Memories
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This page will be to share memories of Lydiate in past times. |
'I remember riding out there (the old Abbey) on our motor bikes on dark nights' - Michael
'Used to visit the Abbey grounds and manor ruins to go birdwatching' - Fred
'We all trooped upstairs (The Parish Hall) for refreshments-Zing, I think it was' - Kay
'Eating cockles at The Running Horses from the Sefton Seafood man. Then up to the Scotch Piper for a beer out the wooden keg ' - George
Read the Guestbook for more memories of Lydiate.
Ted Smith has kindly sent this photo
Guidin
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Ted Smith shares his memories
Hello,
It must have been the early 1930's when we first moved to Lydiate .My first recollections are of Woods Cotttages on Southport Road, opposite what then was a saw mill ,next door to which Miss Haskayne uses to make black puddings and other associated pig products. She lived in a house with a small wooden hut in front, from which she used to sell her various wares. There was also a barge launched from the boat yard .This was quite an event at the time, all the locals turned out to see it. When it closed the yard became the Meridia drum works. Waltons coal yard was across the swing bridge next to the Running Horses ,and a farmer from Lambshear Lane called Mr Berry use to service the privys'.
The wallpaper on my computer is a picture of the woods surrounding Lydiate Old Hall, it is full of bluebells which brings me to my next thing remembered. We lived on Lollies Bridge at this time and often used to visit Lydiate woods- an old wooden caravan was parked in the woods, it was occupied by a chap called Walter Jarvis who use to plod around the village on a green bicycle. He dealt with minor ailments and was an expert in boils and carbuncles.
Mr Dawber was in charge of the village school, it was next to the parish hall then. He was assisted by Hetty Halsall and though some of his methods now would be regarded as infringements of personal liberty, he certainly got results. A few years passed , my summer holidays were mostly spent at Rose Farm in Station Road. Feeding the pigs was one of my chores, they were mostly fed with chats which were small potatoes boiled up with an occasional shovel of slack( small coal). A green vulcan wagon delivered vegetables from the farm to ships and nunneries and other institutions throughout Liverpool. The farm was then owned by Tom Haskayne. The bus which operated the Preston service from Liverpool is in my recollections as the 311, which took us to Ormskirk Grammar School for a number of yeaars, then as my end of term report did not make good reading I was apprenticed to a large bus company.
Cars were rare at the time, most people travelled by bus, the 321 used to turn around at the triangle opposite The Weld Blundell and the 302 went to Southport.
Albert Orrin was mine host at the Scotch Piper when we were old enough to spend a good night there,
Ted Smith
Memories of growing up in Lydiate in the 1960's.
Lydiate was a lot more rural,the housing estates had not yet been built, at Mallory Avenue, Weld Blundell and Mannion Avenue. You could see the canal bank when walking along Southport Road,and the farm at Sandy Lane had a wide row of Poplar trees, artists used to come and sketch the scene.The children's park at Sandy Lane was directly opposite where St Gregory's school entrance is now.There was a shop on the bridge at Lollies Bridge and also Joe Pope's shop in the house opposite the Mace store.You could walk down to the canal at Lollies Bridge on the other side of the bridge, the footpath went where the large white house has been built, and there was a boat house further along, with access to the Parish hall /St. Thomas school playing field. St Thomas School was on the site of The Sheiling Nursing Home and there was a JET petrol station next door.One of the bungalows on Liverpool Road just past the flats was a general shop,and there were shops at Bells Lane Bridge,a general shop, a hairdressers,a betting shop at one time and the coal yard opposite. Wallis's travelling fair used to set up on the field at the corner of Sandy Lane and Lambshear Lane once or twice a year,a great event to us children and teenagers.The red Ribble buses ran regularly through the village,the 311,302,303,101,341,411 and the 412. Miss Leonard had a dance/ballet school off one of the roads at the bottom of Coronation Road,where Saturday morning lessons were held. There was also a piano teacher in the house opposite St.Gregory's Church next to the Path through to Haigh Crescent, and I can't remember her name.Lydiate Youth Club on Lambshear lane was a great meeting place,crowds of youngsters used to meet up once or twice during the week and on Friday evenings there was usually a disco which attracted gangs of teenagers from all over the area.There was also the St Thomas youth club on a BARGE! Honest. It was moored along the canal bank at Bells Lane bridge but on the opposite side of where the towpath now is. The vicar at the time Mr.Ward ran it, and we used to walk along the canal bank in the pitch black to reach it. Kay Davies has written some of her memories Some may remember me as Hockenhull! Who remembers Ken Kidgers little wooden hut up by the garage where the bowling club is. I was taken there after school for liquorice root and red candy whistles!It was quite exciting when the row of shops were built and we had a self service supermarket. Was it called Scotts? I believe it may have been. I remember in the winter we couldn't get across the fields from Highgate Road to Lambshear Lane and we had to go all the way around Dodds Lane {which used to flood, }by Timewells Coach. There were lovely ponds in the fields where Coronation and Ridgeway are now. We spent many happy hours climbing up the willows which overhung them and watching the frogs below.They would be deemed a hazard now and filled in for the safety of the children. What a lot they miss nowadays. We used to take a picnic up there in summer and nobody worried if we were gone all day. At night in the summer we had cricket matches or rounders, adults and children together. No TV or playstations.They don't know what they are missing. Tim has some memories of the local area Hi there, although I do not live in Lydiate I have fond childhood memories of the area, particularly the park on Poverty Lane. I think I must have been around seven or eight at the time, this would be 1976 or 1977, and my parents, myself and my two younger brothers would bundle into the car, with plenty of provisions, and drive up from Norris Green, where we lived at the time, to the park on Sundays, or any day really if it was during the school holidays and the weather was fine. My brothers and I would quite happily spend all day exploring the park. Though a few things have stuck in my mind in particular. If I'm remembering correctly there was a long concrete tube we used to play in and a ladder set horizontally between two trees. Last but by no means least was an old disused boat with a funnel whose hull had been filled with concrete, I dont know who decided to place it in the park but as far as I'm concerned it was a stroke of genius. It became, in our childs minds eye, each in turn either a pirate galleon, a spaceship or a ship marooned in the Bermuda triangle. Put simply we loved that boat. I hope I am remembering correctly. I recently began coming up to Lydiate again and was glad to still find it a very pleasant place to visit.
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St Thomas church monthly magazine, The Herald always has a few pages about local history in it, this month-May 2008 is about the area around Bell's Lane. |
St Gregory's School Silver Jubilee video
A great video to watch is the St Gregory's School Silver Jubilee video which has footage from the late 1960's ,70's up to 1993. There are scenes of Lydiate, the school being built, the children, teachers and it gives a good idea of the mood of the 60's. Excellent music from the era too.
Old Photographs
There are some fantastic photos of the canal at Lydiate on the ukcanals website-go to photo album/old photos.
Does anyone have any information about a painting of Lydiate Abbey by the Liverpool School artist Joseph Edward Worrall ? It was painted in 1856.
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FACT BYTES |
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The Scotch Piper is the oldest Inn in Lancashire. It was formerly called The Royal Oak, the Bagpipes and Old Lolly.
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Tony Blair once popped in for a drink there in December 1999.
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Our Lady's Church originally had a spire.
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Billy's Bridge was named after a nearby farmer William Jackson.
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Lydiate's first nursing home was at Oakhill House on Liverpool Road .It was demolished in 1950.
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Rope House pre-dates the canal 1770 . The Izzat family made ropes on this site until the 1940's.
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The poet Gerard Manly Hopkins stayed at Rose Hill Villa in Pygons Hill Lane where it is said he was inspired to write, "Spring and Fall ."
The mill on Liverpool Road is (was) called Forest's Mill. There was another mill behind Our Lady's church.
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Photograph of children at St.Thomas C.E.School Taken around 1950 possibly |
The list of names is available if anyone would like it.
Mrs Carr was the headmistress on this photo.
Gu
Music
Moondance by Van Morrison