Maghull Town Council 'Your MAGhull' Edition 8 - Flipbook - Page 9
HISTORY WITHIN MAGHULL
Written by Cllr Ross Ferguson
Remember The 70s
I first visited Maghull in the mid1970s, as
a young relief Projectionist from
Wallasey, working at the Albany Cinema
(latterly known as The Astra) Maghull.
After making some wonderful friends in
and around the town, I decided to move
here with my young family in 1981 and
have remained here ever since.
Cllr Ross Ferguson
For example, in 1770, work started on
the Leeds to Liverpool Canal; the first
spade was driven at Halsal Hill Bridge,
and not long after, the Red Lion Public
House in Maghull was built to serve the
canal traffic.
In 1774, the newly built canal was
navigable between Liverpool and
Newburgh in West Lancs, some of the
goods transported on the canal by
horse-drawn barges included Coal, Grain,
Cotton and also the peculiarly named
'Night Soil', a mixture of human and
animal manure from Liverpool that was
used to fertilise our crop-growing fields
here in Maghull.
Last (for now!) in 1870, the first 'Police
Station' in Maghull was set up by
Lancashire County, and the first Officer
and occupant of the station was a Mr
William Newsham from Preston and his
family. At this time, according to the
1871 National Census, the population of
Maghull was 1,284 people and
neighboring Lydiate was 848 people.
So, a few days ago, I was thinking about
the 70s, and I started to look at
significant events that have taken place
in and around Maghull, not just in the last
century, but in the past centuries during
their 70s.
Thanks to Mr Roy McBride and his Facebook page 'Maghull & Lydiate in Old Photos' for the
use of his photo of the Red Lion Public House. Also, my thanks to the family of the late
Dr John Rowlands for allowing me to use some of his material for this article.
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