MIDDLEWICH DIARY EDITORIAL APRIL 2018

The Middlewich Diary is now in its eighth year and continues to bring you the best of Middlewich, past and present.

We have thousands of photographs on file, showing all aspects of this unique Cheshire town going back for many years. The present is by no means neglected, though, and we try to illustrate how the town has developed in recent years and continues to develop. 

Within the Middlewich Diary you'll find  hundreds of articles - 'Diary Entries' - explaining the changes over the years, and showing everyone, whether Middlewich 'born and bred' or one of the many welcome 'newcomers' who have come here since house-building resumed in the 1970s, where we've come from. If you scroll to the bottom of the page you'll find the diary index with key words giving access to all those Diary Entries.

In 2012, during our very first year of existence, we were awarded the Town Mayor's Special Award (part of the Middlewich 'Local Heroes' Awards, forerunner of the current 'Middlewich Oscars') and local historian Allan Earl has described us as 'an invaluable resource both for the present and for the future'.

In our eight year history we have had over a million unique 'page views' from people both in this country and all over the world, and we're well on the way to the next quarter of a million. 

Quite exceptional for a local 'community of interest' blog like ours.

Photo: PATRICK HOUGH

Daily 'page views' currently average over 1000 per day and for our coverage of the recent Middlewich canal breach we averaged 3 to 4 thousand views per day for over a week. 

Photo: BILL ARMSDEN

Our Diary Entry about the closure of the White Horse won us a record 6000 page views in one day! 

We also try to let everyone know about the many and varied events which happen in Middlewich throughout the year. If you'd like us to publicise your event both on the diary itself and on the many Facebook groups and pages we run or are associated with, please let us know.

Our contact details are in the right hand column of the Diary.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have photographs, artifacts or memories you'd like us to include in the Middlewich Diary for the enjoyment of everyone, now and in the future.

 Dave Roberts, Editor.

16th April 2018

CHAIRMAN'S SUNDAY 1940s

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

by Dave Roberts

Today we're featuring another of  Phillip Shales' collection of black and white photographs from the 1940s, and we're being deliberately vague about the precise year.
This, of course, is through sheer necessity as the photos, rescued from a computer at Middlewich Town Council, do not have any real background information with them.

We've seen pictures from the 1948 Chairman's Sunday processions before and we're hazarding a guess that this is another of those occasions.

Something about the clothes worn by these solemn-looking civic dignitaries seems to suggest that it is from slightly earlier in the decade, and they do not appear to be the same people we saw in, for example, this 1948 shot.
Then again, this could just be a different group of council chairmen on the same occasion.
Presumably that is the then Chairman of Middlewich UDC in the middle of the shot, complete with robe, chain of office and ceremonial hat? And could that be the clerk to the council look rather self-effacing at his side?
The other gentlemen in the group give the impression of being at a state funeral.
Then again, Chairman's Sunday was always a somewhat sombre affair, as is only right and proper.
So what was the year? Was it 1948? Does anyone recognise the MUDC Chairman in this picture? If we could put a name to him, we're halfway there.
As always, though, it's the Middlewich streetscape which steals the show and we can  easily put this very old photo into a modern context and identify the scene as Hightown.
The main clue is the White Bear which we can see above the heads of the group of Chairmen.
 Left of that is the old Coopers shop which we had a good view of here. This shop was formerly Kinsey's, and the location of one of the first telephones in Middlewich, as recounted here.
 To the left of the gentleman we're presuming is the Chairman of the MUDC is the National Westminster Bank (a small part of the Fittons/Vernons butchers shop can also be made out).
But who knew that the labour (or employment) exchange once occupied that shop on the left which later became Brockley's wallpaper shop?
Out of shot to the right was Middlewich Town Hall and the row of shops seen here were demolished in the 1970s to make way for the 'Piazza', now in its turn replaced by the amphitheatre which was memorably photographed by Paul Greenwood at the end of last year. Here's a reminder of that wonderfully atmospheric winter scene.

Facebook Feedback:

Geraldine Williams It's certainly the late 40s, judging by the girls' clothes. The Chairman looks a bit like Clement Attlee but, as this is unlikely (!), might it have been Mr Powell from the Gents Outfitters in Wheelock Street?

Dave Roberts When we published an old Powell's Tailors bill last year one of Mr Powell's relations got in touch. I wonder if he might be able to confirm whether or not Mr Powell is the man in the picture?
(see comment below)

SEE ALSO: CHAIRMAN'S SUNDAY 1940s (2)


First published 9th April 2012
Re-formatted and re-published 16th April 2018

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MIDDLEWICH PARISH CHURCH EARLY 20th CENTURY

by Dave Roberts

Surprisingly this is the first time that St Michael & All Angels church has featured in our Middlewich Diary in its own right, although its tower has, of course, been seen many times over the last seven years in the background of many pictures from many different  eras.
That tower always comes in useful when we're trying to put an old Middlewich photo into the context of the town we know today.
It is, as Sherlock Holmes said of Dr Watson in His Last Bow, 'the one fixed point in a changing age' - or, in this case, several changing ages.
At the end of June 2011,when the Middlewich Diary was only a month old, Geraldine Williams (from whose postcard collection this image is taken) said:
'What I like about all these pictures (in The Middlewich Diary) is the way that the Parish Church sits there benignly over the years, solid as a rock, no matter what mayhem, in the name of progress, is taking place all around it.'
And in our link on the (now defunct) Salt Town Site to the St Michael's website we called the church 'the centrepiece of Middlewich and its Pride and Joy'.
It's undeniably the town's most photographed, most cherished, most famous and most beautiful building.
Its history has been well-documented elsewhere and we will, no doubt, be seeing a lot more of Middlewich's Parish Church before we're done, but briefly:
The Church was built during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries (it is generally regarded by most architectural historians as a 15th Century building) but incorporates parts of at least one earlier building dating back to the 11th century.
In 1643 it was famously the scene of a Royalist defeat in the first Battle of Middlewich during the English Civil War.
The Church was extensively restored by the Victorians, which explains the veritable forest of pinnacles all around the building.
The Middlewich Diary being the Middlewich Diary, of course, even the publication of this straightforward picture of the church gives rise to puzzlement and conjecture.
We're wondering just where this picture was taken from, and when.
As explained above, the image comes from Geraldine Williams' album of postcards sent by Miss Mary E (Polly) Gallimore to various friends and relations between 1904 and 1907.
This particular card was never posted and thus has no date or message on it and so may possibly be of a later vintage than most of the others in the collection.
As far as we are aware it was only possible to take this particular shot of the church once that cluster of buildings adjoining the churchyard and bounded on the left by Hightown and on the right by Leadsmithy Street had been demolished:

Or would it have been possible to get the shot by standing somewhere near where Middlewich Carpets and Flooring now is, without those buildings getting in the way?
Was there, perhaps, a passageway between the churchyard and the shops to the right, running down from Hightown to Leadsmithy Street, its entrance where the red hand is in the section of the photo shown below?
This would be where the current footpath runs between the two streets.
A Heritage Society plaque informs us that the slope in question was once called 'Halfpenny Hill'
Would it have been sufficiently wide in those days to enable the photographer to take his photo of the church?

Was the churchyard perhaps extended when the block of shops was knocked down, enabling the classic view of the church in our main picture to be obtained, probably just before or just after World War I?
So there's another  Middlewich Diary can of worms opened....
The attractive railings around the churchyard, by the way, were taken away for scrap as part of the war effort during World War II, as were so many of their kind.
The railings at the Chester Road entrance to Middlewich Cemetery, however, were spared due to the rarity of their design and construction.

ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS WEBSITE

First published 12th April 2012
Re-published 13th April 2018

PATRIOTIC VERSES ON INN SIGNS AT MIDDLEWICH

by Dave Roberts

Here's  an old Middlewich favourite. 'Patriotic Verses on Inn Signs at Middlewich' is another of those bits of Middlewich history which used to be found, painstakingly written out in copperplate, framed and  hung on pub walls.
There was a copy in The Talbot, which is the pub we've used for our header as it's mentioned in the poem, and another copy was given to me after being found in the cellar of the Kings Arms, which also gets a mention.
On that particular version the pub names were picked out in red ink, an idea I've followed here.
The poem was published in that standard book of Middlewich reference The History of Middlewich (1895) by C.F. Lawrence, when it was already ninety or so years old and most probably originated as a 'broadside' - a printed sheet sold in the street for a halfpenny or so and eagerly passed around among those who could read.
No doubt this particular set of verses would be read aloud in pubs like the Kings Arms for the benefit of those who couldn't read, and greeted with great enthusiasm.
It dates back to around 1804 when the country was being threatened with invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte who had massed troops at Boulogne for the purpose.
The British Navy had other ideas and attacked the port, and the would-be invading French forces, as part of a sequence of events which would eventually lead to the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
Quite why the invading forces, should they have made it across the channel, would want to head for Middlewich isn't clear.

PATRIOTIC VERSES ON INN SIGNS AT MIDDLEWICH

WHEN folks meet together dissension to sow,
And by breeding divisions encourage the foe;
When false motives like colours they hold to their view
It's a sign they might find something better to do.

If ever the French should attempt to come here
To eat up our beef and to drink our strong beer,
Of both they'd fall short, but if fighting they wished,
At each sign of Middlewich they would be dished.

First the Lion called Golden would make them to quake
And The Talbot I doubt not would give them a shake;
At the sign of The Wolf  would they venture to rap,
They'd find, though too late, they'd run into a trap.

By our Bears White and Black they'd be put to the rout,
And a thrashing they'd get at The Wheatsheaf, no doubt,
From Lord Hood a broadside they'd meet to their cost
And at The Bulls Head they'd be savagely tossed.

At The White and Red Lion they'd find, to their shame
Whether Black, White or Blue, British Lions are game;
At The Bridge Foot they'd stop, and perhaps call for a 'whet';
And they'd get it - that is a good ducking they'd get.

If they call at The White Horse they'll treat them so kind,
With a horse shoe, that more kicks than half pence they'll find;
Should they venture to peep at The George & Dragon
They'd see to their cost they had nothing to brag on.

Next at The Seven Stars they'd soon show them the door;
At The Oak a good drubbing they'd get and no more;
Should these sans-cullottes dare with our Crown interpose,
They'd prick their French fingers well under The Rose.

At The Nag's Head with bites and cuffs they would be treated,
At The Ring o' Bells next with an empty house greeted;
The sign of The Eagle would raise fresh alarms,
And they'd run like soup maigre to escape The Kings Arms.

May the sign of the King ever meet with respect,
And our good constitution each Briton protect;
May he who first caused all the troubles of France,
Be high hung on a sign, on nothing to dance.

This is by no means an exhaustive lists of pubs in Middlewich at the time - The Navigation Inn on Middlewich Town Bridge, The Red Cow at the top end of Wheelock Street and The Junction Inn at the end of Brooks Lane, to name but three, have been missed out.

But the versifier was, no doubt, only including pub names he could use his own peculiar brand of tortured English on.

So why did he miss out The Carbineer, a pub on Hightown which must have been there at the time and which you might have thought would be ideal for his purposes?

Perhaps something along these lines...

If the Frenchman should once at The Carbineer tread,
An Englishman's rifle would blow off his head....

Definitely a lost opportunity.

Only a few of the pub names mentioned in this deathless verse survived into recent times: The Talbot, as we've seen before in our Middlewich Diary, disappeared in the 1970s to make way for a widened Kinderton Street (the line in the poem about the Talbot 'giving them a shake', by the way, refers to the fact that 'talbot' is an old name for a mastiff); The Crown, after a brief spell as The Danes, became the pub currently known as The Narrowboat; The Red Lion was subjected to all kinds of outrages (The Cat's Whiskers, The Tut & Shive, The Cats Bar etc) until it finally regained something of its dignity as an apartment block called Lion House.
The Golden Lion (or 'Lion Called Golden' if you will) The White Bear and The Kings Arms are all still with us but The Wolf, The Black Bear, The Wheatsheaf, The Lord Hood, The Bulls Head, The White Lion, The Bridge Foot, The George & Dragon, The  Seven Stars, The Oak, The Rose, The Nag's Head, The Ring o' Bells, and The Eagle  all disappeared many years ago.

Update (11th April 2018): When this diary entry was written the The White Horse in Lewin Street was proudly included among the pubs which were 'still with us'. Sadly the situation has now changed and the much-loved pub finally closed its doors on March 10th this year.

THE END OF AN ERA

Since our original diary entry was published, Ken Kingston has included this verse in his excellent Middlewich Hospitality (Middlewich U3A Local History Group 2014). If you're interested in the town's pubs and ale-houses, past and present, Ken's book is a must

A Middlewich pub-crawl in Napoleonic times must have been quite something.

First published 10th April 2012
Up-dated and re-published 11th April 2018

MIDDLEWICH WHAT'S ON GUIDE 2018

Out now! Your guide to the many and varied events happening in Middlewich this year!
Copies available from the Town Hall and all over town!

Briefly:

Mayor's Civic Dinner - 14th April

5K Run & Family Fun-run - 22nd April

Brine Pump Open Days - 5th/6th May

Fun Fair on Civic Way - 17th to 20th May

Rose Fete & Children's Festival - 19th May 

Town Crier Competition - 19th May

Town Council AGM - 21st May

FAB Festival Quiz (Boar's Head) - 14th June
(proceeds to the CRT Middlewich
Emergency Appeal)

FAB Festival 2018 - 15th to 17th June

Middlewich Heritage Day - 30th June

Classic Car & Bike Show - 14th/15th July

Brine Pump Open Days - 14th/15th July

Annual Middlewich Show - 1st September

Brine Pump Open Days - 15th/6th September

Beer & Cider Festival - 26th/27th October

Town Bonfire (Cricket Club) - 3rd November

Remembrance Sunday - 11th November

Christmas Lights Switch-on & Market - 23rd November

Tree of Light Service - December 4th

Youth Theatre Pantomime (Victoria Hall) - 15th December

MIDDLEWICH TOWN COUNCIL WEBSITE
EVENTS 2018

THE VENABLES SCREENS PROJECT

Middlewich Heritage Trust

THE VENABLES SCREEN PROJECT

by Kerry Kirwan

Middlewich Town Council Heritage Development Officer

What's in a surname?

That's one of the questions as we explore the world of the Venables family, Barons of Kinderton?

Not heard of them?

The Barony of Kinderton ran from the Norman Conquest up to the mid-nineteenth century; a family of myth, war, intrigue and power based here in Kinderton, Middlewich.

The Venables Screens Project has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and focuses on two large oak screens painted with heraldic shields dating back to the 13th century which can be found in the church of St Michael & All Angels.

These rare survivors were commissioned by the Baron of Kinderton in 1632; they were removed from the Baron's chapel and placed in the bell tower, where you'll find them today, in quite poor condition.

These uniquie screens are not only important for genealogy and heraldry, but also history and the story of the Norman 'barony' in Cheshire.

This HLF funded project has provided an opportunity for local people to rediscover the Venables; on Thursday 12 April we will be holding an event at Middlewich library to celebrate and share what we have learnt.

During the day we will be getting creative, running Children's workshops at Middlewich library from 11am until 3pm, where families can learn about their own heraldry and make their own shields. 

So if you're looking for something to do with the kids, come along and discover your very own coat of arms!

At 7.30pm local author and historian Tony Bostock will tell the story of the Venables Screens themselves. What have we uncovered so far? This will be followed by a short talk on what we have discovered during our research.

The night will be finished off by a presentation on the St Michael & All Angels Restoration Project.

A fact-filled night out for free! So come along and join us!

We hope you can join us. Please pass the word on via friends, Facebook, Twitter etc.

This is the last event for this Heritage Lottery funded project.

Middlewich Heritage Trust

MIDDLEWICH HERITAGE TRUST ON FACEBOOK

THE MIDDLEWICH SONG by Dom Collins

The exciting story of how this brilliant Manchester comedian and singer/songwriter got to play at the Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival.
Song written and perfomed by Dom, photos (mostly) by Cliff Astles, video compiled and produced by Dave Roberts. A SALT TOWN PRODUCTION

Since this video was produced Dom has gone on to even greater heights, having turned professional in 2014.

WATCH ON YOUTUBE

DOM COLLINS WEBSITE

First published 8th April 2012
Re-published 5th June 2014
and 8th April 2018

THE RIVER WHEELOCK AQUEDUCT ON THE SHROPSHIRE UNION CANAL (MIDDLEWICH BRANCH) EARLY 2012

The Wheelock Aqueduct on the SUC Middlewich Branch, February 2012.

by Dave Roberts

Jim Moores has been out and about recently gathering photographs for his excellent new Facebook page 

'The Canals & Rivers of Middlewich' and here he's giving us all a glimpse of one of the three aqueducts in the town - one we've talked about in several previous Middlewich Diary entries but have never had the chance of a proper look at, until now. 

Like so many such places around our town, the SUC* aqueduct over the River Wheelock, just yards away from the much better known (for obvious reasons) Nantwich Road aqueduct, is a 'hidden gem'. 

It's very similar to the nearby road aqueduct which was built at the same time but, in the case of the river aqueduct, the large sweeping buttresses on either side,with ornamental stone pillars at the end of them are very obvious:

Actually, this is explained very much better by George Nash in Wych & Water (Middlewich Vision 2009):

'At either end of the supporting revetment are curvilinear piers that terminate to form circular roundels. A similar ornamental arrangement is present on one of the surviving piers attached to the Croxton Aqueduct'

The Nantwich Road aqueduct is lacking these stone pillars and the opulent curves on either side of the road, presumably because of space constraints in the narrow cutting in which it lies. According to George Nash (see above), the road aqueduct is, in any case, smaller than the one over the river.

It seems strange, though, that the river aqueduct, out of sight of the general public, should be given these embellishments and the Nantwich Road one left unadorned.

In the early 1960s,when I was still at Wimboldsley Primary School  I remember playing around this aqueduct with a group of friends.

One of our ambitions was to walk through the aqueduct from one side to the other along the middle of the river.

We never did it, as we were unsure how deep the river was.

In those days, just a short distance into the tunnel (both these aqueducts are more like short tunnels,burrowing into the canal embankment, than bridges) on the Wimboldsley side was what looked very much like an abandoned boat.

Another of our ambitions was to rescue this boat, repair it, and  go sailing all around the canals and rivers of Middlewich,like our heroes the Swallows and Amazons.

That never happened either.

Jim's third photograph shows the River Wheelock flowing on from the aqueduct and heading off towards its meeting with the River Dane at Croxton.

UPDATE (20th February 2017)

When a link to this diary entry was re-published on Facebook in February 2017, Andy Boardman got in touch to say that he too had photographed the aqueduct in 2015. His excellent study, which.gives us an overall view of the structure, is reproduced, with permission, below

Photo: Andy Boardman

See also RIVER WHEELOCK EARLY 1970s

* Shropshire Union Canal (Middlewich Branch)

Note: This entry started a discussion in the 'comments' section (see below) of a 'tunnel' under the canal in or near Norman's wood. 

Jim Moores' Canals & Rivers of Middlewich' Facebook page has photos.

The Norman's Wood 'tunnel' under the SUC Middlewich Branch at Norman's Wood. Is it a tunnel, or more properly a drainage culvert?
Photo: Jim Moores

***********************************************

In  2018 this beautiful but secluded part of the Middlewich canal scene, long hidden away from public view but a great favourite with those in the know,  made the headlines in the most spectacular way possible when a huge breach in the canal bank above the aqueduct appeared early in the morning of  Friday March 16th. We have extensive coverage of this sensational happening on the Middlewich Diary:

A SERIOUS BREACH PART ONE

First published 18th February 2012

Revised and re-published 20th February 2017

and 30th March 2018.