Harkness – MacGillivray Stories

Memories of a Five-Year Old

I was a pupil at Hob Hey Lane Pre-Primary School before we even moved to Hob Hey Lane. It was at the topmost part of Hob Hey Lane, not very far from the old Twiss Green Chapel founded in 1849. I have searched the Internet for this school; all I found that came close were the old maps of the village which aren’t that very clear either.

I guess you will just have to take my word for it with the caveat that I was just only five years old then. Plus, I was only a pupil there for a year or less. We can also agree that it is understandable that I can’t remember these events just as I do with yesterday’s.

Going Back in Time

In fact, in 1998, I visited Hob Hey Lane together with my ex-wife Natasha. Interestingly, the school had disappeared just like Culcheth railway station and Risley Presbyterian Church. There was a skeleton of a building that remained but it bore little resemblance to the building in my memory. I was fairly certain that the building I discovered was the same building as it was about 100 years old and at the top of Hob Hey Lane.

Of course, this is a problem if you try to go back in time. The mental maps and images don’t always correspond to those of present day reality. All I know is that the school had been a small one. It catered to about 30 or 50 pupils only; and of course, things always seem ‘bigger’ when you are a child. I could recall how it looked inside and how I felt throughout my stay there.

Hence, I was able to write about my many memories while I was there which you will see in the succeeding posts.