Randall’s Arch

It is 24 years since we moved house. Old neighbours D and L came to J’s funeral, but with all the people there and them not coming to the venue afterwards I only spoke very briefly to L and did not see D. So this morning I travelled to our old road and called in. We had a really good chat - and now have the right phone numbers for each other.

Afterwards I had a walk up to the High Street, which is looking in pretty good fettle. The image is of one of the most interesting buildings on the Street.

When we left Newton-le-Willows the building had been vacant and unloved for years. It is known as Randall’s Arch, named after the nursery business that occupied it and the land behind. That land is now all modern housing, and the Arch is part of a restaurant. The Arch was relocated to the High Street in 1840, as the centrepiece of a market. Formerly it had been the gatehouse to nearby Haydock Lodge, but owners the Legh family (whose main house was the huge Lyme House, the largest mansion in Cheshire) sold off the Haydock estate. The Lodge formed the basis of a then new “Lunatic Asylum” (a very 19th century term). The Asylum was the subject of much scandal because of the abhorrent treatment of the residents, it has long since gone, a hotel sits on the land it occupied. Later in the century the associated Park formed the basis for Haydock Park Racecourse.