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Frank,what did the Snooker Hall shut.

Frank,mean when not what, ( it's getting to my bed time) .

Frank,mean when not what, ( it's getting to my bed time) .

Frank,lot different now what with Mini Roundabout and Traffic Lights all pointing different way's.

What is labelled as the Market Hall was the Palace cinema when I was growing up un Platt bridge. I see the Methodist Chapel is still there even though the roof is in a shocking state. We all had accounts with the Trustee Saving bank.

GREAT PICTURE FRANK LOOKS TO HAVE BEEN SHOT FROM THE INN

The bank is where Mc'Donalds is located now.
I think the roads and the place was much better then.

That's how I remember it- grey and wet, not a leaf anywhere.

Jimmy, I don't know when the snooker hall shut or where it was located. I'm not from the area. Maybe some Platt Bridgers would know.

Frank, the billiard hall was the light coloured building just past the old cinema, marked as the market hall in your picture.

In the 1940s the buildings on the left were the "King Billy, a shop occupied by a Mr Kenyon then the Palace cinema (had a different facade). The Billiard Hall was next and then a corner shop on junction with Stephen St. On the extreme right, painted white was a shop occupied by O & G Rushton (groceries, etc.) The small shop was, I think, a florist.

It's a long time ago now, I'm going back to the early 60's, and memory fades as we are all aware, but I would have said that the billiard hall was in the building labelled as the market hall. Could be wrong of course. Doesn't often happen. We were all 14 years old, still at school and generally considered as reprehensible hardcore reprobates. We used to get the bus from Ashton on a winter's evening to play snooker at what we called ' t'dawl ' .Snooker, as a sport in 1962, was considered lowbrow and wasn't particularly in favour, and as a consequence, most of the billiard halls had closed, Platt Waz being one of the last. It appeared to be run by one of the members of Quazimodo's ugly side of the family. The place was practically empty back then. If only the proprietors had had the foresight to hang on a few more years until the advent of colour t.v. in the late 60's, when snooker went ballistic........ " and for those of you who are watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green".......Who among us can forget that one?... All the billiard halls had gone by then unfortunately, the only remaining tables being in the labour clubs and the like, and you had to form a queue if you wanted to get a game. Getting back to the one in Platt Bridge, if you were prepared to fork out a few more coppers, the Herman Munster lookalike that ran the place would give you a couple of additional balls to play with. One of them was purple and I can't remember what colour the other one was, it may have been orange, I'm not sure, but I think we called it snooker extra or snooker plus, or something similar. I'd like to bet not many people have ever laid eyes on a purple snooker ball. Correct me if I am mistaken.

I used to frequent that snooker hall in the 60s, yes, purple and orange were the extra balls.

ArthurP is correct, the snooker hall was next to the Palace Cinema.

The building to the right of the Market Hall is indeed the Billiard Hall. That horrible fake front on the old billiard hall is hiding a lovely brick building.

Droney's or similar would have been just out of shot bottom right. Was there ever a Nat West Bank in Platt Bridge??

We called it snooker plus when playing with the orange and purple.We always called this snooker hall the D'all

Broady I think the Trustee Bank on the photo was formerly Nat. West, but there was another bank, near the tripe shop, In Walthew Lane. Williams Deacons rings a bell but I'm not sure.

Yes, Broady, it was what is now Platt Bridge Post Office, and the Post Office was next door.

Judging by your comments Pw, it would appear that you may have been patronising the place at around about the same time that I was. If that's the case, I'm sure you'll bear me out on this. I seem to recall there were about 16 tables in the place, possibly more, yet I don't remember ever seeing more than four in use at any one time. This was in about 1962. I've just had a quick look on ' t ' thinterweb and it would appear that ' snooker plus ' was introduced in 1959 by none other than Joe Davis, in what ultimately turned out to be a futile attempt to arrest the decline of the game. As I stated in my previous comment, if the proprietors had been clairvoyant , they would have been living the dream in the Seychelles now. That said, if we all had the power of clairvoyance, the Seychelles would be getting a bit overcrowded by now. However, in regards to defunct billiard halls. Two words spring to mind. ' Law ' being one of them, the other one being ' sod's '.

I spent many happy hours in the Tower Billiard Hall during the 1940-50s. Sign of a misspent youth! The shop on the corner of Stephen St was Seth Ratcliffs fruit & veg .Broady there was a Natwest Bank where the Post Office is now.

Remember now. Thanks for the answers. I also remember going in Dicky Balls opposite the Snooker Hall for frozen Vimto's.

Yes it was Williams Deacons bank next to the tripe shop but Seth Ratcliffe's fruit and veg shop was across the road from the Billiard Hall, I never remember it being on the corner of Stephen Street.

Seth Ratcliffes shop was definitely on the corner of Stephen St.It may have moved across the road at a later date.I remember there was a Parrot in the side window in Stephen St.

in the 60's Seth ratcliffe's shop was next to Websters butchers on Liverpool rd.

I lived in the flat above Websters shop

There were at least sixteen tables.The first four tables were always in good condition and were usually used by the better snooker players .The rest of the tables,which most of us played on were bit tatty but it never bothered us.Seth Ratcliffes son Dennis was not a bad snooker player.Happy days

jaymac, my school friend Julia lived in the flat above Webster's in the mid-sixties with her Mum. You must have lived there just after her.

In the early 70's, I worked with a lad who lived in an upstairs flat next to, or very close to the King Billy. His name was Albert, but I can't remember his surname. Would anyone on here remember him. Last time I saw him, about ten years ago, he was driving for Ferrymasters.

Irene,

I use Jaymac as a pen name. I am still the same Julia from webster's flat.

By the way, I seem to remember a small mixed grocery cum bakery on the corner of Stephen St but I did not know it belonged to Seth.

Others are right about Dennis Ratcliffe playing snooker, but do you remember his 60's band called the Danzig Four?

As part of a misspent youth,Dennis also taught me to play poker!!



me to play poker!!

When I was a lad I worked as a delivery boy for A Dowding Butcher which was next door to the Trustees Bank. The bike I rode was similar to the one Granville had in Open All Hours.

I cannot find anything about 215 Liverpool Road where my Great great grandmother and her daughter died in the 1890's. Can anyone help?

215 Liverpool rd was between Mawdesley St,where I once did lived, and Longton St,which still exists.My cousin Bill Whittle and his family lived at 215 in the late 50's/60's? If you go to stuff on this page and then Hindley index there is a1925 index which shows a Mary Dootson lived there

P.Sykes.If you go to photos,street scenes,Mawdesley stand look at item 25015(more children from Hindley) ,the house at the back of the children is 217 Liverpool Rd.215 is the house next door.People who lived in this area like myself were called Lumpers.Hope this helps.

small shop on the corner with a pram outside was owned by a chap called George Ashurst ...shop a number of things like fancy goods toiletries bric-a-brac plus other goods etc

Steve, if you read this please drop me an email. I'm looking into Albert Dowding, the butcher you mention. He was my 2x great uncle and I have an unlabelled photo of a butcher shop that may be 687 Liverpool Road - I'm trying to confirm that. It would be amazing to talk to someone who knew it! The photo shows it with a Maypole Diary shop on the right of it.

Was their a joiners shop / handy man shop near websters butchers

First time I've noticed that the A49 bends around to the right towards hindley, leaving walthew lane a give way ,no traffic lights . My owd dad says he fell off a motorbike there in the 1960s !

Sorry A58

My Grt Grt grandparents lived at 692 & 686 Liverpool Road in 1911 / 1912. this would work out roughly where the palace & snooker hall are. Approx when did they go up ?