The objectives of Billinge History Society as stated in its constitution, are To investigate, compile, preserve and present the History of Billinge for the education and gratification of present and future generations of the village, its surrounding municipalities and beyond. To promote interest in and maintain appreciation of the History of Billinge, its buildings and immediate environment, by whatever means are within the capabilities of the Billinge History Society. To publish the History of Billinge in printed and electronic formats so that all and any interested parties have easy and unrestricted access to it. * This book is an attempt to abide by those objectives. It has been a huge community effort. Six people donated the bulk of the written text; several others have also made written contributions, as the many the appendixes clearly demonstrate. The photographs that illustrate this book all have their origins with Billinge families. We thank everyone who has donated photographs for making them available. So far we have over six hundred preserved for future generations. Most of the information in this book was obtained from the older generation who still retain it. We are indebted to those who had the patience to speak to us and pass on their knowledge. Mrs Ethel Smith has played the major role in this regard. Without her, much of what is here recorded would have been lost forever. All the written text and a great many more photographs than are contained in this book, can be viewed and downloaded from our websites at www.billinge-history.com and www.billinge-history.co.uk, which contain our email address and phone number. This is the second edition of the work of Billinge History Society. We are entirely dependent on input from the local community. If you have documents relating to Billing History, any written family history or photographs, please consider briefly loaning them so they can be preserved and included and in the next edition. We possess audio equipment to record oral history. The Billinge accent is well worth preserving. If you know anyone willing to tell the tale, please get it touch. This book will undoubtedly contain mistakes. We hope those reading it will be able to point them out. Any suggestions for improvement are more than welcome. Jack Boardman – Chairman BHS 2002. Contents From Longshaw Common to Chadwick Green Page 1 Robys Page 8 Taylors Page 27 By Joe Taylor Our Nell’s Jack Page 32 Father Powell Page 34 The Andertons of Birchley Page 63 By Don Lewis The Mathers – Ten Generations Page 83 By Hugh Mather Short History of Winstanley Hall and the Bankes Family Page 101 By Alan Mitchell For King and Country Page 109 By Harry Roughley The Impact of World War 11 on Billinge Page143 By Sybil Lowery Billinge Radio Station By John Renwick Page 159 Holt Avenue 1947-1948 Page 161 Holt Crescent 1947-1948 Page 162 Billinge Farms 1929 Page 163 Longshaw 1929 Page 165 Businesses Pits Pubs & Landlords 1929 Page 167 Carr Mill Road 1929 Page 168 Reminiscences of Billinge by Mrs N E Twist Page 169 Some Memories of a Childhood Long ago by Jack Heyes Page 171 The Eddleston Trust Page 172 Gaffney Records in St Mary’s Registers 1792 – 1912 Page 173 The Fosters by Alan Foster Page 174 The Mellings Page 177 Littlers & Halliwells by Alan Littler Page 179 The Billinge Family in Haydock Page 182 The Lavis Page 184 The Dixon Story by Gerry Rigby Page 186 The Colemans Page 191 The McLoughlins Page 193 The Jacksons by Dallas Manicom Page 195 The Heatons by Paul Heaton Page 197 The Farrars by Maureen McManus Page 198 The Winstanleys by Eric Winstanley Page 203 The Birchalls by Adrian Birchall Page 209 Greenfield House Intermediate Approved School by Bert Morris Page 212 Donations to Birchley Infants School by Jack Boardman Page 214 Roby Notes Page 219 Other Notes Page 222 Billinge History Society Edition Two This is one of the ten copies of this edition printed by Billinge History Society 2002 Bill and Fred Ashall c 1915 From Longshaw Common to Chadwick Green. The lady above, Lydia Melling, was born in Longshaw in 1850. Her lover, Thomas Robinson, was tragically killed by a train in 1872, after posting her a valentine card. She then married his elder brother William and made the long journey that gives this work its title. Dedicated to Lydia’s granddaughter, Ethel Smith nee Tinsley INTRODUCTION. Being back in Billinge after quarter of a century was like hearing a favourite tune played on an unfamiliar instrument - Silent Night on electric guitar perhaps or Down By The Riverside on bagpipes. It took a while for the familiar to become acceptable as commonplace again, to stop staring at the sights that constitute my earliest memories, trying to understand why they looked so different. Distance was something that had altered completely. From Claremont Road to Billinge Hospital had seemed too far to venture as a child - for heaven’s sake it was at the other side of Longshaw! Houses that had seemed to be mansions and trees that were once enormous now appeared almost minuscule. Travel hadn’t changed Billinge; it had given it a different perspective. Where I’d expected things to be twenty-five years worse than when I left this wasn’t always quite the case. The old stone houses, that gave the place its character, had been renovated and not demolished. The housing estates were in better condition than I’d expected, as former tenants were owners now. Pride in new ownership was understandable and it showed. Even better, those family and friends that ill health or gross misfortune had not struck down had mostly done well for themselves. Someone had even written a book about the place. There had been changes. Where once everybody knew who lived in just about every house within walking distance, now it was difficult to spot a familiar face. Liverpool and Manchester had touched borders at Billinge Church. Who could ever have imagined it? Who could have imagined traffic chaos in Carr Mill Road, busses running down Shaley Brow and Billinge Hill Quarry a rubbish dump for St Helens? What hadn’t changed, thank goodness, was the view from Gores Lane Bridge, looking up at the Hill, and the way the old folks tell the tale. Nobody tells the tale quite like a Billinger and there were still a few old Billingers left around the place to tell them. My dad was one of those. If I asked a question on any topic of village life, the answer would include a thumb nail sketch of the subject’s history and family relationships - the way they fitted into to the social fabric, who they married and where their parents came from. Then I’d go away and write short stories such as this. The old man has his routine well in place by now; at eighty-six he should have. He gets up late, makes his own breakfast then reads the paper. Late afternoon he walks up the road to the pub. Like a well oiled machine he arrives back as dinner hits the table then goes to bed for a while before getting up if there's football on the television. The old girl has a different routine. After sixty-four years of marriage there’s not a lot to talk about so she’s mostly out when he’s in and when he’s out she cooks dinner. I drop round to chat with my dad, late afternoons, before his daily excursion for a pint. We watch boxing videos and talk about the old days and the folks that filled them but now are gone. "His mother drowned herself in the marl pits and his brother Tommy did as well. But that was ages after. I never knew the mother but Jacky and me were about he same age. Tommy was a few years older. He never was quite with it, Tommy. One of those the kids were frightened of. You know that house near where your aunt lives? That’s where those Swifts came from." We were trying to establish lineage where surnames are few and generations many. My dad is clued up on local genealogy. All the old folk are. "When you go down Long Fold Brow and those old stone cottages on the left then there’s a gap then that big house that faces the other direction. Well the Mellings lived in this end, nearest the road, and the Swifts lived in the rest of the place. Where the Mellings lived was only one up one down and they were a big family, at least ten of them. They were all girls except Tommy. The Swift’s place was better, more rooms, three bedrooms I think but I never went upstairs. There were six brothers and two sisters but they were better off because the old man sank the shaft at Brown Heath Colliery and the other in Tanner’s Wood that linked up with it. So he always had an under manager’s job at the pit. They were better off than most of us. Old Harry Melling worked when he could, sometimes at the pit or the farm or sometimes on the coal wagon, sometimes on the dole. You had to take work where you found it." Then he paused a while, thinking back to his childhood. "The women didn’t work them days did they?" I ventured eventually, knowing they did but wanting to keep him talking. "Not down the pit, well not round here anyway.