OLD BUILDING IN WYCH HOUSE LANE, 1974

Here's a 1974 shot of an old building in Wych House Lane. I don't think this is a candidate for the title of 'Middlewich's first Catholic Church' either. I don't know if this was part of any salt works. It has, to me, more of an agricultural air about it.
The building was still there, in much rebuilt form, until quite recently but a visit to Wych House Lane in July 2011 revealed that it has now disappeared completely

First published on Facebook on 30th May 2011

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WYCH HOUSE LANE 1974

Here's the row of buildings along the left hand side of Wych House Lane which we talked about HERE. Middlewich's original Catholic Church was here and I think the likeliest candidate for the honour is the building towards the far end of this group. Unfortunately I don't think I have a closer view of this, but I think it may, at one time, have had vaguely ecclesiastical- looking windows (Did it? Or is my mind playing tricks?). The other buildings are in typical 'salt works' style - hastily and badly built and not made to last. The other possibility is that the church was demolished to make way for these buildings, which would have had to be a very long time ago, so I think it unlikely.

• • There's a third possibility, of course: that the church wasn't part of this group at all, but was in another part of Wych House Lane, which winds round past 'The House Of Feathers' and 'Andersen Boats' on its way to the canal.
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    In fact, looking at the building at the end of the row, it too looks a bit jerry built and almost temporary - certainly not church-like.
    

    
    
  • First published on Facebook on 13th May 2011. The original feedback is here:
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    Geraldine Williams 
    
    
    

    Wikipedia states that 'Catholic masses were held in a cottage near the cemetery from 1848 until the building of the first Catholic church in the town in Wych House Lane in 1864. This was enlarged to include the first Catholic school in the town in 1869. The church was replaced by the modern St Mary's on New King St in 1890'. Must have been a substantial building then and the cross from it (now in the porch of the new church) is a hefty stone one.

    
    

    13 May at 17:02 · 
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    Dave Roberts Yes, I've seen that cross. it certainly doesn't look like it belongs on the rather gimcrack looking building in the photo. Really, none of the buildings in either of those slides look like candidates for a former church. Butthe years 1864 - 1890 are well into the photographic era. Now, I wonder..
    

    13 May at 17:09 · 

THE TALBOT, 1973

A brief excursion back to old Kinderton Street today, and to the Talbot Hotel in its final days in 1973.
I always thought of The Talbot as a Victorian pub and probably contemporary with the nearby Boar's Head, although some historians place it earlier, at the end of the eighteenth century.
The landlord, Joe Baddeley, used to drink in the Kings Arms (what you might call a 'busman's holiday') and always struck me as one of nature's gentlemen.
I did hear, also, that my first boss, Herbert 'Bertie' Maddock, the MUDC's rating officer in 1969. lived here in his youth, presumably in the upstairs accomodation. Perhaps he was even born here?
A little path led alongside the wall pictured here and then up some steps to a row of cottages called 'Flag Alley'. I recall delivering  rate demands (produced on our trusty ADREMA machine) here in the early part of my short local government career.
Note the road sign on the pavement next to the building. This indicated that the upper part of Kinderton Street was narrower than the lower part, and gave us, during our investigation of these old pictures, a valuable clue as to the way in which both St Michael's Way and Kinderton Street were developed in the 1970s. See Talbot Hotel 1970

First published on Facebook on 26th May 2011. The original feedback is below:

• Geraldine Williams Joe Baddeley used to live in Holmes Chapel and had a mobile greengrocery business. One of his favourite jokes when asked if he was well was to reply "No, I am badly!".
  

  26 May at 15:09 · 
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  Geraldine Williams One of the families in the cottages you mention was the Wilkinson family and one of the sons, Jackie, was a famous footballer (?Arsenal).

TALBOT HOTEL 1970

When I used to show these slides in public I always described this one as 'a night time shot' - an Instamatic photographer's euphemism for 'an underexposed shot'. A Canoscan scanner and the venerable but still excellent 'Professor Franklin's Photo Effects' have helped a little, but we still have to apologise for the poor quality of this one. It is, of course, The Talbot Hotel in Kinderton Street, which was opposite the Seabank carpark. Other, better slides of the Talbot will follow, but this is included for completeness.

Note that there is a 'road narrows' sign to the right of the picture, indicating that the lower part of Kinderton Street was, at that time, wider than the upper part. In an earlier posting we were speculating on whether or  not Kinderton Street had been widened. The answer seems to be that the upper part was widened, but not by a huge amount; just sufficiently, in fact, to bring it in line with the lower part which connects, via Town Bridge, with St Michael's Way, giving a roadway of more or less uniform width all the way from the Red Lion to the Station Bridge.

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    First published on Facebook on 21st May 2011

MEETING IN PROGRESS - FESTIVAL EPHEMERA

This little scrap of Folk Festival ephemera was first published on Facebook on 14th May 2011, in the run-up to Middlewich's new-style council- run festival. Here is the original description and the Facebook feedback, all of it, unsurprisingly,  from organisers of the original festival:


 Now that festival fever is upon us once more, I thought I'd preserve this little piece of festival history. In the early years of MFAB we used to pin this on the doors of the various pub and club rooms we used for meetings. After a few years, the picture came closer and closer to the reality.

• Ian Murfitt I remember many meetings like this one, the exception being the end of year financial meeting when we all stared at the floor, buttocks clenched awaiting the pronouncement of the treasurer, whilst the rest of Middlewich muttered about what we did with the vast profits.
  

  14 May at 11:27 · 
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  Stephen Dent What did we do with the vast profits? Oh, I remember now everyone in Middlewich made money except us!
  

  14 May at 12:43 ·  ·  1 person
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  Ian Murfitt Someone had a go at me last week about it. Working on that festival cost me a fortune, but Middlewich knows I was pocketing the vast profit, generated when they spent all weekend in a pub.
  

  14 May at 12:47 · 
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  Dave Roberts Yes, we were all out of pocket running that festival. I recall the auditors telling us off because we didn't even claim all the expenses due to us. I'm afraid the new organising committee will have to put up with all the insinuations now. Personally, I've always felt that anyone making such accusations without even an iota of proof can go and...er...well, you know...
  

  14 May at 13:00 ·  ·  2 people
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  Stephen Dent Yes I feel sorry for the new organisers.
  

  14 May at 13:29 · 
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  Sherry Hill-Smith heh
  
  Editor's note: The organising of a festival and, in particular, one like the Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival which was, in its day, proudly independent and one of the best folk festivals in the North-West, is an immense task, which people who have never been involved in organising such an event can't begin to understand. It's not surprising that a note of bitterness creeps in as past organisers remember the long hours and sheer hard work involved, as well as the wilful misunderstanding of their motives by those who knew not of what they spoke.
  There's a history of the Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival to be written. Now who do we know that could do that.....?
  
  
  See also:
  
  
   FESTIVAL BEGINNINGS
  
  
  

  WHO KNOWS WHERE THE TIME GOES?

MIDDLEWICH YOUTH THEATRE 1973

Today, to prove that there is nothing new under the sun, we bring you MIDDLEWICH YOUTH THEATRE - 1973 style. The MYT was founded by myself and Sheila Page, sister of Geoff Page of Round Table fame, and, for the 1973 Carnival we put together a float (in reality Mike Tully's lorry) with the theme 'Julius Caesar' We were up all night making the banners (we were young, and could do this in those days without feeling like warmed over death the next morning). Our Caesar was Fiona Williams, daughter of Trevor (who ran a delicatessen in the town) with the traditional bed sheet for a toga, fake blood and a plastic dagger. Fiona is the girl in the yellow jumper at the rear of the lorry, and next to her is Sheila page. We assassinated Fiona several times during the procession for the benefit of the crowds. Our picture also shows Geoff Page, Sheila's brother, seen here making a dramatic theatrical gesture.

The MYT never really took off, although we did enlist the aid and patronage of some wonderful people, including Mr and Mrs Millington who lived in teh large house at the bottom of Hannah's Walk.
Mrs M had been an actress and musical comedy star in her day, and had been a memer of the BBC Repertory Company in Manchester. Mr M was Dennis Thatcher to her Margaret. They were a delightful couple.

The whole venture was inspired by my membership, while still at school, of the renowned St Michael's Players. As you might guess, my main involvement was with lighting, sound effects and music.

The photograph was taken, by the way, in Darlington Street, in the yard more recently used by the late Johnny McAlinden for his vintage vehicle restoration business. Now the area is part of what has become known as the 'Tesco land' and may well soon be part of a housing development.

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     Compare and contrast with the present day MIDDLEWICH YOUTH THEATRE which continues to thrive and go from strength to strength.
    
    
    THE PRESENT DAY MIDDLEWICH YOUTH THEATRE
    
    
    This photo was originally published on Facebook on 14th May 2011. The original feedback is below:
    
    

    • Geraldine Williams St Michael's Players - oh yes! Seem to recall Colin King as a police inspector in 'Dial M for Murder' or some such. There was also a very elegant lady, Lenora _. Did they once stage a play at the ICI Club (told you they shouldn't have demolished the Town Hall! hehe)? Of course, most of the live entertainment in Middlewich involved Georgie Platt's Dancers!
      

      14 May at 13:15 · 
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      Dave Roberts 
      
      
      
    • I think you mean Hanorah jackson. We put on a couple of plays at the ICI club in my time - 'The Amorous Prawn' and 'An Inspector Calls'. We used a live shotgun for the sound effects in 'The Amorous Prawn' and had to get a special licence from the police. Chief lighting and sound effects man Don Rushton stood at the back of the club and fired said gun into an oil drum on cue from me. People in Brooks Lane must have wondered what was happening. And in 'An Inspector Calls' the actor playing 'Mr Birling' messed up the all-important last line of the play by picking up the telephone (a vintage victorian one borrowed from the Lyceum, Crewe) and announcing himself as 'Inspector Birling' instead of 'Mr Birling', confusing the audience and everyone else just when the denouement was due.
    
    
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    • • Our method of producing the sounds of the explosions for 'The Amorous Prawn' was interesting, too (according to the plot, some army types were supposed to be setting off dynamite in the local salmon river). One of the actors obliged by simply making the noise of a bomb into a microphone close against his lips (very much like the noise children make when pretending to blow things up). This is a time-honoured way of producing the effect which even the BBC have sometimes been known to use.
  
  
  Geraldine Williams Haha! You can't beat live theatre..........