The postcard shown below was posted in 1908. It has six views of Boothstown, most of which remain familiar today.
Top-left picture shows Leigh Road. Top-middle looks up the road called Stirrup Brook (later renamed as part of Chaddock Lane) from the brook towards the Methodist chapel and the junction of Mosley Common Road (then called Coupe Brow). Top-right shows Booth Villa on Leigh Road (Shuff’s shop is next door).
Bottom-left looks up Mosley Common Road (then called Coupe Brow) – the shop on the right of this picture was the butcher’s, with the Conservative club (now called the Windmill club) also on the right. Bottom-middle is Vicars Hall Lane. Bottom-right shows the chimney of Yates’s mill with the Methodist chapel in the distance (this is the only scene unfamiliar today).
In the bottom-right corner of the postcard, next to the words Greetings from Boothstown, the sender has written ‘My native village’. The back of the postcard (below) shows that it was sent with ‘Best wishes’ by W.M Edge of Lancaster to a Miss Skead in Montreal, Canada. The postmark is 4.15pm on 5 September 1908 at Lancaster.
Who were these people? There were a number of Edge families in Boothstown at this time. William M. Edge was a clogger and bootmaker who lived at 49-51 Leigh Road (known as Ebenezer House). In 1871 William M. Edge was described in the census as ‘clogger and local Weslyan preacher’. He was 61 years old in 1901, but his family included his son, Wesley M. Edge, aged 21, who was a ‘student in training for schoolmaster’. Could Wesley, perhaps on a visit back to his parents’ home village, have bought the postcard in 1908?
But who was Miss Skead? There are no people called Skead in Lancashire in 1901; in fact, only a handful in the whole of England. There is no Wesley Edge in the 1911 census for England. Could Wesley have followed Miss Skead to Canada? A little more detective work is needed!
Note that on the left side of the back of the postcard the words ‘J. Hilton, Post Office, Boothstown’ are printed vertically.
The present post office (opposite the Royal Oak) was a shop belonging to the family of Daniel Hilton. The printing on the postcard suggests that at some time before 1908 a Hilton family had taken over the post office.
This postcard belongs to Angela Pryor (nee Edmondson). Angela writes:
My family moved to Boothstown in April 1976 when I was a small child. I was educated at Boothstown Methodist Primary School and remember moving from the old hall to the new school. I missed seeing the Queen open the new school as I had chickenpox. I have wonderful memories of Mr Lee, Mr Hodgson, Mrs Sinkinson, Mrs Hilton, Mrs Monaghan and or course Hilda the cook. I went to Fred Longworth Secondary School, Tyldesley, and then Salford College of Technology. I was a member of the local Guides which my mum also helped to run. She then went on to be a Ranger Leader in Worsley. Many a happy time was spent at Middlewood Scout Camp.
I came upon this postcard whilst searching for cards from the local area – I intend to make a montage of postcards for my parents’ wedding anniversary. This postcard was found on a well-known Internet auction site.
The postcard from 1908 belongs to Angela Pryor. Thanks to Angela for sharing the postcard. This web page was written by Tony Smith who also researched the postcard’s background.