Wakey!! wakey!! Seeing as its so quiet on the List I thought now would be an opportune time to list my name interests. The holiday time is over, lets start seeing your queries, its been boring the last month. It would be interesting to have a roll call and see who is still on the list. If I don't see a heavy response soon, I may send the list a rough draft I have written of a time period when I was in the forces. I need something to read. You can all have a go at correcting the English or the punctuation for me :)) Seriously, lets see some of your names, some old faces have been missing. Best wishes to you all, I wish you lots of success with your research this coming winter. Mike Morris Toronto Canada Ex Manchester ATKIN Salford and Scotland BREAKELL Preston and Blackburn BROADY Northwich Cheshire DUFFY Manchester and Sligo Ireland. DONEGAN New Mills Derbyshire, Salford, Manchester and Kildare Ireland GAFFNEY Salford and Ireland JONES Salford JUDGE Salford and Roscommon Ireland MORRIS/FITZMORRIS Ireland, Knutsford, Salford and Manchester. McGOVERN Manchester PARSONAGE. Denton, Manchester, Knutsford and Oswestry Shropshire. SPENCER New Mills Derbyshire, Salford, Manchester and Scotland SMITH Northwich and Salford TIDSWELL. Manchester. THORNBER Preston, Blackburn, Golbourne Lancs and Knutsford Cheshire. WELLS Salford Mike Morris 49 Angora St. Scarborough, Ontario Canada M1G 1L6 Tel: (001) 416 431 6717

Hi Mike, Glad to see you are still on the list!!! Haven`t any Lancashire names to submit - sorry! (I just happen to live in Middleton). P.S. Theres a list of local churches currently being indexed - just click below and look under "projects". Needs updating/revising when I have a few spare minutes. Doreen. http://mysite.freeserve.com/localresearch2 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.514 / Virus Database: 312 - Release Date: 28/08/2003

Hi Doreen, I still keep the Middleton list open although my family is not from Middleton. I consider myself a Middletonian having lived their in the early days of 1950 through to 1963. I enjoy it when people ask about the various buildings that are no longer in existence such as the 'Old Vic' the bug hut at the bottom of Wood street. And I can remember the odd church building in the Middleton area and also that there was one half way up Wood street. Alkrington hall was a place back in those early days where they held dances during the winter months. Or who remembers the swimming pool in Middleton, where they covered the floor in winter with wood so we could dance away the winter months. The market place in the pouring rain , the rain running down your neck from the canopies covering the stalls. The fresh tomatoes from Blackpool. 'Tommies' Fish and chips. The biggest store in Middleton was Woolworth's and next to that was the Coop. The store next to the Britannia pub that use to have sides of bacon hanging up and they would slice them while you waited. I was a nice feeling to arrive in the early hours of the morning on an all night bus from Piccadilly Manchester having just been given a short leave before leaving to go overseas with the forces. The walk up Wood street in a slight mist, you could see the orange street lights in the hills up the road to Oldham. It was always damp in Middleton, I guess because it was in a valley. I remembered you said you lived near the Middleton Junction. In the 1950's there was a railway station at the Junction. I use to catch the bus to work at a local cigarette manufacturers by the name of Senior Service cigarettes. I was laughing at the bus conductor one Friday night, he was complaining about the smells on the bus. We had tobacco, mixed with fish from a fish processing company, plus rubber and chemicals from Vita foam. Eeh! life were grand in them days....... :)) Thanks for being there Doreen you are a blessing to a lot of list members. All my best Mike ----- Original Message ----- From: "doreen EL-AHWANY" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 12:07 PM Subject: Re: [ENG-LAN-MIDDLETON-L] A list of names I am researching. Hi Mike, Glad to see you are still on the list!!! Haven`t any Lancashire names to submit - sorry! (I just happen to live in Middleton). P.S. Theres a list of local churches currently being indexed - just click below and look under "projects". Needs updating/revising when I have a few spare minutes. Doreen. http://mysite.freeserve.com/localresearch2

I`ve only been in Middleton myself since the early 1950s. The town will never be the same again will it? A few yrs ago, the market was moved back to within a few yards of the old site, but if new plans go ahead, it will be taken away again. They are to build a new Tesco superstore, so the old baths and civic centre are to be demolished. I remember the dances in the baths during the winter months - I was always afraid that the temporary wooden floors would give way some night! P.S. If anyone wants look-ups from the indexes - just let me know. Ignore the top bit which shows a charge - thats finished, but haven`t got round to altering it. (Am still awaiting my eldest lad to make me a proper web page!). Doreen. http://mysite.freeserve.com/localresearch2 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.514 / Virus Database: 312 - Release Date: 28/08/2003

Hi Doreen I've just seen you are indexing St Leonards burials. I'm looking for Barton about 1910 - have you got that far? ----- Original Message ----- From: "doreen EL-AHWANY" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 7:04 PM Subject: Re: [ENG-LAN-MIDDLETON-L] A note of appreciation to a good friend to the list > I`ve only been in Middleton myself since the early 1950s. The town will > never be the same again will it? A few yrs ago, the market was moved back to > within a few yards of the old site, but if new plans go ahead, it will be > taken away again. They are to build a new Tesco superstore, so the old baths > and civic centre are to be demolished. > I remember the dances in the baths during the winter months - I was always > afraid that the temporary wooden floors would give way some night! > P.S. If anyone wants look-ups from the indexes - just let me know. Ignore > the top bit which shows a charge - thats finished, but haven`t got round to > altering it. (Am still awaiting my eldest lad to make me a proper web > page!). > Doreen. > > http://mysite.freeserve.com/localresearch2 > > > > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.514 / Virus Database: 312 - Release Date: 28/08/2003 > > > ==== ENG-LAN-MIDDLETON Mailing List ==== > Check out the Guest book at: http://www.vmims.com/middleton.htm You may find old friends >

Hi Alison, Unfortunately, the burial films for St Leonards only go up to 1903. The later registers are still at the church. It is possible there may be something in the Middleton Guardian (in the deaths). The library have quite a good newspaper index. Doreen. > Hi Doreen > I've just seen you are indexing St Leonards burials. I'm looking for Barton > about 1910 - have you got that far? --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.514 / Virus Database: 312 - Release Date: 28/08/2003

Hi Doreen First let me agree with Mike, you do so much to help others it is a pleasure to watch you work. Next I have just looked at your site and also have some Goodmans in Bedfordshire Great Barford to be precise although I can only find one that wandered out of the village. And then the final question after seeing your name all the time on the list I have thought several times that maybe you worked at the library, is this so. You see I too live in Middleton Wagstaffe Street to be precise and the same as yourself don't have hardly any family connections here. As to the recollections of Middleton in years gone by from 1939 to 1949 I lived in Milnrow with grandparents living in Salford and my very best memory of Middleton was as a child my parents and I used to get the 17 bus from Rochdale to Canon Street, when the bus reached the centre of Middleton they used to stop and wait until they had clocked their card in a machine, it was at this point my mother used to delve into her handbag and out came a bar of Cadburys Desert chocolate, I don't know if any of you remember it there was two slabs in the pack and they were very thin, there was 4 pieces of chocolate across the bar and that was our weekly ration, 4 pieces each way. Those were the days as they say. Ivy Manchester UK

Hi Ivy, I`m getting a bit embarrassed now!! I`m not on the library staff - I just go to do a bit of indexing and do a few look-ups. Its great though, meeting a lot of others at the library with FH interests, and making friends through this list. I`ll take a look at my Bedfordshire Goodmans later in the wk. Doreen. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.514 / Virus Database: 312 - Release Date: 28/08/2003

There mightn't be a lot of activity on this list, but at least it is quality! My family interests in the area are RICHARDSON from Middleton - I see my Thomas Richardson, shopkeeper, on the list of Constables. I would dearly like to find out who his father was as there are two possibilities, one James R from Heywood, the other Samuel R from Mottram in Logdendale (though also of Middleton later). Also these families from around the area - WILD from Heywood, PARR from Birch, DAWSON and BARLOW. All this is a long time ago - my most recent direct ancestor in the area left about 1870, and I can't trace John and Ann PARR after about 1805. Here's hoping. Dorothy