An Illustrated History of Old Sutton in St.Helens

Part 66 (of 68) - Sutton Trivia and True Facts!

Researched & Written by Stephen Wainwright ©MMXIII Contact Me

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Header image: The 'Burn Lancashire Coal' sign was at Sutton Manor Colliery from 1934 to 1940

Dubious Medicines and Sutton Testimonials

As described in the Health & Sanitary Conditions page, during 1855 Dr. Wilkinson of Brook House placed a number of advertisements in newspapers headed 'Advice - Notice To The Unhappy'. Dr. W., as he styled himself, specialised in treating patients with "mental and nervous affections" and for a guinea would send "advice and medicines" to unhappy souls in "any part of the world". Twenty-one shillings was more than most Sutton folk were paid in a week then, so he probably didn't get many takers locally. Plus many working class people were illiterate or couldn't afford to buy newspapers and read his adverts. We will never know whether Dr. Wilkinson's medication was any good but as newspapers became more affordable and literacy levels improved, so unscrupulous folk saw money-making opportunities. Newspapers became packed with advertisements that made wild promises to cure all kinds of ills. There was little regulation of medicines and the advertising of them, so 'quack' practitioners and others making exaggerated claims had quite a field day.

It was soon realised that testimonials by satisfied users would boost sales and quite a few people from the Sutton district - especially Clock Face - were keen to provide them. By the turn of the 20th century, photography and illustrations were employed more extensively in newspapers, so some testimonials were accompanied by the satisfied user's photo.

Mrs. Hayward of Clock Face's testimonial from 1905 and Mr. Boyes of Sutton Oak from 1927

Mrs. E. Hayward of Clock Face was one of a number of people who in 1905 appreciated Professor C. Keith-Harvey's "complete and permanent cure" for deafness and "head noises", allowing her testimonial and image to accompany his newspaper advertisements. No details of the "entirely new" treatment was stated, apart from it being self-applied. So it may well have just been olive oil-type drops that shifted ear wax. This would likely have improved Mrs. Hayward's hearing and lessened her tinnitus. The adverts were headed 'Free To The Deaf' and interested parties could write to the Professor for a free pamphlet describing his miraculous cure.

As Dr. Wilkinson was selling nerve medication from Brook House in 1855, so Dr. Cassell was advertising nerve pills on a larger scale in 1927. It's doubtful that there really was such a doctor, but boxes of pills bearing his name were available from 1s 3d each. Mr. T. Boyes of Sutton Oak claimed in newspaper testimonials that they had "completely cured" his shattered nerves after his military service in Mesopotamia and India.

These days newspapers make it clear when articles that they publish are paid adverts. However in December 1910 when Eleanor Thomas from 6 Peckers Hill Road was promoting the benefits of Zam-Buk embrocation, it was presented in the form of an article. The collier's wife told how her three year-old child Katie had benefitted from the ointment which did seem to have genuine infection-fighting qualities in the days before antibiotics.

On April 11th 1930, when Dr. Williams' Pink Pills were advertised in the Western Times, it was also presented as a news item. Under the heading 'When Girls Grow Weak - Beware of Anaemia', it was stated that the "girl in her teens cannot develop into happy, robust womanhood without abundant blood in her veins". The pink pills of Dr. Williams were the answer and a Miss B. Houghton of 2 Crawford Street in Clock Face gave testimony to their efficaciousness. The teenager claimed that she'd been tired and listless with severe pains at the back of her head and had found it difficult to walk. "I cried at the least thing," she wrote. However taking the pink pills at 3 shillings per box immediately brought about a "wonderful improvement...now I feel stronger than I have ever done". The pink pills had arrived in Britain in 1893 and comprised iron oxide and epsom salts. It's said that they did have some restorative powers but were weaker and much more expensive than standard iron pills.

Pasted Graphic 5
Advertisement for Apro in The Western Times of Exeter published on Friday 19th April 1940

By this time branded and patent medicines available from the local chemist were replacing the wonder cures supposedly created by a doctor or professor and available only by mail order. However testimonials were often still used to prove their effectiveness and in 1940 George Davies of 341 Clock Face Road was happy to tell the world of the miracle cure that Aspro had been for him. Whether his metamorphosis from a thin, weak man unable to walk or raise a cup to his lips into an active "nimble man" was solely down to an aspirin, we will never know.

Perhaps some of these medicines actually worked for the grateful individuals or maybe it was the placebo effect. In many cases the complaint probably just cured itself as most do in time, but the treatment got the credit. The medication makers, of course, didn't publish the letters that they received from those who said the pills or potions hadn't worked!

The Great Fire of Sutton Moss

For two days during the hot summer of 1899, thousands of people descended upon Sutton Moss to watch what the Liverpool Mercury dubbed "the most extensive and most extraordinary fire which ever occurred at St.Helens". Smoke from burning turf billowed over Sutton and Parr and train passengers on the adjacent line had a perfect view of the "prairie fire" as it consumed sixty acres of land. In fact it was believed that a spark from the engine of a passing train had started the fire, setting alight one of many stacks of turf. It was so hot and dry that the fire quickly spread, destroying the work of up to fifty employees of the Lancashire Moss Litter Company.

Turf cutters at work at Sutton / Bold Moss - one cuts while the other spreads it out before stacking

Sutton Moss was located between St.Helens Junction and Collins Green stations and along with Bold Moss, was owned by colliery proprietors and Colonel Richard Pilkington. They leased the land to companies who extricated the peat turf for use as firelighters or animal bedding litter. The prolonged warm weather of August 1899 had greatly improved productivity and thousands of stacks of turf blocks occupied the land. Turf cutters had dug long peat trenches and after removal from the ground, the nine inch turf blocks were built up in pyramids to dry. Each measured between 3 and 12 feet tall, and their array must have been quite a sight. In between the trench rows were tram lines, so that ponies could pull slatted trams of turf to sheds nearby where 'pressing' took place.

Some firelight sellers had arrangements where they could remove the turf themselves. Frank Bamber in his 'Clog Clatters in Old Sutton' recalls Mr. Barrow, the 'Firelight Mon', with his shaggy pony and two-wheeled float. After gathering the cut and dried blocks of peat from the Moss and soaking them in naphtha, he sold them on Sutton's streets as firelighters. Every Saturday morning during the early years of the 20th century, Mr. Barrow would arrive in Edgeworth Street and young Frank would buy a week's supply of 7 firelighters at a penny each. Frank wrote that the 'firelight mon's' hands shone like polished mahogany, through working with peat and naphtha and he had a strong smell of firelighters.

Driver and horse on Sutton Moss with loaded slatted tram

A driver and horse on Sutton Moss with a loaded slatted tram taking the dried peat to a pressing shed

On August 24th 1899, the thousands of stacked peat blocks stood proud on the land ready for removal. It was 10am when one of the stacks was first seen alight. The turf workers tried to extinguish the fire with buckets of water but to no avail. A strong wind assisted the spread of the blaze and many of the workers, fearing for their safety, departed. However, some remained to demolish turf stacks and saturate the ground with water, in a futile attempt to stop the fire's spread. By the early afternoon there were hundreds of blazing stacks, creating immense volumes of smoke.

The fire brigade under Superintendent Lyon eventually arrived from their base at the Town Hall but they had a major problem. Where could they get water from? They settled on a pond at Berry's Lane farm almost half-a-mile away and a couple of hosepipes were put to work. Their priority was to safeguard the machinery sheds where turf pressing and other operations were performed. This they successfully did, although 2500 tons of moss were lost. During the evening, the fire of Sutton Moss was quite a spectacle, as the Liverpool Mercury described:

Immense stacks of turf, scattered over a surface of hundreds of yards, were emitting lurid tongues of flame, which shot high into the air, while the ground between was one mass of flickering and smouldering fire. A glare overhead revealed the immensity of the conflagration, which was visible in the surrounding districts. Thousands of people were attracted to the spot, and gazed with mingled feelings at the scene before them

Believing that the fire would burn itself out, the fire brigade departed just before midnight. Twelve hours later they were back, as the wind direction had changed and the remaining stacks on the Fleet Lane side had ignited. Water was sourced from the reservoir at Sutton's Rolling Mill factory and the fire was eventually subdued, although the embers smouldered for several days.

Left: An old time view of a cutter on the moss; Right: Women sorting and stacking turf at Sutton Moss

The blaze had been an exciting night-time spectacle for many and, thankfully, there were no injuries. However, the Lancashire Moss Litter Company, as well as cut turf, had lost a lot of plant and tram-line sleepers but they were fully insured. The real cost was to the fifty men, women and girls who lost their jobs, albeit temporarily, until the following season. This wasn't the only fire on Sutton Moss as one broke out on May 30th 1901 which took several hours for St.Helens Fire Brigade to extinguish. It then smouldered for three days before breaking out once again. The damage wasn't as great as in 1899, as no doubt lessons had been learnt from The Great Fire of Sutton Moss.

Download Chapter 15 of Clog Clatters in Old Sutton by Frank Bamber - 'Parr, Bold and Sutton Moss'
All photos in this article have been taken from 'Clog Clatters' - Courtesy Sutton Historic Society

When Queen Victoria Came Through Sutton

Did you know that Queen Victoria passed through Sutton on two occasions? The first was on Tuesday May 11th, 1886 when her special train travelled through St.Helens Junction on a trip from Windsor Castle to Liverpool. The two day visit was mainly to open the city’s International Exhibition of Navigation, Commerce and Industry. The monarch left Windsor just after midnight, accompanied by the Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg and the Duke of Connaught. Princess Henry was otherwise known as Beatrice and she was the Queen's youngest child. The Duke, a.k.a. Prince Arthur, was her seventh child, and he’d visited St.Helens twelve years earlier on his way to Edinburgh.

The London and North-Western Railway provided the engine and twelve carriages, which boasted elegant day and night saloons. The Queen's day saloon had satinwood chairs and couches covered with dark blue watered silk. On the ceiling were four cut-glass oil lamps lined with white silk and a round clock, with a white enamel dial set in a chased gilt mounting, was hung from one side.

The royal party L to R: Duke of Connaught, Princess Beatrice, Prince Henry of Battenberg and Queen Victoria

The sleeping saloon was furnished with two small ormolu bedsteads and the toilet basins in the dressing compartment were plated with silver and gold. The royal party were probably in the land of Nod when they went through Sutton and the train travelled at just 25mph to give Her Majesty a better night’s sleep. Security was tight and the public were banned from St.Helens Junction and the other stations until the train, preceded by a pilot-engine, had passed. This was only three years after Irishman Patrick Flannigan from Sutton, a brakesman on the L and NW railway, had been charged with levying "war against Her Majesty" as part of a Fenian plot.

The royals stayed in Liverpool until the Thursday morning when they made the return trip to Windsor, steaming back through the Junction. This day-time journey would have been more of an inconvenience to travellers, barred again from using the station. Just whether the Queen looked out of her ornate carriage at industrial Sutton and said "We are not amused", is not, however, recorded!

Victoria never visited St.Helens, despite the town’s strong association with her reign. Victoria Park was originally Cowley Hill Park but it was renamed in 1887 to commemorate the monarch’s golden jubilee. After her death, Sir George Frampton’s statue of Queen Victoria was unveiled in 1905 in the Town Hall Square by the Earl of Derby. In Sutton we have the Victoria pub on Ellamsbridge Road and in Gerards Lane, the Victoria bridge by Monastery Dam and also the demolished Victoria Cottage. Although Queen Victoria never actually set foot in Sutton, members of her family certainly did...

Royal and Noble Visits to Ravenhead

Ravenhead in Sutton was named after Ravenhead Farm, which was originally owned by the sister of the renowned Roman Catholic Bishop George Hay. A number of industrialists were attracted to Ravenhead during the 18th and 19th centuries, although its plate glass works was its main claim to fame. This had been incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1773 and was the first such works in the country. Over the years a surprising number of royal and military celebrities visited the plant while they were staying with the Earl of Derby at Knowsley Hall. George IV, when he was the Prince of Wales, visited the glassworks in the early years of the 19th century, along with the Duke of Wellington. The precise date has yet to be established but it must have been before the "Iron Duke" Arthur Wellesley defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.

Five decades later, Alexandra, the Princess of Wales, made a visit to the Ravenhead works. This was on November 1st 1865 and she received a remarkable reception. The Liverpool Mercury said "Never in the history of St. Helen's has it been recorded that such a concourse of people were assembled together." A day's holiday was declared in the town and all schools and collieries were closed. Whether the miners on piece-work appreciated losing a day's pay, isn't recorded! The future queen consort to Edward VII was greeted outside the glassworks by 3000 schoolchildren waving flags, handkerchiefs and banners. A military reception was also provided by the 2nd Lancashire Rifle Volunteers (L.R.V.), under the command of Captain Beattie, and the 47th L.R.V., under Colonel David Gamble's command, who presented arms.

L to R: Prince of Wales (later George IV); Duke of Wellington; Alexandra, Princess of Wales; Sophie, Queen of Holland

Accompanying the Danish princess was Lady Dalkeith and the Earl and Countess of Derby and their carriage was pulled by four strong black horses. In other carriages were the Countess of Sefton, Lord Henry Percer, Lady Constance Stanley, General Knollys and Lord Courtnay. The bands of the 2nd and 47th L.R.V. struck up 'God Save the Queen' and the royal party entered the works under a canvas canopy, walking on a red carpet or crimson cloth, as it was described. A special casting session was set up for the visitors, who watched a piece of plate glass measuring over 15 feet being created.

They also visited the grinding, polishing and smoothing rooms. In the latter the Mercury described "150 good-looking young women, all dressed alike, in red and white Garibaldi jackets, with linsey woolsey peticoats and white aprons" moving the glass backwards and forwards on benches. Silvering then took place and the Princess silvered some mirror glass herself. The workforce then assembled in the yard and gave the Princess of Wales a "Lancashire cheer" as she left. Suggestions she also visited the pit sinking of Alexandra Colliery nearby are unfounded, although it did take her name. The Prince of Wales, incidentally, spent the day shooting at Knowsley, where his party killed nearly 800 game.

On September 30th 1867 Queen Sophie of the Netherlands - who was married to King William III - also paid a visit to the plate glass works, where she was welcomed by principal proprietor Sir Edward Sullivan. The Dutch queen was accompanied by Lady Skelmersdale, Colonel Wilson-Patten, Colonel Wilbraham, Sir Robert Gerard and the Bishop of Sodor and Man and schoolchildren lined the carriage drive to the works "dressed in holiday costume". Since the visit of the Princess of Wales two years earlier, the long narrow road to the glass firm had been named Alexandra Drive in her honour. Queen Sophie was given similar glassmaking demonstrations to the ones that Princess Alexandra had received, prior to returning to Knowsley Hall. This wasn't the last high-profile visit to the plant as the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Richard Seddon, who was a native of St.Helens, also visited it on August 22nd 1902, although at his request it was somewhat low-key.

Five months earlier on March 12th 1902, a crowd at St.Helens Junction station cheered a royal train as it passed through on its way to Manchester. It was occupied by the Prince and Princess of Wales, who became George V in 1910. Queen Elizabeth II was driven through Sutton Manor on June 21st 1977 and her son Charles visited the Sutton Mill Dam and the Adventure Playground in Gerards Lane on May 24th 1988. You can see photos of these two events here.

The Flying Pharmacist of Junction Lane

For five decades during the twentieth century, countless Sutton folk got their prescriptions filled at Spencer’s chemists in Junction Lane. I wonder how many customers when collecting their cough drops, potions and pills, knew that the pharmacist family were aviation pioneers? In fact prior to moving to Sutton, proprietor Sydney Spencer had been a pioneering balloonist and parachutist and had served in the Great War as a balloon expert for both the Admiralty and the Royal Flying Corps.

However, Captain Spencer’s achievements as an aeronaut were somewhat overshadowed by the other members of his family. Flying was firmly in the Spencer blood and Sydney's grandfather Edward made his first balloon ascent in 1836. His aeronaut son Charles Green Spencer, who was also a gymnast, is credited with making the first gliding experiments in England and he also began his own balloon-making firm in London.

Charles had six children including Sydney Ewart Spencer, who was born in Islington on December 12th, 1879. All of the Spencer brood became aeronauts although Sydney’s three older brothers, Stanley, Percival and Arthur, were more renowned. Percy is said to have made 1000 ascents and Stanley became the first Englishman to fly in a powered airship over England.

This was a time when ballooning was a highly dangerous activity. The Graphic newspaper of September 1st, 1888 commented that:

The history of ballooning is marked, like the trail of an army, by the dead it has left behind it.

In 1897 Arthur Spencer broke his thigh when he landed on an Australian tombstone and suffered severe injuries in an accident in 1901. His brother Sydney is not reported to have endured any injuries himself, as he seems to have limited his own flying to concentrate on a career as a chemist. However, the archives of the British Science Museum reveal Sydney making test flights in 1904 and in 1911 he was in South Africa experimenting with a balloon on Durban Beach.

Memorial to balloonist Sydney Spencer in Sutton Parish graveyard, St.Helens
The Spencer family memorial in Sutton Parish graveyard at St.Nicholas Church in New Street

During WW1, Sydney Spencer’s ballooning expertise was employed initially by the Royal Navy for their reconnaissance missions and from 1916-19 by the Royal Flying Corps / RAF. The military had used observation balloons in the Boer War and they were extensively employed, both on land and at sea, during the Great War. It’s presently unclear what Sydney’s precise role was, although it was probably more advisory than operational.

During the war, Sydney met his future wife Margaret who was making balloons in the Isle of Man. They moved to Sutton during the 1920s and began their pharmacy in Junction Lane. Sydney died in 1946 but wife Margaret ran the chemist’s shop for fifty years, assisted by her daughter Marie.

The family memorial in the Sutton Parish graveyard appropriately bears witness to Sydney’s aeronautical past and his membership of a pioneering family of aviators with ‘balloonist and parachutist’ engraved under his name.

Former balloonist Captain Spencer in this 1936 photo outside the British Legion in Sutton, St.Helens
Captain Spencer is 4th from left on the front row of this 1936 photo outside the British Legion
(Contributed by Sutton Historic Society)

The Night That 'E.T.' Came To Bold!

In January 1978, Bold Power Station was at the centre of a major UFO mystery when onlookers witnessed its towers being buzzed by a strange, shining light. The object appeared to dart down as if it was giving the installation, that first generated electricity some twenty years earlier, a much closer examination.

Unexplained lights in the sky are not, of course, unusual. However, this case takes on greater interest as some of the onlookers were police officers! In fact two officers tried to follow the UFO and after it landed in a field at Rainhill, they were close to the craft as it took off.

The story began when amateur radio operator Robert Bennett of Nutgrove received a message from the president of a Liverpool UFO society that unexplained aerial activity had been reported in St.Helens. Bennett rang the police and three officers arrived and then sat with him for some five hours, as they and enthusiasts, attempted to track the mysterious object by radio. The 46-year-old listened to the police communications until 3am and was asked to relay messages to the radio hams who were also chasing the craft. Quoted in the St.Helens Star in July 2005 Robert Bennett said:

...there were officers in the car trying to follow it and I believe it did land in a field in Rainhill and two police officers, a PC and a WPC were 20 yards away from it when it started to take off.

Detective Constable Gary Heseltine is the instigator of the PRUFOS (Police Reporting UFO Sightings) records system which unofficially documents police sightings of UFOs between 1950 and 2002. In this dossier, the Bold incident is classed as having major Defence Significance and considered one of the three most significant to have taken place at official installations during the 1970s, when the Cold War was at its height. Its entry in the PRUFOS system reads:

Two uniformed police officers - PCs Lowe and Roberts - observed a high speed UFO that hovered above Bold Power Station before darting across the landscape and doing likewise over Fiddler's Ferry Power Station.

D.C. Heseltine says that there is still no convincing logical explanation for what happened above Bold and Fiddler's Ferry Power Stations over thirty years ago. However, I like to think that E.T. was simply looking to recharge its extra-terrestrial batteries, so it could return safely back to its home, somewhere within the stars. We shall never really know, of course!

This article is based on reports in the St.Helens Star during July 2005 including an article by Ian Brandes

Frog Frying Tonight in Sutton!

The order "Give us a split peas and frogs' legs mate", is not exactly one that Sutton chippy staff are used to receiving! However, for a while during the nineteenth century, frog was a Lancastrian delicacy that proved a 'nice little earner' for youngsters in Sutton and St.Helens.

According to a Liverpool Daily Post report, entitled 'Onslaught Amongst The Frogs – Frogs Eaten in Lancashire', which was reprinted by The Morning Chronicle on April 5th, 1858, "great quantities" of frogs were consumed at that time "in and about the neighbourhood of St.Helens and Sutton". They said that boys were "constantly employed" in catching the amphibious creatures in the local ponds and ditches and a Daily Post correspondent found a number of lads, around nine or ten years of age, up to their knees in a Sutton Heath pond 'fishing' for frogs.

The reporter described seeing several pounds of the hind parts of skinned frogs stacked on one side of the pond, with the redundant fore parts and skins stored nearby. Upon questioning the lads as to what they would be doing with the hind bits, they said:

We putten them i'th' frying pan, and then i'th' hoon, and then they are gradely good.

The craze for frog feasting seems to have been short-lived, although there is an old Lancashire saying for being hungry,"Ah cud eyt a buttered frog", which may have had its origins in those days. Plus toad in the hole was originally known locally as 'frog-i'-th'-'ole' and there are a couple of present-day eateries in St.Helens which have frog in their name, although it might not be on their menus!

Illustrator Marty Strutt depicts the scene with the lad at the front with frog in hand talking to a reporter on the bank
Illustrator Marty Strutt depicts the scene with a lad at the front with frog in hand talking to a reporter on the bank

Did you know that there used to be a popular Lancashire snail fair that was held every September? Not everyone, it seems, in old Lanky devoured black puddings and Lancashire hot pot. Cuisine could be a tad more exotic. I trust this article was a gradely good read for you!

Bally Whittaker - The Heavyweight Sutton Builder

John 'Bally' Whittaker was reputed to be the heaviest man in St.Helens. Weighing in at 31 stones, the building contractor was referred to as 'Owd Bally', which was Lancashire dialect for 'belly'. As a builder Whittaker was responsible for constructing many notable buildings, works and chimneys in St.Helens and he was also licensee of a Sutton pub.

Born in 1824 in Blackley, John Whittaker spent the first thirty years of his life in the Manchester district before relocating to St.Helens. Bally lived in Neill's Road in Bold which later became the Neil’s Foundry caretaker’s house. Frank Bamber visited a school friend there around 1920 and was struck by the "extraordinary width" of its doors and frames. The huge stomach of Bally Whittaker meant he had great difficulty in squeezing through average-sized house doors, so he had them custom built in his home.

John Whittaker builder
John 'Bally' Whittaker (1824 - 1894) builder and landlord of the Oak Tree Inn

Being conveyed around St.Helens also presented difficulties. So Bally employed a strong pony called Black Bess and a specially-built, strong trap with stablising props. These steadied the trap and took the weight off the pony, while he climbed in and became comfortably seated. From around 1870 he lived with wife Anne at Oak Cottage in St.Helens Junction and ran the Oak Tree Inn at 8 Gerrards Lane.

John Whittaker was said to have been a jovial character of which there were many stories. He learnt that a firm in Liverpool were offering suits made to measure for just 30 shillings. So he sent a man of average size to the shop to place an order for a suit for himself and three others, who the man told the staff were his brothers. The additional suits were in fact for Whittaker and his two best friends, Joseph Jackson and Charles Rigby. Jackson was a wheelwright and blacksmith of whom Jackson Street was named and who weighed almost 23 stones. Rigby was a wheelwright from Warrington Road who was also quite a heavyweight at over 18 stones.

The shop was initially delighted to receive the order but then shocked to see the tremendous size of the three 'brothers'. Much more cloth would be needed and they were likely to lose money on the deal. However the shop's canny manager spotted a marketing opportunity. So the suits were made at the price quoted and the fame of them subsequently spread to St. Helens.

As a builder John Whittaker was highly industrious. Working out of Foundry Street in St. Helens, his company was responsible for Sutton Glassworks, St.Helens Junction railway station, Sutton Road Pumping Station, Borough Sanatorium, Wolverhampton House, Daglish’s Foundry, Neil’s Foundry, Brown Edge water softening works, Boundary Road Baths, St. Mary’s C.E. School and mission church, Lingholme Hotel, The Saddle pub, Pear Tree at Collins Green and the Huntsman at Haydock. His firm also built many works' chimney stacks in St.Helens.

John Whittaker died on July 2nd, 1894 at Oak Cottage at the age of 70 years and is buried in Sutton Parish Church graveyard. Unsurprisingly it's said that the larger-than-life builder had to be laid to rest in a plot twice the size as normal!

The Great Sutton Storm of 1884

We hear a lot about extreme weather these days, often linked to climate change. Well, there’s nothing new about bad weather, of course, and in the space of just ten years at the end of the 19th century, Sutton endured four very severe storms. The one that struck on October 14th 1881 was described by one newspaper as a "gale of terrific fury" and led to the death of four-years-old Harriet Bradbury at Sutton National school. Then on November 6th 1890, engineman Thomas Earle was crushed to death at the Ravenhead Glass Works when a "terrific storm" caused a 130 feet high chimney to blow down on an engine shed. Plus on December 10th 1891, a severe gale caused a chimney stack to crash through the roof of the Red Lion in Robins Lane, giving licensee James Baldwin the fright of his life!

There was no loss of life when a major storm struck on January 26th 1884, although the property damage was extensive. Local folk said it was the worst they’d known and described it as resembling both an earthquake and cyclone. The Saturday night storm did its worst in Sutton Oak, where Newton, Keates & Co. had a manure works (which became Crone & Taylor’s). A large bone crushing shed, 25 feet wide and about 80 feet long, was almost completely destroyed. Portions of the roof were carried a considerable distance and huge joists, beams and boards were hurled away by the wind. An 80 feet high works chimney suffered a large crack near its base and was shifted several inches. The cost of the damage at the bonecrushers was estimated at £600, around £30,000 in today’s money.

In Moss Nook hardly a house was undamaged and between 40 and 50 lost slates or chimney pots through the ferocity of the gale. The roofs of homes in the district around Ditch Hillock and Waterdale were seriously damaged too, with lead, slates, tiles and chimney pots torn off. The thatch of an old unoccupied house in New Street was also ripped off by the gale.

James Smith ran a grocer's at the end of Blinkhorn's Row and his family of eight were enjoying their tea. Suddenly there was a crash and portions of the ceiling fell on their kitchen table and on the floor. Smith dashed upstairs and discovered that a chimney stack had blown down and crushed in the roof. Inside the bedroom over the kitchen, iron bedsteads had been twisted by the debris. However the furniture and bedding probably saved the family’s lives. They’d broken the fall of the roof and chimney and prevented the bedroom’s ceiling and floor from landing on top of them. As it was no one was hurt, although a pane in the shop’s large plate-glass window was also blown in.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom as local builders did very nicely out of the storm with large numbers of workmen occupied for some weeks. Sutton’s master builder John Fisher had the job of repairing Newton, Keates’s chimney and a crowd of locals gathered to watch his men at work. As the proverb goes, it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good!

What 'Lord Haw Haw' Said About Sutton

Not many people know that William Joyce (aka ‘Lord Haw Haw’) once referred to Sutton in one of his infamous broadcasts. He said that the Nazis were aware of the top-secret chemical warfare plant located off Abbotsfield Road in Sutton Oak. Although ostensibly a chemical defence research centre, for the first six months of World War II, the Magnum plant (as many locals knew it) was the sole manufacturer of mustard gas in the whole country producing 1100 tons (see Sutton at War Poison Gas Works page).

Joyce visited St.Helens about 1938 when the fascist gave a talk in the Corporation Street 'tin chapel'. During the war the chapel was bombed, although there probably wasn't a connection! Joyce was executed for treason on 3rd January 1946 at Wandsworth Prison.

Please Postman, Come Thou Near, and Hark!

Perhaps this website gives the impression that old Sutton was a grim, miserable place enlivened only by boozing and by the occasional walking and sports days. Of course, times were often very hard, although I expect that there could be much humour. Old newspapers did tend to focus on the darker side of life although I do come across quite a number of reports that make me smile! A favourite has to be a very brief report in the Liverpool Mercury of May 21st, 1863 in which an unnamed individual, who was corresponding with Thomas Park of Sutton Rolling Mills, decided to put some style into his letter. He wrote Park's address on the envelope as a poem which read:

Please, postman, come thou near, and hark !
Give this to Mr. Thomas Park.
You'll find him (listen where to go)
Employed by Newton, Keats, and Co.
Away ! away ! o'er dales and hills,
To Sutton Copper Rolling Mills,
Near St.Helens, Lancashire.

Ok, it's not that easy to rhyme Lancashire! However, the humorous postal poetry only provided a brief respite in the Liverpool Mercury and it was soon business as usual. Immediately under the article was a report on the latest St.Helens Petty Sessions hearings which described how Sutton beerseller Ellen Appleton had been fined 10 shillings for selling porter to a little girl at midnight. Talking of poets...

A Letter from the King of Belgium to Sutton

Despite the privations of the 'Great War', King Albert (1875 – 1934) found time to write to Sutton's Sam Ffouks, to thank him for sending a poem that sympathised with the Belgian people's plight. In the letter described by the St.Helens Reporter on February 26th, 1915, Albert's private secretary said his king was “très touchèe a mon temoignage de sympathie".

The newspaper also commented that Ffouks had recently received the diploma of membership of the International Societé de Philogie, Science et Beaux Arts. Little seems known of Sam, although the Societé de Philogie, was a distinguished academic and scientific body run by Professor Haroon Mustapha Leon (1855-1932), an Islamic scholar and etymologist. Albert I of Belgium reigned for 24 years and during the war famously fought with his troops, while his wife, Queen Elisabeth, nursed soldiers at the front. Their son, Prince Leopold, enlisted in the Belgian army at the age of fourteen and fought as a private.

A 'Breeze' At Sutton Parish Church

St.Helens newspaper report of vestry meeting at St.Nicholas Church in 1924

On April 29th, 1924 the St.Helens Reporter said a "breeze" had occurred during the annual Vestry Meeting of St.Nicholas and All Saints Church. Under the headline 'A Statement That Caused Sleepless Nights', they reported that allegations had been made by a church official that the balance from a collection for a war memorial made by members of the young men's bible class, had been pocketed by committee members.

An indignant Mr. Crouch, the bible class leader, had what might be called a frank and lengthy exchange of views with the vicar, Rev. W.E. Colegrove, which were recorded verbatim by the Reporter. Finally the vicar assured Mr. Crouch that he'd had the church books checked out and they were in good order and the pair shook hands. Mr. Crouch could sleep again!

Telegrams To Sutton From The Pope

A telegram from Pope Pius X1 to Sutton in St.Helens in 1924

Sutton has been sent telegrams by the Pope in several years. It happened in 1924 from Pope Pius XI as a result of the Knights of St.Columbia making a pilgrimage to the tomb of Dominic Barberi (1792-1849). He was the Passionist priest who inspired the church, school and monastery at St. Annes and who was beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1963. One local newspaper account reads:

"The following telegram has been received at Sutton from Rome - The Holy Father touched by the homage of the Knights of St.Columbia imparts from his heart the Apostolic Benediction."

Daisy the Peg - Sutton's Seven-Legged Cow!

In 1966 Rolf Harris sang of "Jake the Peg with his extra leg". To my knowledge no one has ever sung about a cow with extra limbs but Sutton did have one once, albeit briefly, that had seven legs and two tails!

A lusus naturae or freak of nature occurs every now and then and in 1872 it happened to a Sutton farmer called Mr. Gavin. The Preston Guardian of June 22nd described the new-born calf of being of "extraordinary malformation". The head, shoulders and forelegs were born normal but it had two distinct bodies, each with its own tail and hind legs. In total the cow had five legs at its rear. A lucrative career as a carnival exhibit would, perhaps, have been in store but when farmer Gavin found it, Sutton's own Daisy the Peg was already deceased.

The Day That Sutton Brook Caught Fire!

St.Helens Reporter article from 1915 on sutton brook on fire

For many years the residents of Watery Lane were forced to endure both the unpleasant odours that emanated from Sutton Brook, plus the tendency of the nearby waterway to flood out their houses (see here). What they probably never bargained for, was the brook becoming a fire hazard!

However, on Wednesday September 8th, 1915 huge flames emanated from the brook near St.Helens Junction, reaching the height of the Bowling Green Inn. The St.Helens Reporter in their account of the fire described it as causing "great alarm" in Sutton.

Despite some efforts to limit discharges from factories into St.Helens's waterways, it was still a common practice and an unnamed works in Sutton was allowing oil and grease to drain into the brook. The council were aware of the problem and its Health Committee had coincidentally met on the Wednesday to discuss what could be done, though failed to come up with a plan of action. Their minds were, perhaps, concentrated at 6pm that same day, when a man who was lighting a cigarette, threw a match into the brook which ignited the grease and oil on its surface. Flames burst from both ends of the culvert, assistance was summoned and it was only extinguished after large quantities of rubbish was thrown onto the fire. The Reporter said:

The incident serves to illustrate the great danger which, apart altogether from the offensive smell which arises, lurks in the greasy and oily matter in the Watery-lane brook...the residents in the Watery-lane are hoping that the incident of Wednesday evening will not only force the Council to move in the direction of curing the offensive smell, but, while they are at it, they will tackle the overflowing nuisance as well, and make a complete and satisfactory job of it.

Fred Thomas - The Hermit of New Street

Shortly after WW1, Fred Thomas quit his job on a matter of principle and declared that he would never again work on a regular basis. He was good to his word and decided on a simple life, building a shed for himself just off New Street. This was on land that belonged to Sutton farmer Eddie Rimmer by the Sutton vicarage and Fred lived there for decades. His bunk was said to have been made from old railway sleepers and he cooked on a little stove with its iron chimney emanating from the hut roof.

Fred kept his unusual place of abode scrupulously clean. He was well educated and refused handouts. Often he could be found in the grounds of St.Nicholas, tidying the churchyard or digging graves to earn cash. Fred also helped out in the fields at harvest time and during winter, dressed in a long, dark coat, cloth cap and wore polished clogs with a white scarf wrapped round his neck. Daily journeys would be made to the churchyard to draw water from a standpipe, accompanied by his dog.

Bill Bate, now living in Western Australia and author of 'A Sutton Schoolboy's Memories of WW2', remembers Fred from when he was a boy in Sutton:

I have fond memories of the times from about 1935, and my Grandad's friendship with Fred. I always understood that the shed belonged to my grandfather, but perhaps they built it together. I know for a fact that the little white dog called Jack was Grandad's. I was about four years old at the time, and Granddad, myself, and the dog used to go to the shed and spend most of the day there. The old blokes would sit by the stove smoking their pipes, and talking, perhaps, about the coming war. I used to play outside with some plywood boxes that used to contain Star cigarettes. One amusing incident that occurred involving Fred, was that on his trip to the church yard to refill his water bottles, he used to pass our house, which was on New Street, opposite Heward's field. One day my Mum, who was looking from the front room window, saw Fred stop and lean over the field fence and pick something out of the nettles. When I got home from school, Mum said," Go and look what's over the fence". It appeared that Fred had found that one of Heward's hen's had made a nest and Fred had been getting a good supply of eggs. I'm sorry to say that poor old Fred didn't get any more eggs! My Granddad, Joe Standley, used to live in Nelson Street.

fred thomas sthelens star article

During the 1960s, Sutton vicar Rev. James Smith arranged for Fred, who was then well past 80, to see out his days at Nutgrove Home for the Elderly and upon his death was buried at St.Nicholas. He was very well thought of by local folk and many attended his funeral. During the 1980s, a St.Helens Star mention of Fred elicited many affectionate reader reminiscences leading to a lengthy article published on May 12th, 1988 entitled 'Fred: Toff in A Shed'. And talking of sheds...

The Dancing Shed at Norman's Lane, Sutton

Dancing Shed in St.Helens newspaper cutting

Did you hear about St.Helens Junction's dancing shed that fell through? Well it never actually got off the ground! A report in the St.Helens Newspaper of May 11th, 1886 entitled 'The Dancing Shed at Norman's Lane, Sutton' revealed how a Mrs. Morecroft had attempted to apply for a dancing licence for a shed on behalf of her sick husband. As seven people had turned up to object, the Bench refused to allow an adjournment and Mrs. Morecroft was informed that "the application would fall through". Of course it's quite possible that the application was for people to dance in a shed...rather than for a shed to dance...but who knows!

Sutton Trivia & True Facts in Brief...

Greedy John Brown of Sutton ate himself to death! He belonged to a lodge of Odd-Fellows who on July 28th 1851 held a dinner. Brown had eaten nothing on the previous day in order to enjoy a good “blow out” at the 'do', which he certainly did. He was reported as having eaten an “enormous quantity of the good things” and immediately after indulging went into a neighbouring house, sat on a chair and expired. The jury at his inquest ruled that death was through eating to excess. What an odd fellow he truly was!

In June 1926 locals in Clock Face, including striking colliers playing mouth organs, gathered at a coppice to listen to a nightingale sing. On the first night when 50 people were present the nightingale sang from 11pm until the early hours. Word soon spread through the village and 400 people assembled late the next night to listen to a special concert. And what happened? Absolutely nothing. Not even a tweet! Isn’t that always the case?

This a true tale of toad in the hole from August 1864 when a miner at Ravenhead colliery called John Elliott hacked off a 9 inch square of coal and discovered a live toad embedded within. It was not possible to extract the poor little thing and Elliott took the coal and toad home and crowds flocked to see it. A man then offered him the huge sum of 10 guineas to buy the piece.

Two lucky tenants from Leonard Street in Sutton received the surprise of their lives in May 1925. Few folk could say they benefited from the scourge of mining subsidence, but these two families did. In 1922 the walls of their houses began to crack and bulge, the floors slanted and the doors became twisted. So their landlord carried out £60 of repairs (about £2000 in today’s money) on the 30-years-old houses, described as ‘roomy cottage’ types. However St.Helens Corporation weren't happy and told him to do more. So the fed-up landlord offered the pair of houses to the Congregational Church to use as prizes in a bazaar. They declined his generous offer, so the weary landlord gave them away to his shocked tenants.

On May 7th 1902 St.Helens Town Council discussed improving the post in the Sutton district. The town clerk had mailed a letter to the Post Office about Sutton’s postal facilities more than 18 months earlier but was still waiting for a reply! The clerk told the meeting that the “Postmaster-General’s business must be managed in a very curious fashion.”

On July 10th 1897 Christopher Dingsdale severed an artery in his arm by opening a ginger beer bottle. The glass bottle burst and the 44-years-old's right arm was severely cut. Fortunately he lived in Marshalls Cross Road, near the Cottage Hospital, so was able to quickly get medical help.

Coroner Samuel Brighouse said at an inquest on January 5th 1888 that the appearance of Peter MacDermott was the best joke that he had heard for some time. This was because the beerhouse keeper of 70 Watery Lane had turned up in person to present a note from Sutton's Dr. Edward Casey. This excused the 60-years-old from jury duty claiming he was suffering from bronchitis which prevented him from leaving the house.

Larger than life bottlemaker Samuel Whitfield came a cropper at Cannington Shaw after sitting on a form. The 45-years-old, who weighed 24 stone, was said to have been one of their best workers and arriving early for his shift on June 22nd 1914, he decided to have a smoke. The form he sat on gave way and Whitfield fell backwards down a hole that was ten feet deep. He was severely injured and died in St.Helens Hospital three weeks later.

Next: Part 67) Clog Clatters in Old Sutton; | Research Sources

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