Wednesday, 23 April 2008

The Red Lion Market Square Leek

The Red Lion inn is still standing and has been for many a year, just by the buttermarket entrance, although when this pub was first built im sure there wasn't a modern motor engined vehicle parked outside of the adjacent shops.



Red Lion, Market Square, Leek It doesnt look as old inside as it does on the outside, although it has parque wooden flooring, it seems to have more of a modern feel to it than it should (in my opinion).

National Westminster (Natwest) Bank, Leek

This is the Natwest Bank (national westminster) in Derby Street, Leek, however the banks old stone plaque, blurred in the right hand side of this photo shows its original stature as a banking institution/organisation from many a century ago.

natwest bank leek

The Roebuck, Sunday April 20th 2008

I am yet to step into this lovely pub, it looks gorgeous from the outside, built in 1626 I am sure there are some ghosts pacing the floors of this lovely building, the exterior is grande, I will let you know if the interior is as quaint as the exterior....Watch this space!

The Roebuck Sun April 20th 2008

Newsflash... (9th July 2008) The Roebuck is old
fashioned inside, on the downstairs, the first and last time I (or should I say
we, as phil was with me), ventured into here was the day after my birthday, 24th
May 2008, it was strange to go outside (yet under cover) to the toilets, and I
know after experiencing the ghost tour with Bill Cawley, that this particular
public house/hotel is supposed to be haunted, although I never felt a presence
when we were in there. We ventured to the 'Cock Inn', on the opposite side
of the road to this particular public house/hotel. (more my kind of pub as they
had heavy metal music on including AC/DCs Thunderstruck).

Bird In Hand Inn on Market Square, Leek

This is one of the older pubs in Leek, notice the victorian timbering on the house! This is the Bird in Hand, it is situated on the Market Square in Leek. You will also notice the St Georges flag below the sign, this was taken during the St Georges day celebrations over the weekend of the 19th and 20th April (2008)


bird in hand inn on market square

The Olde House

A zoomed in view of a typical weavers house on King Street, Leek. Weavers would do their work in the upper top floor of the house, where you see the slim window, just below the roof tiles. The door surround seems to be natural and the existing one from when the houses were first built?!

The lamp outside the house looks of the character of the existing gas lit lamps of the Victorian era. There are no cobbles down this street which is a shame but if you turn the corner at the top, into Albion street, the cobbles are still there, mainly because the council removed them and were protested against to replace by the local residents ... good on the residents I say!


the olde house Another thing you may notice about these houses is the brick work, this is obviously an old fashioned method as the bricks look so tightly weaved together, its just a total different style to the modern day building as we know of today!

King Street, Leek

Again, as earlier sepia photographs show, this is King street, just off Albion Street, these are old weavers cottages and the feint sighting of street lamps that you see would have looked very similar yet gas lit by a lamp lighter every day/evening. The lightly coloured building right at the end, on the right, is the start of the 'Albion Mill', these have been redesigned into homes, namely "Albion mill loft homes" so at least the old mill has been put into some new use but most of the old brickwork doesnt look like a mill now, its fairly new although they have complimented the buildings by installing old fashioned looking doors.
king street showing original weavers houses This bloke was chasing after his son across the road, and probably wondered what I was taking photos of although he probably also thought I may be a tourist/visitor to the area, no! We moved to Leekbrook in September 2007.

The Lower end of Mill Street (p66)

"This picture of the lower end of Mill Street, with some local children walking home, shows the row of trees which added a touch of greenery to an otherwise industrial scene".lower end of mill street p66

Mill Street houses (p65)

Top photo..."These old properties were typical of the houses on Mill Street, many of which stood three or four storeys high. The tightly knit community was virtually self contained, having its own shops, pubs, schools and churches".

Bottom photo..."The Methodist chapel and Ragged School are on the extreme right of this picture. Above this, and towering over the houses, is 'Big Mill', build originally by Sugden and Son for the textile firm of Lovatt and Gould in 1860. From 1896 it became Wardle and Davenport Ltd, providing employment for many people living in the area".
mill street houses p.65

Mill Street, Leek in the late Victorian years (p64)

p.64 mill street leek in the late victorian yearsJust as it says "Mill Street, Leek, in the late Victorian years" It does look a heck of a lot different now!

Goodwin and Tattons factory (p63)

goodwin and tattons factory page63"The Extremely tall chimney of Stephen Goodwin and Tatton's factory dominates this view of the top of Mill Street. The factory was burned down during the 1940s. On the extreme right is the old drinking fountain in the wall of St Edward's churchyard". (something to inspect next time im in town with the camera)

Buxton road & Ashbourne road (p62)

buxton road ashbourne road p62
Top photo..."Buxton Road. This early view of what is now a very busy road junction whos Abbotts Road, formerly Abbotts Lane, leading off to the left."

Bottom photo..."The row of fine victorian town houses on the right were desirable properties on the edge of town".

Crusos yard and broad street (p61)

Top photo..."A well-earned feed was the reward for this horse after a busy day of deliveries. The scene is Cruso's Yard, with Stockwell street in the background"

Bottom photo..."This picture of Broad Street shows the builder's yard of Thomas Grace on the right, with a row of typical weavers' cottages on the left."
crusos yard and broad street p61

St Edwards Street, looking towards Compton

st edwards street looking towards compton p60St Edwards Street, Leek, looking towards Compton, the back of St Mary's church in the background and the Alms houses just below. As you can see the town house on the right, the one with black railings, home to Sir Thomas Wardle at one time, is still standing!

crest on spout hall

The crest above the name 'Spout Hall' I am not sure if this is the crest of the original family whom lived there which I believe was Hugh Sleigh, OR the actual architect whom built the spectacular building, Norman Shaw.
crest on spout hall

1873 spout hall

1873 spout hallZooming in to show the date Spout Hall was first built... 1873!

Spout Hall, St Edward street - April 20th 2008

A full frontal picture, taken from across the road in St Edwards Street. (I was and I am, taking advantage of using Sheilas Panasonic digi' cam whilst she was on holiday) spout hall st edward street

Looking up St Edwards street from Compton

Here is St Edward Street, photo uploaded on 31st March (to flickr). Spout Hall is here in the foreground on the left, just where the guy in yellow is on the pavement.st edwards street looking towards compton p60

St Edward Street (p59)

"St Edward Street is lined with buildings of differing style, age and character. There is no uniformity and no straight lines, but nevertheless there is great harmony. St Edward Street has a number of fine houses which were once the homes of many of Leek's prominent citizens".

st edward street p59"One such house was Spout Hall, part of which can be seen on the extreme left of the picture. This impressive Victorian building was designed by the architect Norman Shaw for Hugh Sleigh.

This was the square way before the monument there was erected. (P.57)

what was the square before the nicholson war memorial p57"This scene is now dominated by the Nicholson War Memorial, or 'Monument', and the traffic island. The old cattle market extended into this area, which is bounded by Cawdry Buildings, Fountain Street, the Cattle Market Inn adn the Talbot Hotel. Iin the background are St Luke's Church, the Fountain Street Primitive Methodist Chapel and Brough, Nicholson and Hall's factory, with its tall chimney".

Leek in 1900

The top photo reads... "Leek's old baths can be seen on the left of this picture, c. 1900. The small building with the pyramid-shaped roof housed a public weighing machine. It stood on the area known as 'Sparrow park', part of the old cattle market site before the Monument was built".
leek in 1900 p56
The bottom photo reads... "Sanders' Buildings, at the corner of Derby Street and Haywood Street, was designed by Sugden and Son, the Leek architects, in 1894 as shops with living accomodation. It is still known locally as 'Mears's Corner', from the name of a former shopkeeper".

Derby street in late Victorian years ...dog and partridge

derby street in late victorian years dog and partridgeThe text reads... "There were apparently no parking restrictions in Derby Street when this picture was taken in the late Victorian Years. The inno n th eleft, with its hanging sign and shops on either side, was the Dog and Partridge".

"Town Scenes our Grandparents Knew"


The first picture is of Derby street, not as many will recognise it now to what it used to be then, "A fine view of Derby street in about 1910. Skinner and Son, the ironmongers and hardware store on the left, was founded in 1894 and is still trading today". The Church in the background, the steeple standing high, is still there now in 2008, so is the roebuck pub which stands more in the foreground yet not very clear to the eye.
The other buildings down on the left is the Manchester banking corporation building If I remember rightly, which stands after the Roebuck pub (this pub was built in 1626).




Monday, 7 April 2008

Shops and Retail in Leek

Shops and Markets of Yesteryear...



When you look at the new retail stores of today, their windows have little character like the shop frontage and presentations of yesteryear. Leek like many towns of victorian era had many characteristics amongst the retail trade that are worlds apart from today. You will not walk down a town centre today and observe men selling cattle to make a living, do not get me wrong, cattle and livestock is still sold yet not in the original market places where they used to. Leek cattle market used to stand where the Smithfield centre stands today, and there was no monument on the square like regular visitors to Leek will see, oh no, by the Cattle market inn and The Talbot public houses and even the small roundabout by the square and its monument, stood what was the cattle market of Leek, a huge area for selling livestock in its day.

Here are the draymen and their horses outside the pub in the market square! You wont see these today, more like a wagon or two bringing in barrels of beer and bottles of all sorts.

The following photos show what selling from shops and the market was like a few decades ago.

This guy is W. Fallon and seemed to have a few different shops in Leek at the time!
Here are traders at the cattle market, as mentioned before, situated where the bus station and Smithfield centre, mini roundabout and square with monument stand today.




























There were many modes of transport in the victorian era, canal barge usage was one of them, here is Leek canal basin that was, sadly it is not there anymore, instead an industrial estate stands where the canal basin and wharf used to be.

Leeks Industrial Times

What was Leek known for?


Well some know that Longton, Stoke and Hanley were renown for bottle kilns, the pottery industry, such as Spode, Wedgewood, Royal Doulton, Aynsley to name a few, yet Leek and Macclesfield have been known for materials such as the silk and textile industry which moves up towards lancashire where you have such places as Styal in Cheshire, Blackburn and other Cheshire and Lancashire towns that were known for the cotton industries.

Such places as Brough, Nicholson and Hall Ltd, and S Mayers and Company, Wardle and Davenport, Clemesha Brothers and Birch were known for manufacturing textile products, garments and household goods in the 1930s. One hazard with the textile firms though was the risk of a factory fire, Brough, Nicholson and Halls major fire happened in 1915, on the 31st August, the photos are the evidence.


Where there are and were mills, there would be mill workers houses, alot of them were 3 or 4 storeys high (if you count the cellars) here, you can see the demolition of houses that once stood in Stockwell street, beside the Nicholson institute. Some houses of this style can be seen in Albion Street and King street as I have seen them myself. If you have read before this in my blog you would have seen the two pictures I took of King street.



Deep Haye Country Park

Like many a country park in Britain, some were once an industry and once the industry had gone, buildings demolished, the area was kept as a park area. Brough Hall once stood on the grounds we now know in Leek as Brough Park, Deep Haye country park was it seems a brickworks industry.



"A group of workmen at "all Grange Brickworks at about the turn of the century. The works closed in 1960, after a long and chequered history, when the kilns and workshops were demolished. The area has now been landscaped, and forms part of the Deep Haye Country Park.


Sunday, 6 April 2008

Around Leek In old photographs


by Ray Poole ISBN 0-7509-0623-5

When living in a generation where there are tv screens, digital tv and a luxury such as running water from a tap, motorised delivery vans and trains, being brought up in the age of computers also, it seems hard to imagine life without any of these things, although I was reminded as a child in the late 1970s and 1980s that we were lucky to have a television and a telephone.

I remmber a time where you could walk down the high street and nobody owned a mobile phone yet the older generation whom were born in the late 1920s onwards will remember that the only form of communication was a letter and in some homes, the rich owned a telephone in their own homes.

Leek, Staffordshire, known to many as the "Queen of the Moorlands", is no different to other towns back in the victorian times (when Queen Victoria was on the throne) many goods were transported by horse and cart, in some cases steam trains or even by canal, deliveries from local shops to the surrounding area were regularly done by bicycle.

A prime example on how Leek, like many other towns in its era, that has changed dramatically in this photo of Derby street in late victorian times. If you compare that photo to one of now (2008), then you can see the vast difference. There's no cobbled road and the only existing cobbled areas I have so far observed, are the market square, Albion street and the little side road adjacent to St. Edwards church in Stockwell street, which leads to 'Mount Pleasant' and Brough Park.

The Book I resourced some of this information and photographs actually remind me of older photographs from my family, my mum for example, in her Sunday best back in the late 1940s to 1950s, posing for a Sunday school photograph, together with my two aunts and my eldest uncle, a similar style dress to many of that the children are seen to be wearing in old school photographs in this book.

Schools of Leek...

There seemed to be quite a lot of schools back then, as there is now, I know of 4 first schools in Leek, there is St Edwards in Cheddleton, Westbrook junior/1st school over the West end of Leek, 1st school on the Haregate estate off the Buxton Road and All Saints primary by the junction of Compton and junction road, in fact there may be more.

Leeks schooling system has nursery to primary at first schools which are aged 3years/4years to 8 years adn then there is Churnet View Middle school and St Edwards Junior High (nee middle) whom cater for 9 years to 13 year old pupils, then it is on to a choice of either Leek high school or Westwood High. It surely takes some getting used to.

Now to schools in Leek around a hundred years ago...

St Lukes build in 1871 to cater for 164 pupils, a church school, the picture in the book was taken in 1912.






Ramshaw Primary, Buxton Road, photo taken around 1904









All Saints school, photo taken in 1920, not sure where this stood yet I have a feeling it was either opposite all saints church on Compton or on the same side of Compton, where some small modern flats now stand?



These two pictures on the left are of Regent Street School. Sadly the school has since been demolished. I doubt any of the children in these photographs are still iving today, my great aunt is 102 years of age, and although born in 1906, there are not, to my knowledge, any other elder generations of her age still living in staffordshire.





Cheddleton School is still standing if it is the one I am thinking of that is now named St Edwards (first) primary and is situated near Ostlers Lane, 50 Yards from St Edward the confessor church. There was also Leek Girls High School (shown here in 1921) and I am unsure if that it is the same High School which is now known as Leek High School?



If you wander out of Leeks main retail area and market square, towards what is known as Clerk Bank, there is a pink building and a blue building, to look at them and realise that htere contemporary make up hid what was in 1723, The Old Leek Grammar school would be hard to imagine.


It seems that Leeks original high school was not up off the Ashbourne Road, yet it was originally situated in the inner quadrangle behind the Nicholson Institute in and around 1901.

Thursday, 3 April 2008

1 week later...

On Monday I needed to visit the library to pick up a fiction book and wished to visit the 'local studies' section at the Nicholas institute (our local library) In Leek, so I got the following three books to research for this blog!

  1. Staffordshire Moorlands THEN & NOW by Lindsey Porter [isbn 1-84306-317-4]
  2. Cheddleton North Staffordshire - A village history Edited by Robert Milner [isbn not shown]
  3. Around Leek IN OLD PHOTOGRAPHS by Ray Poole [isbn 0-7509-0623-5]
I am hoping to retrieve some much required information from these books before returning them to the library and gaining more books about Leek!