Old Bridge Street Notes

3 Crown Street was my maternal grandparents house in the 1940’s when I lived in Bridge Street. It had it’s own back yard with a door/gate that opened into a cobbled lane, more like a long narrow communal back yard with the houses on one side and the wash houses and toilets on the other. The went up as far as the end of South Street.

The houses up the right hand side of Sullart Street, 3 Crown Street and the Wordsworth Tavern were all demolished in the mid 1960’s to widen Sullart Street.

The Wordsworth Memorial garden is where 3 Crown Street stood and the fountain from Harris Park stands roughly in the middle of my Grandmothers’ kitchen.

I drew the sketch above from photographs taken during the 1950 celebration of the death of William Wordsworth. In 1850.

Old Bridge Street Notes

The right hand door and window were a leather shop ran by Mr. Tom Sproat.

Our cottage was behind the Leather shop in a yard shared by the shops and the cottage. The bakehouse was directly behind the bakers shop, beside the cottage. The yard was accessed via door into Bridge Street. (Still there)

Today the bakehouse and cottage are combined and split into two single floor apartments.

Eland’s Bakery (Click to Return)

This shop, on the corner of Bridge Street was was owned by Mrs. Tolson and her daughter Jean when I was born. In 1946/7 they and sold the business to Mr. Arthur Eland and his wife Mary and moved to Yorkshire.

The Elands had moved out of the Derwent Hotel on Main Street which was merged into the Grassmoor Hotel next door in 1947. (The date is from J. B. Bradbury’s book ‘Cockermouth in Pictures 10’ Page 18. Which refers to the Hotel entrance door having ‘Elands’ above it).

The baker was was their son Skelton who I believe had trained as a cook in the Navy. He had to learn some of finer skills needed to produce confectionary, one of which was making chocolate Easter eggs. The first Easter they were in residence his journey up the Easter Egg manufacturing learning curve provided my sister and me with a regular supply of deformed eggs!

Skelton made my sisters wedding cake and I went to collect it. By then the bake house had been extended into the ground floor of number 84A. I had to go into what had been our parlour and the room was as I remembered it apart from the was the gap in the connecting wall by the back window. The wedding cake was sitting on the top of what had been our toy cupboard.

The Wordsworth Tavern (Click to Return)

Originally called the Hope and Anchor ( Bradbury’s ‘Cockermouth in Pictures- 10, Inns & Taverns’) the landlord was Mr. Studholme before it was taken over by my uncle Nick and Aunty Jessie, I think the license was in her name. Unfortunately Bradbury’s drawing in his book doesn’t include number three, only numbers 1 and 5. My sketch above shows the Tavern and Number 3. The sketch is based on photographs taken in 1950 and are reasonably accurate.

Wordsworth House (Click to Return)

There is no cultural or literary link to Wordsworth House. I have included it as I was an occasional visitor through it’s doors to recover the ball from it’s gardens after its flight over the wall from Bridge Street. There was a door from Bridge Street into the garden but for some reason they always took us through the house. Perhaps they thought it was a punishment to make sure our shoes were clean and not to touch anything on our way through the house and back.

Walker Brother’s Yard (Click to Return)

The yard behind the cottage was like a show room for gravestones. There was a gated entrance to the yard from Bridge Street but the main entrance was from the Main Street near the Congregational Church. Their building material storage area stretched as far as the river behind the air raid shelter. It was a definite no-go area for us kids and was avoided.

The Air Raid Shelter (Click to Return)

This is not shown in the original map and I have included it as it’s flat roof was a magnet to us small kids, It could be reached from a wall alongside it but only if you were big enough, and had the nerve, to get across the gap. The first time you ran round the top was like having climbed Everest. There was also the added kick of being able to do something forbidden by parents.

Sproat’s Leather Shop (Click to Return)

The owner was Tom Sproat and his daughter Jean lived there. My main memory of Tom was when the cessation hostilities, either European or Japanese was announced. It looked as though the whole town was out on the Main Street. As the crowd moved up and down the street, many in nightwear celebrating. Tom Sproat was throwing jumping jack fireworks into the laughing crowd. Fireworks were much less powerful then and designed more for fun than fright.

Jean Sproat worked at the Cumberland Pencil mill in Keswick and we were kept well supplied with reject coloured pencils, the last of which were used by my children in the 1960’s.

Congregational Church (Click to Return)

I think I was eight or nine years old when we started to attend the Congregational Church. The family had been attending Christ Church before the switch. I think the change of allegiance was due to a strong difference of opinion with the vicar of Christ Church.

The move had a very important effect on our lives as we became part of a very open, active and friendly congregation.

Sunday School (Click to Return)

The Sunday School was much more than a place for bible lessons and hymns on Sundays. In the week there were clubs that provided an alternative to cubs/scouts and there always seemed to be a event either being presented or being rehearsed. There was the usual Nativity play and at least one concert/musical play each year. The first one I was in was The Magic Rose, a children’s operetta and I had the part of Obadiah Know-all. The year after we did a variety show with short musical sketches. I had the part of Suds the Barbers Boy and part of a solo I has to sing was -

With Water and Brush My days are all rush,

I’m Suds the Barbers boy,

I lather the chin and rub the soap in,

A treat the swells enjoy,

While singing it I had to pretend I was giving Nancy Wood a close shave with a cardboard razor.

I haven’t a clue why that verse has survived in my head for 60+years.

When we got older we moved into a concert party containing adults where we took the shows out of the Sunday School into other local venues. For a year or so I was a teacher in the Sunday School. I think I must have put it on my CV when I applied for my first job at the Eskmeals Gun Range.

The Church in Bootle planned a Nativity and asked the Gun Range for help with installing some stage lighting. My manager decided I should do it as I was the only one in the department who was either qualified or dared, to enter a church.

Cable Store (Click to Return)

The area on the left hand side of Bridge Street was surrounded by high wire fencing and was where the Electricity Board stored their huge drums of underground cable. The drums were great fun to clamber over and under to find a ball that had gone over the fence. The problem was that the cables were waterproofed with wrapped tape and lots of sticky tar, especially designed to instantly stick to arms, legs or in the worst case clothing. Needless to say it was another ‘forbidden’ area.

A Jumping Jack Firework

When lit it fizzed round the corner and exploded on the straights making it jump in random directions.

Not dangerous unless it got stuck in your clothing.

94A Bridge Street (Click To Return)