The story of the old Fall Birch sweet shop goes on

Apparently is was originally a toll house in the Chorley New Road section of the Bolton to Nightingales (Chorley) Turnpike Road which was built in 1829 to improve on the, once, arduous route over Chorley Old Road.

As chairman of Horwich Heritage Stuart Whittle explains the toll road ceased to operate in 1877 when responsibility for the upkeep of roads passed to the local council and the toll gate was sold to the farmer at the nearby Lostock Hall Farm.

It remained there as a farm gate for many years until the farm was closed to make way for the Bolton Wanderers' Academy.

"Thanks to the efforts of our recently deceased member, Geoff Pollitt, the gate post was rescued and brought to the Horwich Heritage Centre where it now stands proudly as part of our local transport display. We believe this is the only one surviving from that time in this area," explains Stuart.

A Horwich Heritage publication "The History of Horwich in 20 Objects" — on sale at the Heritage Centre for £10 — tells the tale of the toll house which is now a private residence.

The following information is taken from this fascinating book.

Turnpike roads flourished in England from the 18th century until their abolition in the 1870s the book reveals.

This particular turnpike was actually established as far back as 1797 and ran along Chorley Old Road.

IN 1829 the new section was created on an easier route which was Chorley New Road.

This particular cast iron post supported the gate at the Fall Birch toll bar which was in Chorley New Road at the crossroads of Ox Hey Lane (the route to Wigan) and Fall Birch Road (the route to Bolton Le Moors via High Rid and Boot Lane).

In 1877 the turnpike closed.

The gate and its posts were sold by auction on October 22, 1877 to the farm "for the princely sum of two pounds".

The post was then situated in Hall Lane, near the farmyard at the junction of Mill Lane and Old Smithy Lane.

It formed the access to a large field adjacent to Ox Hey Lane and stretching to the wash-pool which in the 1930s was used as the runway for Alan Cobham's air shows.

"As a 13-year-old boy in 1948 I remember our local gang, who all lived in the Beehive area, going on one of its sorties down to the Mill Dam Woods.

"We stopped to chat with one of the local old men and he pointed his stick at an ornate iron gatepost standing in the hedgerow and asked if we knew what it was.

"I thought it looked like a cannon from a pirate ship but he told us the history of it and its original used just 600 yards away up the lane.

"I learned after its recent rescue that my boyhood observation was quite near the mark. In the 18th century these posts were often cast by the early cannon foundries, hence the resemblance," explains Geoff in the book.

Fast forward 59 years and in 2007 Granville Nuttall, the farmer at Lostock Hall Farm, was given notice to cease farming and leave the farm as Bolton Council, the land owners, had leased the land for development by Bolton Wanderers Football Club.

"All my life I had observed the ancient gate post and its associated gate which had been installed near the mill dam. Both were now in danger of being destroyed, either accidentally or on purpose (for scrap or access)," explains Geoff.

Horwich Heritage decided the post was an important survivor of the local history scene and the race was on to save it.

Bolton Council agreed it could be salvaged so along with a man called Sam Davenport Geoff tried to excavate the post "putting all our engineering skill into the task but even after digging down more than four feet we found it impossible to shift using jacks and long poles.

"A friend of the family, Mr James Dickinson, a Horwich environmental salvage contractor heard of our plight and came to the rescue.

"James brought down a JCB excavator and with a chain and a great deal of effort we managed to free the post undamaged from its 140 year location at the farm — but only after one of his staff had cut through the four massive bolts fixing the post to a huge cube of sandstone with an acetylene torch. Not surprisingly the stone was left in position," continues Geoff.

James organised transport from Ox Hey Lane to the Heritage Centre in Beaumont Road and Geoff says that but for the generosity and public spiritedness of J Dickinson and Son — who gave their services free of charge — it would have been impossible to save the wonderful relic.

The main problem with this very heavy object was its safe display.

It was decided to present the gate post, in its original un-restored condition.

However a very robust base had to be constructed to bolt the post to.

This was additionally loaded with a layer of cobblestones which not only helped to stabilise the unit but also enabled it to be displayed as it would have been originally seen outside the Fall Birch Toll House — part of which still can be seen in Chorley New Road.

Sadly the old toll gate, which was still more or less intact in the 1980s as part of the Lostock Hall Farm entrance deteriorated rapidly after 2006 and collapsed into an adjacent hedgerow. Only the few pieces now on display were worth saving.

The last toll keeper at Fall Birch, Mr William Taylor, was born in 1819.

He died in 1897 aged 60, just a few years after the tolls were abolished.

He and his wife, Jane, had six children and they formed a well known family in the Beehive area.