In August 1957, a delegation of Young Christian Workers from Warrington set off on a pilgrimage to Rome. The delegation included the Rev. Father P F Videl, curate at St Benedict’s Church, Anne Postlethwaite (older sister of the late actor Pete Postlethwaite) and Sheila Crawshaw, mother of Warrington History Society member Lynn Smith. On the way back from Rome, the group were involved in a serious train crash from which they were lucky to escape with their lives. After coming across some photographs in her mothers’ belongings and a Warrington Guardian newspaper article (transcribed below), Lynn wanted to share the story of their lucky escape with the Society.

The gathering of pilgrims in Rome that the Warrington party attended in August 1957.

Following is Lynn’s transcription of the Warrington Guardian article first published on Friday 30th August 1957 (an image of the original article appears at the foot of this page).

Mothers and girl friends wept with relief and joy as a train carrying the Warrington pilgrims who were involved in a French rail smash steamed into a crowded Bank Quay Station yesterday (Thursday).

For hours relatives and friends had waited anxiously without official news of the smash or the reported outbreak of Asian flu in the party.

Some had been on the station for nearly two hours when the pilgrims from Rome, tired but in good spirits, arrived 30 minutes late from London.  People moved quickly forward searching for relatives and news of those who had remained behind in hospital.

Seven of the 95 strong party that left Warrington 11 days ago for the first international rally of the Young Christian Workers movement, were missing.

Ann Postlethwaite, an 18 year old typist, of 101 Norris Street, Orford, is in hospital in France with bruises and a facial injury sustained when the train in which they were returning home was derailed near Saint Dixier, 100 miles east of Paris, on Tuesday night.

Six others are in Dover hospitals with injuries and one, Pat Fairclough, of Albert Road, Grappenhall, with suspected Asian flu.

A view of crash site in France.

One of the heroes of the crash was 21 year old Albert Lloyd, a student priest, of 5 Ford Street, who lay on his back in broken glass to allow girls to scramble over him to safety.  He was in hospital with back lacerations.

The others in hospital are Mary Crosby (28), 56 Leigh Street (suspected rib injury), Dorothy Sheldon, 65 Shaw Avenue (strained back) and Ruth Lawless (18) Pierpoint Street (detained for observation).

A 27 year old invalid, Joan Porter, 133 Padgate Lane, was uninjured in the crash but had a heart attack afterwards and remained in London to return home by ambulance.

The Rev Father P F Videl, curate at St Benedict’s Church, exhausted and unshaven – he had not been to bed for four days – was one of the last to leave the station after comforting parents and giving the latest news.

Still suffering from the strain and effects of her injuries, 19 year old Victoria Hogan, 16 Halsall Avenue, Orford, was in tears as she was greeted by her mother.

With her head swathed in bandages, she was taken to the Infirmary with 17 year old John Carroll – the smash occurred on his birthday – of 39 Fothergill Street, who complained of a sprained back.

Vivid descriptions of the smash and the courage of the pilgrims and Mr Lloyd were give by members of the party.

Katherine Carroll, aged 18, of 39 Fothergill Street, said Mr Lloyd, recovering from the impact of the crash, thought only of the safety of the girls.

“He lay on his back on the broken glass from smashed windows and allowed the girls to scramble over him to be lifted out of the carriage by other boys,” said Kathleen.

“He acted as a human bridge.  The girls had no shoes on and could not get out because of the glass”

The party of Warrington YWC members who visited Rome in 1957. Sheila Crawshaw is sat on the left hand side of the second row wearing a white cap.

Allan Boyle (23) of 31 Hillfields Road, Orford, said the spirit of the Y.C.W’s was magnificent.

“There was no panic,” he said, “We were travelling about 60-80 mph when it happened.”

“One coach, carrying part of the Warrington party, rolled down a short embankment. Another coach was off the line and our coach was leaning against a telegraph pole!

The smash occurred miles from any town in pitch darkness. A relief train arrived and it was later that Asian ‘flu was suspected and 52 of the 800 pilgrims on the train isolated.

Audrey Ryan (24) of Long Lane, was in the coach that toppled over.

“It was an absolute miracle that no one was seriously hurt,” she said, ”The boys in the party were absolutely marvellous.  Everyone remained calm and there as a grand spirit.”

Two British doctors on the train were tending the injured within minutes.

A French railway spokesman said the engine, tender and eight of the 12 coaches jumped the rails.  Passengers waited five hours by the track before the relief train arrived.  All the coaches were made of steel.

If they had been made of wood, many would surely have been killed.

DURING World War 2, many local women were sent to the Royal Ordnance Factory at Risley to fill and prime bombs that were needed for the war effort. There were 16 such sites around the country and Risley was known as Filling Factory No. 6. It was dangerous work for all concerned. One lady who was sent there was Mabel Dutton of Atherton. Here, in a chapter taken from his superb autobiography The Thirty-Bob Kid, her son Dave Dutton gives an insight into what life was like there.

A old map of Risley’s Royal Ordnance Factory which has been overlaid on a recent satellite image (Courtesy of Paul Oakes).

Originally, Mam was supposed to work at a local engineering factory but when she went to the local Labour Exchange, she was told she was being sent to the Royal Ordnance Factory at Risley, near Warrington which was 11 miles away. That was heartstoppingly bad news.

Under the tuition of experts from Woolwich Arsenal, hundreds of thousands of bombs and mines were made there, mainly by young women conscripted from surrounding towns who packed the bomb cases with explosives.

It was a massive countryside site covering around 1,000 acres which had taken 18 months to build and was chosen because it was on Risley Moss and often covered in mist: thus providing cover from the German bombers who amazingly never managed to find it during the whole course of the war.

Mabel Dutton with her son Dave.

At the tender age of 19 she was thus forced by law under threat of imprisonment to work at this virtual hellhole of a place and, even worse, was allocated Group One which was nicknamed the Suicide Squad on account of the many poor unfortunate girls and women who had been blown up, killed; maimed or blinded in that department. She didn’t realise that she had been sent to the worst place possible in Risley.

There, she was given the task of working with highly volatile explosives making detonators. She noted that the woman who accompanied her as a guide on the first day only had one hand and a finger missing off the other one!

On young Mabel’s first afternoon there, she was put in the Experimental Shop where she had to test the powder by weighing it on brass scales and sealing detonators one at a time, wearing only goggles and leather gauntlets for protection. Think of that for a moment.

A teenage girl, miles away from home is given a job that could blast her to bits at any moment with only gloves and goggles to keep her “safe”. Health and Safety then? Forget it.

She was just a kid who, like many others at the time, was forced by the Government to work in munitions because had she refused, she would indeed have been thrown in jail. She told me she often fretted if the bombs she had worked on had killed innocent women and children, which they probably had.

One day she was given a mysterious red box to carry while one person walked in front of her and one behind waving red flags to warn people to keep their distance. She revealed: “I didn’t know what I was carrying. There was a massive explosion from an adjoining room. I dropped the box in shock and was horrified to see a young woman thrown through a window with her stomach hanging out. I was sickened. Luckily, for some reason, the box, which contained detonators, did not explode or we would have had our legs blown off’

When she got home that evening, she told her sisters Alice and Phyllis she was never going back to Risley. They laughed sardonically because they knew she had no choice.

Sometimes, German planes flew over Risley speculatively dropping incendiary bombs and flares to light up the sky for the bomber planes. Mam had the job of banging furiously on a big metal triangle to warn everyone to hurry into the shelter, then follow them all in afterwards. The last person in.

The pressure proved too much for some of the young conscripts. One poor girl went mad and put detonators under her fellow workers’ lavatory seats. Luckily, Mam said they had been told to lift the board up with their feet for hygiene reasons and in this way a terrible fate was avoided.

Strange things happened there in the dark and mist. There was a resident ghost of a lady called Madam Weatherby, who had been murdered centuries before, which was seen on many occasions. She also told me of two Irish girls who ran in one night very upset claiming they had seen two banshees wailing on top of a workshop. These were spirits which presaged a disaster. Sure enough, shortly afterwards, that building had been blown up with the loss of the life of a young man from Mam’s home town and many others were injured.

Some of the Suicide Squad – Mabel, second left, with some of her Risley Munitions workmates.

The Risley women wore smart functional uniforms consisting of white trousers and a coat with a mandarin collar and buttoned down front. In the canteen, they had lunchtime concerts to relieve the stress and some of the bosses joined in.

Once as a treat, some Max Factor makeup artists came over from Hollywood demonstrating the latest lipstick and pancake makeup and gave free samples to the very grateful young ladies. But these lighter moments could have hardly compensated for the constant threat of death and injury.

If there was an explosion in the magazine or workshops, they had to go immediately to the canteen for a cup of tea and two cigarettes while clearing up operations took place. The other girls begged Mabel for her fags as, up to then, she didn’t smoke.

One day, a young girl came into Mam’s workshop to sharpen a pencil. She had just gone out when there was a loud explosion. Everyone except Mabel rushed out to see what had happened. The girl had just walked in through the door of the other workshop when the explosion happened and to steady herself, she put her hands on the wall. One hand dropped off, along with the fingers of the other hand. She was also blinded. As they wheeled her past on a stretcher, Mabel saw the young girl’s curly auburn hair had turned straight and white. Seeing how shocked Mabel was, a group nurse lit a cigarette and told her to smoke it to calm her nerves. She did the same the following day after another explosion. It was the start of a lifelong habit.

One night, a very tired Mabel was desperately trying not to nod off and was spotted by a fellow worker.
“Here luv. Take one of these” she hissed – slyly slipping Mam a tablet.
“What is it?”
“Get it swallowed. It’ll help you keep awake”.
It was an amphetamine wakey-wakey pill which RAF bomber pilots took on missions to keep them alert.
She said it kept her awake for days afterwards and as far as I know, that’s the last time she ever “dabbled”.

Abridged, from ‘The Thirty Bob Kid’ by Dave Dutton.

Construction began on ROF Risley in August 1939. It was 18 months before the site was fully operational but bombs were produced there from September 1940. After WW2, the site allegedly (according to Wikipedia) became the design offices and laboratories for the UK’s fledgling nuclear weapons and nuclear power programmes. Birchwood Forest Park now stands where much of ROF Risley stood. 

The Thirty Bob Kid by Dave Dutton is available now from Amazon. Born to Mabel, a single mum who worked in a Lancashire cotton mill and lived in a two up two down in a cobbled street, the book takes us on a journey through the many phases of Dave’s career from journalist to Ken Dodd’s chief joke writer to writing songs for some of the North West’s biggest folk acts and appearing in some of the UK’s biggest soaps and television shows, including Coronation Street and Emmerdale. It is humorous, touching and thought-provoking in equal measure.

A short video that pays tribute to Warrington’s rich industrial past whilst looking forward to a bright, positive future has been produced by a group of Warrington based actors and creatives. The video, entitled ‘This Warrington’ (viewable below),  features the words of Warrington History Society’s Chairman Andy Green and is performed by members of Ludovico Studio’s ‘Class of 2018’.

So how did the project come about?

Said Andy: I was inspired to write the piece after chatting to Darren Jeffries of Ludovico. Darren’s been running acting classes at the Pyramid since 2018. He wanted to produce a collaborative piece with his students that summed up the feeling of positivity he feels is running through the town. He knew that I too was a proud Warringtonian who’d done some writing in the past and wondered if I had anything that would be suitable.”

Andy said he went home that night and wrote ‘This Warrington’ in around two hours.

“I’m a little older than Darren and have witnessed some significant changes in the town, some of which haven’t necessarily been for the best. That said, I believe Warrington is in a very good place; new buildings are going up, there’s a renewed focus on the town’s arts and culture scene, opinions are being sought and people appear to be being listened to.

“However, I think it’s really important when looking to the future that we respect our past. As someone who is very interested in local history I know Warrington wouldn’t be the place it is today without the hard work of those that have gone before. I wanted to ensure my words acknowledged this.”

Andy said he started thinking about how different generations react to change.

“When the heavy industries of the 19th century that helped shape Warrington disappeared a lot of people wondered what was in store for them. But as time progressed people adapted and new opportunities presented themselves.

“As well as looking to the future, I wanted the piece to reference the enterprise, education and innovation that has occurred in the town. As Warrington History Society members will know, Warrington is a town that has consistently punched above its weight and long may that continue.”

Click on the logo to listen to Andy Green and Darren Jeffries discuss the story behind Ludovico Studio’s ‘This Warrington’ project (audio courtesy of Radio Warrington 1332AM).

Andy, foreground, pictured with Darren Jeffries, back row right, and other members of Ludovico Studio’s Class of 2018. (Picture courtesy of the Warrington Guardian).

Alfred Forster on one of his Warrington made Fairfield motorcycles.

OVER the years Warrington has earned its reputation as “the town of many industries” with history books often quoting glass making, beer brewing, soap boiling, wire weaving, tanning and even ship-building as significant local industries.

But thanks to Warrington History Society another trade can now be added to the list – motorcycle-making!

Granted, it only occurred on a small scale, but as the images on this page testify, it produced some very impressive specimens.

The trade was unearthed following an email to our Chairman Andy Green from a Yorkshire based auction house. The email, from auctioneer Andrew Spicer, read: “I’ve been asked to sell an early motorcycle that was made in Warrington and wonder if you have any records of the firm or the man who made it?”

Enclosing some photographs, Andrew went on to say the machine in question was a 1914 ‘Fairfield’ made by Alfred Forster of 41 Mersey Street and that he believed production ended in 1915 possibly due to the outbreak of war.

Warrington History Society took to its archives and Facebook to see if any additional light could be thrown on the man or the machine. A day or so later relative Lynda Bushell got in touch.

Said Lynda: “The name Alfred Forster rang a bell from my family tree which I researched a few years back. I’m related to Alf through my dad’s Uncle and I’ve actually got some pictures of Alf and his son on two separate Fairfield motorcycles.”

Another lady Elizabeth Cartledge contacted us from Australia to say she too was related to Alf through her husband. Both Lynda and Elizabeth had an old press-cutting that threw more light on the Warrington-born Inventor.

The cutting, dated 1962, revealed Mr Forster had worked in the motor trade for around 50 years and that during this time he had brought out “the well known Fairfield motorcycle which sold for 25 pounds.”

Our additional research revealed that the Fairfield was produced for a total of two years (1914-1915). All models were fitted with a 269CC Villiers two-stroke engine with Druid forks. Purchasers could opt for either direct belt drive or an Armstrong three-speed hub.

It appears Alfred, who was born in Warrington in 1885, also made three-wheel cars for the article quotes him as saying: “When I bought out my first three-wheeler car people wanted to back me but I wouldn’t have any of it. I decided going into production on a large scale wasn’t for me. I believed the car industry was going to be plagued with money and labour troubles and I’ve been proved right.”

Alf’s son on another Fairfield motorcycle.

Instead of accepting investment and the possibility of big bucks, the “sprightly inventor” carried on making his Fairfield motorcycle – possibly called Fairfield because of his workshop’s Mersey Street location in Howley & Fairfield – before later switching to selling and repairing cycles until his retirement in 1949.

Although originally employed as a wire galvaniser’s labourer in Warrington, it seems Alfred perfected his engineering skills working on the first UK-manufactured Model T Ford which was assembled at Trafford Park, Manchester in 1911/12. Indeed, in later life, aged 77, Alfred was given a VIP tour around Ford’s new Halewood Plant as a thank you for his contribution.

The article concluded by saying that even though Alfred’s eyesight was failing he was now working on a special kind of tin opener that he was hoping to patent!

“That was apparently Alf all over,” said Lynda. “A relative told me he was always tinkering about with something.”

Alfred died in 1970 aged 85. It is not known how many Fairfield motorcycles he made but at least one unrestored version is still in existence. It was owned by Alf until 1950 when he sold it to a gentleman in Grappenhall. This is the machine that will be auctioned by Andrew Spicer of Dee, Atkinson & Harrison on 3 November 2018.

Andrew has kindly offered to bring the motorcycle to a future Warrington History Society meeting for local history and/or motorcycle enthusiasts to look at before it is auctioned. If we manage to organise this it will be an opportunity to see a rare and once forgotten piece of Warrington’s history in the town in which it was made.

The Fairfield that is being auctioned later this year.

ABOUT WARRINGTON HISTORY SOCIETY
Established in 1964, Warrington History Society’s aim is to encourage an interest in all aspects of local history with particular reference to Warrington and its surrounding areas. Our 2018/19 lecture programme can be found here.

With all of the development work currently taking place in the town centre, we thought it might be a good time to look back at what certain parts of Warrington looked like in the 1980s. This was another period of significant change which was thankfully caught on camera by keen photographer and Warrington History Society member Alan Spiers. We hope you enjoy Alan’s pictures.

Making way for Golden Square – Market Gate and Horsemarket Street looking towards Sankey Street. Although Holy Trinity Church still stands, the water tower is now gone.

Before the new bus station was built: Golborne Street looking towards New Town House. Notice the C&A sign on the top right of the relatively new Golden Square shopping complex.

Work on the Winwick Road/Lythgoes Lane junction brings a new view of  Tetley Walkers Brewery to pedestrians on Orford Lane. You can also make out the edge of the old Co-op Hall building  on the right. Both buildings have now gone.

Looking North from Mersey Street/Bridge Foot. The old Times Square car park is on the right. Taken from the site of the old Weighbridge.

Warrington Bridge looking towards Chester Road and Gartons. The River Mersey is a lot cleaner today!

A view of Warrington’s old Roller Rink building from Winmarleigh Street.

Taken from Dial Street – Buttermarket Street shops (just down from St Marys Church). How many people had a chippy tea or lunch from Harry’s Fish Bar? They did magic Burgers there.

Battersby Lane and Fennel Street road widening from Cockhedge.

Shops on Winwick Road across the road and a little further down from Central Station. Did anyone else play Space Invaders in the Amusement Arcade on the right?

Before Tesco. This picture was taken from Dallam Lane. The building with the clock was part of the old Tetley Walker brewery complex.

WARRINGTON HISTORY SOCIETY
Established in 1964, Warrington History Society’s aim is to encourage an interest in all aspects of local history with particular reference to Warrington and its surrounding areas. Our latest lecture programme can be viewed here.

Can you add any more information to the images shown above? If so please email it to warringtonhistorysociety@gmail.com

What follows is a true story.  It was told in a Sermon given in Florida, USA, on Christmas Eve 1998 but relates to an incident that took place many Christmases earlier at St Mary’s RC Church in Warrington…

St Mary’s RC Church, Buttermarket Street, Warrington.

“THERE was a prisoner-of-war camp near the town of Warrington, England, during World War II. Like all English towns during the war years, Warrington was blacked out at night to avert possible enemy air attacks. When Christmas approached, no coloured lights lit up trees and windows. And so, as the Catholics of Warrington trudged through the streets on Christmas Eve to Midnight Mass, no Christmas lights lit their way.

Fr. Martin Rochford, St Mary’s Parish Priest from 1942-1953.

“By 11:30 the church was filled up except for the front three rows on each side. Promptly at 11:50, a group of German and Italian prisoners of war filed into Church, flanked by armed guards, and filled the empty rows. At 11:55 Father Martin Rochford, the parish priest, appeared and announced to the congregation that he had bad news. The Mass would have to be celebrated without music. The Parish’s only organist had taken ill. A groan rose up from the congregation. At this point a German prisoner turned to a guard and said something. The guard went up and spoke to Fr. Rochford. The Priest nodded his head in agreement. Then the prisoner went over to the organ and sat down.

“Slowly and reverently he began to play in a way that brought tears to the eyes of everyone in the church. That night, despite the darkened streets and windows, the spirit of Christmas lit up the town of Warrington in a way that the people would never forget. That night in Warrington, people – friends and enemies – saw each other as God intended them to be: a symbol of one family.

“That night in Warrington, the light of a great star, the spirit of Jesus, lit up the dark countryside. That night in Warrington, the words of the prophet Isaiah, from the first reading of the Midnight Mass, came alive for the people of Warrington in a beautiful way.

“Isiah wrote: ‘The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom, a light has shone’. {Isaiah 9:1}”

Bill Wilson

The above Sermon was given by Father Joseph W. Nealin at Holy Redeemer RC Church, Palm City, Florida, USA on Christmas Eve 1998. Bill Wilson, a former Staff Sergeant at Burtonwood Airbase, was present at the service. Recalled Bill: “I was a Staff Sergeant when I served at Burtonwood in 1952-53. I was at Site 4, Headquarters Squadron. I must say that when the sermon was given, I was completely surprised at its content. After Mass I went to the Priest who had just given it and he was delighted that he met someone who was stationed at the Base in Warrington. He gladly gave me a copy and it has become one of my Burtonwood Treasures”.  

Warrington History Society believes the Priest’s story is a memory we all should treasure, whatever our religious (or non-religious) inclinations. Happy Christmas to one and all.

Inside St Mary’s RC Church (today known as St Mary’s Shrine), Buttermarket Street, Warrington (from Wikipedia).

Warrington History Society was established in 1964. Our aim is to encourage an interest in aspects of local history. Our 2018/19 lecture programme includes talks on Warrington’s gas industry, the Rylands family and William Beamont. For further information and joining details visit warringtonhistorysociety.uk

With thanks/acknowledgements to Aldon Ferguson of the RAF Burtonwood Association, Bill Wilson (former S/Sgt USAF), Andrea Kelly and Father de Malleray, current Rector at St Mary’s Shrine.

Another view of the church, taken on Maundy Thursday, 2018.