Digital Hearing Aids Northwich – Digital Hearing aids Cheshire

Digital Hearing Aids Northwich – Digital Hearing aids Cheshire

Northwich is one of the Doomsday Wiches.  The others are Middlewich and Nantwich also in Cheshire and Droitwich in Worcestershire and all were mentioned in the Doomsday Book.  The suffix wich or wyche attached to a place name denotes that there was some ‘special function’ or production in the town.  Salt is one of these ‘special functions’ and Northwich has a long relationship with salt!

How did you hear about that?
Yes you did hear us correctly, Doomsday wiches and salt.  It all sounds a bit make-believe doesn’t it?  But it’s the truth about this pretty market town.

If you live here or in the surrounding area and are reluctant to accept that you might have a problem with your hearing, don’t panic.  We offer free hearing tests with a professional audiologist.  In fact accepting you have a problem no matter its cause, is one of the first steps you need to take.  Once you’ve done that, getting your hearing tested takes you closer to making life easier again at work and socially.  And makes life easier for those close to you or who have to work with you too.

Digital hearing aids are a step up from analogue ones and should improve your hearing impediment.  They may take some getting used to, but persevere as it’s worth it.  Want to know more, take a look here.

Remember being hard of hearing, whatever the cause, is nothing to be ashamed of and can happen to anybody at any age with a variety of causes.  If you’d like more information either call us on 01782 69 80 90 or complete our enquiry form, which you can find on our website.

The effects of salt
It was the salt pans in the area that made it important to the Romans.  The salt beneath Northwich wasn’t discovered until the 17th century when the Smith-Barry family were searching for coal!

In history generally salt has always been an important commodity.  It preserved food and could be used for healing.  It is thought that Roman soldiers were often paid in salt.  The Latin word ‘salarium’ is thought to refer to payment of soldiers and is the word that salary is derived from.

After the discovery of salt beneath Northwich, mining began and went on for hundreds of years.  By the 19th century it had become uneconomical to collect salt this way and a technique of filling the mines with hot water to dissolve the salt and retrieve as brine was put into use.  This resulted in destabilising the mines and caused massive subsidence for the town and the surrounding area.

As a result of this subsidence a number of flashes (pools) and meres (shallow lakes) were formed.  It is thought that the timber framed buildings that survive in the town did so because they were more resilient to movement than their brick counterparts.

The Weaver Hall Museum, once the local workhouse, tells the story of salt in the area as well as the area’s broader history  The original salt museum was set up by two salt proprietors, Thomas Ward and John Brunner, in the 19th century when Northwich was ‘the salt capital of the world’.

Knock-on industry
Brunner founded a soda ash production company called Brunner Mond with colleague Ludwig Mond.  The company was based in Winnington near to Northwich.  Statues of both men stand outside the research centre at the works.  The production of soda ash used salt as its raw material and the subsided land was used to dispose of waste from the production producing dangerous lime beds.  As a result the land was deemed unusable.

The chemical industry was attracted to the area on the heels of the salt production.  So as well as Brunner Mond (now Tata Chemicals Europe), ICI opened three sites in the area at Winnington, Wallerscote and Lostock.  It was at Winnington that the production of polythene was accidentally discovered in the 1930s.

In recent years the unusable land has been reclaimed and the Marbury Country Park and the Northwich Community Woodlands have been developed.  Both are open to the public and popular recreational areas.  Four of the old salt mines have been stabilised: Baron’s Quay, Witton Bank, Neumann’s and Penny’s Lane.

Getting around the area
The Romans called Northwich Condate meaning confluence probably due to the merging of two rivers, The Dane which flows into the Weaver in the town.  The rivers were obviously good for trading and a means to carry the precious salt to other markets.  When the Trent and Mersey Canal opened in the 18th century, much concern from the river’s trustees ensured it followed a path north of the town.  Even so it passed salt production sites on its banks and a few years later the Anderton Boat lift was built to connect the two water transport routes.  There’s a visitor Centre at the lift now for visitors who want to know more about it.

Several roads around Northwich follow the original roads set out by the Romans.

Of course whilst all this production was going on, the population of Northwich grew and people needed homes and other facilities.  Northwich is still home to many amazing protected buildings.

Listings
·         St Helen’s Witton is a Grade I listed building which dates from the 14th century.  Even its sundial bears the Grade II listing

·         Two other churches in Northwich carry Grade II status – Church of St Winifred and Church of the Holy Trinity

·         The Weavers Hall Museum is a Grade II listed building

·         The magnificent Town Bridge which dates from 1899 and is one of two swing bridges in the town – the first two ever to be operated electrically.  Town Bridge is also Grade II

·         Several other bridges and locks also bear Grade II status

·         The magnificent timber framed Winnington Hall is not surprisingly Grade I listed.  It was built for the Warburton family in the 16th century.  In the 19th century it became a girls’ school for a time, hosting recitals by Charles Halle and boasting art lectures by John Ruskin.  Later the whole estate was bought by Brunner Mond and both families lived in the Hall.  Now the building houses a series of offices

·         Many of the residences on Dobell’s Road are Grade II listed too


Who do you recognise?
Singers and bands from or with connections to Northwich include:
·         Gary Barlow of Take That and now X Factor judge

·         Tim Burton of the Charlatans

·         Steve Hewitt one time drummer with Placebo hails from Northwich

·         Harry Styles of One Direction lived in the area at one time

·         Northwich was one of The Who’s locations on their non-stop UK tour in 1966

Actors/TV personalities
·         Jennifer Saunders, originally one half of French and Saunders and now successful in her own right,  attended Northwich Girls Grammar School

·         Television presenter Matthew Kelly once lived here

·         Local girl Dani Raynor was a contestant in the 2010 Over the Rainbow TV show looking for Dorothy for an Andrew Lloyd Webber production.  Unfortunately Dani was not successful


Authors
·         Film producer and writer Sue Birtwistle was born in Northwich

·         Crime writer Martin Edwards attended Sir John Deane’s Grammar School in the town.  His father was one time President of the Northwich Victoria Football Club and penned their history

·         Rupert Holmes is a singer-songwriter and author of plays and novels.  He was born in Northwich before moving with his family to New York – he has duel citizenship of the UK and the USA

·         Horror author Stuart Neild was born here

·         The late children’s author Robert Westall  (The Machine Gunners) taught at Sit John Deane Grammar School in Northwich


Deafening entertainment
Whilst we acknowledge that much hearing loss is caused by the aging process at Castle Hearing Aids, we do wonder what effect loud music has on younger sufferers.  It is reported that Pete Townshend of The Who admits to making music that ‘deafens’ people.  In fact in 1976 The Who played a concert that was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the loudest concert ever!  You can read all about it here.  Let’s hope no one is suffering due to the concert they played in Northwich.  But as music concerts have got louder, so an increase in younger sufferers has been noted.  Is this just coincidence?

No matter what the cause though, take a look at our information about testing and wearing aids to hear and if you’d like more information, please give us a call on 01782 69 80 90.