Morecambe is a coastal town on the Irish Sea. It comprised the hamlets of Poulton, Bare and Torrisholme until 1889. Passage of the necessary legislation officially named the area Morecambe. Formed in 1894, the Urban District Council freed the town from governance by the Borough of Lancaster (until 1974, when Lancaster again took charge). But various parties […]
Skipton originally made most of its money trading sheep and wool. Recorded in the Domesday Book, it is a market town. The Market operates in a unique way. King John granted consent to ‘The Lord of the Honour’ of Skipton Castle. It enabled him to hold a fair on the High Street. Consent holds true today. It is […]
Braintree’s role in silk manufacture was rather significant. The Courtauld family was famous in the silk industry. George Courtauld established a silk throwing business in 1799 near Braintree, moving into the town in 1818. In 1825, the family began making crêpe (crimped silk gauze). This made the company famous. The Courtaulds used their enormous wealth […]
Hebden Bridge developed into an industrial town in the nineteenth century – as did many of Manchester’s surrounding towns. At one point, it was known as ‘Trouser Town’. But its distinctive landscape, with hills and streams, made it ideal for water-powered weaving mills. Built in 1897, the Town Hall is a Grade II Listed Building. It has acted […]
Stockport has been a centre for the hatting industry from the 17th century, and it later became a centre for silk production. Stockport was a prototype textile town. Stockport’s first mill opened in 1732 – the first water-powered textile mill in England’s North West. Working conditions were often difficult, because of the boom and bust […]
Worsley expanded significantly from 1761, as a result of the completion of the Bridgewater Canal. Francis Egerton (3rd Duke of Bridgewater) commissioned its construction, and this was to simplify the transportation of coal from his Worsley mines to Manchester. Coal was an important resource, because it fuelled steam engines. Over-reliance on pack horse transport was extant prior to […]
Cotton is a mainstay of the textile industry, and it remains a crucial resource to this day. The East India Company first imported cotton to Britain in the 16th century. As a result, cotton’s popularity grew, and its value soared. The spinning frame (1769) generated large-scale industrial production. Consequently, the cultural and social impact upon […]
Rochdale sits at the foothills of the South Pennines. It flourished into a centre of Northern England’s wool trade from the 13th century. Rochdale was also a prominent boomtown during the first Industrial Revolution. With textile manufacture as key industry, the area subsequently developed as one of Britain’s first industrial towns. The town’s rapid development was partly due to Rochdale […]
Textile production has been a key part of the history of many British towns – for instance, the cotton towns of Lancashire and the wool towns of Yorkshire. But silk manufacture is also a strong British tradition and a number of towns justly celebrate this history. There are even places that still produce and create […]
‘Good Growth’ Survey names Oxford ‘top performing city’ and Bradford the ‘most improving’ A nationwide analysis has named Oxford the top performing city to live and work in the UK for the fourth year in a row. Oxford beat Reading due to its record on work-life balance, income, transport and skills. The ‘most improved’ city is Bradford. The annual Demos-PwC […]
