In June 1931, 236 people from three Rossendale Boroughs embarked on a journey of over 900 miles to the Somme battlefields of World War I. This second annual pilgrimage was organized by the Rossendale Liberal Association. The train, which left Bacup at 2:25 PM on Friday, May 29th, carried 32 passengers from Bacup. It picked […]
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On July 29, 1857, the Bacup Court House was inaugurated at Bankside, hosting its first petty session on the same day. Before this, the Police Station was located on Todmorden Road, in a building that was recently known as the Wellington Hotel. On August 6, 1887, the Bacup Watch Committee, responsible for the Bacup
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As we approach the 2024 Olympics I thought I would share the story of our very own Bacup Olympian Willie Foster. Born on the 10th of July 1890 Willie was a freestyle swimmer who took part in the 1908 London Olympics. In 1908 he won the Gold medal as part of the 4 x 200-meter
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P.C.25 Martin was one of Bacup’s most respected police officers. Known as Felix, by local people he earned this nickname as he carried out point duty in Bacup Centre, where he walked backwards and forwards with his hands clasped behind his back just like Felix the Cat a 1920 cartoon character. One of his most
The Mechanics School was taken over by Bacup Board School in 1893 with Mr Bell of Burnley submitting plans to build the new Central Board School at Thorn in 1894. The plans were made up of two schools; the infant school could hold up to 500 pupils and the junior school 325 pupils. The infants
Warrant Officer Fred Cooper 115 Squadron R.A.F aged 24, a well-known Bacup cricketer and player for Lancashire CCC Second XI, joined the R.A.F on the 24th July 1940. Fred’s parents John and Margaret Cooper of 114 Bankside Lane received word that Fred had been reported missing after flying operations on Wednesday 29th July 1942. Fred
Article Taken from the Bacup Times 1901 Situated at the foot of Flower Scarr Hill above Todmorden Edge, on one side and Dulesgate on the other. It is about 3.5 miles from Bacup and 1 mile from Todmorden by the nearest path. It is a substantial stone-built structure, two storeys in height, and practically
Sourhall Smallpox Hospital Read More »
About the year 850. A.D. on the site of Stubbylee Hall once stood a beautiful monastery, richly decorated and containing many precious vestments and jewels. Among the jewels was a beautiful chalice of exceptional value. The monks were noted far and wide for their hospitality and kindness, especially to the women and children of the
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Rockliffe House was built by John Maden cotton spinner and manufacturer, in 1866 on land once known as Raw Cliffe. John started off life as a humble handloom weaver, born at Bent in the hamlet of Heald. At the age of twenty, he married and, encouraged by his wife, he saved his first £5.00, walking
A series of annual “Lancashire Neets” were instituted just after the First World War by the Bacup Natural History Society. These evenings began as a night of Lancashire dialect verse and song, and later became plays which took the form of North country comedies, and a long succession of players became so expert that the