EVEN though, having lived there I take a particular interest in Newton, I had never heard of Windmill Hill until a reader contacted me.

 
Jim Helsby asked: “Hi Chris, can you help me with the site of Windmill Mound on Newton Common, Monument No 71837 – also any details about the mound?”


A Google search revealed Historic England’s detailed web pages. These tell us the “mound, known locally as Windmill Hill, or a chambered tumulus, is situated on the highest bank of the valley of St Helens Brook. 


“A large grass covered mound about 28m diameter, and 1.4m in height. 
“The feature is, at the moment, in an infected area and close investigation or survey is not possible. 


“However no ditch is visible in profile, and there appears to be little mutilation other than that caused by the erection of a barn against the south-south-east face. The mound is situated 80m above sea level on an exposed slope above a stream.”


I would welcome any information from any reader who knows a little about it.


The website also says: “The NRHE (National Record of the Historic Environment) contains over 420,000 records of archaeological sites and buildings in England and its territorial waters. The record is very broad in scope and contains information on sites dating from prehistoric times to the modern period, from finds of early stone tools to contemporary architecture, from Roman roads to disused railways and 19th century shipwrecks.”


This site could be useful for all readers interested in history. 

Meanwhile, Kathleen Pickering writes: “My mum saved me your articles concerning Walter and Mollie Rochford, as I now live in North Wales. Walter and Mollie were cousins of my dad Walter Prescott. 


“My dad was well known in St Helens as a snooker and billiards player. He won the town championship four times, and played for Parr Conservatives at Lowe House, and many others over the area. 


“He passed away in November 1998, aged 74, and Dennis Whittle, a Star reporter, wrote a lovely tribute to him which I still have. I recently rediscovered my dad’s scrapbook, which has photographs of his successes. He played many of the famous names, including John Virgo and John Spencer. 


“Just to go back to Walter and Mollie, Mollie passed away in December 2013, aged 91. Walter was not a policeman. Mum isn’t sure what he did, but Walter’s dad was in the Canadian Mounted Police, and came over here in the 1920s and lived in Boardmans Lane.”

- Contact chrispcoffey@gmail.com or on 01744 817130 or by post at 37 Holbrook Close, WA9 3XH.