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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
