DID you know a crisp factory used to be based in Howley.
And its smells are still the stuff of legend in Warrington today.
The factory was based off Church Street but there is little physical evidence of it today.
Many recall the business as being Chadwicks, Hughs and Golden Wonder.
Thomas Swift remembers the firms as Chadwicks from he was working as an apprentice in 1954 – not to be confused with the paper mill of the same name which was sited nearby on the Mersey.
He takes up the story: “In Church Street, opposite the Star Kinema, there were two shops, a barbers and a butchers.
“Then set back was an entry with an undertaker alongside, then a furniture shop and Lockers.
“To get to Chadwick’s crisp factory from Church Street, you went down an entry between the two shops and the undertakers.”
A map from the 1950s
As for the names, well it seems all three were correct.
In the 1951 Trade Directory, the firm was listed as H Hugh & Co (late Chadwicks) potato crisp manufacturers, Morris Court
It is then thought that the company was sold to Golden Wonder crisps before it was closed in Warrington.
That street and Greenall Street. which was the larger road nearby, are now both long gone.
Janice Hayes, heritage champion at Warrington Museum, explains: “Morris Court was a very small alley near the larger Greenall Street.
“In the 1930s several small houses were listed there but I think several of those had been demolished by the 1950s.
“As people have said it was almost opposite the Star Kinema (the cinema) but further down towards the Parish Church than the National School.
“A lot of that area seemed to have been cleared by the 1970s photo (above) but it would have been to the left of the taller white building.”
- Do you have memories of the crisp factory?
Then let us know at Yester Years by emailing [email protected].
Or write to Yester Years, Newsdesk, Warrington Guardian, Unit 4, 240 Cygnet Court, Centre Park, Warrington, WA1 1PP.
