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What do you know about
the King William pub? |
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Hi Andrew
CAN you please find any information about a public
house in Nantwich called the King William?
BOB ELLIS, Nantwich MARCH
2015
Andrew replied:
Hello Bob,
I'm afraid that I am completely baffled by this query. I
have not come across any Nantwich public house of
that name, but
it was not uncommon
to change a pub name,
particularly with a change of owner.
_____________
THEN Andrew did some
further research and found a newspaper cutting from around 1850
which referred to the King William pub. It is a long article and
sometimes it is hard to read, but the following are excerpts from
that article.
“The Barrister General with
whom was Ms. Trafford, stated the case. The prosecutor stated that
he and the prisoner had been drinking at the King William public
house in Nantwich, on the 19th of December last.
"The prosecutor, on his way home,
was struck on the head and knocked down with a stick or some
bludgeon. In falling, he recognised the prisoner
standing two or three yards from him. |
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"It appeared by his
statement that he was not sober at the time: and that he had had a
quarrel with the prisoner about two years since. In
cross-examination he said that the prisoner had a whip with him when
at the King William: that he called the prisoner to come with him as
he was staying behind.
"The prisoner was drunk,
also was not in the habit of fighting pitched battles.
"Examined by the Judge –
fought with the prisoner three years since over which was the best
man: and witness happened to beat him: they had several pints of ale
together before they went to the King William. Mrs Hamnit, keeper of
the King William, said the parties lighted their pipes at her house:
the prosecutor lit first and followed by the prisoner. Oxley had a
whip but he left it with the witness: the parties had three pints of
ale together at her house."
"James Simpson, who
apprehended the prisoner Jones on the 13th day of
November: and on taking the prisoner to the lock-ups he said that
when he left the public house with Newton, they quarrelled
about……..that the prosecutor struck him and they fought seven or
eight rounds: that they fell down against the gate and if the
prosecutor was hurt it was then. |
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Andrew commented:
From the information above it is
possible to narrow down the possibilities of where it was.
The most important clue is
the landlady’s name which is Mrs Hamnett. A quick consultation of
MacGregor (see footnote) leads to three Hamnetts as licensees, two at the Talbot in
Beam Street but really too early (1774 to 1777) for the above
newspaper article and the other is John Hamnett at the Lingard Arms
in 1860. Another clue is the reference to the "lock-ups” which refers
to the round house on Snow Hill. This would put it before the
Constabulary building in Welsh Row which opened c1865. So all things
so far point to the Lingard Arms in Beam Street, next to the Nag’s
Head opposite the end of Pepper Street.
Andrew added:
The most recent change in name for a Nantwich
pub is the Talbot in Oat Market. For
over 200 years it was the Talbot before it changed to Bowlers,
then the more well-known Frog and Ferret.
Footnote: Dr A.J.MacGregor wrote a
booklet called "Inns and Innkeepers in Nantwich"
Pub reverts to
its former name | Seeking information about
Lingard Arms
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Does explorer's
childhood home still stand? |
Andrew,
I'M contacting you to ask if you know of a house
called Parkfield in Nantwich? This was the
childhood home of John Hornby who was an Arctic
explorer.
He died with Edgar Christian (of Bron Dirion,
Gwynedd) at Hornby Point on the Thelon River,
Barren Lands, Canada, in 1927.
I have visited Bron Dirion already and wonder if
Parkfields is still standing.
GARETH FOULKES
MARCH
2015
Andrew replies
Gareth,
I can confirm that Parkfield is not standing, having been demolished some 40 years
ago.
Of course, John Hornby
had a famous father, A.N.Hornby, the cricketer, who was nicknamed
“Monkey” because of his small but wiry stature.
There is a brass plaque
in Nantwich Parish Church in memory of John Hornby.
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Picture: The plaque in the
south transept of St Mary's Parish Church, Nantwich, reads:
This tablet is given to the
memory of John Hornby, M.C., aged 48 years, an intrepid explorer who
on July 21st, 1927, was found dead on the bank of the Thelon River
in Northern Canada with two companions, Harold Adelard, aged 27
years, and Edgar Christian, aged 18 years. R.I.P.
lRead
more about Parkfield House here
lRead
here
about a one-act play based on Edgar Christian's diary |
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How town has changed
where the old shop was situated |
The shop at 3 Millstone Lane, now demolished, when it was James
Ashley's family butcher’s. Pictured in 1885, it appeared in Andrew's
book, “Lost Houses in Nantwich.” |
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I WAS just looking at
the Dabber’s Nantwich website and reading
through the old Nantwich pictures.
I noticed that on the page
Old Pix 6
my uncle, Les Heath, gets a mention, I knew he had a second hand
shop in Nantwich but was never sure exactly where. He later moved
it to Whitchurch where he later lived.
Sadly he passed away in the 1990s after a short illness, but it’s
nice to see he was remembered on the website. Many thanks,
PAUL HEATH
JANUARY
2015
Andrew
replies
Hello Paul,
Thank you for your kind words.
Yes, Les had a second-hand shop, firstly at the end of Millstone
Lane at Crewe Road end and then later moved premises to a shop in
Beam Street, also now demolished but roughly where the Fire Station
is now.
I stand to be corrected by eagle–eyed Dabbers!
Andrew
Paul wrote
Hi Andrew,
Many thanks for your response and for the information |
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about
my uncle, Les. It’s strange to think how that part of the town, as
well as others, has pretty much completely changed in that time as
you'd never know there had ever been any shop where the fire station
is now.
There’s one other question I would like to ask. As I lived on the
Millfields estate for quite a few years from 1987 to 2002, namely
Blagg Avenue (my mum still lives there), do you know any history of
that estate at all as in when it was built, and what if anything may
have been there before it?
Paul
Back to Andrew
Hello again Paul,
Firstly,
the shop at
the end of Millstone Lane has also been demolished so there is no
trace of it now. All I have is a photo of the shop when it was a
butcher’s over a hundred years ago and I put it in my book, “Lost
Houses in Nantwich.”
Secondly, yes I can tell you about the Millfields
estate. In the mid 1950s I was friendly with a lad called John Boyes
who lived in Millfields.
His father, I found out some 20 years later, turned
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out to be the Manager of Trufoods factory at Wrenbury.
I
can remember seeing display cases in the house of pinned butterflies
and moths. That was obviously his hobby.
Anyway, John and I used to play in the fields opposite his house
and the houses were just starting to be built then. Before then it
was all fields, apart from one farm called Cope’s Farm and now
called Fields Farm.
They are now starting to build more houses on the fields
belonging to the farm behind Queen’s Drive. Of course, Queen’s Drive
was built in 1953, commemorating the Queen’s accession to the
throne, hence the name.
Blagg Avenue was named after Joe Blagg, the local councillor.
It
would be great to see one of the new roads being named after local
Conservative councillor, Tom Holman, who worked tirelessly on behalf
of the town for a long, long time. He lived in Millfields.
Andrew
Lost Houses in Nantwich |
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The sales rep who lived in
one of the town's mansions |
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Hi Andrew.
IN the early
1950s I worked as a sales rep for F. H. Burgess Ltd and lived in
Whitehall, Welsh Row. F H Burgess was knocked down so Burgesses
could use the space to display farm implements.
I have not got a photograph of Whitehall, nor can I find one on this
very comprehensive web site, or in any books on Nantwich. There are
pictures of the opposite side of Welsh Row.
The black and white front, I was told, was only put up in Victorian
times, I was also told that during the war there were stone statues
in front of the building but the Americans stationed locally knocked
them about after a Christmas booze up.
Have you any history about Whitehall?
Regards,
Albert Roderick
NOVEMBER 2014
Andrew replies
YES, I do have details regarding the history of Whitehall.
I found it to be one of the most interesting and intriguing
buildings in the town. It was a great shame that it was demolished
as it was one of the earliest mansions in the town and may well have
dated to Tudor times.
It was the home and main residence of the Wettenhall family for 300
years from around 1500. The Wettenhalls had a long and close
association in the town affairs during that period.
It went through a variety of owners after then. It was the Liberal
headquarters for the town in 1896. Around then it came into the possession of
the Bayliss family who had an antiques business there until the
early 1950s when it was sold to F.H.Burgess.
In my book “Lost Houses in Nantwich” I give a
fuller description of the owners and there is also a brief
description of the interior of the building.
On the right are two photos of the building. The top one was taken
in the 1930s when the antiques business was in full swing and shows
the statues you mention.
The other was taken just prior to the demolition of the building.
I would be interested to hear of any recollections you have,
particularly of the interior of the building.
Albert replied
WHITEHALL was
my first house in the early '50s at a rent of 10 shillings a week.
The house came with my job. I complained when the council put the
rates up to 17 shillings and six pence (88p), which I also had to
pay.
I tried to get it reduced as a listed building but they checked and
said it was not a listed building.
My recollections include:
l
The stairs were polished oak about five feet wide and a real sight
to behold.
l
All the floors were solid oak boards.
l
In the left-hand part of the building,
which stands out, was the manager of Burgess's seed house.
l
We had an AGA cooker which was top of
the
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range in those days.
l
The heating was only an open coal fire in
the room at the back.
l
One Sunday morning we got up to find the
room thick with smoke, so we closed the door and phoned the fire
brigade. To hear the fire siren sounding and coming to your house is
a funny feeling
The firemen found no flames. It was caused by a gap between fire ash
tray and the hearth surround. They showed me the glowing embers
about a foot inside the oak beam the fire place |
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was built on and told me it had been burning for a long
time.
The
manager who lived next door was also the person I had my house
insurance with, so I was covered for smoke damage.
Thanks again,
Andrew
PS:
I will have
to get your book - it looks really interesting.
Burgess's
farm implements depot - and what's there now |
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I helped to
construct the 'Secret Bunker' at RAF Hack Green |
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Andrew,
I RECALL the
construction of the so-called “secret bunker” at RAF Hack
Green.
I
took a civil engineering degree at Manchester University. As my
parents lived at the School House, Sound, I was fortunate to
live just across the fields from the RAF radar station and was
able to work on the construction of the building during my
summer vacation in 1952.
Michael Lloyd
NOVEMBER 2014
Andrew replied:
That’s interesting, Michael.
My
book, “Lost Buildings around Nantwich”,
has some information and photographs from the Hack Green site.
I understand that the building you refer to was part of the 1950
Rotor plan requiring the building of 25 Ground Control
Interceptor stations nationwide. Eleven were housed underground
while the other 14 were semi-submerged as this one was.
It
was a type R6 and this same type was used in four other
locations. The main contractors were Humphreys and accounts
suggest that the building work was considerably behind schedule.
As you probably know, the original bunker was extensively
refurbished in the late 1970s to allow it to be used as a
Regional Government Headquarters and it is as you see it today.
Michael replied:
Yes,
Humphreys were the contractor and I was paid £4 a week!
At
the time they were |
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Andrew writes: This is the old
"secret bunker" building -
taken in the 1960s, judging by the car! The guard house (right)
was later demolished. |
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constructing the upper half above ground
level. I nearly caused a strike because I used a hammer to
adjust some reinforcement when I was marking out positions for
pipe connectors.
The
joiners said they were the trade to use hammers so a joiner
accompanied me while I continued my work. |
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There was also a problem when the contractor started to use
metal formwork and not employ joiners to fix it!
l
AT the same time as writing about RAF Hack Green, Michael sent a
comment about the crash of the American plane in Nantwich during
the Second World War. It appears in
this special article by
Andrew. |
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