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The 1950s

11/ 6/2003

Fire wrecks Clover Mill

FIRE caused £1M of damage to Clover Mill on Thursday, 5 June 1952, after a blowlamp exploded in the basement.

Nearly 250 fireman from as far away as Liverpool battled to save this six storey Gowers Street mill from one of Rochdale's worst blazes since the since the Ellenroad Mill in 1916.

Crews took nine hours to put out the fire, and 10 were taken to hospital for treatment after inhaling fumes.

The flames were finally brought under control at 8.05pm, but eight teams were on standby throughout the night and five crews were still keeping watch on the smouldering wreck in the morning.

Production was stopped at nearby Croft Mill as fire officers battled to stop the flames spreading. Thousands of people stood on Entwistle Road to watch and they saw clouds of black smoke billowing hundreds of feet up into the air.

The damage is all the more costly as Clover has recently been renovated as part of a £220,000 scheme, which also improved other mills in the group, Croft and State.

Group chairman Harold Bridge said, as many as was possible of the mill's 300 workers will be found jobs in the group's other mills. All employees - including 84-year-old Emma Nield BEM - have been instructed to report to work on Tuesday morning.

Party time as Queen is crowned

BRITAIN'S new monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, was crowned at Westminster Abbey and people from all over Rochdale joined in the celebrations.

Mill workers dressed up in 'royal' regalia as they celebrated the great occasion and street parties were held everywhere in the town.

Residents of Mavis Street, Castleton, were determined to make a special effort because one of their councillors, Alfred Bossier, is coronation mayor. They were rewarded with four prizes for their party including best-decorated street.

The town centre also had many eye-catching decorations, including a giant replica of the crown of St. Edward, which was used in the coronation ceremony, on display in Packer Spout Gardens. About 500 light bulbs have been used to illuminate the crown.

The roundabout by the town hall has also been beautifully decorated with red, white and blue pennants spreading out like maypole strings. Red, white, blue and green lights are arranged in between the pennants.

At the top of this display are the flags of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

Thousands of Rochdale people crowded round television sets to watch the ceremony and a special service to commemorate the event was held at Champness Hall.

Flaming finale for Theatre Royal

THE future of live theatre in Rochdale hung in the balance after the Theatre Royal was destroyed by fire in the early morning hours of Wednesday, 24 November 1954.

Flames destroyed the auditorium and the whole roof disappeared. Comedian Billy Shakespeare ran through the flames to save his ukulele and had to jump 15-feet from a window to safety.

Fire officers believed a dropped light in the auditorium may have caused it or it may have started in the storeroom.

The Theatre Royal stood at Town Meadows for 70 years, but had been struggling to pay its way over the last few years. With better acts playing and audiences increasing, owners Northern Theatres Company Limited believed it had turned the corner.

The show at the time of the fire, which starred ukulele player Tessie O'Shea and the Great Semprini among others, was the best at the theatre for a long time.

Gracie Fields was one of the first people to visit the theatre and said she was heartbroken to see the destruction of the theatre where she had given so many great performances.

Such superb Shirleys

ROCHDALE toasted not one but two women called Shirley at the Miss Rochdale contest at Rochdale Town Hall on Friday 4 October 1957.

Chemist's assistant Shirley Garstang was chosen as the first Miss Rochdale but the crowds were, of course, also appreciative of singer Shirley Bassey who gave a superb performance.

Shirley Garstang, aged 21, of Central Avenue, Littleborough, won £25 and a modelling course at the Lucie Clayton modelling agency as well as the coveted Miss Rochdale title. The competition was organised by the Rochdale Observer and director, Dennis Scott had the happy task of presenting Shirley with the winning cheque.

She said: "If I get anywhere with this course, I intend to put the £25 towards furthering my experience."

Shirley Bassey enthralled the crowd with an excellent performance which included great songs such as 'I've Got You Under My Skin' and a track specially written for her called Sex.

The Welsh singer was accompanied by her personal pianist, Johnny Roberts.

But the night ended in disappointment for Miss Rochdale contestant Sylvia Clegg. She was suffering from flu but left her sickbed against her doctor's advice to get to the town hall in a car specially sent for her by the Observer.

People watching would never have realised the 17 year old Rooley Moor Road resident was ill.

TV election - yet another first for pioneering town

LABOUR candidate, Jack McCann, made history by winning the first election covered by television on 13 February 1958.

The by-election was called after the death of sitting Conservative MP, Lt. Colonel Wentworth Schofield in December.

Much of the interest centred around Liberal candidate and television personality, Ludovic Kennedy.

He used his media experience to create countless photo opportunities which increased coverage.

Granada Television broadcast two meet-the-candidate debates as well as the election itself. The BBC has conducted many interviews with Rochdale people and even the Columbia Broadcasting Corporation sent a camera team over to cover the proceedings.

Despite all this, Jack McCann gained the most votes, polling an impressive 22,000.

Kennedy, however, was very happy with getting 17,603, the highest Liberal vote since the 1920s.

John Parkinson, the Conservative candidate, polled less than 10,000 votes.

Freehold flattened

THE first of Rochdale's slums could be cleared after a government inquiry at Rochdale Town Hall.

About 185 homes in the Freehold area could be demolished as part of Rochdale Council's plans to improve housing in the town centre area.

The council wants to replace them with 60 two-storey flats and 15 two-storey houses.

Dr J Innes told the inquiry the only way to deal with the bad arrangements of streets and houses in this area is by the demolition of all the buildings.

He said 158 of the homes showed signs of dampness, and 76 had no separate water closet. In 29 houses domestic washing has to be done in the living room and in 21 of the houses coal has to be stored in the house.

Assistant borough solicitor G Shaw said some of the objections to the CPOs were from people living in those houses.

They wanted the reason for their houses being knocked down changed from unfit for habitation to merely bad arrangement.

The reason for this being the council would have to pay the full purchase value.

Mr Shaw told the government inspectors once they saw the houses described as being unfit merit that description.

Key Events - 1950 to 1959:

1950 - Former Rochdale goalkeeper Andy Wingate helped rescue a group of holidaymakers marooned on a motorboat that ran aground on a sandbank; Five Australian rugby league players join Rochdale Hornets; Eclipse Mill visited by ambassadors from Peru and Uruguay.
1951 - Cricket professional Vinoo Mankad leaves Castleton Moor after three seasons; Lieutenant-Colonel Wentworth Schofield last Conservative to be elected MP for Rochdale.
1952 - Bamford Hall demolished; Rochdale Hornets board resigns after being refused vote of confidence by shareholders, partly due to costs of importing Australian players; German V2 bomb on display in Rochdale.
1953 - Extra allowances of food given for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II; Heywood and Royton MP, Harold Sutcliffe, given a knighthood; Rochdale has an all-Latvian fire crew.
1954- Queen Elizabeth II visits Rochdale; Radio telephone s used in ambulances; Castlemere Wesleyan Chapel demolished; Rochdale Council sets post-war house building record of 542.
1955 - Rochdale woman. Edith Meadowcroft marries deputy leader of the house of commons, Herbert Morrison; Work starts on £4.5M refurbishment of Turner Asbestos Company works in Spotland; Official opening of Holy Family Church in Kirkholt.
1956 - Great celebrations for 100 ^th anniversary of incorporation of Rochdale Borough; Rochdale Observer also celebrates centenary; Television shows Time for Rhythm and Bid for Fame filmed at Rochdale Town Hall; Wally Ellean, last of five Australians to join Rochdale Hornets, leaves the town after being forced to retire through injury.
1957 - Hippodrome Theatre closes; Mill engine at Era Mill replaced by electric power after 58 years; Rochdale textile machinery makers, Thomas Holt and T.W. Riley take part in British Trade exhibition in Helsinki; Honresfield, home of former Rochdale MP Sir Alfred Law, given to the Cheshire Foundation Homes for the sick by the Boro Rubber Company of Littleborough.
1958 - Rochdale girl, Dorothy Hazeldene, selected as Miss England; Russian visitors tour Fothergill and Harvey premises in Todmorden Road, Littleborough; Television programme Come Dancing filmed at Carlton Ballroom; Jukeboxes banned in public houses.
1959 - Proposals to build nine new schools approved by Rochdale Council; Castleton firm David Bridge and Company shares in £1M contract from Russia to build equipment for tyre factory in Ukraine; Rochdale Council rules that tenants shouldn't be allowed to keep pets in flats.