The History of Atherton.
by Dave Dutton
Atherton is a former cotton and coal town in the South West of Lancashire, England. Over 20,000 people live in the town. Sadly, today there are no more mines and no more cotton mills.
Known locally as Bent, its history goes back a surprisingly long way.
Romano-Celtic coins have been found by the side of a stream in a place known as The Valley and in 2003, at Gadbury Fold off Atherleigh Way, archaeologists from Manchester University unearthed evidence of a Roman road and Bronze Age settlement at a multi-million pound business and leisure park development.
The dig at the 300-acre Gibfield Park site in Atherton revealed fragmentary remains of the badly damaged road, which linked Roman forts at Manchester and Wigan and also revealed that mining had been carried out on the site since at least the 14th century.
The archaeologists also discovered evidence of iron smelting in the 16th century.
Assistant county archaeologist for Greater Manchester, Norman Redhead, said: "If this ditch does date to the Bronze Age, it would mean there was human activity in the area 4,000 years ago."
Dig director Peter Connelly, said: "The existence of coal seams very close to the ground surface led the early pioneers of the coal mining industry to the area to carry out small-scale open-cast mining which shows the deep history of the mining tradition in Atherton."
Atherton was at one time also famous for over 600 years for the manufacture of nails, a particular type of which were known as sparables or "sparrow bills" because they were shaped as such. The foundries which replaced the nailworks made machines for the cotton mills early in the Industrial Revolution. A pub on Atherton's Market Street is named The Jolly Nailor.
The principal landowners in the early days were, naturally enough, the Atherton family. The "pedigree" is thought to go back to Robert de Atherton who was Sheriff of Lancashire in the reign of King John.
Nicholas Atherton was a retainer of the famous John of Gaunt and William and Nicholas Atherton were present at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.
Chowbent was an area of the town which later became synonymous with Atherton itself. In 1642, during the English Civil War, there was a skirmish between the Royalists and the Roundheads there when the area was attacked by the Earl of Derby and his men. They were repulsed by 3,000 horse and foot and were chased to Lowton Common where several Royalists were killed and 200 taken prisoner. Chowbent nailors were prominent in the fight with their home-made bills and battle axes.
A Market existed at Atherton for hundreds of years - the first written reference about it being in 1693. Until recent times there was a Market near the Parish Church of St John the Baptist every Friday. Sadly, this petered out around 2003. Another facet of the town lost.
The following is a description of Chowbent from the Lancashire Gazetteer, of Joseph Aston in 1808:
CHOWBENT, 2 1/2 miles N.E. of Leigh, 10 miles W.N.W. of Manchester, and 195 miles from London, is in the township of Atherton, and parish of Leigh, under which it has a chapel of ease; patron, Atherton Gwillum, Esq. It has likewise a large dissenting chapel, belonging to a congregation of Presbyterians. This place affords employment for many weavers and nailors, (the later being the original trade of the place) and though it is not a market town, there are many such, which have nothing like the population which Chowbent can boast.
The Parish Church was designed by the renowned architects Messrs Paley and Austin of Lancaster. It is the third such building on the site. A small red-brick Presbyterian chapel was built in 1645 and replaced in 1810 by a larger church. which was demolished 67 years later to be replaced by the present one which took 20 years to complete.
Built in Perpendicular style, it has a Tower 120 feet high and the church itself is 127 feet long and 60 feet wide. The Tower has a distinct lean due to the consequences of old coal-mining workings.
The church is built of Runcorn stone and it was cleaned in 1973 to reveal beautiful colouring underneath the decades of grime which had accumulated as a result of the outpourings of the many factory chimneys in the area.
Chanters is an old farmhouse which was built in 1678 and now sits somewhat incongruously on a modern housing estate.
The slightly later Alder House also still stands and is a private house after many years use as a clinic. This was built in 1697 by Ralph Astley and his wife Ann. It is thought he was an iron merchant who supplied the nailmakers of Chowbent with the raw material before taking it back as finished work.
According to tradition ,he and his wife were struck by lightning at the same time and are buried in the chapel yard close by.
In 1715, the lives of the Chowbenters became entangled in a very important historical event which affected the rest of English history.
The Parson of Chowbent Chapel - James Wood - gathered together around 80 members of his congregation and marched north to Preston where they were set the task of guarding the ford at Penwortham against the Scottish Jacobite attackers of the 1715 uprising.
Armed mainly with their home-made pikes, bill-hooks and pitchforks, they fought with valour and won the day and formed a decisive part of the battle. The Parson was from that day given the nickname of "General" James Wood. (The General was minister at Chowbent for more than 60 years following his father who had served in the same post for almost 40 years. When he became infirm in his late 80's, the Chowbenters carried this beloved man to the chapel in a sedan chair.)
The brave Chowbenters, for their pains, were ejected from their chapel in 1721 by the landowner "Mad" Richard Atherton whose father had been a firm supporter of King James the Second. They carried on with their worship in barns.
Undaunted, these defiant Lancastrians then built their own chapel on land donated to them a short distance away. The story of how they did this was written for posterity in "The Story of Chowbent Chapel" by J.J. Wright in 1921. (Reprints of this fantastic book are now available from Atherton Library at five pounds with profits going to the Chapel. I highly recommend it*)
By a superhuman effort on the part of the congregation, the new chapel was ready for worship in 1722.
The building still stands in Bolton Old Road, Atherton and is a tribute to the craftsmanship and determination of those long-gone Chowbenters. It is now Chowbent Unitarian Chapel and to visit it is like stepping back in time to experience the peace of the chapel and the beauty of its old oak box pews, gallery and triple-decker pulpit. It is a remarkable place.
"General" Jimmy died in 1759 at the considerable age of 87, well loved by his flock.
From an extract of "Philosophical Transactions" for 1775, it is stated that the population of Chowbent (ie. Atherton) in 1772 was 354 males and 606 females.
In 1774, John Wesley preached at Chowbent describing the inhabitants of the area as such: "It was lately a den of lions but they are now all quiet as lambs".
In his Journal he wrote: "Chowbent was once the roughest place in the neighbourhood. But there is not yet the least trace remaining, such is the fruit of the genuine Gospel"
Another visitor to the area was travel writer Dorning Rasbotham in 1787 who said:" Several families have acquired fortunes by making spinning jennies and carding machines which they send into Scotland, Ireland and different parts of the Kingdom. Some of the mechanics do not keep less than 30 journeymen employed in the business".
Mad Richard began his own construction in 1723 -Atherton Hall which was intended to be the new family seat. Built on a grand scale (at a cost then of GBP63,000) with its own lake and a fancy bridge guarded by stone lions, it was never fully completed as Richard died in 1726. This grand building was demolished in the 1820's although parts of it remain and are lived in to this day. There was a story that when the bells of Leigh Parish Church struck 12 o'clock on New Year's Eve, the lions used to dive off the bridge into the lake and some people gathered there to witness this!
It is thought that the Hall's grounds hosted the Chowbent Horse Races which took place in the 1770's. On the 26th July 1775, there was a race for the not insubstantial sum of GBP50. There is also a record of bull baiting having taken place in Chowbent as late as 1840.
As the Industrial Revolution took hold, the local handloom weavers were fearful for their livelihoods and in 1812, the Luddites marched from Atherton to nearby Westhoughton to burn down a factory in which new machines driven by steam had been installed.
Three local men and a boy of 14 were caught and hanged at Lancaster Castle. A cart was sent to the castle to retrieve their bodies - it was sent back empty.
The inventor of the Spinning Mule, Samuel Crompton himself, once ordered a carding machine in the 1780's from a machine maker named Cannon in Chowbent.
In 1777, the population of Chowbent was given as 2,200; in 1801, it was 3,249; in 1811 it numbered 3,894; in 1821, 4,145; in 1831, 4,181. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was over 16,000 due to the development of pits, cotton mills and foundries.
People came from Wales and Ireland to work and be made welcome in the Atherton community, along with miners from the Forest of Dean. Their many descendants live there today.
In 1828, the railway age came early to the town with the opening of the Bolton-Leigh line which passed through Atherton. The world famous George Stephenson himself had built an engine which was brought to the Hulton estate on the outskirts of the town where it was christened "The Lancashire Witch".
Rails were laid and the pulling power of this new mode of transport was demonstrated with 13 wagons carrying the passengers. Later, it was demonstrated how much coal could be carried.
The Lancashire Witch had two furnace flue tubes which joined together at the front into a single chimney. Robert Stephenson also added nozzles in the firegrate through which air was pumped by bellows in the tender. Using this method it was possible to burn coke rather than coal and therefore reduced the amount of smoke produced. Weighing only seven tons, the Lancashire Witch could pull a load of 40 tons up an incline of 1 in 440 at 8 mph (13 kph).
The cylinders were placed on each side of the boiler that inclined at about forty-five degrees. The pistons drove the front wheels directly. This made her the first locomotive with steel springs on all wheels.
An inventor closer to home was the brilliant Professor Eric Laithwaite - born in Atherton in 1921. He designed the world's first magnetically levitating train - the MagLev. In an interesting parallel with the Stephenson concept, a mile of track was built and the locomotive was tested but in a short-sighted move, the project was abandoned by the Government.
A former professor of Heavy Engineering at Imperial College, London, he also worked during the war at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough on automatic pilots.
At the age of 76, shortly before he died, he was working with America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration - NASA - who had commissioned him to develop a five-mile long track to be tunnelled inside a 10,000 feet high mountain which would hurtle a capsule into space not with conventional rocket propulsion but powered by the professor's beloved linear motors.
Eric Laithwaite
Someday, I hope a statue to this very brilliant man will be erected in the town in which he was born. * See story below...
Talking of transport, Atherton was once the headquarters of the L.U.T. - Lancashire United Transport - one of the biggest privately-run bus companies in the country at that time. Behind the office block on Leigh Road, the generating station provided power for the area and also for the trolley buses which ran in the district.
Coal was important to Atherton and brought prosperity to the town. It also brought tragedy when on December 21st, 1910 one of the worst-ever pit disasters in history occurred at the Pretoria Mine where an explosion killed 344 men, shattering the lives of many a family in the area. A yearly service still takes place to honour the memory of these brave colliers every Christmas.
The partnership of the Fletcher Burrows families dominated the local coal-mining scene. They adopted a paternalistic attitude towards the people in their employ: building model housing ; a school; a church; a social club; pithead baths and forming mines rescue teams all based at Howe Bridge. Some of the buildings exist today and are well worth going to see.
An Atherton invention saved the life of many coal miners. This was the Butterfly clip invented by Thomas Ormerod which checked the rewinding of a mining cage. It can be seen carved on his tombstone in Atherton Cemetery.
Brass Band music was an Atherton tradition. Atherton Temperance Prize Band and Atherton Public Band flourished for quite a while. Records of the Temperance Band, from 1927-1959, are held by Wigan MBC Archives Service. Atherton Public Band was active in the 1930s/40s and competed in the First Annual Brass Band Contest organised by Wigan Borough Prize Band in 1943 (conducted by A Fairclough). More info on the Temperance Band here.
In 1916, the miners from six pits formed the Atherton Collieries Football Club and by 1964\65 they had won the Lancashire Junior Shield six times and produced footballers who have gone on to play with clubs such as Manchester United and Everton.
The "Colls" have a loyal following as do their counterparts in the town - Laburnum Rovers FC. The slope on both pitches has to be seen to be believed.
In 1966, the last of the many coalmines closed down and brought an end to an important part of Atherton's history. Generations of cotton and coal workers were consigned to a footnote of history.
The great cotton mills came and went...and with them the jobs of local people.
Atherton still survives - a proud and defiant Lancastrian town - but touched, as are a lot of towns, by the troubles of the modern age.
Any employer thinking of relocating or opening up a factory or industrial unit would do well to consider Atherton. You would have a ready-made (and good-humoured) workforce.
But whatever the future brings, Atherton has made its mark on the past and, let us hope, with the help of its young people, it may still have a part to play in tomorrow's world.
Good owd Bent!
The following extract is taken from the June 1924 edition of Carbon - The magazine of the Atherton Collieries. (Price 2d).
Carbon was issued for a number of years and is a rich source of mining and general history for the town and surrounding areas at that time. There are many copies in the local history department of Leigh Library and are well worth taking a look at. If they were all re-printed in one large book, as a facsimile, I think they would sell really well.
A reminiscent chat with Mr. John Shaw, of Hamilton Street, Atherton, brings to light many interesting facts about the life of the miner many years ago. Mr. Shaw has been a loyal and hard-working servant of Messrs. Fletcher Burrows & Co., Ltd., and recently was the recipient of a certificate for 54 years' service with the firm.
Born in Westhoughton in the year 1844, Mr. Shaw came to Atherton when he was six months old. In his early days education was not compulsory, the poor people acquiring a small amount of learning at the Sunday School. He remembers the old church wardens chasing children on Sundays in order to take them to church. Asked if he was ever taken to church he replied with a laugh :" No, they could never catch me."
In 1851, at the age of seven; Mr. Shaw started work at the " Old Gib " mine; his occupation being " manning doors." The working hours were very long, commencing at 6 a.m. and finishing often after 7 p.m. For this job he was paid 6d. per day.
Reckoning Monday," as pay day was then called, came every fortnight, when the mine was closed down.
There were boilers and two engines down' the "'Old Gib " pit and the air currents were regulated by means of the furnaces, which drew the air through the workings. Work was done by the light of candles stuck in clay, and the coal was dragged in boxes to the pit-shaft.
Mr. Shaw can recollect the time when-women were employed to drag the " tubs " by means of the belt and chain. Smoking was also allowed at work. " The miner's calling was not as easy as it is today," said Mr. Shaw, for they had to cut their own props and put tallies on the tubs to ensure safe arrival at the right working place.
When he retired 15 years ago, Mr. Shaw had worked down every mine belonging to Messrs. Fletcher, Burrows & Co., including the " Old Chain " and " Day Eye."
Nearly 52 years ago an explosion occurred at the " Old Chain " pit, when 40 men including a brother-in-law and nephew of Mr. Shaw were killed - he himself was away at Walkden, a very fortunate absenteeism for the explosion occurred near the place where he usually worked.
The underlooker was Mr.Wm.Seddon, nicknamed William " Doctor."
The colliers in those days were very superstitious: the sight of a woman wearing a red cloak first thing in the morning being regarded as a sure sign of disaster, whilst a similar meeting with any other woman was looked upon as a prediction of one day's play.
Atherton at that time was only sparsely populated. Cock fighting, bull baiting, and horse racing were in vogue, the race-course being from the Central Station to Church Street. Cut Acre Clough was a favourite resort of wrestlers and many people used to journey to the " Sand Hole " at Leigh to witness cock fights.
On one occasion Mr. Shaw walked 18 miles to see a bare-knuckle fight, but on his arrival the scene of the combat had been raided by the police. During the whole time he worked down the mine he had never suffered from a serious illness and has very rarely been off work.
Peter Wood of New Zealand sent this amusing article to me...just shows how some things don't change I suppose..
I found this gem in the archives of The Times, dated 21 May 1872. Sounds like Christmas Eve in the Atherton Arms.
- Pete.
The grounds of Crystal Palace on a fine Whit Monday present one of the most amusing sights in London, and no one who happened to visit Alderley Edge, Dunham Park, or any of the popular places of resort in the manufacturing districts of the north of England at Whitsuntide could fail to be struck by the great difference in the behaviour and appearance of the holyday folks in the north and south on this occasion. As regards sobriety, demeanour, personal attractions, and, except among the lower classes of Londoners, taste in dress, the comparison tells decidedly in favour of the southerners, as may be seen by paying a visit to Sydenham in the summer, when cheap excursion trains have brought southward some of the Nottingham "lambs", the workers in the Staffordshire potteries, Yorkshire factory operatives, ironworkers from Sheffield and the Midland districts, the Rochdale "fellies", and some of the natives of Chowbent, distinguished among their countrymen of Wigan, Bolton and Manchester - but not for politeness. On such occasions it is painful to see the coarse rough horse-play between the men and women, and the great proportion of the men who have evidently been "soaking" during the whole trip.
CORONATION OF KING GEORGE V.
I've acquired a programme for Atherton's Celebrations of the Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary. It took place on June 22nd, 1911 and gives the order of proceedings etc.
They were led from the Town Hall by the Fire Brigade, followed by the Ambulance Corps, Atherton UDC (Rest in Peace!) councillors and officials; 14 schools and then "Tradesmen's Turnout".
"At a given signal at 10-45 am, the societies and schools will file into the Fair Ground FOUR DEEP. Immediately all are assembled, The Atherton Public Prize Band will play the tune (St Ann) once through, the people remaining silent.
The conductor, Mr Belshaw, will count three; all assembled to commence singing on the fourth beat. Three beats will also be counted between verses"
For Our Country began:
Lord, while for all mankind we pray
Of every clime and coast
O hear us for our native land
The land we love the most
"The following address to their Majesties, the KING and QUEEN will be read by the Chairman of the District Council, J S Burrows Esq JP:
"We the inhabitants of Atherton, desire to offer our Loyal and Affectionate Congratulations to your MAJESTIES on this your CORONATION DAY, and to Wish your MAJESTIES many Years of Happiness"
After the Address has been read, the Royal Standard will be waved by the Marshal. At this Signal, all are requested to give Three Hearty Cheers for the KING and QUEEN.
The Band will then play a verse of the NATIONAL ANTHEM and the following words will be sung, the Conductor counting three at the commencement, and between verses."
NATIONAL ANTHEM
Then the United Procession proceeded throughout the town and the schools left to make their own celebrations.
On June 24th, a CORONATION TEA AND ENTERTAINMENT will be given to all Old People in Atherton of 60 years of age and upwards who have given their names in and received tickets.
On the back of the programme it says:
ATHERTON'S DECORATIONS
The Atherton Coronation Committee, who, as will be seen by this booklet, are doing what they can to make the LOCAL CELEBRATION worthy of the occasion, venture TO APPEAL TO all Public Bodies, Shop-Keepers and Householders generally to do their best by means of Flags, Banners, Bunting, Flowers, Pictures and other Decorations and Illuminations to make such a Festive Display on THURSDAY June 22nd, as becomes the Day and befits the Township.
​
NAILMAKING IN ATHERTON
Though it would be an exaggeration to say that nail making was confined to Atherton, Shakerley and Hindley in the late sixteenth century, there can be no doubt that it was from this area that it recruited its strength.
The Lancashire nail industry lasted for at least six hundred years. Nail making was carried on in the townships surrounding Wigan from the fourteenth century and died out in the early 20th century in the face of competition from machine-made nails.
The Alred family of Atherton was one that extended far and wide, nailers of that name being found in Preston and Lancaster in the eighteenth century.
Of documents written by the earlier nailers, the only ones to survive are probably those preserved among the Lancashire probate records, i.e., their wills, and the inventories of their goods and chattels compiled upon their decease by friends, neighbours or fellow craftsmen.
It is fortunate that the nail industry would appear to have reached its greatest prosperity at the time when the probate records are at their most informative.
Of the five sixteenth century inventories examined only that of Peter Walkden of Atherton (1593) exceeded one hundred pounds in value, but in the l630s John Smith of Atherton, Richard Hampson of Westleigh, Richard Battersby and Thomas Higginson of Shakerley and John Withington of Westhoughton all left personal estate of GBP200, whilst Robert Smith of Little Hulton who died in 1628 was a rich man, having goods and chattels to the value of GBP542 and credits on his ledger of GBP177.
None of the inventories examined gives a complete list of the furnishings of a nailer's smithy.
Piecing the information together, however, some sort of picture emerges. The bellows, sometimes two pairs of them, are the most frequently mentioned item.
Richard Battersby of Shakerley (1637) had only one pair of bellows, value 16s, but two tuyeres (the nozzle through which the blast was forced into the forge-hearth) and the cantell (possibly the corner of the hearth containing the tuyeres.Since this was not regarded as part of the structure of the forge it may have been a metal fitting) are also mentioned valued at 4s. Battersby also had five little stiddies (anvils) in addition to the great stiddy (total value GBP1 3s. 4d.), and three arks, presumably for storing nails.
John Smith of Atherton (1632) had three stone troughs (10s), stalls (blocks) valued at 9s. and water-wheel operated bellows valued at 20s.
This is the only instance of power-driven bellows to occur in the inventories and it may be unique, for Smith appears to have been a man of energy.
Though he died quite young he had amassed a personal estate of about GBP230, had stocks of iron and nails in Manchester and Bury. On the other hand it may have been more usual to regard a water-wheel as part of the smithy and therefore as belonging to the landlord.
In Smith's case "the Tacke [lease) of the Smithie for foure yeares" was valued at two pounds. The other items in the smithy appear to have been balances and weights, often two pairs of them, for weighing the nails, presumably before putting them into bags for conveyance by pack horses to market.
The internal organization of a family smithy is illustrated in the arrangements made by Henry Walkden of Atherton (1582) in his will.
"Yt ys my will and mynde that Edwarde and John my towe yonger sonnes shall have the Hynderforestall and the Bellus shall yearelye to be chaunged betwene them (except they can agree otherwaie), duringe theire naturall lyves, yeldinge and payinge therefore yearelye at the feaste of St. John Baptiste the some of 25s of good englishe moneye to Christopher my eldeste sonne to whome I bequethe the residue of my whole Smythie. also I will that Christopher my sonne shall fynnde Edwarde and John my yonger sonnes Fire and blaste honestlye at the sighte of Wyiliam Chowle the elder and John Green of Athertonne. Item yt ys my will and mynde that my seid sonnes Edwarde and John shall have Free Iibertye to carrye and sell theire owne Nailes or suche nailes as they shall bye of Christopher theire brother and not any other menes, withoutt the lysence and good will of the said Christopher, in the Walke which doeth or shall belonge to my said Smythie, and also that my sonne Christopher shall have for his money suche nailes as Edwarde and John shall make before any other man."
Finally Christopher was to pay forty shillings yearly, in consideration of his having the appurtenances of the smithy, to be divided equally between his mother and his brothers and sister.
It is obvious that he was anxious for his sons to maintain the independence of the smithy by selling their own nails. The phrase " carry and sell" implies that the nails were to be carried to market, but on the other hand he visualised some of them being sold in the walk of the smithy. Walkden had 30s. 2d. owing to him by James Benson of Kendal and a smaller amount by James Swainson of Kendal. Though it is probable that these men bought their nails in Atherton, wider markets were probably opening up and with them they were bringing the dangers of capitalism.
Increased prosperity among the nailers is reflected in the inventories, principally by the larger amounts of ready money which they had. James Pomfrett of Atherton (1636) had GBP52 1Os. 0d. in cash. Other items to appear in the later inventories are books and clocks, whilst houses became more complex and featherbeds more common.
It is clear that the Civil War brought a check to this general prosperity. The disruption of trade is reflected by one of the principal nailers of the time, Nicholas Withington of Atherton (1646) having a personal estate of only GBP109 and the other nailers of the 1640s being in even poorer circumstances.
Many kinds of nails were produced in Atherton. Horse and ox-nails for blacksmiths would probably be made from tough iron so as not to splinter, but most other kinds of nails would be made from cold-short iron. Other nails mentioned are lath nails, slate nails and stone nails possibly for slaters, soling nails, hobnails and sparrow bills for cobblers, card nails possibly for clothworkers, stake pins for saddlers, harrow pins, single and double spikes, single board nails and tacks.
Prices ranged from between four and a half pence the thousand for sparrowbills to a little over five shillings the thousand for double spikes. The varieties of iron used show that articles other than nails could be manufactured, and items in stock included plough irons, iron crapes, scythes (Arthur Smith of Hulton, brother of Robert, left a stock of these valued at GBP11 in 1623), horse combs and spade irons.
It should be remembered that a man with water-powered bellows such as John Smith of Atherton, was probably able to blend his iron in the smithy to suit his requirements.
Whilst the nailers of Atherton and Shakerley found their markets in all parts of the county and outside it, there was a marked tendency for the nailers of the surrounding townships to supply the places nearest to them.
Among the Atherton nailers John Smith (1632) had stocks of iron and nails at Rochdale and Manchester and of nails at Bury.
Thomas Higginson of Shakerley (1638) had iron, nails and an old chest valued at GBP8 l7s. 0d. remaining at Manchester. The Battersbys of Shakerley had a shop at Warrington at least from 1621 to 1637 and in 1621 their customers included Robert Rigby, blacksmith, Ellen Hardman, widow and Thomas Twiss all of Lowton, Mistress Gryse and William Butler of Warrington, Mr. James Kenion of Bradley, Mr. Thomas Cheshire of Halton, old Isabel of Northwich, George Fenton of Knutsford, William
Higginson and Thomas Gatliffe of Cheshire, Lady Mary Cholmondeley and Sir Peter Leigh. Probably this market south of the Mersey was limited by the ability of north Staffordshire nailers to supply southern and eastern Cheshire.
The standards and stability of the trade were maintained in this period by regular apprenticeship for seven years as is shown by the will of Ellis Asley of Shakerley (1584). In one case the apprentice was to have 6s. 8d. after serving his time, and in the other case a piece of iron or 3s. 4d. The will of a later Ellis Asley (1627) also mentions apprenticeship.
Though it would now be impossible to identify surviving examples of their craft, the probability is that the workmanship of the Lancashire nailers was high, and that the later metal-workers of the county-the makers of watches, clocks, files, hinges and pins-who attained a nation-wide reputation, owed something at least of their skill to traditions established by their nail-making predecessors.
* Do you know what a Chowbent Grub was?
It's an old term for an old nail left in a piece of wood which might damage a carpenter's saw.
They would say: "Confound these Chowbent Grubs!" (or words to that effect).
*** There is a reminder of the nailmaking trade still in Atherton in the shape of the Jolly Nailor public house on the town's main street - Market Street.
THE CHOWBENT HORNPIPE
The following is a verse from a song written by a Cavalier and noted in the diary of of Nicholas Blundel of Little Crosby, Lancashire from 1702-1711. The verse probably written about 70 years earlier.
"A Contry song remembring the harmless mirth of Lancashyre in peaseable tymes. To the tune of Roger's Coverley.
The Ladds of Chowbent weare there
and had brought thire doggs to the Beare
But they had no tyme to play
they daunced awaye the daye
For thither they had brought Knex
to play Chowbent hornepype that Nicks
Tomms and Geffreyes shoone (shoes)
wearne worne quite through with the tune.
(Knex apparently was a piper from Chowbent. It would be interesting if we could find a written version of the Chowbent Hornpipe).
IN AN ATHERTON WALK
A piece about old Atherton pubs...
I can't claim credit for the next piece of Atherton memorabilia. It's something we've had knocking about the house for years. The anonymous writer has cleverly woven into the walk around Atherton the names of some of the pubs that were standing at the time - probably towards the early part of the century. Some still are - others are but a memory.
I particularly regret the passing of the Prince Saxe-Coburg or "Mick's" as it was better known, after Mick McCabe, a former landlord.
It was frequented by our family for years - my grandmother Mrs Frances Dutton used to enjoy a Mackeson or two there. The tap-room was brilliant - I spent part of my formative years there enjoying the company of a rich mixture of characters, quaffing Magee's Best Bitter (and sometimes if I was feeling reckless, the Indian Pale Ale) and learning the finer points of dominoes.
There were Lancashire lads, Poles, Irish, Ukrainians, miners, millworkers, undertakers, old soldiers, railwaymen in fact blokes from all walks of life, most of whom enjoyed their dominoes and took it really seriously in view of the fact that a tanner was at stake and sometimes penny a knock. And the inquests after a game - oh the inquests!
You don't seem to get the same laughs in pubs these days or the same amount of characters. Perhaps the pool tables and the juke box have killed conversation - not to mention the price of the booze.
Here are some Atherton pub tales. They're all true - honest...
*An argument once started in the Letters Inn about who had the biggest canary. The next day, one bloke came in with a whopping great canary and claimed victory. On closer inspection by the landlord, it was found to a blackbird that he'd painted yellow...
*A regular at the Rope and Anchor used to worry rats with his teeth and take bets on how long it would take him to dispatch them.
*One regular at the Bear's Paw swore that he had a tame sparrow and made a bet with the other customers who didn't believe him. He came in the next day with it on his shoulder (He'd caught the unfortunate bird and sewed its legs to the shoulders of his jacket.)
*A few years ago, there was the regular at the Spinner's Arms who used to take his bowls in a plastic bag. Someone substituted them and when he got to the bowling green, two turnips rolled out!
*The landlord of the Prince Saxe once glued a half crown piece to the floor next to the gents and the regulars used to laugh at people's attempts to pick it up or kick it through the door of the toilets.
*Bob Ellis, the brilliant former mine host at the Concert Inn, had many a pub trick to keep people amused but his best party piece was to come out dressed as the Pope blessing the astonished people at the bar! (A friend of mine who was causing a nuisance of himself was once hung up on a hook on a beam in the pub until he promised to be quiet).
*At the turn of the Century, my grandfather Sam Dutton put laxative in the beer of a brass band playing Christmas carols in the Mountain Dew causing them to stop blowing and beat a hasty retreat to the gents!
Here then is a walk round the old pubs of Bent a long long time ago. Where were they all though? (That'll cause some arguments...!)
IN AN ATHERTON WALK
As I was coming from Atherton Central Station the other day, I saw the Blue Bell deliberately plucked by the Spinners Arms. As I sat under the Oak Tree on the Traveller's Rest gazing at the Swan, I was tapped on the shoulder by the Bear's Paw which gave me to understand that I was being chased by the Red Lion.
In making for safety, I ran against the Bull's Head, where I was tossed up right above the Rising Sun but fortunately, I alighted on something soft which turned out to be the Wool Pack.
The King and Queen seeing my dangerous position, rendered first aid by giving me a sip of Mountain Dew.
In a little while came the Jolly Nailor who, with the help of the Bricklayer's Arms carried me and laid me safely behind the Wheatsheaf where I was attended by another royal friend - the Prince Saxe-Coburg who seeing that I was New Inn Atherton mixed me a bottle from the Punch Bowl and seeing that I was a stranger and a man without a name had me placed very gently on the arm of Shakespeare and taken from down Bag Lane to be laid to rest in the Ancient Shepherd's Home.
After regaining my strength, I was taken on the back of the Elephant and Castle and put on the London and North Western Railway where I resumed my journey.
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