What S In A Name A Journey From Ignorance To Local Historian!

What s In a Name – A Journey From Ignorance to Local Historian!

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My Outdoor Store

A little earlier this year The author took a rail journey from my own home in Yorkshire to visit my dad and mom 80 miles away. My nearby station was one of those little unmanned country stations; my end station was just as small yet on the edges of a large industrial city. Because I had resided in that area for above twenty years previous to my wedding I was acquainted with my precise destination and naturally therefore I was able get a through ticket from the conductor on the train. A single to Thatto Heath please I announced on his arrival. A look of confused bewilderment appeared on his face well I have never ever encountered that one before was his reply, nevertheless I told him that there was indeed such a locale. That set me contemplating about this area near to where I was born and that I had never previously questioned the background of this out of the ordinary name. The following time I called I had several hours to pass so went along to the local history library to see what I could find.

Firstly the name, Thatto comes from Thatwall, Thetwall or Thotwall (12th century) that in turn derives from a couple of Ancient English terms p ote (that means fountain, water pipe or conduit) and wella (a spring or stream). The Heath portion would have been put in later. A spring was marked on a map from 1849, the route of which can be traced going toward nearby Ravenhead, part of it being a boundary line.

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As a result of this I remained hooked and began to investigate the commerce of the locality. In 1690 a Cheshire chap leased the area intending to drain and mine the area; by 1718 the mine turned out to be a productive business. Mining activities slowed down during the following few years, nevertheless ended up being revived during the 1760s when John Mackay, a Scottish industrialist, arrived and by 1770, started digging pit. Mackay also spotted a market for the coal in the local Ravenhead Glassworks, where, in 1773 the method of plate glass production was imported from France. Furnaces in France burned timber; in Thatto Heath by making use of the local coal, the production costs ended up being kept far less.

Together with coal was the aforementioned production of glass; which in addition commenced in the first part of the Eighteenth century. Thatto Heath used to be busy with the manufacture of glass bottles, the works being obviously shown on the 1849 map. The factory changed hands a few times, being purchased, at one time to John Mackay, however there is no sign of how it was used immediately after 1857.

In the 1770s a short canal was dug between the coalfields of Thatto Heath and the Plate Glass Works at Ravenhead. Its most probable creator is John Mackay; it would then have been employed to deliver his coal in between the 2 places. Once again this is plainly noticebale on the 1849 map. By 1894 the only signs of the old canal are remnants, as by this point trains had taken over transportation.

I totally appreciated my little trip in to the history books and made the decision to delve more for the origins of my exact birth place virtually half a mile up the road – Nutgrove. This transpired to be a grove where nut trees grow , suppose I may have worked that one out by myself!

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