AN old tale of Winsford tells about wives of the saltworkers eagerly awaiting their husbands coming home on a Saturday dinner, with their best 'pinny' for their husbands to empty their wages into their laps.

This was the weekend, the time for merriment.

This week I will conclude telling of the leisure activities of the town's men a hundred years ago.

It was no good, as I have previously written, trying to keep the men out of the pubs. The numerous temperance societies had tried, and failed miserably, for if a man "cudna av is drink, it wer a rum do".

At the turn of the century, with little leisure time, little spare cash, no radio, TV, cinema or cars, self-made pleasures had to be found, with women being far more restricted than men.

The men of Winsford were not all pub-orientated though and had other pastimes some of which I wrote of last week.

Many homes had a piano in the front parlour, where the family as a whole would enjoy a sing-song, and always eager to expand their knowledge would love to attend the many talks and debates held in the town hall, and also the concerts.

Betting was popular, but unlike today there were no legal betting shops. A bookie's runner would collect bets from the houses or pubs.

Whippet racing, boxing matches, horses, even pigeon racing was gambled on, because to have prize-winning pigeons brought as much prestige as winning a bowls tournament or playing football for the town.

Many pigeon cotes adorned a back yard and to own a home-hatched champion was an extra honour.

The pinnacle of races would be from Nantes in France, and to have an offspring of this race winner would be a prize bird. I myself often marvelled at how homing pigeons found their loft after travelling hundreds of miles as I helped Charlie Noden to coax his birds into his loft for "clocking" with a special clock to record if he had won or lost a race.

Prior to having special clocks the ring on the pigeon's leg would have to be removed and taken to the post office, where the ring number was recorded on an official PO receipt and stamped with the date and time. The fastest time was announced at the next meeting and the winner rewarded.

All this followed the task of taking the pigeons to the railway station, putting them on a train, arranging for the railway authorities to water and feed the birds en route, sending a telegram to Winsford saying the time the birds were released, and then the anxious wait for them to come home.

The Over factory chimney was reportedly a local landmark the pigeons would look out for.

Harvest suppers, May Day, annual fairs and Whit walks were all pastimes highly regarded in Winsford. The railways in the town also made the seaside more accessible.

There was also the horse and wagon trips from Johnnie Baker's on Delamere Street, where Percy Yardley remembers that many a time, around Beeston Castle, on a steep incline they would have to get off and push.

The charabanc trips to Southport and the seaside would see dressing up for the occasion with the women in their long dresser boots and best hat and the men in their neckscarves, waistcoats and caps, as can be seen in the early photo below, showing a trip to Southport from Northwich.

Sunday, of course, was for religion - the children of the town attending Sunday school and the adults going to their respective churches to hear lectures on the demon drink, falling on many deaf ears.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.