The terraced houses on Summer Street, Stormy Corner were built in 1864. The house numbers were originally different and 24/26 Summer Street was known as 12/13.

The two houses consisted of the shop, which had a door into the living accommodation of a kitchen, a living room with a cast iron Yorkshire range and a ‘morning room’ in which there was a mahogany fire surround with a mirror set in, this was over a cast iron fire place, the second front door was in this room. Underneath the shop was a cellar with stone slabs all around to keep food cool, also there were large hooks in the ceiling which were thought to be there to hang carcasses. Outside there was an open grill looking down into the cellar. There was a single staircase, leading from the living room at the back, going to the four bedrooms two over number 24 and two over number 26. There was no internal bathroom or toilet, bath time consisted of using a tin bath (which was hung outside on a nail) in front of the open fire. The toilet was in the back yard and was an ash miden the waste was covered over with the ash from the fire and when the Foster’s lived there, the bin men had to come round weekly to shovel the waste into a barrow and along with the general waste they would then shovel it all into the bin wagon. (Not an enviable job!). There was also a large outhouse building, which had a cast iron boiler with a fire underneath , Allan believes this could have been a communal wash house. On the back of this building was a pig sty.

In the 1871 census the houses were occupied by Richard Martland born in Wrightington, his wife Mary and 3 children, Joseph 11, William 9, and John I, he was registered as a grocer. Therefore we know that the houses were built as a shop and living accommodation.

In 1881 Richard Martland still lived there, but now had his occupation down as a Blacksmith, he lived with Mary and 7 children, Joseph the eldest is not on this census. The children were William 19, Elizabeth 16, John 11, Richard 8, Edwin 7, Mary Ellen 4, and Hugh 2. ( Noted: Elizabeth was not on the 1871 census). It looks like Richard Martland and family moved before 1882 as Samuel Hodgetts was recorded as living in 12/13 Summer Street then and the occupancy was classed as a Beerhouse. In the 1891 census Richard Martland was living at Prescotts Farm, Mill Lane where he was a Blacksmith.

After 1882 the records show that the numbers changed from 12/13 to 24/26 with the property being classed as a dwelling house and shop, and the occupants were Samuel Hodgetts and his family. (Previously to 1882 Samuel and his wife Emma also lived in Summer Street, as in the 1871 census their house was number 20. (This was prior to the numbers change) .

In the 1891 census the couple lived at 24/26 with their daughter Rose, Samuel 57, was listed as a miner. A lodger named George Kershaw a miner from Rochdale also lived with them.

Curiously also in this census Christopher Murray lived at 22 Summer Street with his wife Susannah whose Maiden name was Hodgetts, she was Samuel and Emma’s daughter.

The 1901 census showed Samuel Hodgetts and his wife Emma were living at 24/26 but now had Samuel’s occupation as greengrocer. Emma died aged 69 in 1903 and Samuel died in 1905 aged 72. The electoral roll records shows that the Murray’s lived at 24/26 in 1908, but we are not sure when they moved in there.

The 1911 census showed that Christopher Murray and his wife Susannah still resided at 24/26 Summer Street, with 11 children! John 24, Richard 20, Elizabeth 16, Samuel 13, Ellen 9, Lily 8, Annie 6, Maud 5, Joseph 4, Elsie 3, George 1. Christopher and the two eldest sons worked down the mine.

The 1921 census shows that the houses were now occupied by the Hopley family. William Hopley a coal miner, Ann Hopley a midwife, their daughter Annie who was married and living there with her husband, John W Cross a miner, their daughter Ellen 11 and their son William 8. Also living there was James H Bennett 30, Hopley’s adopted son, who also worked in the colliery. The electoral roll shows they lived there in 1915.

In 1939 the in occupants were John and Annie Cross, and Ann Hopley, who was now a widow and retired. They were the last occupants before the Foster’s.

Allan Foster lived in Summer Street until from 1949-1967. The family only moved when the houses were to be demolished and were one of the last families to move out.

His mum and dad George and Eileen Foster came from Hindley near Wigan.

His dad got a job at REME in Burscough and whilst Allan was an infant they went to live with Mr Birch at 42 Orrell Lane, Burscough.

As he was a toddler at the time, it was not an ideal situation and his mum was constantly looking for somewhere else to live, without much success.

One day she went into Edward Jackson’s in Ormskirk and he said there was nothing available, apparently Allan knocked some paperwork on the floor and amongst it was an advert for 24/26 Summer Street, Stormy, and that is how they ended up living in Stormy Corner, he was two at the time.

When Allan was 10, in 1957, Hetty Beech closed her shop, due to the fact that it was due to be demolished, (this was attributed to subsidence) the shop was on the corner of Berry Street and Summer Street. Allan’s mum bought all the shop fittings from Hetty as she had decided to open the shop side of the house, it was a general grocers shop.

The shop was open until the Foster’s had to move due to the compulsory purchase order in 1967.

Often in the evening when the shop was closed, people knocked on the back door, as they had been watching the adverts on the TV this ‘wetted their appetite’ and they would request these goodies after hours!

In the middle of the two houses between the two bedroom windows was the date stone of 1864 inside a shield and Allan always regretted that he was unable to salvage this when the houses were demolished.

Allan recalls that it was a great time living in Summer Street although the toilets were outside and there was no indoor bathroom. All the people on Summer Street objected to the compulsory order however, the houses were deemed as being in an unsanitary condition and the sight was earmarked for a hospital!!

Stormy Corner was a thriving community with shops, public houses, with a coal merchant’s who also had a funeral hearse and with the fantastic countryside all around. Allan Foster will never forget his happy childhood and wishes that he could go back there now.