Blackburn
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Map of Lancashire
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Blackburn memories
Read and share memories of Blackburn and Lancashire inspired by Frith photos
Childhood memories in Blackburn
My first school was St Michaels and All Angels in Whalley New Road. We all had to have our gas masks over our shoulders and hang them up on our own little peg. I can remember we all had school dinners, I don't think we paid, we had no money. Also all the very young children had a sleep for a couple of hours in canvas beds so we had to creep around. My father Harold buck and his friend Edmund kept pigs, so they came after dinner to collect the food that was left over to feed the pigs, they called it pig swill. I used to hide when they came. There was a wall at the bottom of the ...read more here
Contributed by william buck
Lancashire memories
Childhood memories in Blackburn
My first school was St Michaels and All Angels in Whalley New Road. We all had to have our gas masks over our shoulders and hang them up on our own little peg. I can remember we all had school dinners, I don't think we paid, we had no money. Also all the very young children had a sleep for a couple of hours in canvas beds so we had to creep around. My father Harold buck and his friend Edmund kept pigs, so they came after dinner to collect the food that was left over to feed the pigs, they called it pig swill. I used to hide when they came. There was a wall at the bottom of the ...read more here
A memory of Blackburn contributed by william buck
Living there
As a young boy I used to stay at my aunt's house in Commons Lane. It may well be the house pictured? During summer school hols my brother Ken and I were often taken by our 'mam' on the Ribble bus to Mellor Brook, from where we had to walk to get to auntie's house, probably about 3 to 4 miles. The whole outing was someting of an adventure as often we were accompanied by mam's friend(s) and their offspring.
In good weather we could run ahead and play in a small wood until the grown ups caught up. If we were only going for the day the time sped by and the reverse journey could be tiring, and we were ...read more here
A memory of Balderstone contributed by First name Last name
Coopers and Booths
My Great, Great Great Grandfather, William Booth, used to push a cart up and down the streets of Clayton le Moors with his son John Booth, selling shellfish. He was known as 'Muscle Bill' and his son, 'Oyster Jack'. (This is actually a memory passed down from my ancestors to my 3rd cousin.)
They lived at 'Old Sparth House' from around 1895 onwards. William died in 1900 age 79. Most of the family married and brought their children up in Clayton le Moors. A few emigrated abroad. Robert Booth to Australia, Ellen Booth married Charles Battersby and moved to Canada. John Booth's daughter Luciana Booth married William Cooper from Great Harwood at All Saints, and my Grandfather, Robert Cooper was born ...read more here
A memory of Clayton Le Moors contributed by DONNA COOPER
Extracts From Blackburn & Lancashire books
The Exchange looks here much as it did when Charles Dickens ascended
its steps to give his reading. The premises on the right advertising Whittle
Springs Ales was W H Gregson’s brewers’ agents, later to become an office
for Grant’s whisky, the only one they had outside Scotland - a tribute to
Blackburn’s fondness for strong liquor. On the left was the Exchange Hotel.
An extract from from"Blackburn Town and City Memories".
This is how local historian W A Abram described
the Town Hall: ‘The west front, 120 feet wide,
with an elevation of 63 feet, presents the main
entrance in the centre, by three massive arched
doorways. The front is emboldened by Corinthian
columns resting upon a rusticated basement
upholding a broad tablature surmounted by
a perforated parapet’ - an impressive piece of
architecture.
An extract from from"Blackburn Town and City Memories".
Note the change of illumination outside the Town Hall. On the right is
the Exchange Building in its incarnation as the Majestic Cinema. Davy
Crockett is showing, and you could have had a seat in the stalls for one shil-
ling (5p), or in the circle for one shilling and sixpence (7½p).
An extract from from"Blackburn Town and City Memories".
Towneley Hall has a very good collection. It includes the famous Zoffany portrait, ‘Charles Towneley and his Friends’, several Turners and an Epstein bust. Most of the pictures have been acquired by the Council, though the Hall has some pictures formerly in the Towneley Collection.
An extract from from"Burnley Town and City Memories".
The chapel is the work of Sir John Towneley (1473-1541), who also saved the magnificent vestments formerly used in Whalley Abbey. The vestments, very rare survivals of the pre-Reformation church, are usually on display near the chapel. The chapel itself is full of interest. On the extreme right, note the beautifully-carved wooden shield over the door of what was once a confessional room. On either side of it are the crests of the Towneleys of Towneley and the Asshetons of Lever, together with the initials RT and IT and the date 1601. The initials are those of Richard and Jane Towneley (formerly Assheton). High on the panelled ceiling are bosses on which are carved the initials of Sir John’s family.
An extract from from"Burnley Town and City Memories".