Category: South Cheshire

A Headless Market Cross

Mow Cop Viewed From Scholar Green

In 1907, J. W. Harper wrote Mow Cop and its Slopes, a local history book about Mow Cop and its surrounding villages. During the coming weeks, North Staffordshire Heritage is posting edited extracts from the book, which is out of print and difficult to obtain from second-hand bookshops.

In the second post in this series, we post Harper’s description of Stone Chair Cross in Scholar Green, a village on the Cheshire Dip of the North Staffordshire Coalfield.

It is not generally known that Scholar Green was once a market centre. A market was held there for many years, and a market cross was erected near the village.

When visiting Stoke, I was told that “the seated lady with her egg basket” had been taken off the obelisk and taken to the grounds of a local landowner.

Known as Stone Chair Cross, the obelisk was erected where Stone Chair Lane joins Station Road in Kent Green. There is a farmhouse at the junction called Stone Chair Farm.

The cross is in five parts. It is a square structure, tapering slightly at the top.

There is a tradition in Rode Heath that women were bought and sold there.

Senior citizens who grew up in Scholar Green remember the cross being taken down in the 1960s after a local councillor said it was unsafe.

For technical reasons, we have been unable to reproduce the sketch of the market cross in Harper’s book. If you have a photograph of the cross or can tell us more about it, please email northstaffordshireheritage@outlook.com

The photograph shows a view of Mow Cop taken from Scholar Green.

Photograph: © Copyright Galatas and licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0

Self-Service Stores Revolutionised Shopping

In the 1950s and 60s, self-service stores replaced local shops in town centres throughout North Staffordshire and South Cheshire.

If your family used self-service stores, please share your memories of shopping there with our readers, telling them how self-service stores differed from High Street and corner shops.

How England’s First Self-Service Store Heralded the Birth of the Modern Supermarket

The Old Man of Mow

The Old Man of Mow is a local landmark whose origin is hidden by the sands of time.

In 1907, J. W. Harper wrote Mow Cop and its Slopes, a local history book about Mow Cop and its surrounding villages. During the coming weeks, North Staffordshire Heritage is posting edited extracts from the book, which is out of print and difficult to obtain from second-hand bookshops.

In the first extract from Mow Cop and its Slopes, we post Harper’s description of The Old Man of Mow.

The Old Man of Mow is a great rock in a rocky dell left intact by the quarrymen of a former age. Like many things connected with this hill, why it was left is a matter of conjecture. But there it is, standing alone, looking down over the Cheshire Plain, sombre and black with the years of weather it has seen, a curio unexplained for ages.

The Old Man’s rock’s circumference is 76 feet (ca. 23 m) 7 inches. It is 65 feet (ca. 20 m) 6 inches high. All the approaches to the rock are of the most rugged kind. The place it is in looks like an ideal rockery, pure and simple, without any shrubs to relieve the monotony of stone.

Visit0rs to Mow Cop often try to get into the rocky dell and some climb to dangerous heights on its steep sides. Few consider their visit to Mow Cop complete without a glimpse of the Old Man.

Photograph: © Copyright Colin Park, licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Memory Lane – Crewe Woolworths

Woolies Buildings - Then and Now

59 – 67 High Street, Crewe, Cheshire CW1 2HA

Woolworths opened their 199th store in October 1925 in the town of Crewe. The store they built had a grand Art Deco style, as you can see in the photo below. It spanned from numbers 59 to 67 of the High Street.

Crewe Woolworths 1960 Crewe Woolworths 1960

Source: Francis Frith

The store closed in 1984, another casualty of the Kingfisher closures. Today you’ll find Poundland here, and you’ll happy to see the Art Deco frontage is still there, but it seems to have lost the top floor (compare it to the 1960s photo to see!).

Crewe Former Woolworths - Poundland Crewe Former Woolworths – Poundland

Source: Ballysundriven

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Memory Lane – Congleton Woolworths

There was something for everyone at Woolworth stores, which were found on the High Street in major towns and cities throughout England and Wales.

Affectionately known as “Woolies”, these stores were like Aladdin’s Cave, stocked with a wide range of goods that attracted customers of all ages from all walks of life. Among the things you could buy at Woolworths were toys and games, chocolate and sweets, pop records and portable radios, car accessories, household paint, stationery and stamps, electric fires and fan heaters, garden furniture and plants… The list is endless.

Everyone who shopped at Woolworths will have memories of the store they bought from – its staff and the things they sold. If you and your family shopped at “Woolies”, please share your memories with us and tell us what you bought.

Woolies Buildings - Then and Now

35 – 37 High Street, Congleton, Cheshire CW12 1AX

Woolworths opened in Congleton in 1927. It was a small store with a typical Woolworths look to the first floor – see below.

Congleton Woolworths 1956 Congleton Woolworths 1956

Source: Congleton Through Time, Alcock J.

In 1968 Woolworths bought The Bears Head Hotel and Farrell’s Sweet Shop next door. They were demolished along with Banks Car Garage on Market Street to build a Woolworths superstore. At the time Mr. G. Lamb was the store manager, pictured below with his staff.  These photos were in The New Bond (The House Journal of F. W. Woolworth and Co. Limited) June/July 1970 – kindly sent in by Richard Northover. He says “This was the forerunner of Woolworths/Woolies News, which was all about people and stores – not the political rag that was Woolies News!! It was named after the original head office in New Bond Street London…

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Memory Lane – Nantwich Woolworths

Until they closed in 2009, Woolworths stores dominated the High Street in small towns and cities.

Affectionately known as “Woolies”, they sold a wide range of goods ranging from children’s toys and sweets to tins of paint and cutlery. Prices were reasonable and Woolworths attracted customers from all walks of life. If you and your family went shopping at Woolworth’s store in Nantwich, please share your memories of shopping there with us. We look forward to hearing from you. Our email address is northstaffordshireheritage@outlook.com

Woolies Buildings - Then and Now

10 Swine Market, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 5LW

Woolworths opened in Nantwich in 1930 – you can see it in the below photo on the right side.

Nantwich Woolworths 1955 Nantwich Woolworths 1955

In the 1960s the area was redeveloped and a larger Woolworths opened. Note the oversized letters.

Nantwich Woolworths 1970s Nantwich Woolworths 1970

The store lasted until the end, closing in December 2008.

Nantwich Woolworths 2008 Nantwich Woolworths 2008

It soon became a B&M, which it still is today.

Nantwich Former Woolworths Nantwich Former Woolworths

And look closer, and you’ll see the original 1960s Woolworths doors still in use.

Nantwich Former Woolworths Doors Nantwich Former Woolworths Doors

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Memory Lane – Sandbach Woolworths

There was something for everyone at Woolworth’s stores, which were on the High Street in major towns and cities throughout England and Wales.

Affectionately known as “Woolies”, these stores, like Aladdin’s Cave, were stocked with a wide range of goods that attracted customers of all ages from all walks of life. Among the things you could buy at Woolworths were toys and games, chocolate and sweets, pop records and portable radios, car accessories, household paint, stationery and stamps, electric fires and fan heaters, garden furniture and plants… The list is endless.

Everyone who shopped at Woolworths will have memories of the store they bought from – its staff and the things they sold. If you and your family shopped at “Woolies” in Sandbach, please share your memories and tell us what you bought.

Woolies Buildings - Then and Now

12 High Street, Sandbach, Cheshire CW11 0AY

Woolworths opened in Sandbach in 1936. You can just about see it on the far left of this photo. A purpose-built store with a grey concrete block facade – not red brick for some reason.

Sandbach Woolworths 1955
Sandbach Woolworths 1955

Source: Francis Frith

Former Manager has sent in this photo and story from his time at Sandbach. “This picture was taken when I was manager of 635 Sandbach in early 1984. We had to have this put on the window with a message to the customers of how we were re organising the store. Funny thing is that I was ill with hepatitis and off work for all 6 weeks it was up.”

Sandbach Woolworths Mamager 1984

Source: East, A.

Sandbach Woolworths 2000s
Sandbach Woolworths

Former employee Matt Bennett shares some really interesting memories of the store, “Worked in Woolworths Sandbach right until the end. It has now…

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The Parson’s Well

A spring at Mow Cop

The Parson’s Well, near the Methodist Church at Mow Cop, was one of the springs on Mow Hill that were given a stone surround in the 19th century. After erecting stone surrounds around the springs, local people started calling them wells. The two inscriptions on The Parson’s Well read, “The Parson’s Well A S 1858” and “Keep Thyself Pure”.

Photograph: © Copyright Sue Adair and licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0