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Thanks JJ for all your help so far!!

Yes The Danilo was a fabulous Art Deco cinema - alas demolished some years back. Similarly The Broadway Cinema in Meir - again demolished

His residential commission The Uplands still stands and is an outstanding exercise in 1930s modernism.

The only other 1930s building I know he designed that still stands thus far is The Station Hotel in Meir. It's currently boarded up awaiting demolition for new housing

Thanks again!

Thank you all so much for this. I have no idea how you have managed to find all of this - and to be so generous in giving your time and to share the information! 

JJ was there a date for the record you found giving his 'Holmlea' abode in Hem Heath? I located the property searching old maps which named the houses. It still stands and it's a tiny unassuming bungalow. Also just to add I have just found some records of planning applications for a few simple town houses made by Sherwin & Heath (the name of their practice before Alfred went it alone) as well as a factory in Crewe. This ties in with mention of his studying factory buildings in that record. I only found these after being given the cheshire connection - so thanks for that 

Cherry Orchard Farm is in a completely different league which also still stands in Nantwich. That would perhaps tie into sheep breeding & horse ownership?

I just ordered the 1961 death certificate - £11 but it looks like the order has been sent to Cheshire East BDM who will then locate it, copy it & post it to me so it could take a little time to arrive.

I found a division of Cheshire East Council called Orbitas who have burial records for the area - I'll contact them on Monday.

Hi all!

Well I don't know where to start with this - I'm a complete newby when it comes to searching for records of an individual 

I am trying to trace any records (ideally surviving family) of an A. Glyn Sherwin. He had an architectural practise based in Rectory Chambers in Newcastle Under Lyme in the 1930s up until at least the mid 1950s. He was responsible for some notable buildings in North Staffordshire including cinemas, public houses & at least one private residence. I have read one piece naming him that suggested he may have resided in Tunstall.

Through online searches I could find only one record of a 'Arthur G. Sherwin' who died in Hemel Hempstead in 1966. Having just spoken to their BDM office they suggested that person's profession wasn't a match so was unlikely to be the man I am looking for. They couldn't say if the 'G' was Glyn. Just to add I have sometimes seen Glyn spelt Glynn.

I am currently researching his christian name for which I have found one record that suggests it was Alfred (London Gazette, 11th December 1956).

Oh my - where to start?!

Any pointers would be gratefully received 

Thanks!

Hi Ebba 

So glad you came back to see the mystery solved - and indeed I sympathise with your house move - having done it a couple of times myself 

I have an interest in local history - mainly the buildings and architecture. I saw your post and the pictures quite some time ago whilst searching online for something unrelated. I didn't immediately recognise the house - and the image of the street eluded me too. I concluded the house must have been elsewhere and not in our neighbourhood. It was only recently whilst searching again for something unrelated - I came across this thread & your pictures again. I thought the only way I could identify the house would be to identify the picture of the street. I thought about all of the long straight roads we have - and there aren't that many - and then out of the blue it dawned on me where it might have been! The rest is history (earlier in this thread) about how I identified the street and the house 

I have just set up a Facebook page about our area - its past & present. I posted the images of the house - and amazingly one person responded who actually lived in the upstairs part of the house for a short while. Others have posted who remember the house - and one lady (a girl at the time) who used to call in to meet a friend who lived there. The house was demolished for redevelopment later than I thought - in the late '80s. I understand it was terribly run down - empty and derelict towards the end. The gardens were massively overgrown (you couldn't ever see the property from the road to my knowledge) and the house was vandalised and played in by the local kids. Alas I never got to see the house myself even though it is literally just a few hundred yards from where I live!

It is a great shame the house was demolished - and it has happened to many of the large urban houses standing in large grounds here. The land was simply worth an awful lot more for redevelopment to build an estate of houses as I'm sure is the case everywhere in this country. There are nearly 40 houses on the original plot of The Limes - and the field behind the original house now has houses & a large apartment complex built on it. You can see the map of the area here https://www.google.com/maps?ll=53.039078,-2.221084&spn=0.002151,0.003921&t=h&z=18

Quite how the album landed in a junk shop - who knows... My guess would be it belonged to a relative of a former owner of The Limes living in your area. I guess when they passed away the contents of their house were removed by a house clearance company. It could well have been cleared by the junk shop owner?

I was going to offer to buy the album from you  - but I agree it would perhaps be better if it went to a local archive. I would suggest the archive department at Newcastle Under Lyme library. Porthill is in the borough of Newcastle Under Lyme - so it would be the logical resting place for the album. They have a great archives department - with a catalogue of local photographs which are available to view on request. I checked recently and there are no pictures of The Limes - so it would be a wonderful addition to the Library - and would also allow people to gain access and view the pictures for themselves. Indeed I would love to be able to hand the album over to the chief archivist along with this story 

All the best

C.

I do feel a bit daft - but I haven't picked that book up for over 15 years. Still - I enjoyed the chase!

It is likely the album of photographs in Ebba's possession could have belonged to the Malkins. I looked in some electoral registers - and the Malkin family were still there in 1933 - and by 1949 it had been split into two residences. I have yet to check all the registers & council archives to piece the jigsaw together.

However - still no response from Ebba? How ironic would it be after all these years if Ebba were not to see the mystery solved