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Topic: Bostocks, bridgers and yards (Read 168 times)

Madhatter
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Bostocks, bridgers and yards
« Thread Started on Jul 25, 2008, 5:19pm »

One of my little waffles

I've asked my nan about the bostocks and she seems to remember that one family lived at 6 Queens road Atherstone and previous to that a family at a yard which is now at the rear of the milo's deli and old butchers shop units which I believe used to be a cafe. At the top end of that yard is an Arch in the factory wall, there's a courtyard to the slipper factory to the right and to the right of that the derelict factory, right of that is Aldi, the old factory used to be here and a door way which I've seen a picture of with staff outside, this is to rear of the shoe shop and St Giles shop which belong to Vero's. There also used to be a house there somewhere at the back of the shops. But that arch was the entrance to the house where the Bostocks lived.

My nan Catherine Bridger used to live in a house at the side of the gym in Station Street, there was, where the footpath is now to Wendy Mortons Dance studio, an driveway to a storage yard at the back, it had big metal gates on it. Their house, was next to it. Annie and Charlie Bridger lived there, their children were Agnes,Emily,Catherine, Henry, john and tom. With Catherine being the only remaining child. It was a run down place, full of mice and occasionally a rat like many of the houses in Atherstone,it was however a luxury because it wasn't on a yard. The house belonged to Vero's of course.

During the war, loads of foreigners came to Atherstone, Italians, yanks, poles and of course Germans as prisoners.
Germans worked the local farms to earn their keep and were kept prisoner in the grounds of Meravale Hall.

On Christmas eve 1944 Edmund Nakielski arrived on a train and walked with the other poles, now part of the polish army helping the war effort to Merevale war camp to be put on tower duty the same night.

Back in 1944 the equivelant to the lounge bar would have been the co-op dance hall. There was two dance halls in Atherstone, one over the co-op and one over the town Hall in the Market Square.

Catherine Met Edmund at one of these dances and became boyfriend and girlfriend.

They eventually got married but before they did and certainly for the nights preceeding the weding Edmund lodged at that big house that would be somewhere near the rear of the Antique shop thats there now, which used to be a grocery shop and barnsleys wool shop.
There used to be a way through somehow from station street to that house, maybe not a legitimate right of way but there was a way through, I think it may be the route of the path around the back of Aldi.
I distinctly remember my nan telling me she was sent on an errand to take a note to a shop keeper there one day and she had to go by that arch. She says they had a tripod thing with a fire and people used to stand around it, she was scarred to pass that arch. I assume the arch led into the yard and there was buildings each side like the front arches to station street, at least one of which must have been a house. That arch is still in that wall but bricked up now. The cafe to the front would be where Catherine would later work, melody as she was known by the regulars.

If anyone else lived in this area, owned any of the shops, ran a shop, worked in the factory, has any memories of the are please get in touch.

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