This and that - 2

Entry mystery solved

I THINK the Dabber' Nantwich website is great and full of so much information. Please can you help me or know anybody that can?
   In the 1901 census a place called Library Entry (numbers 1, 2 and 3) is shown between the Cocoa House and 29 Pillory Street. My relatives, Charles and Alice Stockley, lived at number 2 and Mary A. Highfield at number 3. Where is this place? What happened to it or is it still there?

   I have been to Pillory Street and stood at the Museum many a time trying to work it out! Could it have been the library in which they lived or maybe there was somewhere behind / within the Cocoa House Yard or maybe some houses that numbers / house names have changed in recent times?
   I haven't yet looked into the 1911 census to see if it is listed on there and I have

e-mailed the Records Office to see if they keep documents regarding buildings. I also go to the Nantwich Family Historical Society and they think that this place is a mystery too.
   Any help will be greatly appreciated as I would really like to know about the place and I am out of people / options to ask!

Amy Highfield, Crewe                                                            SEPTEMBER 2009

   Clearly, "A Dabber's Nantwich" website is the first place to ask next time . . . !  Just joking. Mind you, all I did was pass the question on to local historian, Andrew Lamberton.

    He replied: "I'm pretty sure that you are referring to Heath's Entry which later came to be known as Wright's Yard. If you go immediately past the library (now the Museum) you will see an archway on the side of which is the front door to the hairdressing shop.

   "I remember a cycle shop there in the 1970s and a Mr Smith repaired bicycles down the side of the shop, through the entry. I'm sure that there were cottages down there at one time.

   "I have copies of Johnson's Almanacs in which Nos 4 and 5 are listed. There is no mention of them in the 1969 edition, so I presume they were demolished by then. I can't see any evidence of cottages on the other side of the library." 

    Andrew's prompt reply brought this response from Amy: "Thank you very much for your help. It is much appreciated. It certainly answers my question and I might now be able to sleep at night!!!!!!!!!"

I'VE just been looking at the Snow Hill pictures again... They look like something out of Dickens' books. When I showed my granddaughter where I lived until I was eight her face was a total look of disbelief, and looking at the pictures, I can see why.

    We've had some good laughs when looking at them and remembering where my life started. My nan and grandad lived at No 4, then my mum and dad until we were offered a flat right at the top of Queen's Drive - which seemed miles away after living on the Hill for eight years. I remember the bonfires, the Coronation party in 1953 when we were given a cup and spoon (I was five), the gunnel where the old lock up was (us kids used

to get told off for playing down there), Mellor's Yard and Cartlake.

    Happy times looking back, but not so happy ones remembering the outside loo, the gas mantles  and no central heating, dolly tubs and me standing on a box turning the mangle handle for mum.

    Thanks again for the pictures. It's been nice going back down memory lane. Charles Dickens would be proud of yer . . .!

Eileen Jones (nee Perlman), Telford, Shropshire.                                  2009

A fabulous building

WE visited Nantwich at the weekend with friends and were bowled over by the buildings and the floral displays. Just before heading for home we came upon the fabulous building (right) where Clive Christian has their shop. Do you know who built it and what it was originally used for? We'd love to know.

Caz and Tony B      2009

The original building on this site (left) was opened in 1859 by Philip Chesters as a grocery shop and many people still know it as Chesters'. But the "fabulous building" admired by Caz and Tony was a replacement designed by local architects, Bower and Edleston.

   Pillory Street, to the right of the main picture, was originally much narrower and the rebuilding gave town planners the chance to widen the road. The Pillory Street facade was originally occupied by pubs. Boots the Chemists later occupied the building before Clive Christian took over the premises.

   See this page for more on the building.  

Hotel across the lake

I ABSOLUTELY love the website! I live in Baddington. Where? Exactly! No one but us folk who live here know about it. Perhaps we are twinned with Brigadoon? I think we've been here for 1,000 years.

   Can you help? Could you do a piece on the hotel that was across the lake years ago? It was a spa sort of affair, largish building which stood on the whole site where the Hacienda was....all the way to Shrewbridge Road junction.

   I'm  a newcomer - only lived here 25 years. I'd love to see a photo of it.

Su Beech, Baddington, Nantwich        12/2008

I think Su could be correct about being twinned with Brigadoon. Baddington isn't listed on any map I have and so perhaps it does only appear every so often. But more about the hotel she asks about can be found on Old Nantwich Pictures No 8 on this website.        

Snow Hill houses

Cecilia (and Malcolm) Tomlinson, Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island, Canada.                                                                                          10/2008

Andrew has come to the rescue with an aerial picture of Snow Hill (right), taken from the Appendix in "Lost Buildings Around Nantwich" - which shows additional pictures from Nantwich itself.

   You can't make out the details? See this page.

Both my homes have fallen to the 'dozers

Hi, Just came across your site and saw Dave Sealey mentioning me and Strife. Hello Dave; good man.

   My very best wishes to you and to all my friends from Nantwich, wherever you may be (personally I'm in Ireland). And, yes, the Hacienda is gone. I guess the new plans went in before the property boom collapsed.

    Both of my old Nantwich homes have fallen to the 'dozers; first, the Golf House, that went during the late Sixties (I think) and now the Hacienda. It was a great place to grow up in but all things must pass. (One of my favourite poems is Shelley's Ozymandius - read it and you'll get the picture).

   Yes, Strife did annoy the neighbours. I still have some hearing damage myself! My Dad was a great defender of the band: One time a neighbour rang up to complain about the noise; my Dad said, "You're lucky. I have to live with it!" He never asked us to quit.
   I remember him working out that the Government could afford to pay everyone who lived in the country a basic living, 'universal benefit', so that there would be no

stigma and no real poverty; less anxiety. Then, everyone would be encouraged to continue to work and pay taxes to make the whole thing work. He said he was inspired to figure it out by the idea behind "the Beam Heath", Dabber's money. Only last week, someone told me that a couple of economists had come up with a similar "universal benefit" idea in the 1980s and had shown it could work!
   By the way, I checked out the Hacienda page. The house was built in 1961. We moved there in 1962, from across the fields at the Golf House. My Mother is a wonderful woman called May and my father was Walter Ellson, the corn merchant, but the main family business was as pet requisite manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers.

   I can give you more info on the house - or, rather, my Mother should be an even better source!
Paul Ellson, Ireland                                                                                     10/2008

Nice to hear from you, Paul. It would be great to have some of your mother's recollections.     Also, read the item below.

they need to build more houses like the ones on the old football field. We visited Jackson Avenue during our recent trip, and we were not impressed with the "houses" they are building.

   I took the wife from Willaston round the "new" ring roads through Welshman's Lane to Malbank. When we stopped by the new road she had no idea where we were. The new football ground looks good by the way. Pity about the pitch though!

Dave Sealey, Johannesburg                                                                       08/2008

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