THREE WILLOWS GARDEN EARLY 1960s

Photo: W. G. Oakes

Our Kodachrome slide shows the garden at my Uncle Bill's house, 'Three Willows', in Mill Lane (the Mill Lane off Nantwich Road, not the one off  Kinderton Street) in the sunshine of a long-ago Summer evening in the early 1960s. This beautiful terraced garden runs all the way down to the River Wheelock.  Uncle Bill was a remarkable man. He was a research scientist working for ICI at Wilton, Winnington and Welwyn Garden City (it's just struck me for the first time how poetic that sounds!). He did vital work during the war on specialised plastics which enabled the rapid construction of radar installations and, after the war, did a lot of work on the development of polythene (or polyethylene to give it its real name). But he was also, as can be seen from this picture, an excellent gardener and photographer. Before the war he was a leading light in the Mid-Cheshire Amateur Cinematography Society and wrote the script for, and appeared in, Bank Holiday, the short comedy film which can be found on our Youtube channel.

I always feel that this colour slide demonstrates the sheer beauty of Kodachrome - now, alas, no more.

See also MIDDLEWICH'S FILMED HERITAGE