ALAN WHALLEY'S WORLD

SO it wasn't a lot of hot air, after all! There is, indeed, a memorial to a first world war airship disaster to be found at Earlestown - a fact confirmed by a couple of fans of this page.

Paul Twist and Bob Parry were quick off the mark to pinpoint this unusual memorial after my earlier brief mention of it.

At the time I'd suspected that it might be a myth. But not so, say the twosome - and Paul also forwarded pictorial evidence.

His photo shows part of the ornate monument, standing in the old Viaduct Institute grounds. The commemorative metal plaque is now sadly green with neglect, making the inscription a little difficult to make out.

Headed by an impressive family crest it states: 'Presented to the Viaduct Institute by Walter and Mary Warneford in memory of their son, Capt. WKFC Warneford AFC RAF and the gallant crew of HM Airship NS II which was lost off Sheringham on the night of July 14, 1919.'

Bob, secretary of the Viaduct Club, fills in some interesting gaps in my knowledge.

"The memorial,"he points out, "is in the form of a drinking fountain."

Walter Warneford, to whose son it was dedicated, had been a managing director of the old LMS railway coach and waggon works, known as Earlestown Viaduct.

Now rather the worse for wear and a target of mindless vandals, it was once an impressive and treasured feature.

Bob, from Sefton Street, can look back, at 74, to the golden age of the thirties when the Viaduct sportsground was a magnet drawing huge crowds to a variety of sporting events. He adds: "You couldn't put a fist between the packed rows of vehicles that rolled up, even in those days."

The airship memorial was in the centre of the sportsground, off Earle Street. "The method of obtaining a drink from it was by push-button tap," explains Bob.

Water was poured into a pewter-coloured metal cup, about a quarter-of-an-inch thick and secured to the drinking fountain by a stout chain. "One of our simple treats in the thirties was an ice-cold drink of water from it," recalls Bob. But sadly, in common with its surroundings, the drinking fountain is becoming semi-derelict.

Most of the wooden pavilions and neat club huts which were dotted about the grounds have been torched by vandals, which says something for the type of modern-day society we have produced.

But Bob looks back with fondness on those halcyon days when, within the sportsground perimeter it was possible to enjoy the delights of cricket, tennis, bowling, athletics, body-building, dancing, boxing and gymnastics. In addition, there were cinema shows, a library and reading room.

But that was during the town's boom years when Earlestown boasted Britain's leading manufacturers of railway rolling stock. It all came to a crashing end under the infamous Beeching axe which butchered the old railway system.

The Warneford name was also kept alive until recent years by a timber clubhouse for the use of retired railway company employees. But that was among the splendid buildings put to the torch by vandals.

Another of the pyromaniacs' targets was a unique gym and dressing rooms skilfully created from a couple of bridged-together Victorian railway coaches.

While on the subject of local statuary, local history buff Bernard Murphy has been running his trusty microscope over our recent Earlestown obelisk theme.

The obelisk - an impressive needle of stone, gracing Earlestown market square - has always previously been described as being unmarked.

But Bernard says he has has located a small plaque to one side which tells how it was the gift of Lord Newton, being quarried on his Lyme Hall Estate at Disley.

Originally erected near Newton St Peter's Church in 1828, the 20-ton obelisk, created from Bath stone, was moved to the market place 42 years later, the inscription reveals.

I'VE been amazed by all the interest displayed in local monuments. Can anyone else add to the subject? If so, please drop me a line at: Whalley's World, St Helens Star, YMCA Buildings, Duke Street, St Helens WA10 2HZ.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.