HELP FOR HEROES FUNDRAISING WEEKEND 2016: THANK YOU!

HELP FOR HEROES FUNDRAISING WEEKEND, JUNE 11th and 12th 2016

Many thanks to everyone who supported us and to everyone at Help For Heroes and Tesco Middlewich.

Special thanks to our team of volunteers:

Ann Hough
Michelle Hardy
James Hardy
Alex Hardy
Cynthia Beevers
Tom Beevers
David Roberts

and extra special thanks to CHLOE HARDY

Lynne Hardy

We collected £285. 69 for this very worthwhile cause.

www.helpforheroes.org.uk

First published 12th June 2016
Updated and re-published 31st July 2016

A MIDDLEWICH MYSTERY: BRASS CAPS

Beverley Innes has asked us for help with this Middlewich mystery, after picking up these heavy  brass caps, inscribed with the words 'J. Henshall, Builder, Middlewich' at an antiques market in Ludlow, Shropshire.

They're 7cm  high and 6cm wide (that's 2 and-a-half inches x 2 and-a-bit inches in old money).

But what were they used for? 

And who were Henshall's Builders in Middlewich?

We know that Henshall is a common Middlewich name. 

There were property owners in Webbs Lane right up until the 1970s with the names 'Mrs Yoxall and Mr Henshall', and one of the marshalls during the town's Relief of Mafeking Celebrations was a Mr Henshall.

But what of Henshall the Builders?

Where were they situated, and what would they have used these brass caps for?

Beverly would love to know, and so would we.

If you've any idea, get in touch through the usual channels.

UPDATE:

By 11pm on the day of publication of this diary entry we were getting close to the truth, courtesy of  Jon Ranwell who recommended that we google 'carriage hub caps' 

It's very likely that that is exactly what these interesting brass caps are, and that 'Henshall, Builder' does not refer to a 'builder' in the general sense, but to the builder of a horse-drawn vehicle!

28th July 2020

STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH: A LETTER FROM HISTORY

by Dave Roberts

Here's a  piece of real Middlewich history, taken from our family's private collection. It pinpoints a moment in time; a moment when, for one Middlewich worker at least, it became clear that times were changing and that what had seemed like a secure and reliable job would soon be no more.
The letterhead itself is worthy of note, as it's that of the Nestle Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company. Nestle and Anglo-Swiss had been great rivals in the  nineteenth century (Middlewich's Anglo-Swiss factory having been built in 1872) but merged in 1905.

Note the telegraphic address, 'Nestanglo' and the telephone number which, as late as 1931, was 'Middlewich no. 6'

Until the 1930s the 'milk factory' was a major Middlewich employer and was supplied with milk by numerous farmers in the rural districts surrounding the town.

According to Allan Earl in Middlewich 1900-1950 (Cheshire Country Publishing 1994),on cattle auction days, which were also normal market days, the town was alive with livestock and with farmers taking churns full of milk to the Webbs Lane factory. The queues would stretch down Finneys Lane, and all the way down Webbs Lane into Pepper Street.

Relations between the factory and the farmers  were not always harmonious, though; in 1912 a dispute arose over the price the factory was prepared to pay for milk and continued for weeks, with the local tradespeople complaining that the business they normally enjoyed from the farmers was severely curtailed as they had not been coming into Middlewich to take milk to the factory.

The same thing happened again during World War I when, in 1915, the factory tried to reduce the price it was prepared to pay for the farmers' milk.

The surplus milk which the factory wouldn't buy was made into cheese which was then auctioned to help the war effort.

Then, in August 1931,  it was announced that the factory was to close.

The company had been experiencing problems with, among other things, brine subsidence, which led to a loss in production and thus profits.

You'll notice that the letter which William Shore received makes no mention of a permanent closure but talks of a temporary termination of his employment. Perhaps someone thought the situation might change? And the fact that William's address (actually in New King Street) is not given leads us to suppose that the letter was passed to him by hand at the factory. In the present day, he'd probably have been sent a text message.

Incidentally, from the perspective of 2016, it's interesting to note that quite a few companies had problems in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Among them was the Electro-Bleach Company in Cledford Lane, which was closed and demolished in 1929.

This was on the site that, after nearly becoming ERF Ltd's works in 1933,  later became the Royal Venton Pottery Works and is currently (and very controversially) about to be turned into the ANSA Waste Recycling Facility.

Naturally many local farmers were affected by the closure of the 'milk factory' (100 of them according to Allan Earl) as were 180 employees of the company, among them William Shore, who received the above letter just a week after the farmers' contracts expired at the end of September that year.

Reading about local history is always interesting, if you're that way inclined; but to read about a pivotal event in Middlewich history from a letter like this - to read it straight from the horse's mouth, just as William Shore would have done eighty-five years ago, is almost startling.

Incidentally, this is the same William Shore we heard about here.

In 1932 the Condensed Milk Factory became a silk mill.

SEE ALSO: CONDENSED MILK FACTORY FINNEY'S LANE 1920s

                   BIG LOCK AND NESTLES MILK FACTORY 1920s

                  

 With grateful acknowledgments to Allan Earl.

Facebook Feedback (2016):

Sheila Hardy I lived in Webbs Lane and my Mum worked at the factory. I remember it so well, passing it and going over the bridge (trying to peep in at the windows) on our way to play up the River Dane. Such happy days! Thanks for that!
 

THE FIRST MIDDLEWICH TOWN CRIER COMPETITION 30th JULY 2016

NEWTON COURT SUMMER FAYRE 23rd JULY 2016 (ARCHIVED)

ARCHIVED

Newton Court

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE

First published 13th July 2016
Re-published 23rd July 2016

FAB FESTIVAL 2014 MIDDLEWICH DIARY MASTHEAD

The Middlewich Diary's masthead for June 2014, featuring a photo by Cliff Astles

MUSIC IN MIDDLEWICH: ACOUSTIC NIGHTS AT THE NEWTON BREWERY

Dig A Dig

The Newton Brewery in Webbs Lane        Photo: Bill Armsden

Photo: Iain Stead/Dig A Dig

CLASSIC CAR & BIKE SHOW 16th and 17th JULY

Middlewich Town Council

Direct links:

events@middlewich.org.uk

www.middlewich.org.uk

PINDER'S CIRCUS IN MIDDLEWICH, JULY 2016 (ARCHIVED)

ARCHIVED

MIDDLEWICH ROCK 'N' ROLL: ROCK BACK THE CLOCK, 9th JULY 2016

MIDDLEWICH DIARY MASTHEAD: SUMMER 2013 , CANAL IDYLL

Our masthead for Summer 2013 featured a photograph by local photographer Bill Armsden taken on the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal.
The bridge, one of many of this style in the district is, unusually, not whitewashed like most such structures. It carries the back road, Coal Pit Lane, which runs from Chester Road to Stanthorne Crossroads near Wimboldsley.
Many people have remarked on the beauty of Britain's canals in modern times and the contrast between their appearance during the industrial era and in the present day.
But in fact, the SUC Middlewich Branch has always been almost completely rural in character. It was built to link the Shropshire Union and Trent & Mersey canals together  (the link , of course, only being properly completed in 1829 with the building of the Wardle Canal at the Middlewich end).
The only industry we can think of on the banks of the branch canal is the tannery in Sutton Lane which later became home to Sutton Lane Engineering and is now the site of Waterside Mews, and it is doubtful if this made much, if any, use of the canal.

Here's the original photograph, courtesy of Bill:

MIDDLEWICH DIARY MASTHEAD: JULY 2016 DOUBLE RAINBOW

Our masthead for July 2016 features one of those 'once in a lifetime' photos as a double rainbow over Middlewich is captured by Jennifer Jane Snelson.

A typical English summer evening, the 1st of  July, and the usual  combination of driving rain and sunny intervals brought the familiar phenomenon about. 

Jennifer Jane was in the right place at the right time and managed to capture the rainbows arching over the  Parish Church in the leaden  Middlewich skies, while evening sunshine bathes the town centre in light.