My father and his family used to live in the last house at the top of Rood Hill ( No. 74) and the lighthouse was at the end of their garden which later became Clayton By-pass.
I remember my father telling me about the cars and the motor cycles that used to end up in their back garden before the lighthouse was built. The garden level was some 12 feet lower than the road above it and so virtually all vehicles that ended up in the garden were completely destroyed.
It is true that the bend in the road was dangerous especially at night time but the lighthouse didn't completely stop all accidents. Just as today, there were young motor cyclists who would be travelling too fast for the road conditions and despite the lighthouse would drive over the precipice and would end up leaving their machines in the garden for weeks , months and in some cases, would never return for them.
The unfortunate demise of those early motorist's vehicles ended up being my fathers good fortune as, being a young man in his late teens, he learned a great deal of his engineering knowledge from tinkering with them.
This was how my father acquired a burning interested in motorcycles that would eventually lead him to collecting a fine selection of vintage Norton machines.
As far as I recall, The lighthouse was pulled down to make way for the Clayton By-pass sometime during the early 1950's but I dare say there may be some remains of it still under that road.
He must have had one of the most unusual postal addresses in the country ...all he needed to say when asked where he lived was ..." Congleton, by the lighthouse."
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My father and his family used to live in the last house at the top of Rood Hill ( No. 74) and the lighthouse was at the end of their garden which later became Clayton By-pass.
I remember my father telling me about the cars and the motor cycles that used to end up in their back garden before the lighthouse was built. The garden level was some 12 feet lower than the road above it and so virtually all vehicles that ended up in the garden were completely destroyed.
It is true that the bend in the road was dangerous especially at night time but the lighthouse didn't completely stop all accidents. Just as today, there were young motor cyclists who would be travelling too fast for the road conditions and despite the lighthouse would drive over the precipice and would end up leaving their machines in the garden for weeks , months and in some cases, would never return for them.
The unfortunate demise of those early motorist's vehicles ended up being my fathers good fortune as, being a young man in his late teens, he learned a great deal of his engineering knowledge from tinkering with them.
This was how my father acquired a burning interested in motorcycles that would eventually lead him to collecting a fine selection of vintage Norton machines.
As far as I recall, The lighthouse was pulled down to make way for the Clayton By-pass sometime during the early 1950's but I dare say there may be some remains of it still under that road.
He must have had one of the most unusual postal addresses in the country ...all he needed to say when asked where he lived was ..." Congleton, by the lighthouse."
nick.pedley@ntlworld.com
I can remember playing with Stephen when I was around seven or eight.We lived at No.50 until around 1962 when the house's were condemned.
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