Who’d think there was a dam in Lymm

Now I have lived in the north long enough to think of a dam as one of those giant Victorian constructions, that reach up to the sky and hold back vast amounts of water.

And as if to cement that idea last Easter we spent a holiday beside the Howden Dam in the High Peaks.  The Airbnb was just feet away from a vertical stone wall which was all the more impressive given just how much imprisoned water wish and washed on the other side of the dam.*

But not all dams are Victorian and not all dams hold back enough water to supply a city.

Last week on a whim we went to Lymm.  First port of call was the pub,** followed by a walk through the graveyard of St Mary’s and by degree along the Slitten Brook through the wooded Dinlge and out into the village.

But the highlight of the walk was the Lymm Dam which my Wikipedia tells me “is a dam and lake in Lymm, Cheshire, England, an inset village in the greenbelt around Warrington. 

It was created in 1824 by a dam built during the construction of what is now the A56 road, when local inhabitants objected to initial plans for a route through the village centre. 

It may have been used to supply power to local industry, and the surrounding area.

Warrington Borough Council began managing the Lymm Dam and its park in the early 1980s. 

At that time there were considerable erosion problems, and the Ranger Service began to upgrade the existing path network and take over the park maintenance. 

It is now a popular visitor attraction, which has won several Green Flag Awards for its improvements to the infrastructure and ecology of the dam”.***

And it really is a magic place to spend some time and catch the right angle and there is the tower of St Mary’s peeking out from the trees.

So the Lymm Dam may not be the Howdon but it has history and a heap of water and that is enough for me.

Location; Lymm

Pictures, Lymm 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Always look behind the trees …….. on discovering a dam, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2023/04/always-look-behind-trees-on-discovering.html

**The Church Green, http://thechurchgreen.co.uk/

***Lymm Dam, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymm_Dam 

Walking an old parish graveyard ...... in Lymm and Bothenhampton

 There is something quite special about a parish graveyard.

Which I rather think is best experienced on a warm sunny afternoon when there is no one else about.

Then the place takes on a stillness which fits with those buried under their gravestones.

If you are lucky the only things to distract you are the lazy buzz of insects and the sight of the odd butterfly flitting from one stone monument to another.

Chose your graveyard carefully and along with the gravestones there will be an old stone church “half as old as time” and a distinctive lych gate.

My Wikipedia tells me that “Lychgates consist of a roofed porch-like structure over a gate, often built of wood. 

They usually consist of four or six upright wooden posts in a rectangular shape. 

On top of this are a number of beams to hold a pitched roof covered in thatch or wooden or clay tiles. 

They can have decorative carvings and in later times were erected as memorials. 

They sometimes have recessed seats on either side of the gate itself, for the use of pall-bearers or vigil watchers”.*

Back in 1967 on a sunny day in Dorset I came across just such a moment. 

It was the Holy Trinty Church at Bothenhampton, and while it didn’t have a lych gate in all other respects it fitted the bill.

It dated back to the 13th century with a 15th century tower, had some gravestones and stood isolated and alone in a stretch of fields.

I discovered it by accident on a day with the six of us on holiday we had opted to go our separate ways and I came cross the church.

Unusually it was unlocked, and the interior was cool with that slightly musty smell.  And in the absence of anyone else I felt I was trespassing on that solitude.

To this day I carry the memory of the stillness interrupted by just the regular sound of the clock.

But there my memories prove false because the old church at Bothenhampton doesn’t have a clock.

And nor does the church of St Mary at Lymm which also has connections with the Middle Ages, was mentioned in the Domesday Book and does have a lych gate.

Added to which it has lots of gravestones, some of which now lean to one side.

Alas despite it being a Saturday its door were firmly closed, which guaranteed that I had the place to myself.

But prevented me from exploring the interior which has lots of history.

It also gained in listed status in 1950 a full decade before my church at Bothenhampton which was closed in 1971.

And as you do, standing in the graveyard in Lymm I thought back to that other place in Dorset.

There had been six of  us in a holiday caravan advertised for four.

But the passage of time has been cruel and I can only remember the names of four of us.

And of the four, one died in the 1970s and two have vanished.  Despite my efforts to find them the location of Michael who we called Dobbin and Clive remain lost, which I suppose is is somehow consistent with the slight sense of melancholy which comes over most of us in a graveyard.

Still I do like lych gates.

Location,Bothenhampton, in Dorest and Lymm in Cheshire 

Pictures; walking the graveyard of St Mary's Lymm.

*Lychgate, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lychgate

Just what you find on the way to Lymm ……..

I won’t be alone in collecting old canal warehouses.

The warehouse, 2021

They were during the 18th and early 19th century at the cutting edge of design, and were later copied by the first railway companies as the template for warehouse design.

They were created to solve the need to tranship goods from canal to road, and road to canal, and consisted of entrances on both sides from which produce could be brought into the warehouse and stored for onward shipment. 

These entrances were known as loop-holes and were supplemented by large arches at water level which allowed boats to enter the building.

The warehouse, coal year, wharf, 1900 

So I was more than pleased that on Andy’s adventure to Lymm, he took a slight detour and ended y past Warrington Lane and took the pictures of the warehouse which sits beside the Duke’s canal.

The site has changed very little in the last 150 years, and if I had access to maps from the late 18th and early 19th centuries I am sure they would show the same.

And that pretty much is that, other than to say I will go looking for any plans for the redevelopment of the warehouse.

Location, on the Bridgewater Canal,

Picture; the warehouse, 2021, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and the site in 1900, from theOS map of Cheshire, 1900courtesy of Digital Archives Association, https://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Ghost stations …….. the one at Heatley

It’s easy to miss Heatley & Warburton Railway Station.

The Station house on Mill Lane long ago became a private residence, and the booking hall, tucked away behind it, is pretty much hidden by undergrowth.

That said, anyone walking the Trans Pennine Trail at Heatley will know the existence of both.

And I am guessing that is how Andy Robertson came to photograph the old buildings.

They once serviced the Warrington and Stockport Railway which was later taken over by the London North Western Railway.

It opened in 1853, and closed to passengers in 1962, before finally closing three years later, although the track was not lifted till 1988.

And for those who want the story of the railway station and the Warrington and Stockport Railway in more detail there is that excellent site Disused Stations, which I always refer back to when encountering a lost railway station.

Location; Heatley, Lymm

Pictures; Heatley & Warburton Railway Station, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Heatley & Warburton, Disused Stations, http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/h/heatley_and_warburton/index.shtml

Pictures after the lock down …. no. 10.... the 3½ from Lymm

Now, here I have to say that while Andy’s collection of Lymm pubs appear in the new series which is entitled Boring pictures after the lock down, none of the four are boring.*

That said they fit nicely into a group of stories focusing on how we move out of lockdown into something new.

The four are the Saracens Head, Paddock Lane, Warburton, the Jolly Thesher, Higher Lane, Lymm, the ex Dog Beer House, Mill Lane, Heatleyand George & Dragon, Mill Lane, Heatley, and the Dog Beer House, Mill Lane, Heatley, which sadly is no more…… hence the ½

But I have left out the ex Dog Beer House, partly because it will not be one you can visit later in the year, and also because it is now a private house.

And I know I could have delved into the history of all four, but that too I shall leave for those who want the back story before visiting the three.

All of which just leaves me to invite everyone who is out and about to offer up their own photograph.

The only qualifications are that it should be by you and be boring.


Location; Lymm

Pictures; the 3½ from Lymm, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Boring pictures after the lockdown, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Boring%20pictures%20after%20the%20lockdown