Littleborough from Cleggswood Hill
LITTLEBOROUGH's HISTORY
Industry and Transport
Littleborough covers a wide area of Hills and river valleys from Blackstone Edge in the east to Dearnley in the west, from Calderbrook and Shore Moors in the north to Longden End Clough (and now the M62) the in the south. Most of the area was covered with relatively small farms with a few scattered communities often located near large houses or halls, for example Calderbrook, Shore, Dearnley, Hollingworth. Rakewood etc Early mills tended to locate near the small streams or later reservoirs and generally settlements built around them. Improved transport links generated new settlements, Summit and Gatehouse. Some 70 years ago Littleborough still remained an amalgam of somewhat scattered developments still separated by fields. Each community could be dominated by a mill or mills and other industrial developments. Most of the mills have closed and demolished as have the Gas Works, Brickworks, Chemical Works and a Tannery. The once active Coal Mines and Quarries have also gone. Fortunately, new industries have come to the town as has new housing on the vacant sites thus aiding Littleborough becoming a Commuting Town. Notwithstanding the increase in housing many green spaces remain.
Industry
Before the Rochdale Canal was built at the turn of the 18th Century, 2 textile mills were recorded including Sladen Woollen Mill and Stubley Fulling Mill. At its height the textile industry supported around sixty textile mills in Littleborough. Many started out as Woollen Mills but most turned to Cotton. There were also two Rayon Mills. Additionally there were around thirty finishing works, including fulling and dyeing plants. Most of them have also now closed with only Fothergill Engineered Fabrics at Rock Nook and Ealees plus Clegg’s Mill in Rakewood remaining.
In addition to the main textile mills a number of smaller factories were engaged in the manufacture of Hosiery between 1887 to 1960 with a brief flurry in the 1970s. One, Sun Mill, remains in other use.
Industrial History booklets Nos 2,3,6,7,8 & 9 provide much more information on a large number pf Mills and their owners
(Right)
Albion Mill prior to its 1998 demolition
Wood-Milne Manufactured Rubber tyres, car parts etc. The large 'Spenwood' factory in Littleborough stretched from near the station to Stubley Mill Lane opened in 1919 Also in February 1919 Wood-Milne and George Spencer Moulton and Co Ltd agreed to amalgamate to create a new company, ‘Federated Rubber Growers and Manufacturers Ltd’. During its existence there were numerous complaints about the competition it faced and the threat to local employees. In 1927 Phillips Rubber Soles Ltd bought Wood-Milne. This purchase was followed by consolidation within the Phillips Rubber company which resulted in the closure of the Littleborough Plant and its sale. In December 1928 the works was acquired acquired by a Rayon company, Atlas Artificial Silk Processes Ltd which promoted a new more efficient way of making Rayon. despite much capital investment it manufactured little rayon and the factory stopped producing rayon in June 1930.
Across the main Road Python Mill started producing Rayon in 1926 and it continued in operation until after industrial rationalisation it closed in 1953/55. During WW2 it produced much Rayon Cloth for the military. Over at Spenwood works, the building deteriorated but was eventually bought by Adler & Oppenheimer which employed 400 to 500 workers were from the UK but some 23 emigre Jewish families, many scientists and senior managers, moved into Littleborough. The plant produced upper leathers and during the war produced some 66% of all UK military requirements of boots etc for the Army, Navy and Royal Air Force. After the war the Tannery switched production to cover ‘fashionable leather’ often used in Ladies Shoes and Handbags. These exquisite upper leathers were sold worldwide. again, industry rationalisation led to the Tanneries closure in 1972 with most workers summarily dismissed.
Python Rayon mill pictured right
See Industrial History Booklet No 4 and History Trail No6 for more details
Although textile mills were the main employers, 3 reasonable sized engineering companies operated from Littleborough, Phoenix, Ebor Engineering and Schofields Foundry.
Phoenix Iron Works was established in 1872 and developed to become an important business turning and machining large items including rollers for various industries. As the workload reduced the existing buildings became to large and expensive to heat etc so new premises were sought and in 2020 the company moved to Royton.
Ebor engineering had a complex history of different companies and owners based in Ebor street which was located next to the railway. Over the years it operated as a foundry, Engineers and Millwrights. It constructed and installed steam engines with a number installed in Littleborough Mills. Due space limitations on Ebor Street it also operated out of the Methodical Piazza. The company
closed in the early 1970s.
Schofield foundry in Durn was set up around 1851 its workers job titles provide an illustration of the tasks involved, Bench & Floor Moulders, Furnace Tenter, Loam (Core) Moulder, Core makers for engine work, pipes and rollers. In the early 1860s the foundry made the cast Iron Columns for the nearby Law’s Durn Mill and probably other mill buildings besides probably including Albion Mill c1866/7. It closed late 1940s/early 1950s. See Industrial History No 3 for more details.
Canalside Akzo Chemie plant (Right)
There were many small Chemical works located near to Dean Head and at Warland Gate End. At the other side of Littleborough was Dearnley which essential oils to major soap manufacturers on Merseyside. Nearer to the town's centre was Hardy’s Glue at Stubley Mill, previously a corn and later a Fulling Mill. Across the canal was Akzo Chemie, the largest and longest lasting. Originally two small business the eventually combined and developed before becoming part of a larger company. Another large concern was Littleborough Gas works. Finally a number of small factories produced candles
Whittles Bakery
Henry Whittles was a Fuller working in Clegg's mill in Rakewood. He encouraged his wife Jane and later his two daughters to bake pies etc which they sold to local farms and houses. Henry was driven by a desire to enable his daughters to avoid the drudgery of mill work. Henry eventually left Fulling and with his family he moved to the Post office in Featherstall to set up his baking industry in 1893. In 1906 they developed a small bakery close by but 6 years later they moved to a an even larger just behind the old post office. Growth continued until its 1954 acquisition by Allied Bakeries. Despite its eventual closure in the 1990s. Whittles once employed 400 employees and had a thriving Sports and Social Club most of which has been lost as has the bakery.
Cleggswood Entrance (Right)
Records of coal extraction on Shore Moor date back to the 1300s, with later 16th-century activity noted at Blackstone Edge. Early miners worked the most accessible seams where they appeared on the surface creating Drift mines as they followed the seams. In other places like Syke Moor miners dug shafts down to the coal seam creating bell pits as they dug out the coal from around the bottom of the shafts. As demand grew, operations moved closer to Littleborough centre, with Dearnley Colliery mining Dearnley and Smithy Bridge. Many smaller pits were operating across the borough but another of the larger ones was Cleggswood Colliery which had both shafts to lower seams and a drift mine to the seams closer to the surface. There was a scatter of mines around Starring but like all of the others have closed mainly due to the availability of cheaper coal from large pits in Yorkshire and Lancashire with the coal brought to Littleborough good yard by rail.
Quarrying on Blackstone Edge (left)
The Government introduced a brick tax in 1784 to cover military debts. This meant that in Littleborough with ready supplies of stone suitable for building meant that as the Littleborough expanded many of the early mills and factories often needing large stone steam engine beds were built from Stone. Similarly. houses large and small were stone structures, as were almost all farms. Quarries were established on Blackstone Edge above the Bar House and south of the White House, Smithy Nook and through the Summit Gap. With the repeal of the brick tax in 1850 stone was often used for the front of terraces with the rear walls being of brick. Henceforth, except for few exceptions, properties were predominately built from bricks, many locally supplied but in recent times stone has made a comeback when planning requires new properties to blend in with the old. Littleborough's quarries are now closed but their scars remain visible on the hillsides.
Pasture - Tending to the hay in years past There were originally over 100 farms scattered across Littleborough with 2 located within the town centre itself (Royal Oak and the Falcon with its Coach House now in Community use) and others close by. Most however, were located across the moors or the lower lying land across Dearnley and in the valleys such as Clough, Town House and Ealees. According to Census data. many farms were relatively small with residents often working in other industries such as textiles or coal mines. Today, few farms remain rearing cattle, sheep and chickens or growing silage for sale outside the town. Of the farm properties which remain many are now in domestic use or are contractors of various types but many of the farm buildings are now derelict. Many of the History Trails pass through or close by both existing and abandoned and derelict farms, Check to list, Fore farms in Longden End Clough see Industrial History Booklet No 9.
Roads, Canals and Railways
1839 viaduct crossing the 1734 Turnpike road with the 1824 junction nearby pictured right
In the late 17th early 18th Centuries the country's development was held back by the poor quality of the interurban road. Closer to Littleborough, frequent comments appeared in the local press about the of the road over Blackstone Edge. The solution adopted was the introduction of Turnpike Trusts which charged tolls to improve both the road surface, width as well constructing new road sections to straighten the road or improve gradients etc road's with etc. The first turnpike serving Littleborough was the Blackstone Edge Turnpike Trust which arrived in 1734 linking Rochdale to Elland and later Halifax. By 1759 another Turnpike was built linking Featherstall (junction shown in above picture) to Dean head where it connected to the existing Reddyshore Scout Gate. (for Walsden). Improvements came in 1777 and later in 1824 when there was a through road from Littleborough to Halifax and Burnley. Earlier, the Rochdale Canal arrived in the town from Sowerby Bridge. It was late extended to Manchester for connection into the wider canal network. The Canal radically improved freight transport especially for the textile trade, With the coming of the Railways in the late 1830s/early 1840s the longer distance horse drawn coaches ceased operating and over time significantly reduced canal use for freight. Post WW1 road freight attacked rail freight as well as canals such that today there are no rail or canal freight facilities in Littleborough.
Transport
Public Transport
In the 18th century, mail coaches operated along the Turnpike roads to connect with Rochdale and Halifax via either Todmorden or Elland. Steam trams were introduced into Littleborough in 1883 and they were replaced by electric trams in 1905 which included an extension to Summit. (Pictured right - Electric trams passing at end of Whitelees Road). Earlier, railway services operated from Manchester to Littleborough and in the early 1840s they line was extended to Halifax and Leeds. Thus from the 1840s Littleborough enjoyed service to a much wider number of destination including by excursion trains. Bus services came late to Littleborough, arriving in 1930 corresponding with the closure of the tram system. Over the years additional through services came and some went and 2 remain. Coaches were also popular for leisure travellers. Today, rail remains important with more frequent services but they are insufficient to generate the potential traffic which could arise from the new housing close by Littleborough and Smithy Bridge
