THROUGHOUT this year in Yester Years, we have been celebrating some of the places in Warrington our readers loved most.

One week, we told the story of the former Horse and Jocky pub on Kerfoot Street (where the McDonald’s now stands).

And on the same page, was a feature about Carter Cafe which used to be on Bridge Street (interestingly, also close to a McDonald’s).

Well we have had a letter from Houghton Green resident Tommy Swift who told us about his family’s links to both venues.

He said: “Quite a few months ago now in your Yester Years column, you had a feature about the Horse and Jockey, Winwick Road and above it there was a feature about Carters Cafe.

“I got married to my late wife Olive in March 1961 and held our wedding meal at Carters Cafe, top of Bridge Street.

“Twenty years later in August 1981 my daughter married and held her reception at the Horse and Jockey.

“Imagine my pleasure at seeing both venues featured in the same edition of the Warrington Guardian’s Yester Years.

“A happy coincidence you might say.”

The new premises of Carter’s was completed in 1907 near to their previous store which was nearby on Patten Lane.

On August 8, 1917, an electrical fault sparked a fire that swept through the building in the early hours of the morning.

The fire spread rapidly because of the flammable grain, flour and cattle food stored there.

Warrington’s fire brigade fought the blaze for several hours but the foodstuffs and bakers were destroyed.

There was more than £22,000 worth of damaged done to the building, which was only partly insured.

The fire was disastrous for Warrington’s food supplies as, by 1917, the First World War was causing a national shortage for food.

By February, Germany had resumed submarine warfare and was attacking ships heading to Britain, which was importing about two-thirds of her food.

Due to wartime food restrictions, it took three years before the Bridge Street shop reopened.

It later became an impressive cafe and tea room and that is how perhaps many readers remember the site.

The Horse and Jockey closed in the 1980s and stood at the corner of Winwick Road and Kerfoot Street.