| Name |
Reminiscences |
More |
| BROOKS, PETER |
Reminiscences January 1996
Peter C. Brooks, aged 48.
A member of the choir at St. Thomas' Leesfield Church, for as long as I can remember, was Mr. William Probert. He lived at Park Bridge for over 50 years, after moving North from Walsall around 1930 to find employment at the Ironworks, where he stayed until closure. He had been a regular worshipper at St. James' Church, Park Bridge... |
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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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| BROWNE, TERENCE |
Reminiscences September 1999
Terence Browne, aged 78.
When I was young, I lived in Portland Street, Ashton under Lyne. I had five brothers and a sister that I don’t remember, she died very young, in infancy, and a sister that died two years ago, who was two years older than me. My father was Edward Browne and my Mother’s name was Marie Anne Bostock before she was married. Dad... |
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| BUCKLAND, EDDY |
Reminiscences August 2001
Eddy Buckland, aged 69.
In 1947 when I was fifteen, I worked on pilot trains that shunted goods from one siding to another. We worked from Gorton Tank, Openshaw. We’d probably start from Guide Bridge sidings and pick up wagons of coal, steel, beer etc. and work our way up and stop to pick up or drop off at sidings along the way, Dukinfield, Park Bridge, and... |
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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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| COOPER, TOM |
Reminiscences April 2000
Tom Cooper, aged 73
Kenneth Cooper, aged 70
Our father, Thomas Cooper, was born in Ten Houses in 1899. He died in 1988 aged eighty-eight. He began work at Park Bridge when he was thirteen. He was a wheelwright in the Joiners Shop making wheels for carts. I (Tom) remember going down with his dinner with my mother and him standing me in a cart. Tom Gibson was foreman... |
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| COOPER, KENNETH |
Reminiscences April 2000
Tom Cooper, aged 73
Kenneth Cooper, aged 70
Our father, Thomas Cooper, was born in Ten Houses in 1899. He died in 1988 aged eighty-eight. He began work at Park Bridge when he was thirteen. He was a wheelwright in the Joiners Shop making wheels for carts. I (Tom) remember going down with his dinner with my mother and him standing me in a cart. Tom Gibson was foreman... |
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| DOBB, WILLOUGHBY |
Reminiscences 1998
Mr. W. Dobb, aged 79.
I was born 23rd January 1919 and live at Bardsley. These are my reminiscences of schoolboy experiences associated with Park Bridge around the period 1926-30.
The removal from the site at Fairbottom Bobs of the Newcomen pumping engine.
Obtaining a helping hand from Mr. Maurice Lees, in carrying a bundle of wood... |
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| FOSTER, JOE |
Reminiscences February 1996
Joe Foster, aged 78
I started work at the ironworks at Park Bridge, when I was 15, cutting up scrap on the shears at "Spion Kop", the scrap yard in the Top Forge. In my 20's I was promoted to the engineering side of the business and looked after the works boilers in the Bottom Forge. It had two Lancashire boilers and five waste heat boilers over... |
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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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| HIBBERT, SAM |
Reminiscences January 1998
Sam Hibbert, aged 80. (Died Sept. 1999)
I was born in Bailey Street in Stalybridge in 1918 when my father was away at the war. Later we lived at 15, Smallshaw Lane, Ashton under Lyne in a small stone cottage, one of four, which I believe now have a preservation order on them. I come from a large family. My father, Edward Hibbert, better known as Ned and Mother,... |
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| HOLLAND, HARRY |
Reminiscences 5th April 1999
Harry Holland, aged 62.
We never bothered to go to the canteen for toast. We just toasted in front of the fires, black toast. We did bacon on the plate in front of the furnace. It was the nicest tasting bacon. We used the canteen occasionally at dinnertime, it depended. My Mother used to put us stuff up and we’d warm it on top of the furnace.
I... |
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| JONES, MARGARET |
Reminiscences July 2002
Margaret Jones
My step-grandfather, Charlie Hough was a labourer in the top forge at Park Bridge.
My father Joseph Longsden, commenced work at Hannah Lees & Sons, Park Bridge ironworks shortly after his fifteenth birthday in 1916. He worked in the forge for most of the years, whether it was the top or bottom forge I am not sure. I just know he had a lot... |
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| KIDGER, JACK |
Reminiscences February 2002
Jack Kidger, aged 78
When I first started work I signed up with Boots as an unindentured apprentice. The job was counter work and some dispensing under supervision. Then I went in the forces. When I came back all the jobs had been taken over by the girls, there was no dispensing to be done so the interest wasn’t there. So I had a sudden change of plan and... |
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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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| LAWTON, JOSEPH |
Reminiscences October 1999
Joseph Lawton, aged 75.
I worked all my life on the railway. I started in June 1937 as a cleaner and then became a fireman and then a driver. I was based at Gorton, Manchester.
I used to pick the train up from Guide Bridge and take it up to Clegg Street, Oldham, calling at Park Bridge. The first train from Guide Bridge was 5.30 am, stopping... |
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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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| MASKERY, HENRY |
Reminiscences March 1996
Henry Maskery, aged 57.
Park Bridge was mainly dominated by the Lees family, who were reputed to own everything, even the houses of the workers employed in their iron works. If you lived in one of their houses, the rent was taken from your wages before you got it. If you lost your job, you also lost your home as well.
I worked in the Bright Shop with a Polish... |
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| NEATH, HARRY |
Reminiscences July 1996
Harry Neath, aged 54.
I was born in Bardsley at 20, Clive Street, now Hilary Avenue. I went to Bardsley Infant School then to Christ Church Secondary Modern School. I left school when I was fifteen and started work in the Roller Shop at Park Bridge in 1958.
My first job was brewing up, making 22 drinks, four in metal billy cans with lids, the rest in enamel... |
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| PICKUP, EDITH |
Reminiscences ... |
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| SHAW, GLADYS |
Reminiscences July 2000
Gladys Shaw (nee Hadfield)
I was brought up at Fairbottom Farm. When I married Alfred Shaw, I went to live at Salmon Fields Farm, Higginshaw, Royton.
When Alfred died I married his brother Frank.
The Oldham, Mumps to Royton railway ran through the farm fields. The field names were Stack meadow, Turf meadow, Railway meadow and Pasture meadow. We kept 32 Frisian... |
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| SMITH, EDNA |
Reminiscences ... |
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| WHELAN, STAN |
Reminiscences February 1998
Stan Whelan, aged 77.
I worked for the English Steel Corporation in Openshaw from 1946 'till 1972. I used to load lorries and then worked my way up to be Warehouse Manager.
English Steel used to supply ten foot lengths of two inch square steel billet to Park Bridge Ironworks. The steel came from our 28" rolling mill. They used it for bright bar. In... |
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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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| NIELD, CHARLES FRANCIS |
CHARLES FRANCIS NIELD, MEMOIR OF AN APPRENTICE OF LIFE, CHILDHOOD 1908-1919
My father Fred Urmson Nield and my mother Bertha (nee Lawton) were living over his hairdressing business at 365 Ashton Rd, Oldham when I was born at 11.45 a.m. on 29th July 1908; my twin brother Thomas Lawton was my senior by about half an hour. We had a sister Ethel Urmson who was born on 10th February 1907.
Within... |
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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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| 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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