WE certainly uncorked a huge fizz of interest after Brian Winfield reported the unearthing of a St Helens-made bottle from the foundations of his daughter's Blackpool home. The house, undergoing extension work, was built about 70 years ago.

Brian, former Haydock shopkeeper, was curious to know more about the Codd-type bottle, complete with its

glass-marble stopper and bearing the name of Nuttall & Co., St Helens. Though originating from New Street area of Sutton, Brian had no previous knowledge of that particular manufacturer.

But our knowledgeable readership certainly had! Replies came in thick and fast from, among others, James Donald Stuart of Parr, Mrs L. M. Feeney of Thatto Heath, Mrs D. M. Pennington of Whiston and Alan Pickavance of St Helens.

The last mentioned explains that the Ravenhead company, which closed in 2001, could trace the company's roots back to 1842 and one of its early names was Nuttall and Company ("I think around 1859.")

Mrs Pennington's mother, who died 16 years ago at the age of 96, actually worked for Nuttalls when she was a teenager. She often spoke of those early times, and her daughter now passes on the historical details.

Nuttalls was somewhere on the other side of the road from Ravenhead Laundry and close to Heaton's brickworks. From the laundry, down the old Greenbank area and past a very old string of houses known as Dam Row, was the walk-under Nuttalls Bridge leading to a cluster of houses called Nuttalls Row. All of these landmarks have now vanished, with the exception of the bridge, now blocked off.

Mrs P's mother (maiden name Ann Walton) lived in Factory Row, and during her break-time at the glassworks was taught by the older women how to crochet. She made "a very fine circular table cloth" which is still in existence.

Mr Stuart, a former UGB worker, also traced back the Nuttalls history and adds that, in addition to Codd bottles, later to be filled with mineral water, the firm also made such items as beer glasses and mugs, glass sugar bowls, milk jugs, vases and various shapes of fruit dishes.

Mrs Feeney, a keen local history buff who often comes to the rescue of our fact-seeking readership, provides some Nuttall family links. Jonas Nuttall, a printer in 1810, retired to the impressive Nutgrove Hall, destined later to become a home for the elderly. A year later, he had built a nearby chapel, demolished in modern times to make way for a petrol station.

When Jonas died in 1837, his estate passed to his nephew Thomas, famous as a botanist at Harvard University, who died in 1859 and whose gravestone stands at Christ Church, Eccleston.

It was a Francis Dixon-Nuttall who was principally concerned with bottle manufacture, says Mrs F, who adds of Brian Winfield's find: "I would like to think a day-tripper left the empty bottle behind, with fond memories of a pleasant day out - a luxury for working-class folk back in the 1930s".