An Illustrated History of Old Sutton in St Helens, Lancashire
Part 50 (of 96 parts) - Memories of Sutton List of Articles
Researched and Written by Stephen Wainwright Contact Me
This page lists all Memories of Sutton articles (with direct links to each) that have been kindly contributed to this section.
An Illustrated History of Old Sutton in St Helens
Part 50 (of 96) - Memories of Sutton List of Articles
Researched & Written by Stephen Wainwright
An Illustrated History of Old Sutton in St Helens
Memories of Sutton
List of Articles
List of Articles
Researched and Written by Stephen Wainwright
Memories of Sutton Part 1
Arthur Normington? Who’s He? by David Normington Gerrard - David, now resident in Spain, describes his photographer father from Waterdale Crescent, who was also a keen sportsman. Being Sick in Sherdley Park & Walisdale Cottage by Joan Heyes & Brenda Macdonald - Brenda tells her mother's memories of school trips to Sherdley Park and the Prescots of Walisdale Cottage. Diving in the Clayhole by Ian Bate - Ian tells of the fun of childhood swims in the water-filled pit where the new St Helens hospital is situated and describes the three clayholes in the area. Christmas Productions at Robins Lane Secondary Modern by Ivy Swift - Retired teacher Ivy describes the "legendary" Christmas shows at Robins Lane under the stewardship of head Doris Gee. Catching Sticklebacks in Sutton Mill Dam by Ken Whittaker - Ken describes the simple childhood fun of catching sticklebacks and playing hide and seek down at Sutton Mill Dam. School Memories by Jan Tickell - Jan describes as a Robins Lane pupil winning a competition to design the logo for the new Sutton High School when it opened about 1977. The Best Ice Cream in Town! by Ivy Swift - Ivy describes her paternal Grandfather James Ashton who had a sweet shop at 95 Peasley Cross Lane and made his own ice cream. St. Michael's House & Cromwell's Oak by David Richardson - David tells of sleeping over at his uncle and aunt's at the imposing St Michael's House which had 'Cromwell's Oak' outside. Our Engine by Ken Whittaker - Small boys used to love steam trains and Ken and his pal Teddy Abbott had their own special love affair with locomotive 52397 at a siding down Penlake Lane.Memories of Sutton Part 2
A Sutton Schoolboy's Memories of WW2 by Bill Bate - Bill vividly describes life in Sutton during the war which he says was "a very exciting time, but it was also a time we all lost our childhood". Sutton Memories – I Remember by David Normington Gerrard - David's second detailed article describes the people and the shops in Waterdale Crescent and New Street during the '40s and '50s. Polly Fenney of Chester Lane by Jim Lamb - Jim tells the story of the local character Polly Fenney (a.k.a. Mary Jane Fagan) who with her brother Rafe ran a horse-driven coal business. My Sutton Memories by Enid Kenyon - Enid relates memories of her youth in Sutton which include the Sutton Bug cinema, Robins Lane school and the Sanatorium in Peasley Cross.Memories of Sutton Part 3
Building the Sutton Parish Hall by Patrick Smith - Between 1959 and 1966, Rev, 'Reg' Smith was the Vicar of Sutton and his son Patrick discusses how the community built the parish hall. The Sutton Bug Crush by Bill Bate - The Sutton Empire is fondly remembered by many and Bill describes fireman Tommy Waring and "the rugby scrum" around the ticket office. Trekking from the Manor for the Sutton Bug Tuppenny Rush by George Houghton - George describes the weekly trip to Sutton Bug, including a visit to the Wooden Hut Shop near Leach Hall. Marshalls Cross Memories by Liz Mercer - Liz was born in a cottage in Marshalls Cross Road and describes how Dr. Eric Baker Bates, son of Dr. Henry Baker Bates, was fed by her grandparents.Memories of Sutton Part 4
Mill Lane Memories by Brenda Macdonald & Joan Heyes - Brenda tells her mother's memories including clog maker John Heyes, TB sufferer Will Astbury and being the only family to own a car. Dancing in Sutton & St Helens During the 1940s by George Houghton - George describes how the most popular pastime for teenagers after the war was visiting dance halls. Dancing in Sutton During the 1960s by Patrick Smith - The Parish Barn Dances held at St Michaels Church and being in a pop group called The G.T.Os are recalled by Patrick. Early 'Arry of New Street by Patrick Smith - In Patrick's second article he pays an affectionate tribute to indomitable Sutton character Arthur Robinson who had the nickname of 'Early 'Arry'.Memories of Sutton Part 5
The Rolling Mill Tavern and the Junction Inn by Alan McDermott - Alan's family managed both pubs and he describes those days and celebrity drinkers Ernie Proudlove and Bert Trautmann. Traders' Holidays by George Houghton - The long-gone tradition of Traders' Holidays, when all shops in St Helens closed for a day in July and coach trips visited Blackpool, is described by George. The Tin Chapel by Brenda Macdonald and Joan Heyes - Brenda and Joan from Sydney, Australia, describe the little Methodist church in Robins Lane that Suttoners called the Tin Chapel. Watery Lane Memories by Valerie Evans - Valerie relates her mother Elsie's memories of life in Watery Lane, including how new clothes were bought for walking days then pawned the next day.Memories of Sutton Part 6 Life in the Old Convent Part 1' - Extracts from 'Once Around the Circuit' by Dave Latham - Dave was born in 1947 and lived for the first seven years of his life at the old convent in Fenney's Lane, near 'Pudding Bag'. This whole page is devoted to extracts from Dave's forthcoming autobiography.
Memories of Sutton Part 7
Life in the Old Convent Part 2' - Extracts from 'Once Around the Circuit' by Dave Latham - Dave tells the humorous tales of 'Mrs. Meadowcroft's Bottom' and 'Fishing and the Maggot Farm'.Memories of Sutton Part 8 Childhood Days in Peckers Hill Road by Anne McCormack - Anne's father was Joe Murphy, Mayor of St Helens in 1960-61, and she describes her family and the childhood fun playing out all day. Hospital Chaplain Memories by Patrick Smith - Rev. Smith was St Helens Hospital chaplain and a keen sportsman. His son Patrick tells several anecdotes, including one on Sister Radcliffe-Woods. St. Anne's Schooldays and the Clock Face Plaque by Herbert Eden - Herbert describes his schooldays, Father Felix and his war hero father, who had been a miner at Clock Face colliery. St. Anne's, Neil's & Blood Curdling Monsters at Sutton Bug! by Alan McDermott - Alan relates his school memories, working at William Neil's iron works and tells a wonderful Sutton Bug anecdote! Robins Lane Plays & the Street Party by Janet Watson - Janet tells of her part in Doris Gee's remarkable plays at Robins Lane school and the Oxley Street Victory party.
Memories of Sutton Part 9 Memories of Sutton Leach by Harry Hickson - A whole page is devoted to Harry's recollections which include WWII, Mill Lodge, Millersdale, the Royles, playing in the brook in Sutton Leach, Sutton Mill Dam, the tragic drowning of six-year-old Duncan Smith, the Coffey family winning the pools, Stan Leyland's monkey Chico, flooding by the Wheatsheaf, Dr. John Unsworth and the Bottom Dam.
Memories of Sutton Part 10 School Memories from the '40s & '50s by Harry Hickson - More memories from Harry including Marshalls Cross infants, Robins Lane primary, Sutton Road and Robins Lane senior school. My St. Nicholas Choir Days by Harry Hickson - Harry describes being in the St Nicholas church choir from the mid-1940s until the early 1950s, including the annual choir trip to Southport.
Memories of Sutton Part 11 Memories of My Father's Work at Sutton Oak & Nancecuke by John Hunter - John's father spent 35 years working at Sutton Oak and Nancecuke mustard gas plants and endured gas poisoning. Memories of the Poison Gas Works by Stan Bate - Stan's father was a fireman at the 'Magnum' and he relates his father's account of the Battery Cob crash and what a factory owner told him. Ernest Booth Research Organic Chemist by Elisabeth Nicolson - Lis describes her father's career including some of his experiences at Sutton Oak Chemical Defence Research Establishment.
Memories of Sutton Part 12 Memories of Sutton Manor by Stan Johnson - Stan worked down Sutton Manor colliery between 1955 to 1962 and in a full page article describes his training, stone dust, tallies, going down in the cage for the first time, conditions down the pit, 'Stuggy' the ghost, a cage crash, pit accidents etc.
Memories of Sutton Part 13 The Hancocks of Sutton Manor by David Hancock - David describes his family's garage and road haulage business that began with his grandmother predicting the result of an Aston Villa game. Football the Beautiful Game by Bill Bate - At the start of the 1945-46 football season, Bill joined a team of former school mates from St Anne's in Sutton before becoming a professional goalkeeper. St Anne’s Under Eleven Inter-Schools Cup Winners 1952 by Stan Bate - Stan describes the team which won the 1952 final of the under elevens' competition and some of the teachers at St Anne's.
Memories of Sutton Part 14 Uncle Peter of Graces Square by Stan and Bill Bate - The brothers Bate describe how their stonemason uncle from Graces Square overcame the loss of his hands in an industrial accident. Keeping Nicks at Sutton Mill Dam by Jim Lamb - Jim describes the activities and sports played on a field at Sutton Mill Dam and relates how his father Bud once raced the Sutton Manor bus and won! My Childhood Memories of Sutton Manor by Arthur Padmore - Art tells of going to the colliery baths, spud picking at Haslem’s farm and pinching peas from a cart outside the Forest Road Co-op!
Memories of Sutton Part 15 The Last To Live in Sherdley Park by Susan Morrison-Jones - Susan describes her experiences living in Sherdley Park in the old servant's quarters from 1978 to 1980. Sections are devoted to The Sherdley View, Strange Encounters of the Third Kind, Walking in the Park, One Ghost or the Other, A Secret Hoard of Silver, Snow, Sherdley Show, Making Love in the Park, Gang Warfare etc.
Memories of Sutton Part 16 Growing Up in Sutton Manor by Alan Pugh - Alan describes his Lithuanian clogmaker grandfather, St Theresa school days, the war years and Christmas and also recalls some Sutton Manor shops and people. Alan's tale of the bomb that landed at the rear of his Jubits Lane house is quite remarkable.
Memories of Sutton Part 17 My Dad Jack Smith by Frank Smith - Frank pays tribute to his hard-working father John 'Jack' Smith who worked at Clock Face Colliery for more than fifty years and who never complained. Lancashire Miners Gala Queen 1964/65 by Pat Beesley - Pat relates how she first became Gala Queen for Sutton Manor Colliery and then won the Lancashire Miners’ Gala Queen competition. My Penlake Memories by Marie - A former resident of Penlake House, Marie relates her childhood memories including steam trains, hens, roly poly puddings, Dr Leslie and childhood freedom. The Pudding Bag Blood Splashers! by Jim Lythgoe - Jim was born in Railway Terrace in Pudding Bag and recalls his gang of mates, the first TV in the street, bonfire night and his weekend jobs.
Memories of Sutton Part 18 Living at Sutton Hall Cottage by Eileen Spencer - Eileen's grandfather, William Vose Spencer, worked in the Sherdley Estate Office from 1912 to 1956 and Eileen was brought up at the adjacent cottage. Among her memories, Eileen tells of a stone font dated 1722 that was given to her family. Grandad as a Sutton Lad by David Case - David discusses aspects of his childhood, including his miner father, acetylene-powered bike lamps, Children’s Hour, trams & trolley buses etc. The Day I Visited Lea Green Colliery by Phil Morris - Phil describes the day in 1954 when his father Cliff – a deputy at Lea Green Colliery – took his 5-year-old son to his workplace. He also discusses a visit to a machinery exhibition which was staged at the NCB offices in Elton Head Road.
Memories of Sutton Part 19 Head Cook and Bottlewasher: Growing Up in Post War St Helens by Alan Tucker - The Sutton extracts from Alan’s new book in which he describes visits to his Lionel Street grandparents. My Early Days in Sutton by Ken Morgan - Ken describes Sutton 'Nash' teacher Jimmy Webster (Alan Tucker's Grandad), his mother’s shop in Station Road and the Sutton 'Bug' cinema. My Sutton Nash Memories by Diane Heaton - Diane discusses her years in the Sutton National infants and junior schools and in particular, a class photograph taken in 1953/4. Memories of Davies’s Dairy by Brenda Macdonald - Brenda describes her mother Joan Heyes’s recollections from the 1920s of the Edgeworth Street dairy owned by John Davies. Memories of Davies’s Dairy by Tom Williams - Tom remembers the family and shop run by daughter Sarah and describes how his own father delivered milk using Davies's horse and cart. My Family at Ravenhead Glass Works by Gill Chesney-Green - Gill discusses her research into her ancestors, some of whom worked at the glassworks and were in the Salvation Army. My Dad at Clock Face Colliery by Margaret Braithwaite - Margaret tells of her father who spent 38 years working down the pit and upon his death a pathologist described his lungs as being like black cement.
Memories of Sutton Part 20 Memories of my Youth by Harry Cunliffe - Harry was born in 1909 at Phoenix House in Sutton and the family later moved to Convent House in Fenney’s Lane. In these 3400-word extracts from Harry’s handwritten memoir, he vividly describes a time when people made their own entertainment, household drudgery for women, the haunted convent and much more.
Memories of Sutton Part 21
My Apprenticeship - Some Memories Part 1 by Ken Bailey Jnr. - Ken worked at Sutton Manor Colliery from 1975 until its closure in 1991 and describes in detail his apprenticeship and training. In Part 1 Ken writes about his family heritage in coal mining, the mining craft apprenticeship scheme, his instructors, practical training, academic studies and rotational placements. Part 1 includes a total of 18 images.Memories of Sutton Part 22
My Apprenticeship - Some Memories Part 2 by Ken Bailey Jnr. - In Part 2 Ken discusses working with the shafts men on top of the cage, residential courses, the colliery first aid team, coal face training, colliery deputy training and learning about gas testing and shot-firing. Part 2 includes a total of 22 images.Memories of Sutton Part 23
Memory Snapshots of No. 9 Lea Green Cottages by Sheila Bailey - Sheila was born in 1938 in what was one of a terrace of six small cottages in what is now Lea Green Road and her article is divided into sections devoted to gas lighting, neighbours, plots, childhood games, schools, wartime, Americans, farms, Lea Green Railway Station, shopping, Indian salesman and accumulators.Memories of Sutton Part 24
My Childhood in Sutton by Ellen Hackett - Ellen was born in Fisher Street in 1947 and describes her schooling at Sutton National infants and junior schools, the games played out in the street, stinky brook, local shops, Fisher Street families, East Sutton Labour Club, walking days etc. My St Joseph’s Schooldays by Margaret Longworth - Margaret describes her schooldays at St Joseph’s in Peasley Cross, initially at the infants’ school in Appleton Street and then at the junior school which bordered Cleveland and Beaufort Street. Her recollections include the playgrounds, naughty boys, nit nurse, field days etc.Memories of Sutton Part 25
Memories of Clock Face Colliery by Keith Longworth - Keith describes his typical working day at Clock Face, the New Dip district, roof supports and how a lack of sunlight down the mine caused a skin condition that forced him to quit the colliery. Harry Hickson has provided much of the illustration for this 2,700 word article.Memories of Sutton Part 26
Cycling, Tennis and the 8-15 by Rita Woodward (Kenwright) - Rita recalls her activities in Sutton during the '50s and '60s, including bike riding, the Sutton Parish ‘8-15’ group, helping out at Sutton Scout camps in the Lake District, playing tennis at Sutton Cricket and Tennis Club and dancing to Roy Hordley’s ‘Poachers’. An Early November Day by Norris Kenwright - Norris lived in Marina Avenue and describes a typical school day in the mid-1940s at the Robins Lane School annexe in Sutton Road. His recollections include his journeys to school and back, trolleybus japes, Ashton’s shop in Baxters Lane and practising a small operetta.Memories of Sutton Part 27
Sutton My Early Years in the 1940s by Norris Kenwright - Norris was a member of the family firm that built the ‘Kenwright estate’ of streets near Sutton Park. In the article he describes the early war years in his beloved park, the family pigsty, the games and activities that they played, Norris’s accidental ‘arson’, parties and celebrations etc. The article is illustrated by fourteen images.Memories of Sutton Part 28
Being A Child And Teenager In Pre-1960s Junction Lane by Mike Crampton - Mike describes his early life in Sutton, including how he kept the Sutton Bug's doorman Tommy Waring supplied with ale, the Junction Lane shops, his school days at St Anne’s, roaming the wide open spaces with his pals, starting work at Crone and Taylor's and the teenage culture of the 1950s. Celebrating Coronation Day in Sutton Leach by Wilf Powell - Wilf describes three photographs of the procession celebrating the Queen's coronation of June 1953 that took place in Leach Lane. Memories of Pudding Bag by Terry Almond - Terry’s family lived in Woodcock Street and his many happy memories include the bridge at the top of the street, the Westerners group, TV engineer Gordon Roberts, the Parfits etc.Memories of Sutton Part 29
A Journey Along Life’s Highway by Norman Edwards - A longstanding resident of Thailand, Norman relates his boyhood days in St Helens playing on Sutton Moss, his experiences during the war, attending Robins Lane school, the Battery Cob disaster and the VE Day celebrations.Memories of Sutton Part 30
Memory Snapshots Of Crown Green Bowling At Bold And Sutton Manor by Ken Bailey Snr. - Ken describes the crown green bowling teams that he played for at the Bold Miners and Sutton Manor Miners' clubs between 1990 and 2019. The article includes 7 photos and details bowling clubs active in the St Helens district during that period.Next: Part 51) Memories of Sutton Part 1 | Back To Top of Page
Copyright Notice / Factual Accuracy Statement
This website has been written and researched and many images photographed by myself, Stephen Wainwright, the Sutton Beauty & Heritage site owner. Individuals from all over the world have also kindly contributed their own photographs. If you wish to reuse any image, please contact me first as permission may be needed from the copyright owner. High resolution versions of many pictures can also be supplied at no charge. Please also contact me if you can provide any further information or photographs concerning Sutton, St.Helens. You might also consider contributing your recollections of Sutton for the series of Memories pages. Sutton Beauty & Heritage strives for factual accuracy at all times. Do also get in touch if you believe that there are any errors. I respond quickly to emails and if you haven't had a response within twelve hours, check your junk mail folder or resend your message. Thank you! SRW
