The Cottages.
These in 1839 stood along Smoke Street, Heath
Road and just around the corner in Flag Lane, Others were attached to the big
houses, e.g. Oakbanks, now The Oaks, or grouped near the inns and the farms.
One of the oldest cottages was on the site of
Woodbank, Upton Heath. It was a thatched cottage with clay floors downstairs,
and with low ceilings and windows down to the floors upstairs. It was
surrounded by the common land and at one time was reputed to have been the only
cottage on the Heath. In 1839 it stood near two others. It was demolished about
fifty years ago. It was here that Mrs. G. Smith, aged 91, was born.
Old cottages demolished in the 1940s stood along two sides of Upton Lane, formerly Smoke Street, and went by that name. Others which have been demolished were in Flag Lane, near the site of the present Smithy, and on the site of the present Brewers' Arms. These latter were built after 1839. (49} Old Cottages still standing are along Heath Road in two groups; those between the Wheatsheaf and Urban Stores of which there were six in 1859, and five with charming windows which are on either side of the newsagent's shop, and also two small cottages opposite to the Wheatsheaf Hotel. In between these are others which have been built during the nineteenth century - Heath Row, nicknamed "Sheep's Head Row." When Upton Lawn was built the Upton Lawn cottages were built in Smoke Street.
The Smithies.
There have been two in our village; one, very
old, now disused, the other a modern affair, and a necessity of this mechanical
age.
The Old Smithy
This is on the Liverpool Road, just past
the end of Upton Lane. It is one of the small pieces of Upton still owned by
the daughter of Sir Philip B. Grey-Egerton. The house, with its oak beams, and
the smithy, are reputed to be between
three and four hundred years old. Our earliest record is of its coming into the
possession of the Egertons in 1780. The Darlington family have been chiefly connected
with the Smithy for many generations. It was closed in 1941 after the death of
Mr. Darlington, and the contents of the forge were sold.
This is situated in Lower Flag Lane, and was
opened in 1944. The old Smithy with its forge, was equipped only for such jobs
as shoeing horses, and though the present smithy still uses the same methods,
with a furnace, for this job, and even for some welding work, such as the
making of iron gates, the electric welder (50) is the usual method employed
to-day. One thing remains unchanged and that is the desire of the youngsters to
watch the Blacksmith at work
The Pinfold
This used to stand on the site of the Vicarage.
It may have been demolished in 1889
when it was proposed to build the Vicarage, but there is no record of
this. One of the older inhabitants remembers playing around the low brick walls
as a child. It was used for the impounding of stray animals,a necessity in an
agricultural community such as Upton used to be. (51)