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Wheelton, home of the Snapes
A picture published in Flashback of a man standing with a vintage car outside a shop in Wheelton sparked memories for one Chorley councillor.
For Ralph Snape, who hails from Wheelton, recognised him as Leslie Smith who lived in Victoria Terrace, Wheelton, and ran a taxi business in the village.
He was pictured outside Marsden's butchers shop, which was near Scotsons Cottage which can still be seen in the village.
Coun Snape, who now lives in Chorley, said he lived right opposite in what was then called Spring Bank, but is now Blackburn Road.
He said: "Blackburn Road only came into being when the bypass was built.
"I lived at 4 Spring Bank, which became 221 Blackburn Road, and the other side was Kirkman Row, with Fox's Folly from Lower Wheelton to Higher Wheelton. Why it was called that I don't know."
Mr Smith is pictured on another photo owned by Coun Snape and taken outside Heapey Parish Church, St Barnabas, in the late 1940s.
"Leslie Smith is on the left, he was the choirmaster and the organist pictured right, is Sylvia Rigby," added the councillor. "Bob Snape (no relation), back left, plays a lot of cricket and the choirboy on the front right is Jack Snape, who's my cousin and now living in Croston.
"The choirboy on the left is Robert Snape and the one second from the left is a Snape, but neither are relatives. In Wheelton you were either a Snape or no-one!
"Also on the picture was John Patefield, the tall man centre, back row, who used to work for the council and still lives in Wheelton and on the back row, second from the right, is the only one in Wheelton to become Mayor and get the MBE – me!"
Coun Snape also brought in a picture of Wheelton School taken about 1935. He is pictured on the front row, the only boy in a row of girls.
"Mrs Cadman was the teacher and back row on the left is Frank Gillibrand, then Harry Kendal who became an ambulance driver, back row on the right, the blond boy, is Geoff Jackson who became a doctor.
"There were two cloggers. One, Harold Slater, was underneath the house at 1 Spring Bank. The other, who I'm pictured with as a young lad, was Harold Tomlinson who was nicknamed 'Putty' but why I don't know.
"The undertaker was Billy Tomlinson who was the only one who had a car apart from Geoff Jackson whose dad Jimmy had a shop and became chairman of the Rural District Council.
"There were four cake shops in Wheelton, plus a Busy Bee, Marsden's Butchers and the main butcher was Cowburn's in Blackburn Brow next to the Post Office which was run by Mrs Holt.
"The majority of people worked at Victoria Mill, a cotton mill built by Joshua Hoyle and Peter Todd."
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Weather for Chorley
Saturday 04 February 2012
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Light snow
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