You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

Hi Just a quick one,

I came home today, just to have a look around and see how things have changed. I was gutted to see how Church, my birth place has changed over the years, some would call it progress I suppose, but for me it was devastating to see how things had changed since leaving. My school, where I had my first Kiss, Hard Falls, tears and laughter has gone almost completely, apart from about 18 ins of broken wall that still seams to contain the site.

Even the Church yard hasn’t escaped the destruction. Many of the Monuments, Table Tombs and railed graves that we played on (and in) in some cases seam to have gone, but I did remember what was left.

Apart from the Stag and Burnley Rd cemetery, I didn’t go far. I wasn’t sure what I’d find…But I going to come over mid week to finish off what I started.

So who’s buying lunch…?

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

hey i was in the stag with less this avo pity we didnt know we could have had a meet ooo wot you like eh//

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

It hasn't improved for the better in all cases has it Doug? I used to work in Church and at dinnertime we bought butties from a shop on Blackburn Rd. I can't remember the name now but they did lovely butties and pies. There was a papershop on the corner of Market St where we'd get bottles of pop.

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

Blue shirt and tie, grey hair and specs. I used the Stag as a staging point. I was in there at 2 p.m. for about half hour and then a 3 p.m. for a quick dink and a pee before heading back....Sorry to have missed you...

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

light coloured trousers?

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

I found it hard to recognise Willow. The approach to church and Church St, so different. I've just been telling Joyce (partner) how strange it was to be back. I am glad I did it, but I'm sorry for what I saw.

That said, the people are still polite and the kids looked clean and tidy. More than we did back then.

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

Hi Mez,

Navy Blue trousers. I stood at the bar a side of the door.

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

nope must of missed you we did go in the bridge first , but if your panning another day like that let us know, one or two of us would be pleased to meet you, shame that ////

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

Hi, I would have loved to have met some of you. I'm coming back mid week to go up Burnley cemetery. I'll post when...

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

Talking of changes (original subject of the thread) whose idea was it to rename "The Tanpits"? Pubs are going in for novelty names and one of the classic ones in Accrington has suddenly become a boring run of the mill "Plough"

Mental note to self to visit the Stag when next in the area. Don't let then rename that. It could almost be a Hyndburn icon (stag - hynd)

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

I think The Tanpits became The Plough after it was refurbished. It is a shame it was changed because it's on Tanpits Road and I presume it was named after tan pits?

Atarah, do you know the history?

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

It was the Tanpits pub when I woz a kid in 1947, and played on the "injun Bed" (Engine bed) on the Tanpits. I'm relatively sure that it was there in the 20's and 30's as well. Probably been there since Tanpits Road was built.
I can vaguely remember the tanpits themselves, and once was taken there by my dad to watch a Smith shoe horses. It use to stink to hell (I can still taste it on a dry day).

Mez lived near to the pub, she may know a thing or two. And Tealeaf is the recorder of all things Churchy, I'm sure he can add something.

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

Nice memories Darby....All good stuff. I am sure that Mr Tealeaf, who is a very nice chap, will respond accordingly.

When you do Tea, can you explain to why St James’s “a place that I have special memories of” has been allowed to fall in to such a state? Mesh at the windows, window gone or boarded up and litter in the yard.

Where the pride…..This place is is pure heritage.


Do they publish the "old Photo" books around accy?.

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

Doug, you can buy books on old accy at the library.They are on a stand near the counter.

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

Doug,

I have 7 or 8 OLD ACCY /OSSY/ books, that I bought in WH Smiths, and I buy a new one every time I come over. They are currently at my home in Bohemia, and I'll be going down there this Wednesday, so I'll bring them back and give you a list and a short brief of each content.
The proof of the pudding is to look at them yourself, but I find soemthing interesting every time I look at them. Memories...memories.

I was a Church lad 'misell. Lived in Oswald St, Henry St, went to Ernest St Baptist's and St. James (Church Kirk) before moving to far off India St (Antley), and to St. Andrews. I have a piccy of the school class at St. Andrews but I can't load it to the site as it's greater than 100KB.

Spent most of my growing-up on Nelson Square!

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

went past the tanpits pub (now plough) yesterday & the place is now up for aution we should buy it & turn it back into "the tanpits " again, i well remember one of the old dears that used to live up oswald st going down every nite with her jug for the nightly sup of mild ///

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

Hiya Mez,

Do you know I'd totally forgotten about things like that. Now I think back I can remember mi mum taking a Quart jug down to t'Tanpits and coming back with 2 pints of mild. Then putting a red hot poker in it, and sharing it with my grandma.

Freddie Parkinson and I use to play across from t'Tanpits. One landlord I can remember was called Badderly, and he had a daughter Angela (about our age). They moved from the pub to Basra(Iraq)!!! The tanpits area use to be like a little enclave, with everybody knowing everybody else, and we use to watch the Navvys getting thrown out blind drunk on Friday nights (about 7 o-clock as they went straight from work into the pub.) But didn't the beer smell good!!! even to us kids!

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

oo yea my dad used to go to the tanpits club on friday nite & get 2 bottles of stout & my mum would put the hot poker in & i had to drink one of them, i was only 13 at the time, it was apparently because i was coming into " woman hood" & needed the iron, probably cheaper than buying stuff from chemist, but it did taste good ha ha ha ha

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

OK folks...another Church Lad speaks.....

1) Tanpits road......this is actually one of the oldest throughfares in Hyndburn, originally connecting Antley Hall with Church Kirk (our oldest building) via the Stag (our oldest pub), albeit not in a straight line (think of land ownership at the time)

2) The Injun(Engine site) at Tanpits was the steam engine bed for Providence Mill (demolished 1930's)which occupied the entire site between the back of the Tanpit's/Plough pub all the way back to the old Sacred Heart School; the bed, comprised of massive blocks of Millstone Grit, wwas not actually removed until the early '70's, when the new school was built ( I played there as a kid,too)

3) The Church windows are covered in mesh because of vandalism & break-ins - usual story. There were 4 incidents last year alone. Check out the Observer website.

4) Plough or Tanpits......I don't mind the name (well, yes I do)....but I would'nt drink in the place anyway....it reminds me of having a pint in a mens public urinal while bun fights break out all around you.

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

Tanpits Club (Pioneer WMC), now there was a place to avoid on Friday nights. Was a real rough house, no wonder they built it on the tanpits. Full of Cowboys, and Navvy's.

Makes mi smile just thinking about it!! :D :D :D

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

Janet and Darby, Thanks for the information on the books, I’m heading back over on Thursday so I’ll take a look.

Tealeaf, - Why as now’t being done about the state of things at St James’s it an historic building for Christ’s Shake, (oops, no offence).

Why is there no CCTV, wardens or spirited members of the public with nice long pick axe handles? But seriously, nearly six hundred years of local history….what are you people doing about it.

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

Unfortunatley, there is little that can be done with the available resources..the last theft that occured there was during the church service when a guy walked in and pinched the proceeds from the collection box then ran out and legged it over the fields and motorway towards Rishton....the time proir, the art deco stained glass windows had been smashed through...I agree CCTV would be a good idea but I don't know who would be available to monitor it 24hrs a day (I know Ossy mills are due to monitor Church & Ossy railway station, but I don't know if thats 24/7)

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

Cheers Tea, It's shameful that this is allowed to happen when lesser buildings have money thrown at them. I will be writing to Hyndburn Borough Council, The Churches Conservation Trust and those b******* at English Heritage. This is not acceptable.

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

The one with the jug from Oswald Street was Gladys. You could almost set your clock by her! My mother christened her "The Lady with the Utensil".

Also The Tanpits used to do off sales, presided over by Joyce Whittaker.

We used to play on the Injun beds as well - anyone remember the sense of achievement the first time you plucked up courage to jump across from one to the other? The canal was strictly out of bounds, and the most forbidden place was the swingbridge - terrible tales were told of children crushed and mangled - guess where we always played?

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

Hi Doug,

If you go up Burnley road you`ll certainly notice the changes. Massive amounts of new house building on the old reservoir and all around the bottom of the Coppice, (which the`ve put a motorway through) and industrial units round the back of Accrington Cricket Club, where we used to go catching tadpoles!
Oak Hill Park has remained much the same... except last week some cretins burned the bandstand down. Just makes your blood boil!

Re: You go away for 30 years and they devastate the place.
 

So which came first? The road or the pub name?

I don't frequent Accrington enough to be able to pop into the library but I'll try to do so when I'm next in the area.