ECCLES HISTORY CHARITY WALK HELPS LOCAL FOODBANK

Yesterday about a dozen or so hardy souls, defied warnings of weather reports that said rain of Biblical proportions was about to engulf Eccles... it never happened, but the History Walk went ahead as planned.

We met at Eccles Railway Station at 12pm and had a gentle stroll around the Parish Church, looking at gravestones and marvelling at the architecture, then dispelling the myth that the sundial in the Church grounds is a memorial to William Huskisson the MP who died at Eccles Vicarage in September making him the worlds first railway passenger fatality in the world, if not the worlds first trainspotter.

Eccles mural was admired, Eccles cakes were talked about and a mention was given to Impact Catering on Albert Street, Eccles who are the sole makers of these delicacies in the Borough, body snatchers were dismissed as a myth, tales of dirty deeds in local pubs was gossiped about, and arsenic laced beer did actually happen.

Halfway we went in The Lamb for a pint of Joey Holt's finest and marvelled at the Edwardian fixtures and fittings, sadly the full size billiard table has gone... happy memories of the Boxing Day fixture in there with a bent cue knockout competition.

Carrying on we chatted about the World War Two blitz and the fatalities in the are, silent cinema, Eccles Cross and it's various locations, Eccles Town Hall got a mention and not just because L.S. Lowry once did a sketch of it, John Cassidy's impressive war memorial and what is buried beneath it, tales of patriotic looters in May 1915, smashing up local shops who had "foreign" sounding names, following the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, and finally the tale of the chap who officially opened the Eccles Carnegie Library in 1907 by a chap with a solid Gold Key... true story.

More importantly we all enjoyed ourselves and £60 was raised plus lots of food and toiletries for The Mustard Tree foodbank, so give yourself a hearty pat on the back for attending and being a good audience.

Will there be another History Walk this year I have been asked, possibly in September when the Eccles Festival is on, we shall see.