NEWTOWN
My picture this week is Newtown in about 1900. I love these old pictures of the town because we can learn so much from them. Let's start with the road itself, it's still the old water-bound macadam with only the gutters and pavements paved. The setts came shortly after this was taken.
If you look down across Church Street at the bottom the end house in that row is still a private house, you can see curtains in the window. This was before Barclay's Bank was built or even the earlier Midland Bank on the left, now a bookie's shop. What became the Occasion after rebuilding by Matt Hartley is still a barn and according to Billy Brooks (Who lived in a cottage on the right) it was used by the Wraw Brothers as a slaughter house. Billy and his mates used to watch cattle being slaughtered there, those were different days....
You can see the end of what is now Albert Road on the right but it should be remembered that if you walked down and looked out towards the railway station there were just a few cottages on the left and fields right the way through to the station and up to the back of more cottages on Rainhall Road which later became the shops we know today. Behind the photographer, Newtown carried on straight up to Back Lane, Craven House hadn't been built then. On the right you can see a shop with a familiar name on it, Widdup. Barrett’s directory for 1896 notes John William Widdup as Secretary for the North Craven Land and Building Society at 22 Newtown. Also noted as Boot and shoe maker and Wagonette proprietor. The same details were recorded in the list of candidates for the 1890 Local Board election. Barrett for 1902 records him as Boot and Shoe maker, coal dealer and cab proprietor of 24 Newtown. There is a barber's shop just above Widdup's, we can see the traditional pole.
The more we look the more we can learn but what fascinates me most are the people. The first thing we notice is the old-fashioned dress, particularly the long dresses worn by the older women, One young lady in the foreground is very modern, her skirt is calf length! Everyone is wearing clogs and I love the two children outside the barber’s shop.
But what intrigues me most is something no amount of research will ever reveal. What are they all looking at down towards Brook Street on the left? Was it just the weekend market that was held there or is there some sort of event? We will never know. Mention of events draws my eye to Wraw's barn. Look at the posters stuck on the wall, they are advertisements for local businesses. While doing that I realised that there is a pile of wicker baskets outside the ironmongers on the corner. If you have any old postcards, have another look at them!
Newtown in about 1900.
