MARSTON resident Sue Wallworth shares her memories and brings to life the Wincham Lane and Chapel Street of her childhood.

“A lot has been written about Old Wincham. This is how I remember it.

“I was born in Applemarket Street, Northwich.

“My mother decided to bring the family out of the town, where TB and bronchitis were prevalent, to cleaner air. I was eight months old and my sister was three years old.

“We lived at 8a Wincham Lane, opposite the vacuum plant (New Cheshire Salt Works), long gone now.

“During the war, Stubbies, as it was known, had a secret test bed there for jet engines – I used to think everybody’s bed lifted off the floor with the silent vibrations!

“But to start at the beginning – The Black Greyhound pub at Wincham crossroads was run by a Mrs Dolby. Walking down Wincham Lane, on the left were a couple of cottages set back off the road; I think a family of Smiths lived in one.

“Where the lock-up units are now, was another cottage where Mr Bannister lived; his garden was covered in daffodils in the spring. Over on the right were the Timps houses. The Gibbons family lived in the first one.

“Sadly, I only remember a few of the people living in them. One was a Mr Painter who had a vegetable garden across the road; early on a Sunday morning, I was dispatched with three old pennies to buy a cabbage or whatever was ready for picking for Sunday lunch.

“There were also the Athertons and the Henshalls. Across the road was a brine pumping engine, beautifully-polished, but the noise was dreadful; most of the time the doors were locked to stop children, I suspect, from climbing onto it.

“Next was Thompson’s Road, as it was known in those days (now Wincham Avenue); it was named after J B Thompson, who had a salt works at the top of the lane.

“I learned to ride a bike on the lane. Along the side of where we lived, on a site now occupied by Paul Trevor’s business, were seven cottages.

“We lived at the back of where Northwich Vics football stadium was built. It was a football pitch long before the Vics. (My two brothers used to make me stand in goal while they ran around kicking the ball; when it was cricket, I did the running.)

“In those houses were the Bayleys (our next door neighbours), and at the front were the Johnsons, the Mumfords and Miss Parks; Miss Parks was sister to the man who owned Parks steelworks, where B and Q now stands.

“There was a stretch of grass we used to play on, then there was the Holland family and next door were the Thompsons.”

Sue, 79, is a member of the Great Budworth Church choir and Great Budworth and District Ladies Bowling Club.

We will be featuring more of Sue’s memories.