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West Ender · 12-02-2005, 20:28

I grew up in West End in the 40s and 50s. It was a village then and only connected with the town by Thwaites Rd., which had just a few houses on one side. There were the remains of what I think had once been a pickled onion factory on Thwaites Rd., just the "footings" still there and a large pond that, for some reason, we called "the Swanee". I can remember sliding on the ice there in the days when we used to get bad Winters and REAL snow.

I lived on Blackburn Rd. and behind our house were our gardens, then fields, the golf course and the railway line. The canal ran through the fields and my mother had me taught to swim at the age of 5 because I used to play round there and she was terrified I'd drown! Opposite us was St. Thomas' church and a petrol station, then just fields again until Stanhill village, with West End School sitting on top of the hill - with nothing around it.

At the bottom end of Blackburn Rd., where the canal runs parallel with the road, there was a lovely old rectory with wooded land all around it. My brothers and I used to play in the grounds but it was demolished to make way for houses in the early 50s. The old, cobbled coach road used to run alongside it. That ran across Tinker Brook (the old bridge) to White Ash. I recall a bitter feud between the White Ash kids and the West End kids and "gang warfare" when one lot or other used to charge along Thwaites Rd. for a fight. I never knew what it was all about.

I left West End in 1962, when I got married and moved to Rutland - then to the North East, and 2 years later my parents moved to Feniscowles. The last time I saw the place was about 10 years ago when I drove from Accrington (where I'd been to a funeral) to Feniscowles. There didn't seem to be any "gap" left between West End and Stanhill and it all seemed to be getting very built-up.

I believe even the Spinning Mill has now gone. Does anyone remember the village the way it used to be when I lived there?

12-02-2005, 20:28	#1
West Ender Passed away 25-11-09 Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Lymm, Cheshire Posts: 2,674 Blog Entries: 147 Liked: 2 times Rep Power: 192	West End Memories I grew up in West End in the 40s and 50s. It was a village then and only connected with the town by Thwaites Rd., which had just a few houses on one side. There were the remains of what I think had once been a pickled onion factory on Thwaites Rd., just the "footings" still there and a large pond that, for some reason, we called "the Swanee". I can remember sliding on the ice there in the days when we used to get bad Winters and REAL snow. I lived on Blackburn Rd. and behind our house were our gardens, then fields, the golf course and the railway line. The canal ran through the fields and my mother had me taught to swim at the age of 5 because I used to play round there and she was terrified I'd drown! Opposite us was St. Thomas' church and a petrol station, then just fields again until Stanhill village, with West End School sitting on top of the hill - with nothing around it. At the bottom end of Blackburn Rd., where the canal runs parallel with the road, there was a lovely old rectory with wooded land all around it. My brothers and I used to play in the grounds but it was demolished to make way for houses in the early 50s. The old, cobbled coach road used to run alongside it. That ran across Tinker Brook (the old bridge) to White Ash. I recall a bitter feud between the White Ash kids and the West End kids and "gang warfare" when one lot or other used to charge along Thwaites Rd. for a fight. I never knew what it was all about. I left West End in 1962, when I got married and moved to Rutland - then to the North East, and 2 years later my parents moved to Feniscowles. The last time I saw the place was about 10 years ago when I drove from Accrington (where I'd been to a funeral) to Feniscowles. There didn't seem to be any "gap" left between West End and Stanhill and it all seemed to be getting very built-up. I believe even the Spinning Mill has now gone. Does anyone remember the village the way it used to be when I lived there? __________________ * Some cinemas let the flying monkeys in............and some don't.