| Name |
Reminiscences |
More |
| ANDREW, DOROTHY |
Reminiscences November 1995
Dorothy Andrew, aged 68.
I was born at Fairbottom Farm, Ashton under Lyne, on 4th February 1927. All the children around Fairbottom attended Park Bridge School. There were no school dinners in those days, so every day we had to walk up and down the 'School Brow' ( Mill Brow) to go home to Fairbottom for our dinner. Our headmaster was John Warren Naylor... |
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| BROWN, CHRIS |
Reminiscences May 2001
Chris Brown, aged 78.
The garage used to be up a road to the left of the Bottom Forge, the Lancashire boilers used to be up there. As you went up to the Lancashire boilers the garage was on the right hand side before you got to ’turbine, there were a garage and then there were turbines. They made there own electric, so the steam boilers worked the turbines to... |
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| CHARD, MAY |
Reminiscences August 1997
May Chard, aged 77
I lived at Tan Pit Field cottages, the third one from Westerhill, and we moved to Station House in 1930. My father, Thomas Johnson was a foreman porter on the railway. I remember the chain horses pulling wagons full of long bars of iron along the wagon road. They had chains on so that, when it was icy under foot, if stopped they could start... |
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| CLAYTON, PETER |
Reminiscences October 1997
Peter Clayton, aged 54
I went to Park Bridge School for a short time before I moved to Alexander Park School. The headmaster was Warren - Naylor. He had a club foot and wore a hearing aid. He was in charge of the choir at St. James' Church. I think I only got into the choir in 1950 because Warren - Naylor was deaf. When the electricity was off I sometimes... |
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| FAIRHURST, JOHN |
Reminiscences October 1999
John Fairhurst, aged 56.
My Father was in the Grenadier Guards in the First World War and in the Second World War he was in the home guard and was Works Manager in Park Bridge Ironworks from 1938 – 1961. He didn’t actually retire. He had two heart attacks, which my mother said Park Bridge had caused. He was works manager under Lowther Lees, who lived... |
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| FREEMAN, BOB |
Reminiscences July 2000
Bob Freeman, aged 80.
I was born on the 15th December 1919. This was just twelve months after the end of the Great War or World War I. It became necessary later on to differentiate between World War I and the second terrible conflict now known as World War II.
My father and mother both worked in a munitions factory during the first word war. Father was a skilled... |
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| HOPWOOD, BRIAN |
Reminiscences July 2001
Brian Hopwood, aged 57.
We moved to Park Bridge in 1957 off Ashton Moss. My parents were Harry and Hilda Hopwood. My sister Elaine lives at Dukinfield and Brother Philip lives at Hyde. Philip was just born when we moved into Mill Brow House. Dad was born in 1919. He worked there (Park Bridge ironworks) since he was fourteen. He started off sorting scrap up on Spion... |
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| LAISTER, PEGGY |
Reminiscences January 1996
Peggy Laister, aged 80.
Childhood days in our village were very pleasant. The village school was about twenty minutes walk from my home, over open fields, up several hills, but we thought nothing of the journey. There were no school meals so we made that journey four times daily. We set off singly but almost always joined up with others long before arriving. The... |
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| LOMAS, BOB |
Reminiscences October 2003
Vera Moody, aged 85.
Bob Lomas, aged 77
Vera – ‘I was born in Union Road in Ashton in December 1917. I had one brother, Bob, who was nearly nine years younger than me. My father, John William Lomas, known as Jack, was an engineer at Park Bridge ironworks. All the time he was at Park Bridge he worked on ‘textiles’. They made fluted rollers... |
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| MALONEY, BILLY |
Reminiscences September 1995
Bill Maloney, aged 71.
I was born in Stalybridge. As a boy I lived in a cottage next to Pickford Hall at Fairbottom. We then moved to a cottage next to Fairbottom Sunday School. My father was out of work, so mother took in lodgers to make ends meet. They were men from Park Bridge Iron Works.
I went to St. James' School, Park Bridge. The headmaster then... |
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| MURRELL, GLENYS |
Reminiscences February 1996
Glenys Murrell (nee Harrop) aged 59
Christmas Eves were exciting. There was a Social of some description held in the school room under the church. Perhaps a dance with some games and of course always carol singing, which included “The Park Bridge Anthem ", (Our special rendering of “While shepherds watched their flocks by night "). Everyone... |
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| PENKEY, MARY |
Reminiscences January 1998
Mary Penkey, aged 76.
I was born in Conisbrough village near Doncaster. My parents were Ethel and George Shaw. Dad worked in the mines at Cadeby colliery. I went to school at Morley Place School, Conisbrough. The children there were of all ages. When I left school there was no work at home and a friend of mine, Ethel White got me a job at Park Bridge. Ethel worked... |
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| PICKUP, EDITH |
Reminiscences ... |
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| ROBERTS, PAMELA |
Reminiscences February 2004
Pamela Roberts, aged 65.
I am the daughter of Louie Johnson who lived at Station House. In my early childhood I lived in the cottage next door to Mr. and Mrs. Cook, which was later occupied by the Maloney family. Our address was Westerhill Cottage, a happy home for my parents and my three sisters. This was a pretty cottage with ivy growing up the side, and a... |
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| SMITH, EDNA |
Reminiscences ... |
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| WILLIS, FRED |
Reminiscences 1997
Fred Willis
From 1945 to 1950, I was employed by the Great Central Railway as a junior wagon number taker and Weighbridge boy at the Openshaw Coal and Mineral Depot, Bessemer Street, Openshaw, Manchester II.
As part of my duties, I would have to weigh horse drawn carts. Many of these carts would be carrying metal turnings. I would enter the weight of these turnings... |
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| YATES, NORMAN |
Reminiscences April 1997
Norman Yates, aged 83. (Emigrated to Canada)
It is quite apparent that dates of happenings seventy odd years ago are somewhat elusive, but it seems fairly certain that 1920 was the year that Bessie and I, along with Jimmy Whitehead, Marion Kidger and others graduated from the infants to standard one in the 'big room'. Just at what point we left Alt - before... |
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| HURST, LILLIAN |
Lillian Hurst nee Turner.
HAPPY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF PARKBRIDGE DAYS.
One Sunday afternoon when I was about eleven, my Mum, Dad & I set off for our usual Sunday afternoon walk- but this time we went a completely new way, because we were going to visit some friends my dad had met at work. He was a Goods Guard stationed at Glodwick Rd. Oldham and his “turns of duty”... |
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| MOODY, VERA |
Reminiscences October 2003
Vera Moody, aged 85.
Bob Lomas, aged 77
Vera – ‘I was born in Union Road in Ashton in December 1917. I had one brother, Bob, who was nearly nine years younger than me. My father, John William Lomas, known as Jack, was an engineer at Park Bridge Ironworks. All the time he was at Park Bridge he worked on ‘textiles’. They made fluted rollers... |
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| DEFLEY, MAVIS |
Mavis Defley Reminiscences
Ours was a small industrial village with the Ironworks at its centre. There were four rows of workers cottages, about 40 in all, and six larger bay windowed houses for the managers, a school, church and two chapels, five small farms and a very grand manor house with stable house and coach house where the Ironmaster lived. We had a village policeman who kept the children... |
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| HUMPHRIES, EDGAR |
REMINISCENCES JULY 2002
EDGAR HUMPHRIES AGED 81
I joined the Gas Board in 1950 working at Oldham Rd, Ashton. I came to Park Bridge on my bicycle, got the book from the main office and read all the meters in each part of the works and all the houses, every three months. The readings were returned in the book back to the office so Mr. Lees could send the villagers a bill. Once a month the... |
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| JOHNSON, DAVID |
Reminiscences January 1998
David Johnson aged 57.
I was born in 1940 in Werneth. My Dad was born at Tan Pit Fields in the end house nearest to Westerhill. He was called Wilfred Johnson and my Mother was called Mary. My grandma, Sarah Jane and my grandad, Thomas Johnson, my Dad's mother and father lived at Station House in the early 1940's. My Granddad worked on the railway. I've... |
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| HOGG, EDNA MAY |
EDNA MAY HOGG, KITCHEN MAID TO THE LEES’ FAMILY AT WESTERHILL
In March 1919 a new kitchen maid started work at Westerhill, Park Bridge, Ashton-under-Lyne the home of Mr. Maurice Lees and family. She was Edna May Hogg and she was just thirteen years old.
Edna was born on the 8th of May, 1906 in Northallerton, Yorkshire, she was the youngest of three sisters and all three of them had... |
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| STAINFORTH, Mrs |
REMINISCENCES OF MRS. STAINFORTH
Mrs. Stainforth was the maid in the employ of Mr. Lowther Lees [at Westerhill House]. He was a descendant of Samuel Lees who founded the ParkBridge Ironworks.
Mrs. Holt,
I have tried to give you a rough description of an ordinary day when I was in the employ of Mr. & Mrs. Lowther Lees. When I worked for them Mrs. Lees’ mother was still alive,... |
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