry produced in Queen Street,
Christmas Eve 2015

First published Christmas Eve 2015
Revised and re-published 23rd December 2017, 12th December 2018, Christmas Eve 2019.