My early life in Accy 1946-68

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by claytonx

The music shop was Haworths they had i think 3 or 4 cubicles where you could choose 3 records take them into the cubicles and play them,but when you took the records back to the counter it was expected that you bought one. A good way to spend part of Saturday afternoon.
I bought my first long playing record there 1957 the sound track of High Society still have it but no turntable now as all my music is on the laptop. Good memories.

Claytonx your a star, I've been trying to remember the name of that record shop for ages now, couldn't for the life in me remember that name

[cashman]

Originally Posted by susie123

Sorry you've lost me, what is top of the pleck?

The pleck was what everyone called the road/path that ran from whalley rd right across from percys chippy, down to Bull Bridge, the Australian Inn was at the bottom right hand side, top right by whalley rd was the methodist church, hope that explains it?

[susie123]

Originally Posted by cashman

The pleck was what everyone called the road/path that ran from whalley rd right across from percys chippy, down to Bull Bridge, the Australian Inn was at the bottom right hand side, top right by whalley rd was the methodist church, hope that explains it?

You/ve got me interested now as I've never heardt that name before. I've been doing some digging in earlier threads and also got out my Accrington OS map of 1912 which has street names on it.

Bob Dobson says the Pleck was Kenyon Street and you said in another thread that you thought it was Weir Street because that'where the Australian was (I remember it well). My map shows Kenyon Street starting from Whalley Road on the south side of the Methodist church and opposite the end of Maudsley Street as you say the corner where
Percy's chippy was.

Weir Street isn't named on the map but I think that's because it was too short. I seem to remember it was just the bit where the Australian was, opposite the weir at Bull Bridge. Most of that area was redeveloped while I was a long way from Accy and I still find it hard to find my way around it now. Whalley Road is a shadow of its former self, so scruffy, used to feel quite different.

Looking at the map there are a couple of street names I had never heard of. Mole Street starts on Whalley Road at the north side of the methodist church and seems to run in to the back of the Australian, and Mary Ann Street ran off Castle Street behind the Castle pub towards the viaduct. Both news to me.

This photo shows the part of Whalley Road we are talking about. The building on the bottom left behind the boys must be the church and the house just before it must be on the corner of Mole Street. Kenyon Street would be just off the picture on the other side of the church. Sadly my OS map does not go any further north than the railway arch but this photo shows the view through the arch. The house I lived in in the 60s is on the right hand side just about where the tram car is.

WHALLEY ROAD. - Accrington Gallery

[claytonx]

Originally Posted by cashman

The pleck was what everyone called the road/path that ran from whalley rd right across from percys chippy, down to Bull Bridge, the Australian Inn was at the bottom right hand side, top right by whalley rd was the methodist church, hope that explains it?

Cashman, was Percys chip shop the one that opened late saturday night and had a cafe upstairs?

[cashman]

Originally Posted by claytonx

Cashman, was Percys chip shop the one that opened late saturday night and had a cafe upstairs?

Had a cafe in the back claytonx, can never remember one upstairs. was on corner of Maudsley St, were yon chinese is now. was also a side door on Maudsley which took yeh straight in the cafe, though yeh could enter through the chippy.

[susie123]

Been doing yet more digging and dug out a book published in 1975, Accrington as it was by Brian Ashman, containing photos from the local history collection of Accrington library. One photo shows the Australian Inn on a corner with Castle Street going off to the left and the parapet of Bull Bridge to the right. There is a road in the centre and the caption reads: The old road to Huncoat went via Weir Street (in the centre of the photograph) Kenyon Street and up what is now Maudsley Street. There is a distinct curve in the street once it passes the pub. Another photo shows Kenyon Street from the top with the side of the methodist church on the right. As the street goes downhill once again it curves and I reckon the Australian is just round the bend. So I reckon Weir Street was the bottom bit of Kenyon Street.

A vague memory swam into my head as I was doing this research. In the fifties my dad had a lockup garage and I'm pretty certain the address of that was Weir Street. There were several of them, rather ramshackle stone and timber buildings on some waste ground. I guess that must have been behind or next to the Australian.

[cashman]

There was some owd wooden garages susie, on the left going down,behind what was a wall.twas weir at the bottom, but twas always all the pleck to us.

[Eric]

Originally Posted by TubbyLes

How come women always remember the shops.I lived on t'other side o't tracks in William St.,and all I remember are steam trains.

Know what you mean, bud ... I can remember lots of stores; but their exact location and names Guess it wasn't all that important ... it was just where you lived. I remeber how good the pies tasted, and where I got my hair cut ... but who made the pies, I don't know. Remeber lots of the trains and the barges on the cut, tho'. First namer I saw was "Bahamas", Jubilee Class.

Great post Susie.

[littlepom]

Originally Posted by susie123

Yes they did have a son called Barry who was arty. There is an actor called Barry Stanton who according to the www was born in 1940. I have often wondered if this was him.

That would be the same Barry. Won't say when I was born though!!!

[susie123]

Have just looked out some old photos which I will be putting in the gallery. Here's one for starters. These are the prefects at the High School when I was in my final year, 1964. I remember quite a lot of the names:

Front row, Margaret Ratcliffe, Marion Coates, Maureen Chew, Carolyn Walker (head girl), Sandra Bibby, ? (games captain), Joan Tomkins

Second row, ?, ?. Janice Brown, Kathleen Stephenson, Suzanne Bradley, Lynn Irving, Marilyn Waring, me (always the shortass on the end)

Third row, Caroline Wray, Katherine Edge, Jennifer Moyle, Beryl Chadwick, ?, Janice Proctor, ?

Back Row, Katherine Eccles, ?, Barbara Robinson, ?, ?, ?, Christine Cookson

more to follow

[susie123]

Here’s another blast from the past. This is the Young Liberals at Bowness on Windermere Good Friday 1964. That was the year I left the high school and most of the YLs were a year or two older so would have been at college or university by this time. Hence the display of college scarves! I was never a YL but some of my friends were which is how I came to tag along on this trip.

All the names are on the folder containing the photo together with a key which I can’t reproduce here but if anyone wants to put a name to a face let me know.

They are:

Me and my school friends Janice Brown, Sandra Bibby and Vivian Harrison, and my then boyfriend John Serjeant
Margaret Virtue, older sister of the painter John Virtue, and John Davies. They later married and went to live in America but now live in York
Derek Palk and Stephanie Sames who later married
Alan Hodkinson, Barrie Crook, Arthur Stuttard, David Merigold, Gordon Wrigley, Albert Wilkinson, Jim Wilson, Michael Oglesby, Alan Spencer, Bill Lever
Pat Dalton, Sheila?, Maureen ?

Think that’s all!

[susie123]

Sorry don't know what happened to the photo, tried to upload it from the gallery but it wasn't playing. If you're interested you'll have to go to my album to see it:

Message - Accrington Gallery

[katex]

Know a few of those on the Liberal 'photo, Susie, including Albert Wilkinson who I will see at the History Society lecture tonight.

One of them includes a member on here ...maybe more .. you never know what with pseudonyms.

Don't know anyone in the prefects .. you came after me.

[susie123]

Well at least I struck a chord with someone. I saw Albert a few years ago at a reunion organised by Margaret Virtue at Sparth Manor. Didn't think he had changed a bit. Once again I was tagging along, Margaret is in touch with my friend Janice (in the photo) who now lives in Canada. She comes over every few years and we usually meet up, that's how I came to be there.

As you say with pseudonyms anyone could be anyone and I guess the more you reveal about yourself the easier it is to work out who's who...

I must say I'm finding all this a bit addictive, got a few more photos to upload some time. As I haven't been well and am not really fit enough to do much else at the moment I've got a lot of time to kill.

Thanks Kate

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by susie123

Have just looked out some old photos which I will be putting in the gallery. Here's one for starters. These are the prefects at the High School when I was in my final year, 1964. I remember quite a lot of the names:

Front row, Margaret Ratcliffe, Marion Coates, Maureen Chew, Carolyn Walker (head girl), Sandra Bibby, ? (games captain), Joan Tompkins

Second row, ?, ?. Janice Brown, Kathleen Stephenson, Suzanne Bradley, Lynn Irving, Marilyn Waring, me (always the shortass on the end)

Third row, Caroline Wray, Katherine Edge, Jennifer Moyle, Beryl Chadwick, ?, Janice Proctor, ?

Back Row, Katherine Eccles, ?, Barbara Robinson, ?, ?, ?, Christine Cookson

more to follow

I certainly recognise a lot of those names susie, maybe because I had a girlfriend at the high school around that time and quit a lot of them attended the Jazz Club at Peel Park on a Sunday night