Thursday Tour - my personal link to Euxton

Euxton (pronounced ‘Exton’) is a small village in Central Lancashire. The main road in the village was the Roman road called Watling Street which ran from south to north through Lancashire and on to  Hadrian’s Wall, the border with Scotland. In the middle ages this road became the main north-south packhorse route, and there is still a packhorse bridge near to where the modern road crosses the River Yarrow.

Prior to World War II, a large Royal Ordnance Factory was built at Euxton. It became one of the largest munitions filling factory in the world, employing over 28,000 people at the height of the war. It’s said that the bouncing bombs used in the Dambusters Raid were made there. Safety precautions involved twenty feet high grass embankments to deflect any explosion skywards instead of across to any adjacent buildings. There were also extensive underground armament magazines.

Which brings me to my personal link with Euxton.  In 1942 my father, who was serving with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps during the war, was posted to Euxton for about a year. As my mother lived in their home town of Preston, only a few miles away, he was able to visit her when he was off-duty. That could explain why I was born the following year!