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Help required re' Grappenhall Police Station


algy

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This photo appeared on a Facebook page with the description stating that it was of a Police Station in Weaste Lane Thelwall c1887, I lived in Weaste Lane for a few years and researched the area especially Cuerdon hall and surrounding properties and to my knowledge there has never been a police station in Weast/west/ or Waste Lane the latter being it's original name associating it with waste land of that area, I digress, the only police Station in the area as far as I know was in Grappenhall opposite the Old Toll cottage, if anyone can shed any further light on this topic I would be obliged.

 

111.jpg

 

GrappenhallPolicestation1896.jpg

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This photo appeared on a Facebook page with the description stating that it was of a Police Station in Weaste Lane Thelwall c1887, I lived in Weaste Lane for a few years and researched the area especially Cuerdon hall and surrounding properties and to my knowledge there has never been a police station in Weast/west/ or Waste Lane the latter being it's original name associating it with waste land of that area, I digress, the only police Station in the area as far as I know was in Grappenhall opposite the Old Toll cottage, if anyone can shed any further light on this topic I would be obliged.

 

111.jpg

 

GrappenhallPolicestation1896.jpg

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I lived in Weaste Lane from the age of 3 (in 1936) until thr 1960s. I am

sure that there was never a police station there. However there was a tannery,

three farms, a Temperence hall and four large country houses built by rich

industrialists wishing to get away from Warrington.

 

Cuerdon Hall (known as "Oystershell Hall" by locals) was the home of the Naylor

family who made their money in timber. I remember their timber yard near Bank

Quay station.

 

Robert and John Naylor who both, unusually, had the same middle name: Anderton,

were the first in history to walk from John O'Groats to Landsend unaided by

any form of transport. This was in 1875, they stayed wherever possible in

temperence hotels and always attended Sunday services wherever they went

 

Robert later stood unsuccessfully for parliament and when John retired he

built a house in Tarporley built entirely of timber. This is now a hotel.

 

As a child I played in the half demolished ruins of Cuerdon Hall, scrumped in

their orchards and harassed the few remaining workers on the estate. We swam

in the nearby Bridgewater Canal as in those days of course it was sunny every day.

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Hi Franners and welcome to the forum :DBefore I start I must appologise as I tend to go on a bit in my posts as I'm sure others will tell you but if you stick around long enough you too will soon learn to ignore my ramblings and my spelling mistakes and just read the relevant bits. :oops:

 

I just had a look at the 1881 census for Weaste Lane and there are a few tanners but most seem to be agricultural laborours and gardeners etc. Some rather posh sounding abodes though like you say such as Anderton Place, Cuerden Place, Cherdon Hall, Highfield Lodge etc. No mention of a Police Station though.

 

That doesn't suprise me though as from the Map that Algy has given that is no where near Weaste Lane (well acording to my tired eyes anyway).

 

A side by side comparison of the 1875 O/S and modern day maps (by location) shows the Police Station on a unnamed road in the vicinity of the modern day road "East View, Grappenhall"

 

1875andmodern.jpg

 

A side by side comparison of the 1910 O/S and modern day maps (by location) shows NO Police Station but the modern day road "East View" is named as "Pemberton's Lane" in 1910. There are no 1881 census records for this Lane as obviously it must not have existed. If I have time tomorrow I will search on Ancestry to see if there is a record of a Police Station on there.

 

1910andmodern.jpg

 

Just to show how far apart Weaste Lane is from the map Algy uploaded here is an aerial modern day map marked up.

 

modernshowingweastelane.jpg

 

AND I BET NONE OF THAT WAS ANY USE AT ALL, but at least I tried :lol::lol:

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Franners I forgot to ask. The area where the Walton Locks Housing development is being built used to be R A Naylors Ltd (Timber) until it was demolished a few years ago, I presume this must be the same people/relations/company as you mentioned from Cuerdon Hall.

 

EEK you have set me on another 'need to know' mission now and now I'll be in trouble for taking Algy's topic off on a tangent :shock:

 

Algy.... have your solved the mystery yet or should I delete my own post ? :oops:

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Algy... looking back to the images I uploaded earlier.

 

Maybe the Police Station was actually on Knutsford Road.

 

Only reason I say that is that on the 1875 map the only building shown seems to be on Knutsford Road. It could be that the words 'police station' were written slightly lower due to the fact that the larger words of WARRINGTON + KNUTFSORD were near it.

 

The same building seems to stand alone in the same position on the 1910 map too.

 

Just a thought.

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Algy... looking back to the images I uploaded earlier.

 

Maybe the Police Station was actually on Knutsford Road.

 

Only reason I say that is that on the 1875 map the only building shown seems to be on Knutsford Road. It could be that the words 'police station' were written slightly lower due to the fact that the larger words of WARRINGTON + KNUTFSORD were near it.

 

The same building seems to stand alone in the same position on the 1910 map too.

 

Just a thought.

Franners, thank you for your reply, you have confirmed exactly what I thought regarding there never having been a Police Station on Weaste Lane especially as you had lived there many years before I moved there, with it being such a small community I'm sure someone would have mentioned it. It would not have been logical to place such a facility to serve such a small hamlet.

Dizz, why would I display a map of Weaste Lane, Thelwall when I was indicating the area and property where I thought the Police Station was situated in 1896 on Knutsford Road Grappenhall?, you really must have been getting tired.

This photo is cropped from one that has been displayed on WW previously. I'm fairly certain that the Police Station was situated in one of the properties on the left of Knutsford Road (slightly further on and not the first property set back on the corner) opposite the Toll Cottage (behind the 'baby' Austin car).

After looking at the original photo on this post I am not convinced that it is the Police Station as it appears to be on an angle to the road and on a slope???.

 

GrappenhallTollCottageDogDart.jpg

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Wonder if it could have been a police house. Used to be common for the local police officer to live in the area of his beat and the threat off being taken to the police house when you were naughty was a common deterrent for us youngsters.

 

Mind you we had a respect for the police back then ( a flick round the ear with a policeman's cape saw to that) :)

 

If memory serves there was one by bewsey infants school towards the towers theatre side and the local PC was known to one and all and could be seen pedalling sedately along as he headed back for his dinner around twelve-ish.

 

OH dear I seem to be turning into my grandad, reminiscing about bygone days. It was only in the mid sixties for heavens sake get a grip lad. you are not that old. :mrgreen:

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Dizz, why would I display a map of Weaste Lane, Thelwall when I was indicating the area and property where I thought the Police Station was situated in 1896 on Knutsford Road Grappenhall?, you really must have been getting tired.

 

Oh dear... that took me ages too. Now I have read your oroginal post again I see what you were actually saying :oops::lol:

 

Sorry everyone :blink:

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Algy.

 

Could this be the site of the police house/station?

These cottages have been renovated and made into three cottages, and are over 200 years old. They are next to the new Tesco's in Grappenhall.

 

The middle door has a coach lamp outside with a small blue button on it. Don't know if this is of any relevance.

 

 

IMG_0256.jpg

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Thanks for the information Wingy those cottages you have shown a photo of were there at the same time as the ones I am on about but the problem is that they are too close to Bradshaw Lane or Pemberton's Lane as it was known as late as 1911 (see map below). I don't know how old you are but when I first moved to Grappenhall when we were married in 1962 the cottages I am referring to were much nearer the old 'Dog, one of them was a small shop and the original wall still stand and is part of the garden to the newest detached house built there probably in the early 70's and belonged to the chap who had a painting & decorating shop where the bookies is now in Latchford. I'm still not convinced that the original picture is Grappenhall Police Station.

 

GrappenhallPoliceSation.jpg

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At the risk of confusing the issue I recognise the old Dog and Dart in

the photograph. My father and his cronies were mortified when it was

demolished in favour of a yuppie establishment further along Knutsford

Road where they didn't even play dominoes. I see that history is

repeating itself now!

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At the risk of confusing the issue I recognise the old Dog and Dart in

the photograph. My father and his cronies were mortified when it was

demolished in favour of a yuppie establishment further along Knutsford

Road where they didn't even play dominoes. I see that history is

repeating itself now!

The reason they couldn't play darts & dominoes in the New Dog & Dart was because they built the pub without a 'tap' room/public bar, it's now no longer there, Bradshaw Lane Primary school was built on the site. Greenalls knocked the 'old' Dog down because they said it was dangerously close to the corner/junction of Knutsford road and Stockport road, so the council increased the radius of the bend then allowed a new pub the Springbrook to be built with the entrance/exit on that corner by the traffic lights. :blink::shock:

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Franners I forgot to ask. The area where the Walton Locks Housing development is being built used to be R A Naylors Ltd (Timber) until it was demolished a few years ago, I presume this must be the same people/relations/company as you mentioned from Cuerdon Hall.

 

EEK you have set me on another 'need to know' mission now and now I'll be in trouble for taking Algy's topic off on a tangent :shock:

 

Algy.... have your solved the mystery yet or should I delete my own post ? :oops:

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I left Warrington nearly 50 years ago so I don't know the

Walton housing development. I do remember buying wood to

make a gramophone cabinet from a Naylors timber yard at the

western end of Wilson Patten Street in about 1954.

 

The timber yard you mention was definitely owned by the family

in Weaste Lane as the initials are correct.There is a memorial

to the the Naylor Brothers in the church yard of All Saints

church in Thelwall. I think they gave money to finance the

building of the gateway.

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  • 4 years later...

I have only just joined this forum and read with interest this topic about the whereabouts of Grappenhall Police Station. Algy is correct it was located opposite the old Toll House on the Junction of Knutsford Rd/Stockport Rd. I have a keen interest in local history and whilst working at Manchester University, Dept of Geography in the mid 60's I had access to old OS maps of the area. To my knowledge the 'Old Dog & Dart was actually the police station which was converted into a pub. My father was a regular there and like Franner's dad, was not happy when it was closed. I believe at the time it was because a roundabout was being planned for this busy junction to dispense with traffic lights. Now we have the Spring Brook there.  

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Hello PeterC,

 

I'm not sure about the idea of the old 'Dog' being a converted police station.  The OS surveyed between 1873 and 1876 and published in 1882 a map which has the words 'Police Station' to the west of the junction, to the south of Knutsford Road.  The same map has the 'Dog & Dart Inn' already there at the junction.

 

According to stories passed down the family, my gg grandfather Levi Bradburn (1839 -1928) had a habit of calling in for a pint or two (or more) on his way home to Lymm after a day working in one of the local tanneries.  This would be perhaps late 1880s onwards. His eldest son William (my g grandfather) clearly did not like what he saw and was a teetotaller all his life.

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Hello Algy,

 

Thank you for pointing out the old spelling of Waste Lane, which indicates the original land use (common land) and the correct pronunciation.  The old name appears on old maps and was certainly the spelling used by many locals well into the 20th century.  My Dad's birth certificate from 1924 states that he was born at 'Highfields, Waste Lane, Thelwall RD'.

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I lived in Weaste Lane from the age of 3 (in 1936) until thr 1960s. I am

sure that there was never a police station there. However there was a tannery,

three farms, a Temperence hall and four large country houses built by rich

industrialists wishing to get away from Warrington.

 

Cuerdon Hall (known as "Oystershell Hall" by locals) was the home of the Naylor

family who made their money in timber. I remember their timber yard near Bank

Quay station.

 

Robert and John Naylor who both, unusually, had the same middle name: Anderton,

were the first in history to walk from John O'Groats to Landsend unaided by

any form of transport. This was in 1875, they stayed wherever possible in

temperence hotels and always attended Sunday services wherever they went

 

Robert later stood unsuccessfully for parliament and when John retired he

built a house in Tarporley built entirely of timber. This is now a hotel.

 

As a child I played in the half demolished ruins of Cuerdon Hall, scrumped in

their orchards and harassed the few remaining workers on the estate. We swam

in the nearby Bridgewater Canal as in those days of course it was sunny every day.

 

Well, Franners, I wonder if one of those Cuerden Hall workers you mithered was my Great Uncle Noel?  I know that he worked as a nurseryman at Cuerden.  I'm not sure how many years he was there, but in 1939 he and his wife were living in Marie Drive so I guess he was still at the Hall at that stage.  

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