THE MOORCOCK INN 01
- Stanley
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- Joined: 23 Jan 2012, 12:01
- Location: Barnoldswick. Nearer to Heaven than Gloria.
THE MOORCOCK INN 01
THE MOORCOCK INN
Staying on Coldweather, let's have a look at the Moorcock, still open as a wayside pub and restaurant. When I knew it in the 1950s it was run as a public house by an elderly couple helped by their son who was also involved with Civil Defence, there was always a CD signals van parked in the car park. I delivered their groceries weekly and also did the same for an old lady who lived in a small bungalow in the yard of the nearby Admergill Pasture Farm. This was owned and run by John Hanson and the lady was his mother, universally known as Old Mother Hanson.
Mother Hanson fascinated me. I don't mean this unkindly but she looked like a woman from the days of the Pendle witches. She dressed in old-fashioned long skirts to the ground and her lifestyle was exactly as it would have been four centuries before. I later found that she was also a wise woman and a healer! I say this because her brain was sharp as a razor and she always sat me down with a cup of tea laced with whisky and talked to me about days long gone, I think she enjoyed it and I certainly enjoyed her company.
The healer bit came when she found I had a very old-fashioned complaint, a carbuncle in my right arm pit that was defying all the resources of modern medicine and making my life a misery! You don't see them today but a carbuncle is a nest of boils and is very painful. She ordered me to strip to the waist and had a look at it. While she did this she questioned me about my life style and told me that my blood was too rich and that I should stop partaking of my favourite tipple, a Black and Tan. This was a Massey's Extra Stout topped up to a pint with best bitter. She told me to ditch the stout and put a King's Ale in instead.
Then she applied her treatment which she assured me would do the trick. She rooted in a drawer and produced what looked like a white candle encased in paper, she told me it was 'Diathrum'. Then she brought out an old cotton slip and tore a strip off right round the bottom, formed it into a pad, heated the 'Diathrum' in front of the coal fire until it was melting and smeared a liberal amount on the cotton pad which she then clapped into my armpit while it was hot and held it there until I calmed down a bit. It was as painful as anything I have experienced before or since.
Once I was still she tore off more cotton from the slip and made an expert job of bandaging the pad in place. She told me not to disturb it, she would have a look the following week when I visited her again. I shall have to leave you in suspense!
The Moorcock as it is today extended to add a restaurant.
Staying on Coldweather, let's have a look at the Moorcock, still open as a wayside pub and restaurant. When I knew it in the 1950s it was run as a public house by an elderly couple helped by their son who was also involved with Civil Defence, there was always a CD signals van parked in the car park. I delivered their groceries weekly and also did the same for an old lady who lived in a small bungalow in the yard of the nearby Admergill Pasture Farm. This was owned and run by John Hanson and the lady was his mother, universally known as Old Mother Hanson.
Mother Hanson fascinated me. I don't mean this unkindly but she looked like a woman from the days of the Pendle witches. She dressed in old-fashioned long skirts to the ground and her lifestyle was exactly as it would have been four centuries before. I later found that she was also a wise woman and a healer! I say this because her brain was sharp as a razor and she always sat me down with a cup of tea laced with whisky and talked to me about days long gone, I think she enjoyed it and I certainly enjoyed her company.
The healer bit came when she found I had a very old-fashioned complaint, a carbuncle in my right arm pit that was defying all the resources of modern medicine and making my life a misery! You don't see them today but a carbuncle is a nest of boils and is very painful. She ordered me to strip to the waist and had a look at it. While she did this she questioned me about my life style and told me that my blood was too rich and that I should stop partaking of my favourite tipple, a Black and Tan. This was a Massey's Extra Stout topped up to a pint with best bitter. She told me to ditch the stout and put a King's Ale in instead.
Then she applied her treatment which she assured me would do the trick. She rooted in a drawer and produced what looked like a white candle encased in paper, she told me it was 'Diathrum'. Then she brought out an old cotton slip and tore a strip off right round the bottom, formed it into a pad, heated the 'Diathrum' in front of the coal fire until it was melting and smeared a liberal amount on the cotton pad which she then clapped into my armpit while it was hot and held it there until I calmed down a bit. It was as painful as anything I have experienced before or since.
Once I was still she tore off more cotton from the slip and made an expert job of bandaging the pad in place. She told me not to disturb it, she would have a look the following week when I visited her again. I shall have to leave you in suspense!
The Moorcock as it is today extended to add a restaurant.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Re: THE MOORCOCK INN 01
You write an interesting article Stanley.
Gloria
Now an Honorary Chief Engineer who'd be dangerous with a brain!!!
http://www.briercliffesociety.co.uk
http://www.lfhhs.org.uk
Now an Honorary Chief Engineer who'd be dangerous with a brain!!!
http://www.briercliffesociety.co.uk
http://www.lfhhs.org.uk
- Stanley
- Global Moderator
- Posts: 91301
- Joined: 23 Jan 2012, 12:01
- Location: Barnoldswick. Nearer to Heaven than Gloria.
Re: THE MOORCOCK INN 01
Thank you kind lady! They can be a nuisance at times, they always need writing when I can least afford the time but it's comments like yours and the people who stop me on the street to thank me that make it all worth while. Thanks again...
Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Re: THE MOORCOCK INN 01
Sounds like she used "Magnoplasm" Or something akin. They still make Magnoplasm...I believe it is made in Australia.
- Stanley
- Global Moderator
- Posts: 91301
- Joined: 23 Jan 2012, 12:01
- Location: Barnoldswick. Nearer to Heaven than Gloria.
Re: THE MOORCOCK INN 01
You'll find out in the next instalment Maz.....
Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
- Stanley
- Global Moderator
- Posts: 91301
- Joined: 23 Jan 2012, 12:01
- Location: Barnoldswick. Nearer to Heaven than Gloria.
Re: THE MOORCOCK INN 01
Still a good story....
Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
- Stanley
- Global Moderator
- Posts: 91301
- Joined: 23 Jan 2012, 12:01
- Location: Barnoldswick. Nearer to Heaven than Gloria.
Re: THE MOORCOCK INN 01
Bumped......
Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Re: THE MOORCOCK INN 01
Are you waiting for some encouragement to give us the next instalment Stanley?
Bring it on
Bring it on
I know I'm in my own little world, but it's OK... they know me here.
- Stanley
- Global Moderator
- Posts: 91301
- Joined: 23 Jan 2012, 12:01
- Location: Barnoldswick. Nearer to Heaven than Gloria.
Re: THE MOORCOCK INN 01
It will come tomorrow Cathy....
Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Re: THE MOORCOCK INN 01
Stanley, you promised us the next instalment in 2018.
Gloria
Now an Honorary Chief Engineer who'd be dangerous with a brain!!!
http://www.briercliffesociety.co.uk
http://www.lfhhs.org.uk
Now an Honorary Chief Engineer who'd be dangerous with a brain!!!
http://www.briercliffesociety.co.uk
http://www.lfhhs.org.uk
Re: THE MOORCOCK INN 01
Many years ago he also said he would finish off a ‘Haunted House’ story , that he had started telling us. Never happened.
Looking forward to tomorrow
Looking forward to tomorrow
I know I'm in my own little world, but it's OK... they know me here.
- Stanley
- Global Moderator
- Posts: 91301
- Joined: 23 Jan 2012, 12:01
- Location: Barnoldswick. Nearer to Heaven than Gloria.
Re: THE MOORCOCK INN 01
Ah well, your hero has feet of clay.....
Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!