Ginnels and Snickets
A ginnel or a snicket is a path going through a narrow gap, usually between houses. The difference is that a ginnel is covered whilst a snicket is open above and often wider.
The first one goes from Green Road, via a raised walkway atop a wall and then through a gate and down some steps to reach 'the Green', which isn't green any more. The path is overgrown but just about passable with care. The next one leads from High Street near the surgery to the Spar store car park. The third one has bricked up arches at the side of the old cloth hall, now Clark's Chemist. This leads to the bus shelter and the church. The old British Legion used to hav an entrance here.
Second row, first picture, is a view of a snicket which heads towards Green Road from Unwin Crescent nearly opposite to the overgrown picture above it. Unwin Crescent used to be a picturesque grassed area surrounded by Airey houses, with a circular flower bed adopted by local residents, especially the late Mrs Hattersley. The Airey houses have gone now, with neat bungalows in their place. Bottom row-middle is the ginnel that leads from the new Market Barn to Market Street next to the Britannia Building Society, when it was blocked during construction work. It did not re-open straight away after the barn was finished and people grumbled that it might be blocked for good. It was eventually re-opened and the last picture shows it in its natural state. There is barely enough room for two people to pass each other.
Samuel Johnson: 'The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.'
