ME

ME

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Atherton Walking Day 1950

Atherton Walking Day (24 June 1950)
Atherton Walking Day (25 June 1950)


Having just uncovered these two photographs, releasing them from their glass and passepartout frames, a sudden surge of nostalgia overwhelmed me ( memories of mugs of black peas during Wakes week in  this Lancashire town - came to the fore!).

On the back of the makeshift frames, my father (who was at that time a pastor with the International Holiness Mission - soon to be taken over by the Church of the Nazarene) had written the dates as shown above. I know that the 24th June was a Saturday so, I suspect that is more likely to be the correct date.

Church walking days seemed to have been a strong tradition in the North West of England but, I've been unable to confirm the date of such walks in Atherton. My first instinct was to think it would have been a Whitsuntide walk as such events were held in some of the other chapels, scattered around the country, that I attended during my childhood, but that would have been at the end of  May (not June). I have subsequently discovered that different churches in different parts of the North West held their walks on different days.

Just hoping that, on an off-chance, someone reading this may be able to answer my question regarding the date of this walk.


Incidentally, the David arrowed in my crude annotation is my elder brother.

(clicking on either image will take you to a larger copy of the picture)

2 comments:

The Oxcliffe Fox said...

Ah, happy days! You haven't changed a bit! (Well, just a bit maybe!) Can't help with the date I'm afraid - the only walks I took part in were the Whit ones, like you here, all decked out in my "best". Nice memory.

TOF

Chris Hall said...

A church walking day! Us youngsters from other parts of the country can only marvel at getting so many parishioners together without their cars.