Gib Row Memories

Jane was handed a few bits of paper the other week by one of our neighbours... I knew that my neighbour Ray Denton had once lived in Gib row.. but never thought that he would have so much to tell me of the area, the houses, people and of course the old mill itself. I looked through the papers and was fascinated by what Ray had wrote down for us... so it goes without saying that this post is dedicated to Ray and his memories..

Gibraltar Row consisted of a row of 16 houses, numbered  2 to 32. 

No.2 Tom Bromley ( The Bromley's) 7 Children
No.4 Mrs. Brown and son.
No.6 Mr and Mrs Donald Timperley 2 Children.
No.8 Mr and Mrs Bill Smith. (Taddy) 1 Child  (Kept Pigeons)
No.10 Mr and Mrs Bill Heron. Circus Performers 1 Child.
No.12 Mrs Shaw and Daughter.
No.14 Gore 4 Children
No.16 Mrs F. Denton 2 Children
No.18 Mr and Mrs Szmeryck  3 Children
No.20 Mr and Mrs Appleton. 4 Children
No.22 Mr and Mrs Tony Kelly. 2 Children
No.24 Mr and Mrs Goldstone. 3 Children
No.26 Mr and Mrs Billy Pope. 3 Children
No.28 Mrs Avison. Known as Aunty Lynne to all the kids.
No.30 Mrs M. Appleton.  Mary Appleton
No.32 Mr Dickinson (Early 1950s) Mr and Mrs Humprys moved in later.

Some families moved out while others moved in, but the names above are correct as Ray recalls them. The first and last house in the row had gas lamps fitted outside..The one on the last house was permanently lit, day and night. Ray says that  as far as he can remember there were around 20 gas lamps from the top of Apethorn Lane to Gibraltar Lane and half way up to Haughton Green. One of the memories of the Gib that Ray would like to share is of Tommy Bromiley's Goat... it took to following Billy Heron every time he went to the pub (The Old Dog) up the 'Green'. The Goat would wait for Billy to come out the pub and accompany him home... Ray said it had to be seen to be believed and caused many a laugh to the people who lived down the Gib.. Not everything was fun though... a tragic event sticks in Rays mind. A little boy was found drowned, he was caught up in the Sluice Gates. The little mite had fallen in the river 4 weeks before near to where he lived on Mill Lane. It was Tommy Bromiley who found him.

Ray can only recall about 4 of the houses having electricity, no one else could afford it.. Rays family and most of the other were still using gas lights up to them leaving in 1965-66, when  the houses were eventually pulled down. The family's who lived down the Gib, were all rehoused, some went to the new estate at Hattersley, some to Hyde,and some like Rays family to Newton. Ray said he enjoyed his time living down there, he said it was a nice place to live when you were young. All the kids had great times down there, he says it was all fun and games. No trouble at all, they had their own little world to play in. Only thing against it was that it was a 'bit out the way'. One of the houses did open up as a Sweet Shop, as the nearest shops were either in Gee Cross village, or up the hill to Haughton Green. Either way it was a long walk up hill so the shop was very welcome. Ray's grandmother was the last to leave Gibraltar Lane after moving there in the 1930s or even earlier.

Ray tells us that Gibraltar mill stopped working as a Cotton Mill around 1959-60. The mill did however reopen..  not as a Cotton Mill but as Brooksons Poultry Appliances, and Brooksons Sunshine Eggs Ltd. who also reared chickens on site as well.  Brooksons opened in the early 1960s. 4 brothers came from the Hadfield area and set up in the Poultry business.. they made large poultry houses and battery cages for keeping chickens in. Gib Mill was 5 stories high.... and most of it was turned over to the rearing of chickens. Some were kept as battery hens producing eggs, while other floors housed birds reared for the table. The company employed quite a few people, mostly from the Hyde area. Ray recalls seeing a local character called Billy Tym's who would come down to the Gib on his horse and cart to buy eggs to sell to his customers around the Hyde-Godley area where Billy Tyms had his farm. Ray says he was always amazed how the horse got back up Apethorn Lane with the cart being full of crates of eggs. The business did not last long, only about 6-7 years until the Mill building were condemned, and earmarked for demolition around  1966-67. The houses were pulled down first, as they belonged to the mill owners.

Great memories here Ray... I'm very pleased to have this wrote down here for others to read.  My memories of the mill workers must have been clouded... as they would have been dealing with the chickens and not cotton as I'd always thought.

One of our Dave's pictures taken from roughly the same spot as the first picture.
You could visit here today and not realise a Mill or Homes had ever been here.