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 […]
Salford thrived with its silk spinning and weaving industry in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Much of the town’s development was as a result of these industries. However, textile manufactories broadly declined into the twentieth century, and this resulted in economic hardship in parts of the town. Salford Regeneration However, Salford has enjoyed extensive redevelopment in […]
Gorton is a town in Manchester, and it is rich in cultural heritage. For example, the world-famous Belle Vue Zoological Gardens opened in 1836. In its lifetime it served as a zoo, amusement park, exhibition hall complex and speedway stadium. It developed from containing a small amusements park in the 1870s to the ‘show ground […]
Burnley is a historic market town, and is surrounded by breathtaking Penine countryside. It developed into one of the most prosperous mill towns in Lancashire during the Industrial Revolution. Burnley was one of the world’s largest cloth producers at its peak. Located in the town centre is Weavers’ Triangle. Consisting of 19th-century industrial buildings, Weavers’ Triangle has historic interest […]
Macclesfield’s Silk History Macclesfield became known as ‘the silk town’ by the 1850s. This came about by silk button making, which was a principal industry of the town by 1749. However, button making declined as horn buttons became dominant. But silk throwing mills could operate, thanks to an extant pool of skilled silk producers. The […]
In 1839, a Dr Granville was traveling to Tenbury Wells, as he was conducting a survey to find seventy spa spots on the English landscape. Royal Leamington and Cheltenham were already ‘foremost towns’ for ‘taking the waters’. But Tenbury’s waters were found to be high in minerals, and deemed to be of medicinal value. Due […]
According to local legend, the health-giving properties of Malvern water were known in medieval times, and there is a distinctive record of notable names extolling its virtues. The occulist Richard Banister wrote about the Eye Well (close to Holy Well) in a short poem in 1622. Further praise came from the botanist Benjamin Stillingfleet, the […]
In the seventeenth century White Wells Bath House was constructed close to a hillside spring. The water there gained a reputation for purity and softness. Early bathing processes involved ten minutes immersion into a plunge-bath (4 degrees Celsius) and a brisk rubdown by the health attendant. Like many spa towns, Ilkley became a fashionable place […]
