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hi David, that's brillaint
thanks for posting


I was wondering if you remembered my grandmother or great grandmother or even my great great grandmother maybe?

my great great gran was Emily Moulsdale, maiden name Doodson, she was a big woman who had a walking stick, she worked a lot with the WI there and you may have seen her at some point, I dunno

my great gran was Ada Richards? maiden name Moulsdale? she worked for the sisters before the great war and in the 50s,60s,70s was a close friend and went to visit them for tea and bridge, she was around the same age as the sisters, give or take


her daughter (my gran) was Joan Head, maiden name Richards, born in the 1920s

Well stone me! Haha

Hello Gillian!
We really should exchange emails, I have so much to talk about!

Please use our personal message system to exchange email addresses.  This avoids spamming etc.

thanks! that is an amazing story

I possibly have photographs of you! I have a few from their events in the tent and also a few group shots with the Shipmans on the steps of the house with a few local children


do you know any of my relatives?

my great grandmother Ada Richards (nee Moulsdale)?

her son Evan Richards? my great uncle Evan lived at the lodge at the entrance to the Heyes until he died a few years ago

Does anyone have any stories, details or memories of Walter Mace Shipman B.A, Manchester Solicitor, who resided (among many other manors) at Thelwall Heyes in Grappenhall/Thelwall in the early half of the 20th Century.


after he died, two of his daughters lived there and would hold regular fetes and events for the local community. Flower shows, craft fairs, family fun days, christmas parties etc


I have some information, and photographs, but I was wondering if anybody had any personal experiences or memories?

brief rundown of the three Shipman sisters-
Miss Beatrice Joan Shipman (b. 22nd November 1898 d. 1979) moved to Trafford when she was younger and that’s where she died aged eighty-one. Miss Edith Marian Mace Shipman (b. 1898 d. 19th January 1979) and Miss Brenda Mace Shipman (b. March 1901) remained in the Heys as spinsters into their elderly years, Miss Brenda did marry in 1925 to an older gentleman called Thomas G Hill (b. 1854 d. 1939) but he died eleven years into their wedding. I don't have the year that Miss Brenda died, I can't find it anywhere, I assumed she is the last one to die (in the 80s sometime, according to local story).


ps the attatched pictures are: two photographs of one of the Shipman sisters (Miss Brenda), a picture of Thelwall Heyes during the Great War when it was a temporary medical facility, a picture of one of the flower arranging events at Thelwall Heyes and also a picture of a teddy bear competition at one of the craft fairs at the Heyes.