Traveller's Rest stones

[Dizzy]

I have to acknowledge my ignorance of these stones.  I have probably seen some of them but never knew what they were.  That said if you had asked me what do you reckon the purpose of a travellers rest stone is I think I would have guessed at a stone for a tired traveller to rest on.  

So you would have been right then... but then again are you   

 

I'll own up and give you all a giggle. 

 

I droved past one at rush hour tonight so turned round and parked up and walked over to take a few pics then in normal 'Dizzy' fashion decided to sit on it in various positions.  I got some very strange looks as like I said it was rush hour and it's right next to a very busy main road

 

The side 'steps' on this one are definately NOT suitable for an adult to sit on and even for a child seem very small and low and yes I struggled to get up again and made a fool of myself as they are very worn and sloped too. 

 

Sitting on the main flat part was quite comfy though although I did wonder why that bit was not at all worn and surely it would have been if people always sat on it.  Looking at it close up and from all angles it did give the impression that the wear on the side steps/seats were right for it being used more for walking up than sitting on though which again brought my thoughts back to that one being used more as as a mounting stone.

 

I then went shopping with an odd coloured brownish green moss like stain on my backside and cream top but I had no idea until I got home

[Dizzy]

Thanks Algy I was looking further over to the right and slightly further down and wondered it was the road next to the railway or the other that seemed to go up.  Looking at it though I don't think these were roads anyway but just part of the railway so cheers for that  

[algy]

The top arrow indicates the railway embankment, the bottom the railway boundary.

[algy]

From an early age I was told by my grandfather who was country born and bred that these stones were mounting stones, so as far as I'm concerned that is what they are.

In Scotland they are refered to as 'Loupin on stane's' used to loup or leap on to your nag.

I believe Dr James Kendrick was merely reinventing something for Warrington that had been in use around the British Isles for decades.

 

Tam o' Crumstan

"A loupin' on stane is a very good thing,
For a man that is stiff, for a man that is auld,
For a man that is lame o' the leg or the spauld,
Or short o' the houghs, to loup on his naggie;

So said Tam o' Crumstane, unbousome and baggie;
And mountin' the stane at Gibbie's house-end,
Like a man o' great pith, wi' a grane, and a stend
He flew owre his yaud, and fell i' the midden!

[Davy51]

Would that have been gone towards/past the old Bank Quay Foundry and Potteries of the time ?

 

From memory Dizzy, Factory Lane ran from the side of Bank Quay station ,under the railway & came out next to Bank Quay bridge between the bridge approach & the front of Joe Soap's.....the question being was the road there before the main railway line was built & was the easiest option to redirect Wilson Patten St traffic via its present route considering the reduced height under the railway.

[algy]

Davy if you look at the 1848 map Factory Lane went down and then turned right towards the railway by the river bank, as Bank Quay Station was by the railway bridge (as was the old Patten Arms Hotel), Factory Lane came under the main line later when they built the new station.

[luasredline]

This seems like a good time to take my farewells.  Thanks to all those of goodwill and reason, but what's left of my life is too valuable to waste.

[Dizzy]

This seems like a good time to take my farewells. Thanks to all those of goodwill and reason, but what's left of my life is too valuable to waste.

luasredline without wanting to sound rude why have you just said that ?  Yours is a good topic and interesting too and we are all trying to help so to me that's a very strange statement to make, have we offended you in some way ?

 

I am hoping to have time see a local historian tomorrow who knows a heck of a lot about Warrington's past and has also written books about it so I was going to ask about the travellers rest stones.  I am also in the process of contacting some other groups and people who have shown interest elsewhere too but hey not to worry though and if you think now is the time to draw a line under it all then that's your choice....  we shall probably just carry on between ourselves though regardless as we always do when we want to get to the bottom of something and we usually get there

 

Must admit though I've been finding it frustrating that all google searches have kept pointing me right back to this very topic   

 

Hope you find what you are looking for and I've enjoyed it, so thanks for waking us all up to the Travellers Rests again

[Davy51]

So the old station is closer to Sankey St than the present one. I remember walking down Factory Lane as a small child with my parents. We used to live at 64 Liverpool Rd which backed onto Quay Fold which led to a level crossing at the time & gave access to Fairclough's flour mill & the transporter bridge.On the corner of Quay Fold was the Ship Inn.Last time i was in the area it had all been turned into part of JC & S/Lever Bros.

[algy]

Davy, I remember the Ship Inn with fondness, I used to call in when cycling home from the girlfriends usually for last orders, I have been searching for a picture of it for years without success the only one I have found is this aerial shot from 1928.

 

[Davy51]

Algy, the old signal box in the picture was very ramshackle in my days there & according to the older kids was where Marley's ghost lived. The mill in your map shown as Litton's ,did that become Fairclough's  or is it a separate building ?

The house i lived in was behind the buses but probably out of shot to the right. As you can no doubt see they were 3 storey houses with attic bedrooms on the top floor.

[Dizzy]

Is the tall building top right in the photo what is now the Pink Eye building and the one to the left of it in the photo the other part of the flour mill that burnt down ?

Can either of you remember seeing a Travellers Rest stone and fountain around there  
It only just occurred to me that press cutting I uploaded mentioned it was at Bank Quay and I was presuming it meant near the station (durh) but of course that whole area was/is called Bank Quay so it could have been anywhere.

[Dizzy]

Seeing as though I took some photo's heres the stone at Walton that I sat on yesterday. 

I couldn't see anything written on the front of it though such as a name although I was tempted to scrape away all the moss to see if there were any letters still underneath in parts... but I didn't.

 

 

 

 

[Davy51]

I think the tall buildings will be the flour mills. In the immediate foreground looks like a church probably on the corner of Thewlis Street.

[Dizzy]

Thanks I've got my bearings now Davy  It all looks so much different today on that side apart from the Pink Eye bit of the building. 

[Davy51]

I wonder if the stones were mainly aimed at ladies riding side saddle.

[algy]

They would certainly have used them Davy.

[Evil Sid]

bit big to chuck at a woman on a horse unless you had one of those trebuchet thingies.

[Davy51]

 A bad choice of word methinks .

[Dizzy]

:lol: So funny....     

[Dizzy]

Anyway back to the Travellers Rest stones for a minute.  I found this about one which was near Bank Quay saying that a water fountain was to be erected next to it by Edelsten (the wealthy pin manufacturer) and it was the 6th one they had said they would supply.  I wonder if they were ever sited and if so where they all went.....

 

 

Seems odd quoting myself..... but re the above I posted on the previous page about the drinking fountain put near the Bank Quay Travellers Rest I found this other press cutting yesterday.

 

Sounds like it was quite a nice fountain and was inscribed too.  I wonder if the museum/library have any photo's of it or know where it actually was and where it went.  I feel a visit coming on as I need to know now

 

 

[Sha]

Hi Diz, how are you accessing Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser?

[Dizzy]

Hiya Sha I have susbscriptions to various online records services and websites because I'm rather obsessed with local history and family tree research too.  I hope my other half never reads this as he will go mad   

You can get a monthly subscriptions on the 'British Newspaper Archive' too but it's quite pricey at £9.99 a month but you could always cancel after the 1st month.  I've not got that one yet though as I daren't...... but it does seem to be one of the better ones, you can search it for free and the search results give a little glimpse of what the article is about.

I'll send you a message re: where I get mine from as I'd best not say in public in case I get told off for uploading them.... but of course I do have my own copies of all old the newspapers under my bed anyway as I'm very very very old  but I prefer not to have to scan them in case I damage any  


 

[Rachel_Warrington]

Hello everyone - thanks for this really interesting topic and for solving a cryptic historical puzzle! I work at the Council and Walton Lea recently offered Walton Hall and Gardens the 'Travellers Rest' stone that was located in their car park. The inscription (badly eroded sadly) reads 'Travellers Rest - a Gift of Gilbert Greenall Esquire - 1860'.

 

Walton Lea knew it couldn't be in its original position, as previous posters have said, because Walton Lea was not in the Greenalls ownership in 1860. So they assumed it was a mounting block used at the Walton Estate and offered it back to us. However your excellent historical research shows it was one of several and the others are located on main roads, so I wonder if it was moved from the main A road near the Walton Arms at some point in the past?

 

In any case, it now has pride of place at Walton - you can see and even sit upon it at the entrance to the Heritage Yard, opposite the Cycle Museum. I've been trying to upload a picture but with no success I'm afraid, but please do go and visit!

 

Thanks again for your superb research skills!

[Dizzy]

Hi Rachel_Warrington and welcome to the forum

It's fantastic to hear that this topic has helped you with your puzzle about the Walton Lea 'Travellers Rest' and great to also hear that it has been moved to Walton Gardens where more people can see it although in years to come it may confuse local historians as to why Dr Kendrick put one there  

I uploaded a photo of the one you mention when it was at Walton Lea on one of the previous pages which you will have seen.

Looking at the old maps I think it was probably on the main road passing the mansion house and had perhaps been moved a little further over (to what was its current position before you moved it to Walton Gardens) when the new 'Walton Drag' main road was built.  It did confuse me why there would have been two so close together though as there is one on the grass triangle near the Stag Pub too but the intention at the time, from what I have since read, was to have them 2 miles apart so perhaps not too far off really.

I have some other info about the 'Travellers Rest' which I got from trawling through some of the Warrington Guardian microfilms from 1860/61 last week (I'm still feeling crosseyed after doing that ha ha). 

I'm sure you and others will find it interesting so I'll try and upload it all in a while.  I may have to just type some out though as the printouts are not very clear and may not be legible on here if I just scan and upload but I'll try.

I also have Dr Kendricks sketch which accompanied one article which shows his vision of how they would be used by passing weary travellers.

The ones placed in Warrington were apparently of a better quality stone too so I guess that's why we seem to have more that have survived the years.