T47 – Summary – Ramsbottom Heritage Society

The transcript is an interview with Barbara Southern as transcribed by Microsoft Word and summarised by ChatGPT and subject to errors.

Attended Sunday school and participated in the Whit Walks, holding flowers and ropes in processions.
Recalled two cinemas in Ramsbottom:
- The Empire (with balcony, matinees, and Saturday night double screenings).
- The Royal (later the Summerseat Players theatre).
Entertainment included the wireless (radio), listening to plays, and walking around town with her parents.
Local shops and landmarks:
- Paper shops, barbers, fruit & veg shops, coal shops, and butchers (Billy Butcher’s).
- Chip shop on one of the four streets.
- Patmos Church (with pantomimes).
- Three old cottages behind the Good Samaritan.

Lived with parents and a younger brother (born when she was 9).
Early home lacked bathroom and had an outdoor toilet; bathed in tin baths filled with boiled water.
Laundry done with dolly tubs and washboards.
Later homes were modernised with a bathroom and toilet indoors.
No central heating; used flock mattresses that sagged over time.
Flooding on Kenyon Street was common in the 1950s until the river was dredged.

Spent much time at the waterside near Kenyon Street, building dams and swimming in the stream.
Played traditional street games: marbles, whip-and-top, cigarette cards, four corners, rally, and knock-and-run.
Collected stamps with her father (still keeps her stamp books).
Rode on the milk cart (horse and cart) with Mr. Wolfenden.
Rag-and-bone man with a donkey also visited the street.
Families often scrubbed their steps and flagged pavements weekly.

Teachers at St Paul’s were very strict.
Activities included pantomimes, PE on black mats, and lessons with chalkboards, later ink pens.
Enjoyed pantomimes but disliked at least one teacher.

Left school at 15 and started work at Shepherd’s making candlewick bedspreads.
Later worked as a weaver, operating up to four towel looms on piecework; earned about £11/week at best.
Work environment was dusty and noisy, requiring lipreading due to the machine noise.
Learned quickly to operate a “kissing shuttle” loom.
Memories of workplace camaraderie, Christmas parties, and playful traditions (e.g., mistletoe at Christmas).
Her father worked lifelong in the mills, eventually becoming a supervisor.

Trips by train to Blackpool and coach to Morecambe.
Ramsbottom station: had waiting rooms with fires, pay-to-use toilets, and a phone box outside.
Enjoyed dances at the Bolton Palais and Princess Ballroom from about age 16.
Travelled on the diesel trains or red buses with conductors.
Recalled the coronation celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II – street parties with hats, streamers, and long tables.

Despite hardships (floods, lack of amenities, hard mill work), Barbara recalls a “brilliant childhood” filled with fun, close-knit community life, and simple pleasures.

T47 – Summary