Penkhull Street

[Zen rabbit]

That should have been Penkhull village of course.

Also the factory might be Fletcher and Bickertons off Elanora Street Stoke-upon-Trent who wire dynamos and such. I am not sure how far back they go but they were certainly there when I was a boy and my father remembers them.

[Etsi]

Thanks for that info Zen rabbit.

It now seems more likely that the Penkhull Street my mum was born in was the one in Newcastle under Lyme (i.e. what is now part of High Street).

As for the armature winding – I’ve had a quick look online re the history of Fletcher and Bickerton and it looks as if they weren’t founded till around 1946.
I’m looking for a factory or workshop that would have been in operation before and during the early 1920s.

Thanks again for your input – any other information regarding possible armature winding workshops in, or around, the Hanley area will be most appreciated.

Regards,
Les

[Zen rabbit]

You are welcome and I actually didn't know that part of High st Newcastle was called Penkhull St so I have learned something too!
Another possibility for your factory could be Rists wire and cable of Newcastle here is a link http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/wiki/Rists_Wire_and_Cable

[Mancunian_Nick]

As a resident of Penhull village and a Potter born and breed etc. I can confirm that Penkhull St is St Thomas place. It is a short section of road running from what was the old village centre and blending with Honeywall by the old Grove School. Originally it was part of the main road running down into Stoke-upon-Trent. Penkhull straddles the border between Stoke and Newcastle-u-Lyme and dates back to Celtic times. Although part of Stoke-on-Trent it still has a rural feel and as a child in the 60's I remembered cattle being herderd through the streets to Penkhull Farm.

Hope that helps.

Hi. You seem to know this area well being born and bred there so I wonder if you can help me please?

I am trying to find The Mount School (blind & deaf) in Penkhull in the 1901 and 1911 censuses but am really struggling to find it as most of the sites, including Ancestry where I have a current subscription, needs an individual name or more detail than I know. Can you oblige on this at all please, with links or relevant census details (don't know how else to describe them)?

A friend's mother apparantly worked there in some capacity prior to 1962 and possibly throughout the 50s so I'm not really sure that those censuses will be of any practical use but would be interesting to see them regardless. I'm in the process of trying to find out what happened to the records with help from a kind gentleman at the The Mount Education & Support Centre but not sure how that's going to turn out as apparantly there are  lot of records but unsorted and in storage but I'm hopeful. I'm also hoping that an email I sent to the Sentinel Newspaper will come up with something because they have done a number of good articles last year about the school in their "Where are they now?" section.

Thanks anyway, Nick

[Zen rabbit]

The Mount was formerly the home of Josiah Spode and is on Greatbach Avenue, Penkhull. Here is a link with some details. According to Richard Talbot, in his hefty Histroy of Penkhull,  it became a Blind and Deaf school on the 8th May 1897

http://www.thepotteries.org/tour/016.htm

[Mancunian_Nick]

Thanks, Zen. Yes, that's the one. I've heard about this book but I don't have a library near me so it's unlikely I'll get to read it anytime soon but thanks for the link.

[Tittensor ONS]

Hi Nick, I found The Mount on Bing Maps with postcode ST4 7JU.  The adjacent streets today are Mount Avenue and Greatbach Avenue.  I am not sure how much the road layout changed when the big hospital was built.  The area is a lot more rural on my 1898 OS Map for Stoke South.  The Blind & Deaf School is at the very edge of the page.  The closest street shown is Prince's Road.

Your best bet to find it on the census is probably to look at the page at the front of each enumeration district to look at the streets in each district.  That would say whether The Mount was in a given district without scouring every page.  Some "institutions" (workhouses, asylums?) are listed separately in the census.  I'm not sure if this would apply to a blind & deaf school?

Josiah Spode acquired the land on which The Mount was built in 1803 on the bankruptcy of John Harrison.  In the Manor Court the land was described as "all that messuage or farm house formerly called Tittensor's House, situate at or near Penkhull Green" (National Archives DL30/507/31 page 66).

I hope this helps you find it in the census.

Regards,

Paul

Tittensor One-Name study homepage: www.tittensor.com

[Mancunian_Nick]

Thank you kindly for that information, Paul. Appreciate it and will check it out soon.

Regards, Nick

[Tittensor ONS]

Hi Nick, Success!  I had a spare moment and Google'd "The Mount" + Penkhull +1911.  I found a photo of a resident (Edmund Hardy). I found him on the 1911 census at The Mount: RG14 Piece No 16570.  Registration District 361 Schedule 1 Sub-district 2 Enumeration District 25.

This should allow you to find the school in 1901.

Regards,

Paul

Tittensor One-Name Study homepage: www.tittensor.com