LEYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Founded 1968) Registered Charity No. 1024919 PRESIDENT Mr. W. E. Waring CHAIR VICE-CHAIR Mr. P. Houghton (Joint) Mr E. Almond and Mr. M. J. Park HONORARY SECRETARY HONORARY TREASURER Mr. M. J. Park Mr. E. Almond Tel: 01772 337258 AIMS To promote an interest in history generally and that of the Leyland area in particular MEETINGS Held on the first Monday of each month (September to July inclusive) at 7.30 pm in The Shield Room, Banqueting Suite, Civic Centre, West Paddock, Leyland SUBSCRIPTIONS Vice Presidents: £12.00 per annum Members: £12.00 per annum School Members: £ 1.00 per annum Casual Visitors: £3.00 per meeting A MEMBER OF THE LANCASHIRE LOCAL HISTORY FEDERATION THE HISTORIC SOCIETY OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE and THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR LOCAL HISTORY Visit the Leyland Historical Society's Web Site at: http//www.leylandhistoricalsociety.co.uk Editorial Contents Welcome to the fifty-ninth edition of Editorial 3 the Lailand Chronicle. Mary Longton At the Annual General Meeting held in July, a few words from our Treasurer telling us that Society Affairs 4 subscriptions are to remain the same this year, Peter Houghton despite the fact that the rent of the excellent venue for our meetings has risen dramatically, House Hunting - Leyland 8 was well received as was the fact that the Style accounts for the year showed a small profit. Peter Houghton Congratulations to our Chairman, Peter Houghton, as his contribution to the year 2012/13 An Award Winning Garden 10 Chronicle, ‘The Rubber Family of Leyland’, was rises from the Ashes of a judged by Mr. David Hunt, curator of the Nineteenth Century Crisis Leyland Museum, to be the winner of the Joan Langford Historian of the Year shield. Peter was also awarded a life membership for his work for the Historical Society so, again, our congratulations, Leyland Motors’ Athletic 16 so richly deserved. Section Part Two: The Struggle to Survive At the AGM there was a sad moment when Edward Almond our Chairman announced the deaths of two of our long serving members. First, his dear mother, Maud, who has been such a great inspiration to Street Life 25 him and instilled into him a love of history and David Harrison especially that of Leyland. Maud was a good and kind lady who was made a Life Member for her work within the Society. Second, the The Leyland Reservoir 28 announcement of the death of Derek Wilkins. Peter Houghton Derek’s contribution to the Society through his many articles in the Chronicle, delving into his Gwen Buckley’s Scrapbooks 32 own family’s background and historical Edward Almond manuscripts, gave us all so much pleasure. It is sad, too, for me to have to record the death of The Perfect Pip 38 Vic Hill who had been a member for many years and David John Hughes (ENG) who, with Margaret Nicholas and Albert Williams, was instrumental in introducing your editor to the delights of the Historical Society meetings. The Stanning Family 46 They will all be very sadly missed. Parts One, Two and Four Articles received for this season’s Chronicle Peter Houghton provide a good read and I thank contributors for them. Part Three Once again, our Chairman has prepared a varied Michael Park programme for the new season with excellent speakers for our entertainment. We thank Peter for all Our Bank Holiday Trip to 59 the hard work and the time he devotes to the Leyland Saltaire and Bradford Historical Society. Photographs Mary Longton Any opinions expressed in the contents of this journal are those of the individual contributor and do not necessarily represent views of the Society. Lailand Chronicle No. 59 their usual professional way telling the dramatic events that led to the assault on Society Affairs Rawfold’s Mill, the killing of William 2012 - 2013 Horsfall, and the subsequent hanging of seventeen men in York. (Two of the cast did let their thoughts drift to their Starting the forty-fifth season in forthcoming wedding, the following week - Preston Guild Week on Monday, we wish them much happiness.) 3rd September, meant that the only November, 2012 subject we could have was the story of the Following on from our previous Preston Guild as told by a new burgess who season’s Society trip to Liverpool’s was due to be introduced at the Guild Court underground tunnels, we had a very the following Friday, namely, Dr Alan interesting talk on Underground Crosby. He told the members about the Manchester given by Keith Warrender, who origins of the Guild, its various themes and has had two books published on the subject. adaptions through the centuries as it Keith began with the tunnel complex under changed to meet the demands and needs of the various Co-operative buildings around the growing population of the town, now Corporation and Balloon Streets near the city of Preston. There were many Victoria Station linking all the buildings to questions from the members about Alan’s avoid the Manchester rain and for security own ceremony and his right as a burgess to reasons. After a view of the filled-in streets take sheep around the town. around Manchester Cathedral, which are October, 2012 still below the roads today, we moved on to the most famous Manchester tunnel (well, This year’s Mikron Theatre production famous to me). This was for that most was entitled ‘Can You Keep A Secret? - grandly named but ultimately useless The Rise & Fall of the Yorkshire Luddites’. Manchester and Salford Junction canal The time is 1812 , the place is Marsden, a (M&SJ) which was planned to link the village huddled into the valley at the foot of Mersey & Irwell River Navigation to the the Pennine moorland and Maeve Larkin’s new Rochdale canal as the original line of brand new script weaved together the the Rochdale only entered the Bridgewater stories of the Luddites and the mill owners, which gave them a monopoly. the inventors and the croppers; spinning a yarn as richly colourful as only Mikron can. The M&SJ canal left the Rochdale canal It is a village which is unravelled when, by above lock 90 and headed east entering a a twist of fate, families rise against each tunnel as it crossed Lower Mosley Street other in the fight for progress and the fight passing under numerous streets with locks for survival. Marsden was the home town in the tunnel to emerge just before the last of Enoch Taylor, inventor and lock into the River Irwell. The reason for manufacturer of the first cropping the canal was soon extinguished as a short machines. It was also the home to many branch was built from the Bridgewater into croppers who saw their futures the Irwell. The M&SJ canal soon fell into disappearing because of the new machines. disuse for through traffic but when the Joining the Luddite rebellion, a group of Central Station and then the Great Northern croppers took things into their own hands warehouse were built on top of the canal it with fatal consequences. was used for rail transfers. Two hundred years on, the village is However, by the Second World War, it home to Mikron Theatre Company and the had been drained and was used as a large actors brought all the characters to life in air raid shelter. Its last claim to fame came 4 Lailand Chronicle No. 59 when the Granada Studios (lately closed) poets, with recitations of their work and of were built over the tunnel with access from their interdependence on one another, it Studio 12; it was suggested that the tunnel was the Blackburn answer to the could be used as a gondola trip for the Bloomsbury set but more northern, eh! Granada Studios Tours, however, this was March, 2013 not to be although tours are still available through the tunnel to this day. We were given a presentation by Dr. Mark Baldwin who followed his The final part of the talk concerned the previous presentations about Bletchley Manchester nuclear shelter which was Park, Special Operations Executive and the planned to be used by the powers that be in Battle of the Atlantic, with a new lecture the event of a nuclear war. When this was entitled ‘4000 Years of Keeping Secrets - decommissioned it was taken over by BT The History of Cryptography’. This and used as the underground network covered the history, description and use of control centre for telecommunications in codes and cyphers from the earlier periods the city. to the present day, including an explanation December, 2012 of the difference between a code and a This month we saw the last ‘dramalog’ cypher. This was narrated by Mark in his undertaken by Lizzie Jones with a subject usual detailed style without the use of any close to her heart as her own family’s story notes. was told in ‘A Long Way Home’. Their life April, 2013 around Standish and Wigan was told in Another return this month saw Colin Lizzie’s inimitable style. She will be back Dickinson giving us a detailed talk on the in December to give us one of her talks. ‘Watermills of Central Lancashire’ with January, 2013 photographs of the various watermills to be We welcomed Robert Poole who talked found around Lancashire. about ‘Samlesbury and the Lancashire May, 2013 Witches of 1612’ where he could The Society’s May trip this year was to demonstrate that what you read is not Saltaire where, after an uneventful trip necessarily the truth as he took apart the across the Pennines, we met the guides in published report of the Witch Trials which the Congregational church.