Accrington Web - Warner Street, Accrington

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Warner Street, Accrington

Warner Street! What a "belting" little street this is. At the moment there are some really good shops, well worth a look.

Built c1821-22, was a new thoroughfare and referred to as "New Street" for a long time afterwards. Before it was built, there was no carriage-way from Abbey Street and the S.E. part of town, to St James Church, other than going down Grange Lane and Black Abbey. None of these were considered safe, i.e. for walking purposes. According to old tales, Mr Thomas Hargreaves called his foreman at Broad Oak together and put forward the idea of a new street. He offered to build two houses and suggested that they might like to consider building their own houses there also. Unfortunatley Mr Hargreaves did not live to see the scheme finished. The street was apparently built with the aid of a local Building Society. The roadway was maintained by the owners of the properties, and for a long time a toll of 3d was charged for vehicles using the street. At that time, it was said to be the best thoroughfare in the town, in fact it was the only street properly flagged and paved.

A very early resident of Warner Street was Joseph Broughton. He became the local clogger and many of his ancestors became important folk in this town. Broughtons bathrooms (who had large premises at the top of Church Street were all connected).
The Warner Arms pub at the bottom of the street was a popular drinking place (always known as The Warner's Arms, in the plural) until Matthew Brown's took it over c1990. Think their signwriters just got carried away and missed the "s" off.

Many established shops used to be in Warner Street. I can vaguely recall Key Joe's - Ashworth's Furniture shop (the couple who owned that retired around 1994. They started off selling second hand goods before expanding into new furniture). Then we had Hyde Bros. shop, which I easily remember -they sold envelopes, paper bags, string, etc. Taken over fairly recently but the new owners seem to have gone more into wedding balloons etc. although I believe they still sell paper and envelopes. Then there was the well known Wild's butchers, which also sold cooked meat and was a delicatessen, also known for his Black puddings.

We must all remember Bill Tattersalls Typewriter shop. This was of course well before the times of computers. He and his trusty engineer Les Allen must have dealt with most companies in Accrington. As soon as your typewriter broke down, or you needed new ribbons, you rang Tattersalls! Alas Bill passed away quite a few years ago and the shop has stood empty for years. Now refurbished by his son I believe, looks as though new trade about to move in. Then there was a smashing shop called Retro I think, selling clothing from the 40's and 50's. Nice shop, but alas, now gone.

Higher up we have the long established Porter Bros. (paints and wallpapers) - also on the top block Marsdens Leather Shop. Across from it The Glory Hole, a "natty" little shop, run by Bev and her hubby. She was a hairdresser in the same shop years many years ago.

Few random photos below

All in all, a street which must have a lot of history. Anyone here have any memories of the shops/shopkeepers?