An Illustrated History of Old Sutton in St.Helens Part 40 (of 41)
Downloads of 'Clog Clatters in Old Sutton' by Frank Bamber
'Clog
Clatters in Old Sutton' is
the late Frank Bamber's remarkable recollections of life
in old Sutton. Frank (pictured right in 1928 in
between pals Wilf Wilson and Les Fairclough in Walkers
Lane)
was born in 1910 at 64 Edgeworth Street and in his
169-page memoir, vividly brings to life the people and
places of pre-war Sutton. It's a wonderful read and I am
delighted to make his book freely available, completely
unedited, by arrangement with the Sutton Historic
Society.
It was mainly written in the late 1980s and just ten books were published in 1995. One copy is deposited with the St.Helens Local History & Archives Library and others reside with family members. Some chapters contain photographs and you can view them all by clicking on their individual titles below. Thanks to Simon Speight for his invaluable assistance. SRW
254kb, 10 pages Introduction and
Dedication; Poem on old Sutton; Contents; List of
illustrations
348kb, 6 pages Frank's Grandparents, Uncle
Jim and the Brewers House
377kb, 6 pages Early recollections from
1910; Sutton Bond; Tragedies of the First World War;
Food including 'dip butties' and newly-baked bread
717kb, 12 pages The Tip; Sutton National
Infants School 1914-17; Old skipping songs; W.M. Keats;
Smelting Contribution
115kb, 10 pages Sutton 'Nash' Boys and
Girls Schools 1917 to 1924; Children's games; Owd
Fletcher’s Abattoir; 'The Cocks and Feighting at
back ot Church'; School brook; Show field
176kb, 8 pages Boys School; Clergy and
Religion in Sutton; Churches and Chapels; Visits to the
vicarage; Bare fist fights and the peace makers;
Preachers John Kitts and Chippy Southern
98kb, 5 pages Aspects of Sunday on various
Sutton people; Powder Works and Charles Davey &
Co.; Sunday evening walks
995kb, 17 pages “Bart a Dart”;
Industry; Sutton folk; Gambling; Col. Michael Hughes;
Bank House; Thompson family and steam engine; Tommy's
gold sovereign
94kb, 5 pages 1917 to 1924 at Sutton National;
Boys school teachers; “Owd Tolly and Owd
Joe”
90kb, 5 pages Clothes and the last top
hats; The funeral of a soldier; Lather boys; The Red
Rat
594kb, 9 pages Freedom and fresh air, for
free; Joe Doff's; Pudding Bag; Convent House
492kb, 8 pages Intersection bridge; The
Old Sand Hole; Runcorn Gap bridges; Leach Hall; Sutton
Leach district; Engine and Tender; Wheatsheaf Hotels;
Long Lane
90kb, 4 pages Pudding Bag bridge; The
Strappers; Battery Cob
258kb, 4 pages Abbots Field; The Harstone
in Sutton Park; Marshalls Cross
414kb, 6 pages Bold Hall Estate; William
Whitacre Tipping; Maypole Cottages; Cock fighting; Bold
Hall Treasuries
381kb, 6 pages Parr; Bold and Sutton Moss;
Bold Colliery 1876 to 1986; the old Cricket Ground; Mr.
Barrow “The Firelight Man”;
“Croddying”
184kb, 3 pages 1917, the race and ice
cracking at Billy Wood’s Pottery; Moss Brook; Our
Nell’s Jack and Arthur Mills
70kb, 1 page The Old Bonk “Thowd
Bonk”; Barton Bank Colliery; Trench digging by
the Pals
401kb, 6 pages Edgeworth Street as it was;
The Shops; The Dairies; The Farms; The Window Game;
Victoria Vaults “The Little Pig”; The Tin
Chapel; The Conservative Club
74kb, 2 pages Knocks on our door;
“Thowd Jews Ere”; Bessie Haddock
254kb, 4 pages The Stump; Washdays; Jim
Haddock’s savings; Games in Edgeworth Street
82kb, 2 pages Edward Borrows, locomotive
& steam crane builder; John Smith, St. Anne’s
Villa and benefactor; St.Helens Railway engineer James
Cross; H.W. Johnson PLC; Allan Bartons
299kb, 4 pages “Owd Bally”
John Whittaker; Neill’s Row Bold; Bally's three
companions; Lewis’s suits at 30 shillings;
37” wide doors at Capper Neill’s Bold
conference room
168kb, 26 pages 22 poems many by Frank
Bamber, including 'A Walk O’er Thowd Moss', 'Owd
Ike Ashton', 'Bold Moss: Owd Aincient Moss', 'Four
Score Years in Old Sutton Town', 'John Smith,
Benefactor', 'Sutton Empire', 'Junction Lane' etc.
