Blog number 150 brings me to the sleepy outpost of New Longton, where Gill’s parents have always lived, it is situated about four miles south of Preston. The original formation of the village was sparked by the building of New Longton station on the West Lancashire railway line between Preston and Southport.
Beeching’s astonishingly short-sighted rail review in the 1960’s closed the local station with hundreds of others across the country, thereby negating the direct Preston to Southport link and from then on necessitating a change at either Burscough or Wigan to complete that journey. There was recent talk of building a new station at Midge Hall a couple of miles away on the current line, next to the Midge Hall pub, but sadly this has not yet come to fruition.
In the late 1980’s in my pre-car days I used to travel over on the Z28 bus, which were especially infrequent on Sundays. I once caught the last bus when it was heading back to the depot on a Friday night before jumping off in town and walking the last leg back to my then current digs in Plungington. I spooked my mate Bicker when I was waiting at the bus stop as he was returning from a night around the Preston hostelries.
When I had no choice but to leave home at the tender age of twenty, I lived in a suite of unhygienic shared houses with a plethora of noisy co-residents, I think the ‘pad’ off New Hall Lane near the Acregate pub was my particular favourite. As a result, I quite often crashed at Uncle George’s flat in town and also on the lounge floor at the in-laws with the faithful pooch Patch keeping me company on the adjoining settee!
I was always well fed with extra portions and have been around that long that Gill’s youngest sister Charlotte and I share a joke that she cannot recall a pre-Jimmy time in her life. I have also been sitting next to Gill’s dad John on PNE matches for around three decades now!
Around that time, I also used to undertake regular train journeys to Crewe where Gill was currently working, and we used to sally out for regular nights out in nearby Nantwich. I recall utilising my young person’s railcard reducing the fare from £9.60 to £6.35, I know that price is now about thirty years ago, but Avanti still please take note!
My good friend Paul Catterall was in a short-lived band called Debaser (and they did cover that song!) in the 90’s and they used to rehearse at a church hall in New Longton, canvassing local knowledge it was thought this was likely to be the Methodist church on Chapel Lane.
Though the local corner shop used to serve fresh butter pies which is a massive plus in my book, there are sparse pickings nearby the New Longton lodgings. One of these is the Farmers Arms which resides on Wham Lane. It was for many years a Brewers Fayre establishment and we have had a few decent meals in there. The last time I ventured there was on a particularly soulless Millennium Eve with EastEnders booming on the TV prior to attending an equally soulless party where too much champagne was imbibed!
A fifteen-minute jaunt the other way down Chapel Lane takes you to the New Longton Cricket Club. The club was established in 1921 and last year celebrated its centenary. The cricket club played local fixtures before officially joining the Chorley and District League in 1967. There are also pool, bingo and poker teams affiliated to the establishment.
It is a homely venue that you can visit via invitation from a current member, with a large lounge split into linked rooms. I have visited several times, either on Christmas and Boxing Day, watching a match on the big screen or simply for a couple of cheeky beers! They regular have cask ales available and have subsidised prices, so much so that Gill’s dad is in shock when he purchases beers in other pubs, based on that I don’t think I will ever take him to Manchester Apollo!
Their big event every year is the President’s Day which takes place on the late August bank holiday, there are numerous food and tombola stalls in place, and it is always well attended. On 26/08/18 I attended the shindig, however the weather that day was somewhat apocalyptic, so the band decided to play indoors.
They took up a fair share of space because they were the Lostock Hall Memorial Brass Band. They had just qualified for the national brass band finals and the following month in Cheltenham they finished in a very respectable seventh place.
John B should be the resident ‘comedian’ at the club !
Played cricket there mid 90s