SCOTIA NORTH
Who remembers Scotia North?
Scotia North was opened in September 1950 to
provide additional accommodation for servicemen and their dependants. It
was located on Hesketh Meadow Lane just off the East Lancs Road in Lowton near
Leigh.
The site, once used by the Royal Navy,
comprised a number of H-shaped blocks which were converted into 5 - 8 apartments
each, totaling 110 units of family accommodation. In some cases internal
walls were knocked down to make rooms larger and all of the units were
redecorated and boasted steam heat. Each block had hardstands for family
cars outside. Additionally each block of apartments had washrooms for
laundry.
The site included a 500 man theatre with 35mm
movies shown on a regular schedule, a large playground for children, first aid
facilities and a large car park holding 150 vehicles.
The site plan below originally published in the
Burtonwood Beacon also shows a school and Nissen huts which were not used.
Penny Hooper, a former resident when she was a child,
contacted me on the 5th of April 2004 to say the school was in use. Dependants children were transported to the school in Site 1 at Burtonwood.
Below is all that remains of Scotia
North. The theatre building remains and is used as a local community
centre. It has been extended and re-roofed. The car park has been
enlarged. The blocks to the north have been replaced by playing
fields and to the south are housing estates.
Below is the picture published in the
Burtonwood Beacon used to entice people to move to Scotia North!
Below are a series of pictures taken on June
7th 2001 (election day)
Click on the thumbnail for a larger picture
Does anyone have any photographs or memories of
Scotia North?
Email received on 22nd September 2014
My dad, SMSgt Kenneth Johnson, was stationed at
Burtonwood AFB in the early 1950s and we lived in the Scotia North housing.
Dad was a Medic. Until I found your website I did not know that the housing
area where we lived was called as Scotia North. I always referred to it as
Burtonwood. I did realize that we did not live on the Burtonwood base as I
recall visiting there with my dad. He played softball and he took me to see
his games. I also recall riding a bus and attending kindergarten in the
Quonset Huts which I think were on Burtonwood. After that I attended
elementary school there in the school at Scotia North. Mom came to school
one day and took 8mm movies. I have very distinct memories from my time at
Scotia North. I recall walking over to a building where Rail Road workers
stayed and I ate fish and chips with them. I also remember wandering off
into the town and a lady invited me in for tea. We had a milk truck that
delivered to our door at Scotia North. One time I got the idea to jump on
the back bumper and ride. I recall the milk truck going around a corner and
there on the side of the road stood my mom. That was the only time I jumped
on the back of a milk truck. I am attaching three photos that my parents
took there in Scotia North. If memory serves me, we lived in the H that was
located fartherest north or per your map, the H on the top of the map
fartherest to the left. Our front door shows up in two of the photos. It
would be the door on the right facing the camera in both photos. One photo
shows where some parent has put up a chain link fence to keep the
little kids in. I believe the pipes that show up in the photo are the steam
pipes that supplied heat to the homes. The photo that shows a boy and girl
on bikes and another little boy to the right is me, my sister and my little
brother. I have a baby sister who was born there. Not born on Burtonwood
base, but in a two or three story hospital at a nearby town.
Feel free to use my photos on your Burtonwood website.
Mom and Dad are both gone now, but I know they would like to share their
photos.
Email received on 28th September 2014
Attached are three more photos that should be of
interest to those who lived at Burtonwood air base. These were most likely
taken at the NCO Club on different nights. One is a large group shot
showing the NCO's and their wives. This photo was taken in 1953. I scanned
this from an old photo. This group photo was probably taken at one of the
many dances that were held at the NCO Club as you can see that the band is
still on stage.
The other two photos were scanned from old black
and white negatives and they show my mom and some other NCO wives dressed up
in sacks with mops on their heads. They were putting on a show on the same
stage where the group photo was taken. There is a "Y" shaped decoration on
the upper left of the stage that shows up in both the group photo and the
photo where the wives are lined up dancing on stage.
My dad was Msgt Ken Johnson and he was a Medic
with the US Air Force at Burtonwood. My mother was Eula Bea Johnson. Both
are now deceased.
I know there are a couple of more old photos
from Burtonwood, but I will have to find them. Thanks
for creating the Burtonwood website and posting old photos and stories
Email received on 2nd May 2004:
I too lived at Scotia North...!!!!! I
found this site by pure luck and just clicking away on things. I was in
THE SCOTIA NORTH SCHOOL!!! 4th and 5th grade. Ms. Sweeney was my
teacher. She taught two grades at once. Her husband was in the
military and she had twins, Shawn and Sharon...we used to think they were so
cute. After 5th grade we were bused to the Base School. My dad
took pictures of our teachers when they made home visits. We used to
skate on a large concrete area that was the floor of some building that had
been torn down. I learned how to play baseball on the little field there
across from M-4 where I lived with my family, The Thomas Collins family.
Louise, Connie, Carole, and Tommy. We went home when I was in the middle
of the 6th grade to Hunter Air force Base in Savannah. I always wondered
what happened to the friends I had there. What a unique experience we
had, trading comic books, going to the little movie for 25 cents, and
coming home for lunch each day! Once a year we went to the indoor
swimming pool in Burtonwood. We had girl scouts, and push mores for
grass, daddy even had a real color movie camera which was probably the first
one made!!! We have movies of us riding our bikes and playing in the
little yard which he fenced in with a white wicket fence. He also
painted the little window sills red and white. Several years ago, my
sister, Carole, went back to England and visited our little M-4 apartment.
She was moved to tears to see the little window sills still standing amidst
the rubble and they were still painted with that red and white paint.
She took pictures and I will never forget seeing them. It was like a
picture out of the past. We used to walk to a railroad track and watch
the trains go by...we weren't supposed to go over there but being kids, we did
anyway and were ready to run if we saw anything. We took a picnic of
saltine crackers to eat!!! Kathleen Wackley, Trevor Parks, a Catholic
Family of 13 kids, Denny Queen, Larry ?, and others I may be able to recall.
My mom taught us how to cook in the little kitchen and the adults played
volleyball until 11:00 pm when it was summertime cause the day was so long.
Well, I have carried on a long time but it is
so neat to find a site like this.
Thanks and let me hear from you if you have
any connections to people who were there in around 1954- 1957.
Connie Collins Gay
Victor Bradford's Account
--I was a family member when Dad was stationed at Burtonwood
from '55 to '58 -- he was the Supervisor of the Clothing Sales Store and was on
the Supply Inspection Team for the European stores. We lived at Wigan the first
year (I went to St.Cuthbert's) and we then moved to Scotia North. Mom
volunteered at Scotia North with the Scouts and the crafts section, and they,
like nearly everyone else, were active in the community. My younger brother and
sister also lived at Scotia North and I will pass on this website to them. Alas,
Dad and Mom have passed forward (they were married for many years), and they
would have loved to see this website (perhaps they were guiding me to it!). Not
many places have as active an historical perspective as you do, and at the time
the Air Force, as a new service, really had no heritage yet. I am sure Dad
knew and worked with some of the folks on the Message Board -- I did not
recognize any of the names, but then I don't remember many visits to Burtonwood
as a small child and Scotia North was a small place (actually, it was just the
right size for a ten year-old!). I have also contacted Connie Gay, who
wrote the letter found in your Scotia North Section.
--I have often thought of the wonderful people at Scotia North -- the friends my
age, the adult leaders who helped us, and the people in the local community --
who helped us grow up happy in a challenging world. I also remember a
little pond near the community where we used to watch how tadpoles and newts
lived and grew, the coal (coke) yard near the school which seemed like mountains
to us (and which the custodian had to clean up many times after our games),
spending many hours making grass forts in the area to the north of the housing
area, excursions into the nearby villages with their markets, and so much more!
I think this kind of environment helped many of us grow into basically
optimistic and positive adults. These people can be proud of the gift they
gave to young children.
--We are thinking of visiting England in the spring, depending on the work
schedule (I retired from the Air Force a few years ago, and am now a community
health dentist and an Indian Health Service contractor. This probably
resembles the British national health service, and I often work with young
children. My wife of 36-1/2 years is a librarian and also a "brat;"
her dad was stationed at SHAPE around the same time we were in England). If we
can make it we will definitely stop in; if not, then we will plan a visit for
the future. I see a reunion is scheduled in New Orleans for 2008 and I hope
there will be other activities too (perhaps sooner).
Vic Bradford
stpdk2000@yahoo.com