SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE 2013

A reminder that the Service of Remembrance takes place tomorrow morning (Sunday 10th) at the War Memorial in Middlewich Town Centre.
Those taking part in the procession should assemble at the Royal British legion Club in Lewin Street at 10.15am.

A MYSTERY WOOD MYSTERY by Malcolm Hough

Now that the nights are drawing in, and Christmas looms on the horizon, the season for  stories of weird experiences and inexplicable happenings is upon us.
Like every town in this ancient and haunted kingdom, Middlewich has its share of spooky places.
Hannah's Walk, for instance, on a frosty, foggy December afternoon when dusk is approaching can play fearful tricks on an over-excited imagination, and it's easy to let your mind wander and perhaps fancy you can just glimpse, out of the corner of your eye, the shade of poor Hannah rushing to her doom in the icy waters of the canal.
We've already mentioned Mill Lane and that restless and uneasy place where the little stone bridge passes over the old mill weir and an awful feeling of being watched can steal over one on the brightest of afternoons. Go there on a cold November day, with the frost on the ground and the first dustings of snow in the air, and the oppressive feeling that you're not alone is almost overwhelming. 
What malevolent force is lurking there in the deep and ceaselessly churning waters under your feet, waiting to drag you to your doom?
Not too far away, down Nantwich Road (or, if you prefer, down the River Wheelock and a short distance away from the aqueduct, the 'twin' of the one that takes Nantwich Road under the SUC Middlewich Branch) is 'Mystery Wood', between Nantwich Road and the old road to Middlewich Manor, and the new housing estates in what were once the Manor grounds.
It's the haunt of dog walkers and strollers, and children playing among its trees and pathways.
But does Mystery Wood also hold an ancient secret which might account for the strange experience which Malcolm Hough had there more than fifty years ago?
-Dave Roberts, Editor.

A MYSTERY WOOD MYSTERY
by Malcolm Hough

I was 13 years old, and it was late July or early August, and it was just about dusk. 

Myself and three friends were playing in the woods next to the main Nantwich road in Middlewich, by the aqueduct that carries the Shropshire Union Canal over it.

 The wood's local name is “Mystery Wood”

 I knew adults who would not go in there after dark.

 It was a long narrow wood with spooky iron railings at each end, and with a stream running through it. That particular night it was still and very quiet, and we were joking about it being a spooky atmosphere, when all of a sudden a Sycamore tree of about  six or seven inches in diameter fell over.

 It was a perfectly still summer evening. 

We ran the long way home for about a mile or more, and only stopping outside of the British Legion club in Lewin St,  all of us out of breath. 

We were scared stiff. 

We did not talk about it that night and we went our separate ways home.

I remember, I left the bedroom light on all night. 

When we met up the next morning at our pre-arranged time, my friends all talked about the highwayman in a tri-corn hat, that they had seen pointing a gun at us when they turned around to see what was happening.

I saw nothing, as I did not turn around, I just kept running. 

It must be remembered that, in those days, we had no telephones, so no way of discussing the matter.

One thing I do know, is that I definitely saw that tree fall, and we were not near it at the time.

The area has now been partly developed, but most of the wood still stands.

It’s now named “Misty Wood” by the developers of the site, so I have been told by someone whose garden backs onto it.

I wonder why? 

© Malcolm Hough 2013

Editor's note: Note that Malcolm says that the wood is now named Misty Wood 'by the developers of the site'. We're wondering if this could be an explanation for the fact that some people call it 'Mystery Wood' and some 'Misty Wood'?
Could it possibly be that some publicity person at the development company was casting around for a little bit of local colour to put in the brochure and was told the local name for the woods? Could he have misheard 'Mystery' as 'Misty'? And did the people who bought the houses then start to use the name 'Misty' because of what it said in the brochure? Maybe the developers just thought that 'Misty' somehow sounded better than 'Mystery'. Just a thought.
In any case, to an older generation, this was never 'Mystery Wood' or 'Misty Wood'. It was just 'the woods'. If we called it anything, we called it 'Manor Woods'.

UPDATE 21st April 2020: On the other hand, Chris Jones writes:
I grew up on Rolt Crescent and spent a lot of time playing in mystery/misty woods and on the cow field. I knew it by both names in the late '70s and always presumed it was laziness or slang that shortened mystery to misty.

So that appears to blow our theory out of the water. And yes, shortening 'Mystery' to 'Misty' out of laziness or slang sounds plausible.

NOW & THEN: LAWRENCE AVENUE/GARDENS

We're back once again in Lawrence Avenue, that unadopted thoroughfare (or former thoroughfare)* which once connected Wheelock Street and Webbs lane, until the intervention of St Michael's Way split it into two dead ends called Lawrence Avenue East and Lawrence Avenue West.
Our Now and Then picture shows us once again that charming, almost rustic, scene  as the Avenue (then known as Lawrence Gardens) basked in the warm Edwardian sunshine, together with a shot taken in September this year which proves that, although places change over the years, they perhaps do not always change as much as we might think.
Our musings on this photo can be seen here.
In 2013 we can see that the doorway where the happy Edwardian family were standing all those years ago has been bricked up, the approximate edge of the former door being marked by the red and white No parking sign.

Something about the rather haphazard brickwork suggests that this was done not too long ago, probably in a bit of a hurry.
Quite possibly this was done as part of the conversion of the premises into a shop.
As late as 1937 this large building, on the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Wheelock Street, which is now a kebab shop and the premises of Brooks & Bostock,appears to have had large bay windows at the front. Was it originally a large family home, with servants' quarters at the rear, to which the bricked up door was an entrance?
The basic outline of the rear of the building is still very much the same, with its sloping lean-to roof leading the eye to the rest of the north side of Lawrence Avenue which, again, looks remarkably unaltered, externally at least.
The first house in particular, now the home of a dental surgery, appears to have weathered the years remarkably well.
Here's a larger version of the 'now picture':

*actually, even before the coming of the Inner Relief Road, Lawrence Avenue had not been a thoroughfare for many years. There were bollards at the west end of the road preventing access to vehicles from Wheelock Street.

SEE ALSO NOW & THEN: LAWRENCE AVENUE 1969 and 2011

MIDDLEWICH CRICKET CLUB BONFIRE 2013 (ARCHIVED)

ARCHIVED

MIDDLEWICH CRICKET CLUB BONFIRE 2013

The 2013 annual Middlewich Cricket Club bonfire and firework spectacular took place on a cold, rainy and windy Saturday 2nd November.

In association with

SPECIAL REPORT

MIDDLEWICH BEER FESTIVAL 2013 (ARCHIVED)

ARCHIVED

Thanks to everyone who came along. We hope you enjoyed raising so much money for the Poppy Appeal and local charities. The Beer of the Festival was Offbeat Brewery's Off Kilter Porter, closely followed by Titanic's Cappuccino Stout. - Marc Holmes

website: middlewich.roundtable.co.uk

tl271013

MUSIC IN MIDDLEWICH: OPEN MIKE NIGHTS AT THE NARROWBOAT

OPEN MIKE NIGHT

with Leslie & Spencer from 'Double Vision'

Next one: THURSDAY 12th NOVEMBER

8.30-ish

 'Get in early if you want a seat as it usually gets quite busy!! Come & have a go or just come & have a listen to some really talented musicians.'

MUSIC IN MIDDLEWICH: JUST DANDY AT THE WHITE BEAR, 11th OCTOBER 2013 (ARCHIVED)

ARCHIVED

PART OF 'MIDDLEWICH SALT THROUGH THE AGES'

LISTEN TO JUST DANDY SINGING 'LOVE AMONG THE SALT PACKETS'

MIDDLEWICH SALT THROUGH THE AGES (ARCHIVED)

ARCHIVED

NOTES:
The tour of British Salt scheduled for Saturday 12th October has had to be postponed owing to technical problems at the factory. A new date is being arranged, and we'll let you know it as soon as possible.
The talk on the Roman Salt Industry (Thursday) will now be given by  Jeremy Bradley who was the lead archaeologist on site at Jersey Way. There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions about the site as he was there every day working with volunteers.

Click here to hear 'Love Among the Salt Packets' by Just Dandy

Many thanks to Kerry Fletcher for updated information.

JUST DANDY AT THE WHITE BEAR
MIDDLEWICH HERITAGE WEBSITE