Views around the 'Gib'

We have Nick Folwell to thank for these pictures... he was inspired to send them in after seeing some of the pictures Dave as shown on Gibraltar. 

Gatepost to what was the 'Big House'



Remnants of one the Air Raid Shelters 

A great view of the weir from the Haughton side

Great picture Nick... all of which bought happy memories from my childhood flooding back... keep your picture coming in everybody, it's always a pleasure showing them here.

Gib Row Memories

Jane was handed a few bits of paper the other week by one of our neighbours... I knew that my neighbour Ray Denton had once lived in Gib row.. but never thought that he would have so much to tell me of the area, the houses, people and of course the old mill itself. I looked through the papers and was fascinated by what Ray had wrote down for us... so it goes without saying that this post is dedicated to Ray and his memories..

Gibraltar Row consisted of a row of 16 houses, numbered  2 to 32. 

No.2 Tom Bromley ( The Bromley's) 7 Children
No.4 Mrs. Brown and son.
No.6 Mr and Mrs Donald Timperley 2 Children.
No.8 Mr and Mrs Bill Smith. (Taddy) 1 Child  (Kept Pigeons)
No.10 Mr and Mrs Bill Heron. Circus Performers 1 Child.
No.12 Mrs Shaw and Daughter.
No.14 Gore 4 Children
No.16 Mrs F. Denton 2 Children
No.18 Mr and Mrs Szmeryck  3 Children
No.20 Mr and Mrs Appleton. 4 Children
No.22 Mr and Mrs Tony Kelly. 2 Children
No.24 Mr and Mrs Goldstone. 3 Children
No.26 Mr and Mrs Billy Pope. 3 Children
No.28 Mrs Avison. Known as Aunty Lynne to all the kids.
No.30 Mrs M. Appleton.  Mary Appleton
No.32 Mr Dickinson (Early 1950s) Mr and Mrs Humprys moved in later.

Some families moved out while others moved in, but the names above are correct as Ray recalls them. The first and last house in the row had gas lamps fitted outside..The one on the last house was permanently lit, day and night. Ray says that  as far as he can remember there were around 20 gas lamps from the top of Apethorn Lane to Gibraltar Lane and half way up to Haughton Green. One of the memories of the Gib that Ray would like to share is of Tommy Bromiley's Goat... it took to following Billy Heron every time he went to the pub (The Old Dog) up the 'Green'. The Goat would wait for Billy to come out the pub and accompany him home... Ray said it had to be seen to be believed and caused many a laugh to the people who lived down the Gib.. Not everything was fun though... a tragic event sticks in Rays mind. A little boy was found drowned, he was caught up in the Sluice Gates. The little mite had fallen in the river 4 weeks before near to where he lived on Mill Lane. It was Tommy Bromiley who found him.

Ray can only recall about 4 of the houses having electricity, no one else could afford it.. Rays family and most of the other were still using gas lights up to them leaving in 1965-66, when  the houses were eventually pulled down. The family's who lived down the Gib, were all rehoused, some went to the new estate at Hattersley, some to Hyde,and some like Rays family to Newton. Ray said he enjoyed his time living down there, he said it was a nice place to live when you were young. All the kids had great times down there, he says it was all fun and games. No trouble at all, they had their own little world to play in. Only thing against it was that it was a 'bit out the way'. One of the houses did open up as a Sweet Shop, as the nearest shops were either in Gee Cross village, or up the hill to Haughton Green. Either way it was a long walk up hill so the shop was very welcome. Ray's grandmother was the last to leave Gibraltar Lane after moving there in the 1930s or even earlier.

Ray tells us that Gibraltar mill stopped working as a Cotton Mill around 1959-60. The mill did however reopen..  not as a Cotton Mill but as Brooksons Poultry Appliances, and Brooksons Sunshine Eggs Ltd. who also reared chickens on site as well.  Brooksons opened in the early 1960s. 4 brothers came from the Hadfield area and set up in the Poultry business.. they made large poultry houses and battery cages for keeping chickens in. Gib Mill was 5 stories high.... and most of it was turned over to the rearing of chickens. Some were kept as battery hens producing eggs, while other floors housed birds reared for the table. The company employed quite a few people, mostly from the Hyde area. Ray recalls seeing a local character called Billy Tym's who would come down to the Gib on his horse and cart to buy eggs to sell to his customers around the Hyde-Godley area where Billy Tyms had his farm. Ray says he was always amazed how the horse got back up Apethorn Lane with the cart being full of crates of eggs. The business did not last long, only about 6-7 years until the Mill building were condemned, and earmarked for demolition around  1966-67. The houses were pulled down first, as they belonged to the mill owners.

Great memories here Ray... I'm very pleased to have this wrote down here for others to read.  My memories of the mill workers must have been clouded... as they would have been dealing with the chickens and not cotton as I'd always thought.

One of our Dave's pictures taken from roughly the same spot as the first picture.
You could visit here today and not realise a Mill or Homes had ever been here.

Floodmark

I couldn't help but notice something on this photo of the Floodmark that is on the site of Gibraltar Mill, that Dave very kindly took for us recently.

If you look closely to the right hand side of the floodmark it looks like a figure of a woman sitting there spinning - A ghost of Gibraltar Mill perhaps? Spinning long after the mill ceased to be?

What do you think? Can anyone else see her?



Dave has zoomed in here to try to highlight her.

The Weir on the River Tame.

The Weir on the River Tame.


Constructed by John Sidebottom to help power Gibraltar Mill which was built in 1794). The spare ground on the right of the picture was formerly occupied by the mill which was demolished in the 1960's. Note the flood marker on the right.

The Sidebottoms were perhaps Hyde's second industrial family after the Ashtons.
They also owned Hyde and Haughton collieries and Kingston Mill.


The Weir

The Great local flood was in 1799. During it's height the River Tame increased by several yards. At Hyde Corn Mill the Millers were busy for many days and nights using long poles to try to divert the trees and logs that had been uprooted by the sheer mass of water and washed downstream. They had to do this to prevent them doing serious damage to the Mill itself. Crops were ruined and damage was done to a wide area and caused inconvenience for months after due to many local bridges being destroyed.


Here's the Flood Mark in detail.

Thanks to John Hopwood for the photo - very much appreciated :)






The two pictures above are from Dave Williams our resident photographer... Dave went on to say

These are the photos I took today of the marker by the weir. I notice from the photo on page 33 of the booklet 'Hyde Cotton Mills' that it doesn't seem to be the same marker. The one in the booklet looks much bigger, there's a 'th' after 'Aug 17' and the line indicating the water level is underneath the date. Were there two markers, was it redone at some stage, or is the photo in the booklet a fake? Another thought-provoking post!

Once again thanks for the pictures and input Dave... I seem to recall the marker being rebuilt.... and the fencing added... I can't be 100% on this but I have an idea it was knocked down by so called 'joy riders'. I'm sure a car was dumped in the river around here.

Here's the Flood Mark on the old mill itself... and on this one it is as Dave said... there's a 'th' after Aug 17. As I look at this picture now I remember the noise of the weir.. it must have rebounded from the mill... it was very loud.