Memories of Mill Brow in Runcorn

By Runcorn And Widnes Weekly News on Mar 5, 09 01:21 PM in 1900-1999

WHEN the main building of the old Sprinch Boatyard in Runcorn was destroyed by fire, all that remained was the wooden door and the stone steps to the main entrance.

Keith Leyland, formerly of Jackson's Lane, Mill Brow, and now living at Firbank, Elton Village, mentioned the fire, among many other things, when he put pen to paper to provide readers and me with a host of vivid recollections about life in the Mill Brow area when he was a youngster back in the early 1950s.

"My father told me he was on the scene soon after the fire started in the main building," said Keith, "and saw the flames appearing through the roof."

The door and stone steps remained in place on Mill Brow for a number of years afterwards but of course, these too have now gone.

Keith believes the Bridgewater Canal itself was much cleaner when Top Locks were still in use.

"My mum (Margaret) taught us to swim in the canal and I remember her swimming from a point near the bottom of our garden to Delph Bridge and back. The swimming was done on Sundays when the canal was silent, apart from the occasional pleasure craft going out from Top Locks and returning later in the day."

In winter, there were long periods when the canal froze over. The boats had to wait until they were freed by the ice-breaking vessel.

Keith remembers seeing a steam crane on the waterfront at the Sprinch Yard toppling into the water after it tried to lift too big a load.

"There was one occasion," he notes, "when a barge skipper asked my mum if she could provide him with buckets of fresh water and she duly obliged.

"I insisted on being lifted on to the barge," Keith recalled, "and I was taken into the cabin which was warmed by a coal-fired stove and the room was very clean and tidy. I was then handed back to my mum.''

Keith's father (Charles Leyland) and his mother related many tales about life and incidents in the district in the district. In the severe winter of 1947 the low temperatures meant the ice on the canal was strong enough to support a cow which had managed to escape on its way to the abattoir.

"Sadly, it was recaptured," said Keith.

Back in the 1920s, Keith's father told him: "A lady living in one of the cottages behind the Old Ship Inn placed a mattress on the pathway outside the front of the cottage and jumped from the upstairs window. Fortunately, she was unharmed."

The Ragged School was a dominant feature on the Mill Brow landscape and Keith remembers the building being used for harvest festivals and jumble sales, etc.

There was Hambleton's sweet shop, best known for its home made and somewhat unique humbugs, and a house belonging to the Albistons from whom they could buy fresh shrimps.

"Our family would sit around the old fashion black fire grate peeling the shrimps into a basin and mum would soak them in butter and provide us with potted shrimps on Saturday nights. Our entertainment came from a Cossor radio.

He added: "Mum's supply of greengroceries came via a delivery service operated by "Bogey" Marsh who had a horse and cart, selling potatoes, carrots, turnips and cauliflowers."