FORGOTTEN CORNERS

[Stanley]

This is the infamous 'kissing shuttle' that caused so many early deaths amongst weavers. The easiest way that the thread could be installed in the eye was to 'kiss' the shuttle and breathe in sharply. This carried minute specks of cotton into the lungs and could cause Byssinosis, a disease of the lungs that could restrict breathing and in some cases cause death.
A secondary problem was relayed to me by weavers in the LTP. It was that many old male weavers chewed tobacco in the shed and in consequence there was a build up of tar-like substance round the eye. If one of these weavers was teaching a young weaver they had to ignore feelings of disgust and kiss the shuttle.
Thankfully in the first half of the 20th century they were banned but it took a long time for them all to be replaced. In some cases into the 1950s.

[Stanley]

The kissing gate at the bottom of Letcliffe Park. I like it because it always reminds me of a famous picture 'The walk to Paradise Garden' by W Eugene Smith. (LINK)

[Stanley]

Butts National school in 2009 when it was the Union Club and was up for sale.

[PanBiker]

Open as The Old Grey Pigeon now.

[Stanley]

Stanley and his dad at Burrs Mount, Great Hucklow, Derbyshire in 1940. We had been evacuated to Great Hucklow to escape the bombing at home and father used to come up for a day at weekend for a bit of rabbit shooting.
The funny thing was that while we were up there it was what was known as the Phoney War and no bombs fell. So we moved back home and as soon as we did the raids started! All a forgotten corner now.....

[Stanley]

I noticed today the hooded bucket on the left of the milk kit behind father. This is a hand milking bucket and the hood was to lessen the chance of dirt falling into the bucket from the friction of your head where it was pressed into the cow's flank. (You suck your head in because that cut down on any tendency to kick which happened quite frequently!) That will do for today's forgotten corner.

[Stanley]

The Robin Hood 'Beeston' solid fuel boiler. Usually fuelled with coke from the municipal gasworks, it was the standard method of heating schools, churches and public buildings.

[Stanley]

A nice piece of evidence of the original road level before Walmsgate was raised and Gillian's Beck culverted. All forgotten now but still there.....

[Stanley]

Bancroft lodge in 1978 when the mill was still running and everything was being maintained. All long gone now of course.

[Stanley]

The gear ring on the waterwheel at Lothersdale Mill. The waterwheel is one of the largest in the UK and still there but I suspect largely forgotten.

[Stanley]

We have all seen buildings with large cylindrical columns but very few know how they were achieved. In early times they were carved by hand out of the solid rock but in latter years they have been turned on large lathes in the quarries as we see here.

[Stanley]

Yellow Hall and Walter Parker's farm in Kelbrook around 1930?

[Wendyf]

Stoops Farm opposite Yellow Hall. Speed limits in built up areas were introduced in 1935 so the photo must be after that.

[Stanley]

My cab dog Fly. He travelled thousands of miles with me in the cattle wagon and was a good mate. Lots of stories about him and he is not forgotten but I am afraid, long gone.

[Stanley]

Fly was a son of Old Tam who was Scottish Sheepdog Champion and was bred by Kath Smith at Biggar Mains in Lanarkshire who was herself a past Champion Shepherd. Like his dad he had one big fault, he wouldn't go through puddles in gateways! I used to deliver cattle and calves to her and she gave my Fly as a cab dog. I named him Fly even though it is usually a bitch's name, he never objected and it's a name that carries well when you shouted him....
Worth saying that that is another forgotten corner. When you're naming a dog always give them a name that can be shouted easily and carries. Like Eigg, Muck or Jack!
One story about Kath. I once called in for eight heifers to take South. They were in a field behind the house which was very uneasy, you couldn't see a lot of it from the gate. I got set up at the gate for loading and Kath sent her dogs out into the field to fetch the beasts unseen. They did it perfectly. Nothing strange about that you might say until you noticed that at the same time she was breast-feeding her new-born baby.... .
Quite a woman!

[Stanley]

Those of you who frequent men's urinals may have noticed this....



You may be tempted to aim your stream at it. If you do so that is exactly what the manufacturer intended as the angle the pee hits the fly is the one observed to give least splash back. See THIS Wikipedia article which has some interesting but lesser known facts on the subject.....

[Stanley]

Possibly the wrong advice..... Seen on a lavatory bowl in the old Colne Grammar School in the town.

[Stanley]

This lady at the Budenberg factory at Broadheath near Altrincham in 1988 is preparing to mark out the calibrations on a pressure gauge dial by hand. She will use Letraset for the actual numbers, if you look at the cubby holes in front of her you'll see special sets of figures on reels for different scales. If there isn't a Letraset reel that is suitable she will do the lettering freehand using a black Chinese resin specially imported by hand by one of the directors when they ran short. It was brought in like this because they had found that this was the only way of making sure they got the highest quality pigment. They were so particular because it was only this resin and Letraset that had been found to be 100% resistant to fading over time.
I suspect that this is computerised now and laser printed so a good candidate for forgotten corners.

[Wendyf]

Possibly the wrong advice..... Seen on a lavatory bowl in the old Colne Grammar School in the town.

Was this from the Grammar School beside the parish church Stanley?

[Stanley]

From memory it was the one down a side street near there. It's a long time since!

[Tripps]

Whilst researching' for another topic I came across this Paper round . Just seeing Mavis loading up her paper bag brought back vivid memories of my time in the role.

I did six days a week morning and evening, and Sunday morning,for 13s/6d to the best of my memory - though it doesn't seem a lot. Some shops paid less and there was always a waiting list for a job. An extra Radio Times round after the evening delivery each Thursday paid a shilling.

Surely a forgotten corner - ( or soon will be )

PS - for comparison Fish and Chips from the shop next door cost a shilling -so translating in those terms to today would make it about 13.5 x £7.00 = £ 94.50 per week! I doubt that is valid -it didn't feel that good .

[Stanley]

Open all hours at Sough in 1955. I suppose I remember prices from those days better than most. I often marvel when I am paying for my shopping at the total. But then I have to stop myself, it's too depressing!

[Stanley]

Albert Road shops in I think it was 2001. Is it my imagination or does everything look shabbier today?

[Tripps]

Is it my imagination or does everything look shabbier today?

A very timely observation and I would agree totally. I have been watching a vlogger called Sarah from Oldham for a while now, and largely enjoyed what she posts. Her last effort is to walk from Failsworth to Manchester down Oldham Road. She has a good eye for interesting detail, and in this video films places which are special to me and my family history. I don't expect her to have the same effect on all viewers, but some of the scenes in this video are shameful. Take a ,look if you wish.

Oldham Road Failsworth to Manchester

We are constantly reminded that we are the fifth largest economy in the world, but Google street view enables me to explore the world in detail and we don't come out well. Look at places like Manila, Djakarta, and Kuala Lumpur. - or even Bogota and take a virtual walk around - then compare them to the slum like appearance of present day Oldham Road. It's embarrassing.

PS Look at the building at 5min 40 secs. It's 200 years old and the back of it is shown in a Lowry print I have. Now a derelict eyesore. Is there no local control over the signage for instance?

If she had time to look closer at the Bethel Church she would have seen this plaque which includes the name of my Great Uncle.

Harry Trippier Bethel memorial.jpg

[Tripps]

In case anyone is interested - that post was getting a life of its own so I'll create a new one for this.

I looked at the Bethel war memorial and a name caught my eye. It was Sidlow Cooper.
No I knew there was a grocers shop just up the road and a branch near where I lived called Sidlow's. I thought it an unusual first name so I googled it - Well what do you know Here's his photo and a summary of his life.

Sidlow Cooper

I never heard of that site so I input my surname and went again. Wow - 25 results. I think the family did its share in WW I

I guess others might find the IWM tribute site interesting.