CROWDS AT THE 1952 CARNIVAL

© Phillip Shales 2011     All rights reserved
with acknowledgments to Kerry Kirwan and Dave Thompson 

by Dave Roberts

The crowds gather in the Bull Ring to watch the 1952 Middlewich Carnival procession and the effect this photo from the Phillip Shales collection has is astonishing. You almost feel that you could walk into the picture  and talk to the people in it, so perfectly has the photographer captured their faces.

Unlike the crowds of today most of the people seen here, rather than fighting for car parking spaces and then walking a few yards, will have trekked into the town centre from all over Middlewich; from Kinderton and Newton and Cledford. And it's a safe bet that quite a few of them will have cycled from outlying areas such as Wimboldsley, Stanthorne and Sproston to see all the glamour and spectacle of one of Middlewich's major annual events.
There's a definite air of anticipation about the photograph, as the crowds wait for the procession to arrive. We'll be seeing the Carnival Queen and her retinue for ourselves in later entries in the Middlewich Diary.
The railings in the foreground are part of the enclosure for the War Memorial at the end of the row of buildings separating Lower Street and Hightown at that time. The road still curves around in the same way at the end of the 'amphitheatre', though the space to the left of the picture where most of the crowds are is usually taken up these days by cars jostling for parking spaces outside Tesco Express.

The buildings in the background disappeared at the end of the 1960s in preparation for the building of what was then the Co-operative Superstore and is now Tesco Express and the very popular Super Discount Shop.
If you're wondering where Dierden's Terrace has got to, it's the narrow alleyway between the now vanished Cooper's shop and the next building, which survives as a hairdressers establishment opposite the current Super Discount Shop and Tesco Express.

Note: The current building on the site is huge. In its earliest days it was, as we've said, the Co-operative Superstore. The section to the right , now the Discount Shop, was originally the Co-op Chemists department and optician and  later became the home of Pineland before  re-opening as the Super Discount Shop a couple of years ago.

The upper landing of the Discount Shop (the area devoted mostly to gardening products and large domestic items) was originally the Co-op furniture department, reached by a large staircase from the shop below. Pineland used the area for warehousing.

Editor's note: We originally published this entry under the heading 'Crowds at the 1949 Carnival' but have changed the date as other photos in the series were proved to have been from 1952. If you have any information which will help us confirm the true date of this photo please contact us. Thank you.

5th APRIL 2020
7th MAY 2021

First published 21st December 2011
Revised and republished 21st June 2023

MEET THE MIDDLEWICH METEORS!

The Middlewich Meteors May 1957: L to R - Elvin Bowyer (washboard), Alan Birchall (guitar), Peter Birchall (guitar), Peter Wilson (double bass), Freddie Moores (banjo), and Brian Eaton (guitar) In front is Edward Tattersall (guitar)

by Dave Roberts

The Middlewich Diary is always at home to talk of Middlewich music matters and from local legend FREDDIE MOORES comes this salutary reminder that music in Middlewich didn't begin twenty-five years ago with the first Folk & Boat Festival.

In fact, although this article is about Middlewich music 1957 style, it goes without saying that there have always been people around town making music of one kind or another. An older generation, for example, will tell you all about Percy Bailey's Band which played dance music at the old Middlewich Town Hall on Hightown for many a Saturday Night Dance, with Percy famously propping the latest edition of the Evening Sentinel up on his piano's music stand to keep up with the local news as interminable waltzes, quick-steps and fox-trots filled the smoky air.

The old Middlewich Town Hall

So, to be clear, we're talking about the start of the modern era of Music In Middlewich in the1950s - the age of Skiffle and Rock 'n' Roll!

Fred kindly loaned me this historical souvenir which features not only a copy of a press cutting from May 1957 about the Middlewich Meteors but also one from 48 years later when Freddie was trying to get hold of a copy of the photo he remembered being published all those years before. There's also an 'ode' to the band (or 'group' as they would, undoubtedly, have been called in those days) which was probably written by one of those young musicians.

We're happy to reproduce these historic documents for the electronic generation and preserve them for posterity.

Let's begin with Fred's 2005 appeal to the local Guardian for information about members of the band, and for a copy of that elusive photograph.

The first thing to note is that Fred was talking to the 'wrong' newspaper - perfectly understandable after all those years, and given the tendency of the Guardian and the Chronicle to wax and wane in popularity locally, seemingly taking it in turns to be the local paper of choice for Middlewichians.

NORTHWICH GUARDIAN

Winsford & Middlewich Edition

Wednesday April 13th 2005.

FRED ON A MISSION TO BE REUNITED WITH BAND

A MIDDLEWICH musician is looking to be reunited with his former band mates nearly 50 years after they first formed.

Fred Moores of Shropshire Close is looking for members of his old skiffle band The Middlewich Meteorites (sic)*, and is trying to source a picture of the band which he believes was taken in 1956 or 1957.

Fred, 67, said: 'The picture was taken at the back of the White Bear pub which is where we used to practise.'

Fred says the picture, which appeared in the Guardian (sic), features guitarists Eddie Tattersall and Brian Eaton, as well as washboard and bass player Peter Wilson.

Fred, who played the ukelele and banjo, would love to know if anyone has a copy of the picture and would also like to hear from his former band mates.

He said: 'We were only aged between about 15 and 17. It was just before we went into the army in 1958. We took part in a few contests at Mr Smiths in Winsford. I'd just like to know where they all are and if anyone has a copy of the picture.'

If you were a member of the Middlewich Meteorites (sic)*, or know someone who has a copy of the picture, contact reporter Gemma Sproston by ringing 01606 813624, email gsproston@guardiangrp.co.uk, or write to 15 Market Street, Northwich, Cheshire CW9 5DT.

*You'll note that we rather sniffily use the term sic to indicate that we are reproducing the Guardian's use of 'Meteorites' even though we know it to be wrong. It's very likely, of course, that Gemma Sproston, who is a very good journalist, only used the name Middlewich Meteorites because that's the name she was given by Fred who himself believed it to be the name of the group. It was, after all, a long time ago - Ed.

Fred's appeal obviously bore fruit because also included in his souvenir is a cutting from The Chronicle of Saturday May 18th 1957 (how long is it since the publication of our local papers switched from Saturday to Thursday?)

To put this piece of Middlewich history into context, remember that the Middlewich of May 18th 1957 was somewhat different to the town we know today.

Middlewich Station was still open to passengers and 'The Dodger' was still whisking passengers from Middlewich to Northwich in as little as 7 minutes. It would only continue to do so, however, until the last day of 1959.

The Alhambra was still open for business as a cinema and there were, as now, many pubs, but the only place you could get something to eat or a cup of tea was Heathcote's Cafe in Lewin Street.

The open-pan salt works were still going strong, with Seddon's in Pepper Street - just a matter of yards away from the Meteors' rehearsal room - belching out black smoke and white steam all through the week. The other Seddon's works in Wych House Lane and Brooks Lane were also thriving, as was Murgatroyd's Brooks Lane works. This venerable method of salt-making would continue for another ten years (nine in the case of Murgatroyd's) before falling to progress in the shape of the British Salt works which replaced them all in 1969.

And Fountain Fields - now re-christened 'Tesco Park' by a new generation - which seems to have been there forever was, in 1957, a mere five years old.

UPDATE: In the never- ending story of Middlewich things change, as they do in all towns. Tesco replaced their main Middlewich Store with a short-lived branch of their budget store 'Jack's' (named after the company founder Jack Cohen) which was intended to compete with Lidl and Aldi. Middlewich people, of course, took it all in their stride and 'Tesco Park' seamlessly became 'Jack's Park'. Tesco's experiment in budget stores didn't last long and the store lay derelict for a while. At the time of writing (16th May 2023) the store is being extensively re-furbished (in fact 'rebuilt' would be a better word) and will, in the fullness of time, become a branch of 'Home Bargains'. 'Home Bargains Park' would be a weird and clumsy renaming. My guess is that 'Jack's Park' will keep its name, leading to  speculation by historians in the distant future as to who 'Jack' was.

Middlewich then was a dirty, dingy, smoky little town just crying out for some great entertainment - something Fred and friends were determined to provide...

THE CHRONICLE

Saturday May 18th 1957

They aim to 'rock' the town in a big way

MEET THE MIDDLEWICH Meteors, the skiffle group that is currently 'rocking' the town three or four nights a week at its practice sessions. You can see them in action at their headquarters - a room in what was a stable block in the ancient coaching yard behind the White Bear Hotel.

The group had originally planned to form themselves into a harmonica gang. Then came the skiffle craze. Nobody wanted to listen to harmonicas*, so the seven friends set about acquiring the necessary instruments.

The double bass is a simple matter of a tea-chest, a wooden pole and a piece of string. The washboard is of a kind any housewife can buy at a hardware store. The guitars were all bought second-hand.

So far the group has only had one official booking - they played at the British Legion Club a fortnight ago - but they are on the look-out for future engagements.

(the photo illustrating this story is reproduced at the top of the page)

The White Bear Hotel in the early 1970s. In a former stable building behind the pub the sound of the Middlewich Meteors was born in 1957. 

So where did the long-lost cutting come from? I'm making an educated guess that it was bass player Peter Wilson who kept it for almost half a century. Also reproduced in Fred's souvenir is a short poem, signed by 'PW' Is this also Peter Wilson? If so, he obviously, like Fred, never forgot his time as one of the MIDDLEWICH METEORS!

ODE TO A SOUND

One time when lightning struck in Middlewich

And the MIDDLEWICH METEORS emerged from the sky,

Was the single moment in the world of Skiffle

When each player soared nine miles high,

Freddie, Eddie, the two Peters, Brian - and Alan and Elvin too;

We don't forget those that shone as bright in our souls as they will always do,

An era we all belonged to that will never come again,

Arte those times of joy and fun that forever will remain,

And in this hour once more together in minds and thought , and heart

Forever we rekindle the flame that began its throbbing youthful spark. PW

And a quick glance at the music chart (an institution which had at that time only been running for five years) gives us an inkling into the music which inspired the formation of the MIDDLEWICH METEORS fifty-eight years ago.

Selected number one hits of 1957:

11th January Singing The Blues - Tommy Steele

12th April - Cumberland Gap - Lonnie Donegan

17th May - Rock-A-Billy - Guy Mitchell

28th June - Gamblin' Man/ Puttin' On The Style - Lonnie Donegan

12th July - All Shook Up - Elvis Presley

1st November - That'll Be The Day - The Crickets.

*'...nobody wanted to listen to harmonicas' Very ironic, really, as Fred is well-known today as a master of the blues harmonica. Together with his equally talented son Craig, Fred formed Moore & Moore Blues a few years ago. Fred and Craig are also members of the Salty Dog Blues Band

Many thanks to Fred for sharing this fascinating piece of Middlewich musical history with us.-Ed

First published 1st August 2015.

Re-published 1st August 2017 to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Middlewich Meteors.

Reformatted 29th July 2020 

Re-formatted, amended and re-published 16th May 2023

 

WHISTON'S AND THE CHESTER ROAD METHODIST CHAPEL, 1950s

by Dave Roberts

Here's another one for our growing collection of photographs of Whiston's Garage.
It's one of those pictures which joins together Middlewich past and present, though in this case the building which links the two is not, as is usually the case, St Michael's Church (though that building can just be glimpsed trying to get into the act just above the vintage lorry in the picture) but another place of worship which still exists, albeit in a new guise.
We're back once again at Whiston's Garage which once stood at the junction of Chester Road, Wheelock Street and Nantwich Road.
On the extreme right is the Red Lion Hotel, now home to apartments and re-christened 'Lion House'.
Across the road, opposite the spot where Nantwich Road  comes in from the right, is Whiston's, identifiable by its distinctive sign board  in the Whiston house colours of red and white.
The various departments of Whiston's with its petrol station, garage, car showrooms and radio, TV and electrical businesses stretched from the cemetery lodge (where Lidl's supermarket now stands) all the way to Red Cow Court, opposite  Mococo House.
And right in the middle of it all is Chester Road United Free Methodist Church.
The building still survives as 'Church House', the home to Bomford's Office Supplies, a firm which has been established in Cheshire for over sixty years and was once, before technology moved on, the first port of call for anyone looking for a typewriter.
Nowadays though, rather than hiding away among Whiston's rather nondescript collection of shops and showrooms, the building stands out on its own opposite Lion House with the end-on junction between Nantwich Road and St Michael's Way in between the two.
We were quite hopeful of pinpointing the date of this photo to within a few years because of what appears to be a Ford Zephyr - a classic 'Z-car' - right in the middle of the picture.
Looking up the dates of manufacture of these cars, however, tells us that they were produced between 1951 and 1972 (although the styling obviously changed during that period) so the car, although very redolent of the early 60s in its styling, can't really be the 'clincher'.
But on the end wall of the building on the left is a tell-tale sign - an MOT sign in fact. MOT tests were introduced in 1960, so we can date this picture as no earlier than that year.
Between that sign and the Ford car is one of those revolving Castrol signs which seemed to be almost compulsory outside every garage and petrol station in those days, and a close inspection of the lorry (or truck, if you really must) trundling along Chester Road reveals what look very like Castrol trade-marks on the front of the vehicle, so it may well have been bringing further supplies of the life-giving fluid to Whiston's to keep the cars of Middlewich on the road.

First published 30th March 2014

Revised and re-published 27th March 2023

THE END OF AN ERA - THE MIDDLEWICH PADDIES FAREWELL PERFORMANCE 18th JUNE 2023

 

MIDDLEWICH BRINE WORKS OPEN DAYS 2023

 

Middlewich Heritage Trust


Website: wwwmiddlewich-heritage.org.uk

Direct email link: heritage@middkewich.org.uk

MUSIC IN MIDDLEWICH: 'SPRING SONG' AT ST MARY'S

 

MUSIC IN MIDDLEWICH: CONCERT AT ST MICHAEL'S MARCH 2023

 Don't miss this superb musical event at 

St Michael & All Angels, Middlewich.

Direct email link

Information

(from the David Lyon website

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