Contining Colin Greenall's study of life in and around the homes of the Sankey's lock-keeping families: In the least two issues of CUTTINGS we printed the first two parts of an article about family life in a cottage by the canal. The story is concluded with this:

Life in Winwick Lock Cottage in the 1930's
by Hettie Sutton

My father would ride on his bike to Fiddler's Ferry . In summer he used a scythe to keep the ditches and banks clear of brambles and grass. When there were any dogs drowned he would pull them out with a grappling hook and then bury them. He always noticed how many turns were on the lock gates. If the weather had been very wet he would go to Hulme Lock where Mrs Bates lived. There was a lock gauge in Roman Numerals which he looked at to see if the water was rising too fast. He would lift the wash boards up to send the water through the culvert into the 'Stinking Brook' as it was called. There was also a cabin there where sometimes he stayed all night. All this, was so the farmer's fields didn't get flooded and sue the canal company. He was very friendly with the game keeper at Bewsey Hall who would give him a rabbit now and again for us to eat. The job always supplied a greatcoat for winter and oilskins with long waders for the ditches.

There were lots of enjoyable times at the lock cottage, especially at Christmas - mince-pies to be made, a kissingbush out of two hoops. Mother and I would sit in the back kitchen with a bucket at our feet plucking the feathers off two of our hens. We always had a houseful of relatives. On Christmas Eve, the Salvation Army would come and sing for us. Our party would begin after they had gone. Grandad would play the piano, and we would have games. As the night wore on, my mother's home-made potato wine and a crate of beer made everyone sleepy. Uncle Fred had fallen asleep, having had a little too much to drink, on a tressle table, as someone carried him outside on it and left him in the garden. The morning being white with frost soon brought him to.

One thick, foggy day we heard a loud whirring sound coming nearer and nearer. Imagine the shock we got on going outside and seeing a huge airship passing over our house. It was obviously following the canal but couldn't rise up very high because of the fog. A cow came into our garden from the field next to the house. Mother always panicked if a cow looked at her. She locked the door and took my brother upstairs, giving me directions on how to push the cow back into the field. It was contentedly chewing and ignored me. I had to go and see if dad was at the boatyard. The animal was later got back in the field. My brother Joe was about four or five then. I was seven when my brother was born and thirteen when my sister Olive arrived. None of us ever fell into the canal all the time we lived there. When Olive was very small, a friend called and left the gate off the latch. She went on to the canal bank. As we ran after her she ran towards the lock, thinking we were chasing her. Mrs Lloyd, our friend, told us to stay where we were. She walked slowly forward coaxing her with imaginary sweets and grabbed Olive, who was right at the edge. It was a terrible ordeal, as my mother by this time, had fainted on the grass and I had to look after her.

On the other side of the lock was a grappling hook and a rake. Both of these had very long handles. There was an overflow called the wash going into a small concrete channel at the back, this took the excess water. We left the house when I was seventeen much to my regret as I had spent many happy years there. War broke out two years later. I think the house was demolished with an incendiary bomb. The Germans were trying to find the Vulcan works where tanks were being made and they dropped them along the canal.

The end Many thanks to Hettie for her reminiscences. If anyone has any more snippets of information do please send them in, with photographs if possible. My address is: - Colin Greenall, 16 Bleak Hill Road, Eccleston, St.Helens, WA10 4RW, or send an email via the Chairman: david@scars.org.uk