T63 – Summary – Ramsbottom Heritage Society

The transcript is an interview with Derek and Zena Middleton as transcribed by Microsoft Word and summarised by ChatGPT and subject to errors.

Derek was born in 1932 and Zena in 1930, both lifelong residents of the Ramsbottom area.
Derek’s father was a tackler (loom overlooker) in the mills; his mother was a weaver.
Both came from large mill-working families where children often started work young.

Derek attended Hazelhurst Primary School and later Haslingden Grammar School.
He served two years in the RAF for National Service near Salisbury, then studied at Chester College.
His teaching career spanned various local schools: Walmersley Church School, Pilkington Primary, Langley Estate (Saxon Nokes), Wallsend, and later as headteacher at small schools, finishing at Chapelfield School, Radcliffe.
Zena also trained as a teacher but left work when their children were born, returning part-time later.

Married in their early 20s, lived first on Earl Street, then moved to Bury New Road, where they remained for over 40 years.
Raised children including Christine (b. 1957) and Kathleen (b. 1959).

Church life was central: they attended Dundee Congregational (later United Reformed) Church, with Sunday School, morning and evening services, recitals, and social events like “recitals” (concerts plus prize-giving), New Year teas, and even mock weddings.
Over time, church attendance declined, particularly from the 1960s onward, influenced by rising car ownership and changing leisure habits.
Famous visitors included Isobel Baillie (soprano), Sandy MacPherson (organist), and even a Cliff Richard Christian concert at Wesley Methodist in the 1960s.

They recalled the transformation from a mill town with numerous small independent shops (specialist grocers, cheesemongers, sweet shops, dairies) to a more tourist-oriented place.
Mills closed, and many historic cottages and chapels were demolished (e.g., cottages near Ramsbottom Lane, Wesley Methodist Chapel becoming flats).
Traffic increased heavily after the building of the motorway link; there had been controversy over a proposed flyover.
Bus services modernised after WWII (they remembered the excitement of the first red double-decker in 1945–46).

Strong memories of cinema culture: the Empire and the Royal cinemas were central to entertainment, with Saturday matinees for children and full houses during the war.
Also recalled dances, walking traditions for young people to meet partners, and Sunday school seaside trips.

Early married life involved small houses with shared outside toilets, cold taps, and slopstones.
Their first home cost around £300 in the late 1930s, helped by family loans.
By the late 1950s, they struggled to find housing until a family acquaintance offered them a semi-detached within their means.
Derek’s first teaching wage was £32 net per month, which allowed careful housekeeping on about £5 per week.
They noted big differences between teacher pay and better-paid manual trades like electricians.

They witnessed the decline of a close-knit mill community where families intermarried, life centred on church, and work was tied to mills.
Later decades brought affluence, cars, tourism, and suburban expansion, which they felt eroded some of the older community spirit.
They were also founding members of the East Lancashire Railway Society, celebrating the preservation of the local railway line.

T63 – Summary