Category: History

Bollington in WW2

Do YOU remember Bollington in, or just after World War 2?

Could you help?

Today’s primary school children are now learning about the Second World War. This includes the primary schools in Bollington. Do you have memories about what it was like in Bollington? Perhaps your parents or grandparents were involved in the military or other war-related or reserved occupations at that time. Do remember food rationing – it continued until 4 July 1954!)?

Some stories:

Someone invented “Window” – strips of coated paper dropped from aircraft to confuse enemy radar. Did you know that this was made in Bollington?

Many homes were still lit by gaslight. If there was an air-raid warning, Bollington Town Gas Works would reduce the pressure in the main. The lights in peoples’ houses would flicker and they would know to make sure that no lights were showing through the windows as a target for bomber aircraft. (The brickworks in Pott Shrigley weren’t on Bollington town gas, so they didn’t get the message. But they did get a bomb – probably left over from a raid on Manchester.)

If you have some stories, or ration books, or identity cards, or medals, or…
please contact Ken Edwards at the Town Hall on 01625 571126 or email him at ken.edwards@bollinqton-tc.gov.uk.

You could help our local school children understand more about their local, national, and international history.

St John’s Church Choir – 1965(ish)

The picture includes the curate Revd John Richard Haynes, who was at St John’s from 1963 to 1967, so the picture must be from that period.

Back Row from left: Christopher Patrick, Guy Gorham, ?, Frank Pegg, Fred Hutchinson, Frank Green, ? , John Brogden, Gwilym Humphreys, ?

Middle row from left: Pat Kershaw, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Harry Holland, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Jaqueline Clayton (Pengelly)

Front row from left: ?, ?, Edward Heaps?, ?, ?, Geoff Newcombe, Revd J St H Mullett, Albert Clayton, Revd J R Haynes, Barry Patrick?, Hedley Patrick.

More detail: Guy Gorham was the great-grandson of Revd George Cornelius Gorham, who caused a great controversy in the Church of England in 1847 when he was accused of holding Calvanistic views on Baptism (“The Gorham Case“). Fred Hutchinson was a Police Constable. Gwilym Humphreys was headmaster of St John’s School. Harry Holland was the verger. Edward Heaps was the organist (and is presumably third from left in the front row, wearing an organist’s sleeveless surplice). Geoff Newcombe and Albert Clayton were the wardens. Revd John Haynes went to Rhodesia/Zimbabwe for 20 years from 1970 before returning to the UK as vicar of Bishop’s Stortford. He retired to Scarborough where he died in 2016. You can read more about Revd John St Hilary MULLETT and other former vicars here.

If YOU can supply any more details about the photo, please let us know.

Our Parish Registers online

It is now possible to research a number of our parish registers on our main website here. The available records include:

Baptisms at St John’s, St Oswald’s and Holy Trinity Kerridge from 1834 to 2006 – a total of nearly 7,600 records.

Marriages at St John’s from 1838 to 1959 and St Oswald’s from 1937 to 1954 – a total of over 1,470 records. (There were no marriages at St Oswald’s before 1937, and no marriages at all at Holy Trinity Kerridge.) For the time being it is NOT proposed to publish more recent marriage records online for Data Protection reasons.

Burials at St John’s Churchyard and Columbarium from 1835 to 2017 – a total of about 8,000 records.

Memorial Inscriptions at St John’s Churchyard and Columbarium from 1835 to 2017 – over 1,400 records.

 

 

Are you in this picture?

While researching for the page on Former Vicars of Bollington, this picture was obtained from the Bollington Photo Archive. It shows a group outside the former Holy Trinity Church, Kerridge.

There are two clergymen in the picture. On the left is Revd Reginald Norton Betts (vicar 1929-1937) standing next to Revd John Kingdon (vicar 1937 to 1947). We think that the picture was taken about 1946.

If you can name other people in the picture or fix the date or occasion, please let us know by e-mail.

The Dedication of the Columbarium 30 November 1961

The first interments of cremated remains took place in the newly created Columbarium in 1958, but the “official” Dedication Service took place in 1961.

Towards the left of the picture is Albert Clayton, holding his Churchwarden’s staff. Next to him is Revd Michael Culliford curate (who lived in St Oswald’s House, Bollington Cross). The Bishop of Chester was Rt Revd Gerald Ellison (who went on to be Bishop of London). Next to the Bishop is Revd John St Hilary Mullett vicar, and next to him is Revd Trevor Hill curate. The man in the dark cassock towards the right of the photo is Harry Holland verger.

New War Memorial Extension

The original Bollington War Memorial was dedicated in November 1920. It is a simple sandstone cross with names inscribed around the base. At that time it was not envisaged that space for additional names would be needed only a couple of decades later, so the WW2 names had to be added wherever they would fit. The memorial is beginning to suffer from weathering of the relatively soft sandstone.
As part of the Commemoration of the Centenary of the outbreak of World War 1, it was decided to raise funds to renovate or upgrade our Bollington War Memorial. Experts advised that attempting to re-inscribe names on the existing sandstone was not a viable option. It was therefore decided to create an extension to the original memorial in the form of two panels positioned so as to “guard” the old memorial, which will remain in position.
Extensive research was carried out to find the names of World War casualties from Bollington who had not been included on the original memorial, as well as making a couple of corrections to names that had been wrongly inscribed previously. A committee was formed to decide upon the final list of names. The new panels show the missing names as well as those of all the casualties commemorated on the original memorial. Space has been left in case any additional casualties’ names need to be added in future.
A substantial grant was provided by Cheshire East Council. Bollington Town Council also provided a grant and the Mayor’s Fund (Councillor Amanda Stott) was dedicated to the project. Other funds were provided by members of the public. The stone came from Sycamore Quarries, the engraving was carried out by William Warburton and construction of the extension was by John Drabble & Son.
A new War Memorial extension at Bollington has been installed in the War Memorial Gardens. This includes all the names on the existing War Memorial (including a few corrections), as well as names of local WW1 casualties whose names were not previously listed. The two lists of names stand like two companies of soldiers guarding the old memorial.
The memorial extension was officially inaugurated at a short ceremony on Sunday 11 October 2015.
In the late summer sunshine, the old memorial casts its shadow across one of the new guardians. No breeze disturbs the Union Flag in the Memorial Gardens.

The War Memorial in 1920
The War Memorial in 1920