Blackburn RD Clayton

Alan Gilmartin · 17-09-2005, 01:16

Any chance of getting a couple of photos of the area around, Where the Carlton Cinema & Load of Mischief pub used to be. Also looking down Blackburn Rd, we lived at number 19. I cant imagin how it is now ? . Used to play Cricket in St James school yard. I suppose its all gone now with the new motorway. I was hoping to get back this year , but unforseen circumstances means I have to put it off for a while.

Margaret Pilkington · 17-09-2005, 14:38

Alan......I will go out now with my camera and take some pics for you.

Margaret Pilkington · 17-09-2005, 15:25

Alan.....here are the pictures you requested.
There is nothing where the Load of Mischief Garage and Pub were, just a brick wall, likewise for the Carlton Picture place.
There is a picture of Henry St..Long Row, the butty shop used to be Thornbers Chemists.
I have taken a shot of Blackburn Road too, the new red brick houses stand on the site that used to be the corner shop and the bit of spare land.

St James school is now St James Church.......I got pictures of the school yard, being used as a car park......something going on in the Church.

I hope these were something like what you wanted, sorry to hear that you won't be able to make it back here for a visit, but as you can see from the pics, you aren't missing a great deal from the geography point of view, although I'm sure your family will be disappointed.

Margaret Pilkington · 17-09-2005, 15:33

More accurately the pictures are:-
View from Canal Bridge......the Redbrick building is Express gifts.....on site of old Carbo.
picture 2 is looking up Blackburn rd.
picture 3 is the Hare and Hounds pub.
picture 4 is St James School
pictures 5 and 6 are the schoolyard.
picture 7 is Henry St.
Picture 8 is what used to be the Bank.....now a funeral parlour.
picture 9 is looking down Blackburn Rd
picture 10 is the corner where the Load of mischief side door was.

Alan Gilmartin · 19-09-2005, 00:36

Margaret, many thanks, I cant tell you how greatfull I am, quiet a shock really, I know It had changed but nothing left of our house, I think it was where the nearest lamp post is, nothing left on long row. Hare & Hounds looks great, St james church has'nt changed. Noticed there is still a garage on the corner of Read St & Waterloo. The walls up Blackburn Rd & Henry St are they built from the stone of the demolished houses ?.

WillowTheWhisp · 19-09-2005, 07:36

Great photos Margaret. Do you remember that bus shelter next to the NatWest bank that was actually built into the wall? They don't make bus shelters like that any more. There isn't one flippin bank in Clayton now which must be a pain for people who live there.

Not sure if you realise Alan that the motorway actually runs underneath Blackburn Rd right where the Load of Mischief used to be. I took a series of photos whilst it was under construction - not sure if I can lay my hands on them but I'll have a rummage round and scan a fe for you if I can find them. (Things are a bit chaotic here as we are re-organising a few things in the house.)

Margaret Pilkington · 19-09-2005, 10:46

Yes Willow......I do remember the bus stop.

Alan.....I'm not sure if the stone is from the demolished houses.....it looks too uniform to me......but maybe someone on here will be able to tell you.

Glad the photo's were what you wanted.

WillowTheWhisp · 19-09-2005, 14:59

That stone could have been from the houses.

I seem to remember some of the stones (randomly located) having paint on them when it was first built as if they had come from a stonepainted wall and others being natural. Maybe the paint has worn off those few over the years but when it was newly built it certainly looked like salvaged stone, apart from the capping stones which are new.

Alan Gilmartin · 20-09-2005, 04:21

The bus stop you mention, was actually built into the building of the Cambridge Press, good for courting couples waiting for the bus. Tucked into a corner of the Hare & hounds & Slingers meatworks, on Whalley Rd, there was a Phone box, that was in constant use, not many people had phones in the 60s. Just think of all the cobblestones, millions of them under the tarmac they layed in the 60s. All the houses where built of stone in that area, Blackburn Rd, Oswald St, Atlas St, Waterloo St, Henry ST, Quarry St, Canal St. Even though I have seen the photos, its still hard to believe it has all gone, hope to make it back in next couple of years, to bury some Ghosts. I still think of it how it was.

Alan Gilmartin · 23-09-2005, 00:21

Are there any pubs left, in Clayton besides the Hare & Hounds, between the Greyhound & the Hyndburn Bridge, such as the Commercial, The Lamb Inn, The Oddfellows Arms, Volunteers, Albion, Forts Arms, Royal Oak, etc.

Margaret Pilkington · 23-09-2005, 09:48

Alan, I think all the ones you mention are still operational, though my pubbing days are long gone. Do you remember Joe Haigh in the Volunteers.... my hubby and I used to go in there every Saturday night and hubby would have a plate of sanwiches for half a crown....delicious they were too. I AM going back to the late sixties/early seventies.

Perhaps Clayton should be remembered how it was when you knew it.

Oh, and it has just been announced that Slingers has gone into receivership.......ah well!