Posts by samuelheywoodeverett

Whilst memories of World War II were fading for those who had participated in it, the generation that followed in the late 1950’s and 1960’s was finding its own feet and shaping its own world. With a little bit of money in their pockets, a buoyant job market and new businesses to exploit them, ‘youth…

Almost every boundary set around a part of England may be identified as a parish and most parishes have their own consecrated parish church open for Christian worship and the pastoral care of the people within that boundary. The parish church in Rochdale is administered as the Church of St Chad, Chad being a 7th…

Although Rushbearing might have had its pre-Christian origin in warding off ‘the evil eye,’ official records suggest that in the 7th century, Pope Gregory I urged believers to celebrate ‘wakes’ in remembrance of the saints who kept overnight vigils and to observe the dedication of Christian churches by decorating churches with flowers. Over time, this…

We have the Beatles to thank for fixing into the nation’s memory an old Rochdale theatre. The Sgt Pepper LP records that ‘For the benefit of Mr. Kite, there will be a show tonight on trampoline,’ and that ‘The Hendersons will all be there, late of Pablo Fanques Fair, what a scene!’  John Lennon saw…

Very young children during World War 2 had no knowledge of a normal Christmas. As the Rochdale Observer in 1942 put it : ‘The beautifully lighted shops, the host of good things tastefully displayed in the windows and the busy scenes in the evening streets – all are missing for the time being, but they…

From May through to September each year a number of Derbyshire villages carry out a custom which was once an important ritual in the calendar – well-dressing. Cultural historians believe that the offering of floral tributes to the pagan gods guaranteed fresh water although dressing wells was later adopted by Christian churches as a way…

Street names have been seen as memorials to eminent people in towns and cities, no more so in Rochdale perhaps than those named after the Royds family. 14th century records of the family suggest that the Royds were landowners near Halifax before moving to Rochdale where they set up as farmers and wool-staplers, a family…

I’ve been going through the book by Iona and Peter Opie entitled ‘Children’s Games in Street and Playground’ and it took me back to lots of fun we, as children, used to have. I’ll repeat this subject soon in another edition of Streetwise as there are too many to fit into one article. I wonder…

Between 1948 and 1973 Rochdale Motor Panels and Engineering on Hudson Street produced sports cars under the ‘Rochdale’ name, turning out about 15 car bodies a week at their peak in the 1950’s. The business was established by Frank Butterworth and Harry Smith who were entrepreneurs as much as they were panel beaters and mechanics.…

Until the 1960’s, at the place where Manchester Road has its junction with The Esplanade and at the entrance to Broadfield Park, stood a monument locally known as The Angel. Proud upon a four foot Yorkshire stone base, it stood fifteen feet high against the trees of the park, resplendent in long flowing robes with…