Trentham Hall Estate Buildings

[myladyanmay]

Thanks for your info.

[Trekker]

Believe Princess Elizabeth spent a night or two on that dead end track when she visited the Potteries just before 1950.   That means her coach was parked on the embankment overlooking Stone Road.  Also recall a bunch of us nippers lining the banks and waving to some of  the first casualties from D-Day, 1944, as they were loaded into ambulances and taken to N. Staffs Infirmary.

[PenylanSue]

The Rex and the Rio cinemas in Newcastle wee regularly visited by me as a child growing up in Newcastle in the late 1950s.  According to a book in my possession called 'The Lost Empire' by Barry Blaize they closed in October 1971, the Rex re-opening in August 1972 but then closing 12 months later.  My husband says that the two cinemas had shared conveniences and they would go in one door after watching a film and come out in the other cinema and watch another film for free.  He said he and his pals were never caught.

I can remember the Roxy (originally the Plaza in Nelson Place before 1946) but don't remember going to it even though it was my nearest cinema as I grew up in Bow Street which was just off Barrack's road.  My husband (you may have gathered is quite a bit older than me) seems to think it was a flea pit and probably didn't show such good films.  Anyway, according to this same book it closed in 1957 and was demolished in 1963.

[PaulStaffs]

Slightly off topic but maybe of interest:

http://web.archive.org/web/20140713004315/http://digdeeper.org.uk/?page=Trentham%20Transplant Archieved copy of website

[PenylanSue]

Thanks for that and in my case, back on topic.  I just put the info re the cinemas in because I had the answers.

Very interesting site, by the way.

[Trekker]

Great discovery.  Who would have ever thought that the belvededere from Trentham Hall was sitting in a meadow at Sandon? And, why would Stoke on Trent  destroy  Trentham's historic and beautiful hall?  That's just as mystifying as  why  Sandon decided to save part of it?  Remember Trentham Station? Another wonderful one of Barry's creations gone. You have an extremely i8nteresting site.

[alimcgrath]

My great great grandparents worked at Trentham.  He was a kennel man called Thomas Cox and is recorded in the 1881 census as living in the hunt stables and in 1891 in the old gas house.  His wife was Hannah and the family story is that she was housekeeper although I have no evidence of this.  It seems unlikely that a housekeeper would be married to a kennel man!  He was supposed to have been killed by a horse but I have no details of this other than family memories.
Other than census returns, all I have from this family is the picture attached below which is supposed to be of the house they lived in.  Does anyone know which building it is?  there is a reference earlier in this thread to half timbered houses  on the estate.  I'd be grateful for any information at all.

[Alan Mansell]

I know that it is quite some time since VeraH posted information about the tunnel under the A34 at Trentham but the subject has popped up again recently and a number of questions are being asked.
Was there a railway line through the tunnel?
Where did it start and finish?
What was its purpose?
From what is available today there looks to be a link with the sewage works at Hanford as there seems to be the remains of an old track running along the side of the river.
Archaeology department inform me that there was a line showing on the 1924 O.S. map but can't give any more details.

[VeraH]

Re Thomas Cox's house, I recognise it, it use to be on the right hand side on Longton road going towards longton. (now demolished). There is now a large roundabout in its place used to enter the  Garden centre and entrance to Trentham gardens. It was opposite what use to be Ash Green Post office.
Now Trentham Park railway line, no to my knowledge there were no railway lines either over the bridge or in the tunnel, as the building of this line from Trentham Park station was abandoned when WW11 broke out. When I speak about Trentham Park railway station I am talking about the station which use to be opposite the what is now Clayton lane (Dog Kennel Lane) on Boma Road A34, (Ex London Road). Don't forget  all metal was removed for war purposes including the railings which use to surround our estate house(Yellow  Houses ) on entering the park. This also included the gates to the Park as my granddad was very upset over this.
The branch line started from what is now Trentham station and went to Trentham Park station and was intended to go to pool Dam in Newcastle to link up with the Newcastle - Market Drayton line.
An ironic aspect of this, is that this branch line to Trentham Park became busier than ever when the London clearing Banks evacuated to Trentham Gardens ballroom in 1939. Indeed one of the reasons for this site being chosen was because it was capable of being fully serviced by postal and railway authorities. I hope this is of help.