WHERE exactly, in the Sutton area, was the Workhouse Bridge district, with its old-time population of around 200?

The query is raised by Peter Johnson of Garswood who came across a mention of this place in a newspaper clipping harking back to the late 19th-century, a time, apparently, when booze-selling was not confined to pubs.

The clipping refers to a farmer, Abraham Simm, applying to St Helens licensing bench for permission to sell beer off his premises in Workhouse Bridge. "Where was this place; and was there once a Sutton workhouse there, as well as a farm?" asks Peter.

Nowadays, there seems little resistance to licensing applications (just look at the ever-burgeoning wine bar scene in the town centre). But our old-time magistrates appear to have been a tougher lot.

They'd refused four of five applications put to them on that particular date, including that of farmer Simm, whose legal representative protested that he'd met all requirements under the Act of Parliament.

He argued there was genuine need, with a population of 200 in the district and 20 houses within the farm's immediate vicinity. But the magistrates ignored demands for explanation, and tersely threw out the application.

ANYONE able to fill in some Workhouse Bridge details?