Neston
Neston maps (2 available)
Map of Merseyside
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Personalised maps
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Neston books (10 available)
Neston memories
Neston Cross
Remember The Cross very well, worked my apprenticeship at Leighton Printing Works from 1950 to '55 when I joined the RAF, the photos bring back lots of memories. Went back in '77 to visit the old works to see if anybody remembered me. (No). Took a visit to Parkgate too, it has changed so much (no water anymore), but still nice to see. Came out of RAF and moved to Canada in 1957, been back to England once in '77, maybe one day would love to visit again.
Contributed by William McCully
The bike shop, the sweet shop, Leighton Court and the last Neston family to catch shrimps
On The High Street, Neston as you look towards Liverpool Road with The Cross just behind you you may still be able to see two alleyways. One used to end in a shed where a man had a bike shop. It was an Aladdin's Cave stacked with spare parts. My Dad bought me bikes. We had the lawnmower fixed there too.
The second alleyway had the doorway to a house halfway down it. The house was occupied by the Armitage family. The father had been Captain John Armitage. He died and his wife remarried. She died and he remarried. The result was many children and almost none full brothers and sisters as they all had different sets of parents. Two ...read more here
Contributed by C Evans
Merseyside memories
Neston Cross
Remember The Cross very well, worked my apprenticeship at Leighton Printing Works from 1950 to '55 when I joined the RAF, the photos bring back lots of memories. Went back in '77 to visit the old works to see if anybody remembered me. (No). Took a visit to Parkgate too, it has changed so much (no water anymore), but still nice to see. Came out of RAF and moved to Canada in 1957, been back to England once in '77, maybe one day would love to visit again.
A memory of Neston contributed by William McCully
The bike shop, the sweet shop, Leighton Court and the last Neston family to catch shrimps
On The High Street, Neston as you look towards Liverpool Road with The Cross just behind you you may still be able to see two alleyways. One used to end in a shed where a man had a bike shop. It was an Aladdin's Cave stacked with spare parts. My Dad bought me bikes. We had the lawnmower fixed there too.
The second alleyway had the doorway to a house halfway down it. The house was occupied by the Armitage family. The father had been Captain John Armitage. He died and his wife remarried. She died and he remarried. The result was many children and almost none full brothers and sisters as they all had different sets of parents. Two ...read more here
A memory of Neston contributed by C Evans
Extracts From Neston & Merseyside books
With so many workers
arriving here in the 1800s
from Ireland there was a
strong Roman Catholic
presence and this
enormous church was
built in the 1870s to serve
that congregation. For
the first 23 years it was
also a collegiate church
for Jesuits with, at one time, 32 priests, 22 scholastics and 17 lay brothers.
An extract from from"Widnes and Runcorn Photographic Memories".
There have
been several
Ditchfield Halls
near here. In the
1500s and 1600s the
Dychfield family
that lived here
were strong Roman
Catholics and
refused to attend
the Protestant
services at their local
parish church at
Farnworth. Instead
they built their own
chapel but they were
still fined for not
attending the official
church services! The
last Ditchfield Hall
was demolished in
the 1960s.
An extract from from"Widnes and Runcorn Photographic Memories".
It would have been near here that the ferry landed. The first ferry was established in 1178 by the baron who owned Halton
Castle on the southern side of the estuary. His estates included lands on the northern side and, apparently, the ferry was set
up primarily so his tenants could cross the river more easily in order to pay him their taxes.
An extract from from"Widnes and Runcorn Photographic Memories".
St Mary’s Church
was consecrated in
1910 and has room
for a congregation of
over 750 people. The
church has a most
unusual feature - built
into the wall around
the churchyard,
overlooking the road,
there is a pulpit from
where, perhaps, the
vicar could harangue
those people taking
their ease here in the
gardens on a Sunday afternoon.
An extract from from"Widnes and Runcorn Photographic Memories".
Despite the title of the photograph there are, in fact, two bridges depicted here. The railway bridge,
in the foreground, was opened in 1868 when a train with 500 passengers on board crossed over. The
main part of the bridge consists of a lattice of iron girders. Built by William Baker, the chief engineer
for the London and North Western Railway, it used 48,115 rivets.
An extract from from"Widnes and Runcorn Photographic Memories".




