REDDISH VALE COUNTRY PARK STOCKPORT

[OLLY]

ANOTHER SITE OF A COUNTRY PARK THAT ALOT OF MEMBERS PROBABLY VISITED WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG:-


reddishvale.moonfruit.com/

[bilco]

Hi Olly, the Reddish Vale site brought lots of memories back. We used to walk there many times with a bottle of pop and some jam butties (if we had any jam) from Trust Rd. over Mellands, past the golf course and up Windmill Lane. Never counted the arches under the viaduct 'cos it was unlucky. Not forgetting Bluebell Valley and Denton Woods, a great place to do your courting lol.

[OLLY]

HIYA BILCO.........I WAS BORN ON TRUST ROAD.....NUMBER 8...THEN MOVED TO DARRAS....WHEN A WERE SIX MONTHS OLD

[OLLY]

YOUR RIGHT ABOUT COUNTING THE ARCHES ....THEY WERE UNLUCKY...........BUT I DID MANY A TIME AND I WAS OK......16 THERE WAS....... ;D ;D

[bilco]

Hi Olly, small world innit! I lived at44 until I got married. then moved to one of those big old semis opposite the monkey bridge by the side of Sacred Heart. Believe it's a drop in centre now. I've still got family on Unwin Ave.

Bill

[OLLY]

KNEW ALOT BY FACE ONLY IN UNWIN........BRIAN GREATHEAD...
WAS AT SPOGGER WITH ME...HIS DAD WORKED FOR THE ESTATE I THINK AS A PAINTER......DID YOU REMEMBER JACK ROWLAND ON DARRAS.......HE FINISHED UP A WRESTER.....BUT DIED PRETTY YOUNG........

[OLLY]

YOU LIVED 44 WHERE BILCO TRUST OR DARRAS....? ;D

bilco said:

Hi Olly, small world innit! I lived at44 until I got married. then moved to one of those big old semis opposite the monkey bridge by the side of Sacred Heart. Believe it's a drop in centre now. I've still got family on Unwin Ave.

Bill

[Casso]

Thanks for the website Olly, although it must be 50 years since I last saw Reddish Vale, and apart from the arches there was b****r all I recognised. All I really remember is swimming at the weir.

The last time I was there would be about 1958 I think, and there was a ski run being constructed of straw - no snow so you ski'd over the straw - anyone remember that?

Cass

[bilco]

Hi Olly, I used to live in Trust Rd. I dont recall the names you mention but I remember Jack Harney who was a apainter on the estate. Fell off a ladder and was killed as I recall, He married Kath Burns off Darras Rd. My wife used to mind his little lad Johnny who later became Aidan J.Harvey the impressionist. Youur surname's just clicked with me. We used to nick your wood prior to bonfire night. SORRY lol

Bill

[OLLY]

HIYA BILCO.........SO YOU WILL REMEMBER "THE DAVIES`S" ACROSS THE ROAD FROM YOU..........WHAT A FAMILY THEY WERE
MANY A SUNDAY AFTERNOON IVE SEEN MA DAVIES STAGGERING FROM THE "MOUNT".......SHOUTING .....THESE HAVE BROUGHT 5 KIDS UP AS SHE SWUNG HER BOOBS BACK AND FORTH....THATS WALKING DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD AS WELL..... ;D ;D ;D

THE "BARLOWS".. LIVED NEXT DOOR TO THEM.........AND BOTH THERE BACK GARDENS CAME BACK TO BACK WITH OURS WHEN WE WERE ON DARRAS RD........

[OLLY]

HI BILL......... ....JUST SAW YOU ON FRIENDS REUNITED......HAD AN IDEA IT WAS YOUR FAMILY.........HOWS BARBARA GOING ON

ONE OF THE DENNON GIRLS MARRIED A SCOTTISH LAD AND LIVES UP NEAR GREENBANK PARK.........

[OLLY]

HIYA CASSO.......I REMEMBERED THE SKI RUN BEING CONSTRUCTED........A WERE 18 THEN........IT WAS ON THE HILL WHERE SOME OF THE LADS USED TO GO DOWN ON THERE BIKES
..MUST HAVE BEEN MAD........BUT DIDNT GO DOWN AS MUCH THEN
SHOULD SEE THE ESTATES THAT WERE BUILT OFF THE LANE THAT WENT DOWN TO THE "MONEY BRIDGE"......WELL SOUGHT AFTER
WILL GET A PIC AND SEND TO YOU........

[bilco]

Hi Ollly, Yeah I remember the Davies's family, Johnny and Freddie were two of the lads. I believe one of them committed suicide. Barbara, my sis, died a couple of years ago. A close knit community in those days. We even had our own resident "prossie" ;D ;D ;D

Bill

[OLLY]

HI BILCO.....SORRY ABOUT BARBARA.....SHE WAS MY AGE THEN
IT WAS FRED WHO TOPPED HIMSELF.......IT WAS THE OLD GAS THEN..... HE DID IT WIT TH`HEAD IN`TH OVEN JOB THA KNOWS
AND ALL BECAUSE HE GOT HIS CALL UP PAPERS....HALF OUR GANG MISSED IT....AND HALF GOT IT......I MISSED IT....BUT SIGNED
ON FOR SEVEN YEARS........WE WERE CLOSE KNIT BILL......REMEMBER JIMMY SHAW.....HE WORKED FOR THE ESTATE
AND MARRIED A GINGER HAIRED GIRL FROM THE CORNER OF WEMBLEY AND TRUST......
IM IN TOUCH WITH BERT WILLIAMS FROM FORBER CRESCENT
HE WENT TO AUS IN 54.....

[bilco]

Hi Olly, Yes I remember the ginger haired girl. She was one oof the Buckleys. her sister Kath married Eric Bradbury who lived directly opposite on Wembley. Erics's sister Doreen married my brother. Seems almost like inbreeding. No wonder we're all potty ;D

Bill

[OLLY]

HIYA BILL......... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D...YOUR RIGHT MUST HAVE BEEN FUNNY THEM MARRYING THE NEIBOURS

[linda]

well i don't come on often but you two have mentioned so much I had to reply Reddish Vale wa paradise to us kids from gorton . My great Aunt lived on the end house on wembley r Ary Martin my gran lived on the corner of levenshulme Rd Nellie carter then she moved to Colin Ave had a fire and moved tojust behind Our Lady in St Thomas's. My other gran lived on the corner of Fernwood ave They were the donaldsons you have mentioned so many names I recall. Oh well happy days. Ollie my son in law has just made me laugh he said he has joined the oldies brigade because he has become a member of Stanley Street club.

Linda

[bilco]

Hi Linda, Sorry but the names you mention don't ring any bells but it was a long time ago. Does anyone remember Mellands camp being set up at the start of the war? It was a tented city for the army. Later in the war it was used to house Italian prisoners of war. They were allowed out in the evenings to wander the Gorton streets and some were befriended by the locals. At one stage the camp housed anti-aircraft guns and, boy, were they noisy.

Bill

[OLLY]

HIYA BILL........THE YANKS WERE THERE AS WELL AT MELLANDS CAMP.......COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND WHY THEY LET THE ITALIANS ROME THE STREETS............WE USED TO ASK THE YANKS
...." ANY GUM CHUM" AS THEY WALKED DOWN DARRAS RD ON THERE WAY TO BELLE VUE..........THEY USED TO TOSS US A PACK

BILL......IF YOU GO ON MANCHESTER LIBRARIES SITE.....AND GO INTO LOCAL IMAGES......TYPE IN MELLANDS......YOU WILL SEE A PICTURE OF THE CAMP..........

[bilco]

Thing is Olly, did your sisters get the nylons ;D

Bill

[OLLY]

THERE WAS A FIGHT FOR THEM NYLONS BILL..........CAN SEE THE GIRLS NOW DOREEN COPAS ...DOT MYERS........IRENE HIGGINS...
....SHEILA CANNON......JOAN BRUNTON......BAAAA GUM...... ;D ;D

bilco said:

Thing is Olly, did your sisters get the nylons ;D

Bill

[Casso]

I'm enjoying this discussion on Suttons and Mellands etc - and to think it started at Reddish Vale, maybe we should start a new subject ...

Some of the names mentioned have rung vague bells with me, but never enough to bring a face to mind ... until you said Sheila Cannon Olly! We both went to Sacred Heart, and I met her much later in - I think - Johnny's Milkbar, the one opposite the Speedway entrance.

While we're name dropping, I'm in very occasional touch with a girl from Suttons whose name was Barbara Scully. She was a year or two behind me at school. Haven't heard from her for a while, but she usually updates me with Gorton news when she writes.

Can't remember what year it was, but I recall a gang of us walking through the estate, after swimming at Mellands and suddenly rumour had it we were all in danger of contracting polio.
Remember? Must have been about 1950 when the polio epidemic hit Manchester. (Expect you were still in nappies Olly).
Cass

[linda]

My mum used to tell me about the the camp on mellands when the Italians were interned there and my friend is actually a daughter of one of them. I was only 4 in 1950 but when I was older about 10 I fell in the resers 9as we called it) and was frighten to death as the rumour about polio was still rife them. I also remember the tale about the man eating carp fish that was like a shark. There was a lad drowned in the resers and the tale went that his ghost tried to pull you under needless to say to this day I wouldn't swim in a lake or river.

Linda

[bilco]

Like you Cass I'm struggling to put faces to names I vaguely recall. It must be my altzeimers. Nurse, time for my pills ;D ;D ;D

Bill

[Lisa]

Hi Linda, Isnt it strange the stories that were told to us in those days?!! I remember going with my parents to Crime Lake and was told that a village was flooded which became the Lake and, on a quiet day, you could hear the bells ringing from the submerged church. I used to stand there waiting to see if I could hear the bells tolling - I never did.

linda said:

My mum used to tell me about the the camp on mellands when the Italians were interned there and my friend is actually a daughter of one of them. I was only 4 in 1950 but when I was older about 10 I fell in the resers 9as we called it) and was frighten to death as the rumour about polio was still rife them. I also remember the tale about the man eating carp fish that was like a shark. There was a lad drowned in the resers and the tale went that his ghost tried to pull you under needless to say to this day I wouldn't swim in a lake or river.

Linda

[bilco]

Do any of you Gortonians know the history of Murder Lane? It was, as I recall, a dirt path which led from Pink Bank Lane to Buckley rd. It had, I think, one dim gas lamp and was beside the river Gore which surfaced there on its journey from Sunny Brow Park to wherever (Platt Fields?) We used to walk it from North Rd. Co-op after a nights dancing there and it was really eerie. My girl friend would cling to me, she never knew I was as scared as her.

Bill

[OLLY]

l know where you are bill......there are some work units on there now more towards pink bank lane.......and if im not mistaken the co op building is still there......not sure tho.........

dont know the history of the lane tho......heared it mentioned years ago...........of course im only a whipper snapper......... ;D ;D

[Lisa]

Hi Bill, Keep checking this Thread because I'm sure a few of our members will be able to answer your querie about Murder Lane. How are you Bill? Is the weather as bad in Cleveleys as it is here in Manchester? I could just do with a stroll along the beach at Cleveleys finishing with a Fish & Chip supper......lovely

[bilco]

Lisa, the weather here is awful right now but the fish and chips are o.k. lol. The ferry boat is still on its side on the beach, there will be squatters in there by the summer. Amongst its cargo was 750000 plastic cups and lids. Seemms like most ended up in our garden ;D

[Lisa]

Hi Bill, Pity the poor environment with all those cups and lids. I'm amazed some ingenious soul hasnt thought of building his/her own house out of the things.......