Having fun in Ulverston of the past

She lived from March in 1917 to May in 2006 and her written memories of life in a changing town have been kindly supplied by granddaughter Emma Church, who lives in Congleton, Cheshire.

In this third extracts we look at some of the places Ulverston people went to have fun up to the 1960s when development scheme and social shook up the way the town looked.

Elsie wrote:

Going up Ulverston police station hill took you to Tommy Tatham’s stables.

The stables supplied the horse-drawn coaches for funerals. The horses had black plumes on their heads for a funeral.

The horse-drawn open landaus were for more happy occasions and were the highlight of the Ulverston Hospital Parade.

The carnival queen was a schoolgirl of about 14 years. She, along with eight other girls, were chosen by vote.

They rode around the streets in the rose-decorated landaus followed by the courtiers - who were young boys - carrying the crown and sceptre.

Following them were the well-drilled Amazon dancers.

Dozens of exhibits took part and people came from far and near to see the spectacle.

The stables were sold, so the horse-drawn vehicles went out of existence.

The war caused the parade to be discontinued for a number of years and many of the props and regalia were lost or destroyed, so now our carnival, once dubbed ‘The Gem of the North’ is just a shadow of its former self.

Progress decreed that the Roxy - a modern cinema - would be built in place of Tathams.

Across the road was the County Hotel which was burned down in the early 20th century and the Coronation hall built on the site.

The ‘Coro’ has proved to be a great asset to the town.

Before the war, all the important balls were held there. The Conservative ball and the Cricket Club ball.

The Ribble ball’s great attraction was a beauty contest.

Spectators were usually allowed in the balcony.

Jimmy Oliver’s was a very good local band, made up of Jimmy’s three sisters and some local lads. They played great dance music.

There was a lovely little rose garden to the side of the ‘Coro’, this was created by a man called Stevenson.

He grew the roses and the grafted them on to wild briars. Then he maintained the garden as long as he lived for the benefit of the town.

Along came progress again and much property and the rose garden made way for the County Road.

There was no radio or televison in my young days. Children played around the street lamp.

Entertainment was often magic lantern shows or plays and amateur entertainment in various church halls.

When the Palladium Cinema was built in Victoria Road this was a new way of life for much of the population.

The matinees were very much attended by the children.

TV was blamed for the decline of the Palladium, so it closed, was pulled down and a new rose garden made on the site.

The old market hall, which burned down in 1935 was quite medieval, with some very ornate stalls and a butter market with stone slabs leading off the main hall.

There was a flourmill operated by a water wheel in Mill Street.

This led to the Gill, which is steeped in history.

There was a stream, which flowed through Gill Banks, then into Mill Dam.

Tributaries from this beck flowed at random all over the town, mostly underground.

There was a tripe-curing place, which used these waters for washing the tripe, which was the best attainable ‘Gaugers tripe’.

One of these streams, or tributaries, flowed through Buxton Place and often flooded the houses when it rained heavily. This problem has now been overcome.

‘Li’l Ooston’ was the affectionate name given to Ulverston, in these bygone days - a quaint name for a quaint town.

Our quaintness has gone these days and we have now progressed to Ulverston, twinned with Albert.

Whilst agreeing that much of the ‘lost property’ is better gone, I feel that if some of our shop fronts had been left in keeping with our cobbled streets it would have charmed the tourists?

However, on reflection, who of us would swap our ‘mod cons’ for the good old days.