68-900: The River Spodden is a watercourse in North West England , one of two major tributaries of the River Roch. It rises in the Lancashire South Pennine hills north of Whitworth and flows south through what is now known as the Whitworth Valley to Rochdale, Greater Manchester , where the river merges with the River Roch . Nestled within the picturesque wooded valley is Healey Dell Nature Reserve. The river rises at Freeholds Top, on Shawforth Moor, north-east of Shawforth village, Whitworth, east of Britannia, out of Bacup and south-west of Inchfield Moor. In
136-583: A 30%+ Black British population. In contrast, the town of St. Helens in Merseyside, unusually for a city area, has a very low percentage of ethnic minorities with 98% identifying as White British. The City of Liverpool, over 800 years old, is one of the few places in Britain where ethnic minority populations can be traced back over dozens of generations: being the closest major city in England to Ireland, it
204-544: A compound of two elements, ro-ced or ro-cet . The first element is either from the common intensive prefix rö- ( Modern Welsh rhy- , Cornish re-) meaning "great" and found in other river names such as the Ribble and the Rother or rag- , ( Modern Welsh ar- ) meaning "opposite" or "adjacent to". The second element would then almost certainly be cę:d or cet , ( Modern Welsh coed ) meaning "wood". This would give
272-460: A shorter o sound), the name of the river is still pronounced / r oʊ tʃ / (with a long vowel sound). The river has been culverted in Rochdale town centre since the early 20th century. This was built by the joining together of seven bridges to form one large bridge, making it one of the widest bridges in the world. Maintenance work was carried out on the bridge in the 1990s and the river
340-410: Is Scafell Pike , Cumbria, at a height of 3,209 ft (978 m). Windermere is the largest natural lake in England, while Broad Crag Tarn on Broad Crag is England's highest lake. Wast Water is England's deepest lake, being 74 metres deep. A mix of rural and urban landscape, two large conurbations , centred on Liverpool and Manchester , occupy much of the south of the region. The north of
408-719: Is a river in Greater Manchester in North West England , a tributary of the River Irwell . Rising on Chelburn Moor (south of Todmorden in the Pennines ), the river flows south through Littleborough towards Rochdale where it is joined by the River Beal at Belfield , and the River Spodden from Whitworth . Turning west it runs past Heywood and Bury before meeting the River Irwell just to
476-903: Is bounded to the east by the Pennines and to the west by the Irish Sea . The region extends from the Scottish Borders in the north to the West Midlands region in the south. To its southwest is North Wales . Amongst the better known of the North West's physiographical features are the Lake District and the Cheshire Plain . The highest point in North West England (and the highest peak in England)
544-559: Is home to a significant ethnic Irish population, with the city being home to one of the first ever Afro-Caribbean communities in the UK, as well as the oldest Chinatown in Europe. The table below is not how many people belong to each ethnic group (e.g. a BBC News article in 2008 claimed there are over 25,000 ethnic Italians in Manchester alone whilst only 6,000 Italian-born people live in
612-544: Is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of Cheshire , Cumbria , Greater Manchester , Lancashire and Merseyside . The North West had a population of 7,417,397 in 2021. It is the third-most-populated region in the United Kingdom, after the South East and Greater London . The largest settlements are Manchester and Liverpool . The official region consists of
680-600: Is still predominant throughout the county, and stretches as far north as Furness in South Cumbria to parts of north Greater Manchester and Merseyside in the south of the region. The region boasts some of the most distinctive accents in the form of the Scouse accent, which originates from Liverpool and its surrounding areas, and the Manc accent, deriving from the central Manchester district. Both of these descend from
748-594: The 2019 United Kingdom general election , the Labour Party won a plurality of seats in the North West. It is one of the two regions (along with Yorkshire and the Humber ) that were expected to hold a referendum on the establishment of an elected regional assembly . However, when the North East region of England rejected having an elected regional assembly in a referendum, further referendums were cancelled and
SECTION 10
#1732790369038816-456: The Indices of deprivation 2007 , the region has many more Lower Layer Super Output Areas in the 20% most deprived districts than the 20% least deprived council districts. Only North East England shows more indicators of deprivation than the North West, but the number of affluent areas in the North West is very similar to Yorkshire and the Humber . The most deprived local authority areas in
884-538: The Industrial Revolution hundreds of thousands of Welsh people migrated to the North West of England to work in the coal mines. Parts with notably high populations with Welsh ancestry as a result of this include Liverpool , Chester , Skelmersdale , Widnes , Halewood , Wallasey , Ashton-in-Makerfield and Birkenhead . The Mixed Race population makes up 1.3% (93,800) of the region's population. There are 323,800 South Asians , making up 4.7% of
952-669: The Scandinavian influence throughout the North West. Through the Middle Ages the dialects of the North West would have been considerably different from those spoken in the Midlands and south. It was only with the spread of literacy (particularly with the publication of the King James Bible ) that Standard English spread to the region. Even so, local dialects continued to be used and were relatively widespread until
1020-553: The Solway Coast , and almost all of the Forest of Bowland ). Weather in this part of England is typically classified as maritime, moist and temperate, with a moderate annual temperature range. Average annual precipitation in the UK typically ranges from approximately 800 mm to 1,400 mm. Temperatures are generally close to the national average. Cumbria usually experiences the most severe weather, with high precipitation in
1088-404: The electromagnet in 1825. Sydney Chapman , a mathematician from Eccles , in 1930 explained the ozone–oxygen cycle in the stratosphere , being the first to propose that atmospheric oxygen or ozone molecules absorb (harmful UVB and UVC) ultraviolet wavelengths of light in photolysis , to produce reactive single atoms which accumulate to form the ozone layer . Graphene was discovered at
1156-516: The 17th century mill, which was built on a bridge over the river, and known as "Th' Owd Mill i' t' Thrutch, may still be seen. Thereafter the river waters were extensively used for industrial purposes; in an 1851 census of mills there were 9 solely-powered cotton mills, and 7 solely-powered woollen mills, in the Rochdale district. An 1890 sale catalogue for Broadley Mill (Cotton) detailed two water wheels, each of 14 ft (4.3 m).), which supplied
1224-537: The 19th and 20th centuries. In modern times, English is the most spoken language in the North West, with a large percentage of the population fluent in it, and close to 100% conversational in it. To the north-east of the region, within the historic boundaries of Cumberland , the Cumbrian dialect is dominant. The historical county of Lancashire covered a vast amount of land, and the Lancashire dialect and accent
1292-594: The Conquest", and the river's name predates that. The river was also known in the 18th and 19th centuries as the Spod or Spot; "In ancient charters this rivulet is spelt Spod, and Spodden sometimes occurs." Dr. Whitaker, a respected local historian, writing in the early 1800s, stated that "Spod or Spud, in some dialects of the Teutonic language, signifies a spear, and the term appears to have been applied to this stream, from
1360-634: The Conservatives four, whilst Lancashire is competitive between Labour and Conservative (8 seats each); the Labour seats in Lancashire are concentrated in the south of the county along the M65 . For the region, the Labour gained 3 seats; there was a 5.2% swing from Conservative to Labour. In the 2015 general election, Liverpool Walton was the safest seat in the UK, with a 72% majority, and in 2017 this
1428-475: The Conservatives have 20, and the Liberal Democrats have 1. The Lib Dems' North West seat is in south Cumbria; Labour dominates Greater Manchester, and the Conservatives' vote is concentrated in affluent suburban areas such as Cheadle , Hazel Grove and Altrincham and Sale West . Labour seats also predominate in Merseyside. In Cheshire the 2015 result was reversed, with Labour winning seven seats and
SECTION 20
#17327903690381496-609: The Fairies Chapel. A woodcut of the Fairies Chapel, in 1854, is reproduced in the Victoria Pictorial History of Lancaster. William Robertson, a local historian writing in 1881, stated; "The credulity of the uneducated working class was something amazing...the chief topics at (holiday-time social) meetings was the doing of fairies, who were regarded as real human beings, whose chief business it was to thwart evil designs, and especially protect those whose good
1564-691: The Lake District. Manchester, Liverpool, Lancaster, Blackburn and Preston are among the region's many English place names. In the 9th to the 11th centuries, Danes from the east and Norsemen from Ireland and Scotland began settling in the area. The North West is really the only area of England where Norse settlement was significant and their influence remains in the place names and dialect of the region. Elements like fell , thwaite and tarn , which are particularly common in Cumbria, are all Norse. The numerous Kirkbys and place names with "holm" and "dale" show
1632-502: The Lancashire dialect but have some distinctions from it, especially Scouse. The region's accents are among those referred to as ' Northern English '. Large immigrant populations in the North West result in the presence of significant immigrant languages. South Asian languages such as Urdu , Hindi and Punjabi are widespread, with the largest number of speakers residing in Preston , Blackburn and Manchester. The Chinese once made up
1700-536: The North West are as follows: Liverpool and Manchester are sometimes considered parts of a single large polynuclear metropolitan area , or megalopolis but are usually treated as separate metropolitan areas. In some studies, part of Wigan in Greater Manchester is considered part of the Liverpool metropolitan area. The North West of England has historically been held by the Labour Party . In
1768-582: The North West from around the 7th century AD, when the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria first appears to have made inroads west of the Pennines. The language at this time would have been the Northumbrian dialect of Old English . The high percentage of English place names in the region as a whole suggests English became almost ubiquitous over the coming centuries, particularly in the area south of
1836-476: The North West's population resides in Greater Manchester, 21.39% in Lancashire, 20.30% in Merseyside, 14.76% in Cheshire and 7.41% live in the largest county by area, Cumbria. According to 2009 Office for National Statistics estimates, 91.6% (6,323,300) of people in the region describe themselves as 'White': 88.4% (6,101,100) White British , 1.0% (67,200) White Irish and 2.2% (155,000) White Other . During
1904-460: The North West). The proportion of people residing in North West England born outside the UK was 11.7% in 2021, compared with 8.2% in 2011 and 5.1% in 2001. Below are the fifteen largest overseas-born groups in the region according to the 2021 census, alongside the two previous censuses: One in five of the population in the North West is Catholic , a result of large-scale Irish emigration in
1972-555: The Roch at Mitchell Hey, Rochdale, some four kilometres downstream from the Roch's other major tributary, the River Beal. The River Spodden falls 235 metres in its length of 12 kilometres, and is fed by nine direct tributary brooks and a further four indirect brooks. The River Spodden has been known by many variant names over the centuries. It was known by the name of "Sprotton" in 1577, as the "Spotton Brook" in 1611, It gave its name to
2040-423: The Rochdale to Bacup branch line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. The viaduct has eight arches, built of locally quarried stone, calculated to contain over 4,435 cubic metres. During the construction of the viaduct, the river had to be diverted. The railway line followed the course of the river from Lower Fold, more or less to near its source at Shawforth Moor, thence to Bacup via Britannia. Much of its traffic
2108-695: The UK in 2019, 31.23% voted for the Brexit Party, with Labour polling 21.91%, the Liberal Democrats 17.15% and the Green Party 12.48%. The Conservatives came fifth in the region with 7.55% of votes cast. The earliest known language spoken in the North West was a dialect of the Brythonic language spoken across much of Britain from at least the Iron Age up to the arrival of English in the first millennium AD. Fragments of this early language are seen in
River Spodden - Misplaced Pages Continue
2176-597: The University of Manchester in 2004 under Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov . At the Calico Printers' Association in Manchester in 1941, John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson discovered polyethylene terephthalate , known as PET, a common polyester compound found in plastic bottles and food, and also known as Terylene or Dacron. Cheslene and Crepes of Macclesfield discovered crimplene ,
2244-719: The centrepoint of the Healey Dell Nature Reserve. In addition to the river, with the Fairies Chapel, above, the nature reserve contains many species of wild flowers and grasses, with brightly coloured fungi, such as Wax Caps, visible in autumn. From the height of the viaduct footway, migrant birds such as swifts and martins, by day and bats, in the evening, may be seen in summer. River Roch Spodden Valley asbestos controversy Healey Dell Nature Reserve website Healey Dell Heritage Centre & Tea Rooms website "Visit Rochdale" website - Healey Dell page North West England North West England
2312-589: The dominant party in the region by seat count, with the Conservatives total now standing at 27. The Conservatives made two gains in Cheshire, three gains in Lancashire, five gains in Greater Manchester, notably including Andy Burnham 's former seat of Leigh. In the 2017 general election , the area was dominated by the Labour Party. Fifty-five per cent of the region's electorate voted Labour, 36.3% Conservative, 5.4% Liberal Democrat, 1.9% UKIP and 1.1% Greens; however, by number of parliamentary seats, Labour have 54,
2380-401: The early 19th century, the source was listed as "near High House". It flows south through its narrow valley through Shawforth, Facit, Whitworth and Broadley, and for about a kilometre it forms the boundary between both Rochdale and Rossendale districts and Greater Manchester and Lancashire counties. It then flows through Healey Dell, Lowerfold, Shawclough, Spotland Fold and Spotland Bridge to join
2448-470: The east of Radcliffe . The town of Rochdale is recorded as Recedham in the Domesday Book and Rachetham in 1193, with variations of Rechedham continuing into the thirteenth century. It is thought that these names represent a pre-existing Brittonic name for the river Roch, borrowed into Old English for the name of the settlement. The early forms of Rachet-ham and Reched-ham suggest
2516-597: The existence of the atomic nucleus . Sir J. J. Thomson of Cheetham Hill discovered the electron (given its name in 1891 by George Johnstone Stoney ) in April 1897 and received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1906; his son George Paget Thomson would win the Nobel Prize for Physics 1937 for discovering electron diffraction (at the University of Aberdeen). John Dalton , from Cumbria and moved to Manchester, developed atomic theory . William Sturgeon of Lancashire invented
2584-664: The fabric that is now referred to as polyester. ICI Dyestuffs at Hexagon House , in Blackley in north Manchester, discovered Procion dyes. At the Winnington Laboratory on 27 March 1933, Eric Fawcett and Reginald Gibson discovered polythene in an ICI laboratory in Northwich, when reacting benzaldehyde with ethene at a pressure of 2,000 atmospheres ; the process was improved in 1935 by Michael Perrin . River Roch The River Roch / ˈ r oʊ tʃ /
2652-529: The fairies had at heart." The Fairies Chapel was under the control of the Fairy Queen, who was regarded as having the gift of prophecy. Her most famous prophecy was given to Lady Eleanor Byron, a relative of the poet Lord Byron, when her marriage and widowhood on the same wedding day was foretold. Some parts of the Fairies Chapel were destroyed by the July Flood, 1838. (See above) The River Spodden forms
2720-454: The firm manufactured combination products with rubber and asbestos, including clutch and brake linings, leading to the mill complex being described as "Asbestos and India Rubber Works" in 1910. With the growing awareness in the third quarter of the 20th Century of the health risks of asbestos, and a growing number of asbestosis claims from past and present employees, the company went into decline, and ceased operations on site. Partial demolition of
2788-548: The following subdivisions : After abolition of the Greater Manchester and Merseyside County Councils in 1986, power was transferred to the metropolitan boroughs , making them equivalent to unitary authorities. In April 2011, Greater Manchester gained a top-tier administrative body in the form of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority , which means the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs are once again second-tier authorities. North West England
River Spodden - Misplaced Pages Continue
2856-495: The hailstorm was so fierce that it broke skylights and windows in houses and weaving sheds. At Moss Mill, Rochdale, the hail was said to have broken one thousand panes of glass. One Birth has been recorded at the River Spodden. John and Nola Smith welcomed a 14lb 3oz baby named Spod Smith on 14th July 1975 upon the banks of the river. Another feature of the River Spodden is the Fairies Chapel. Passing through Healey Dell,
2924-555: The inscriptions and place names of the Roman era. In some parts of the region, the Brythonic dialect developed into the medieval language known today as Cumbric , which continued to be spoken perhaps as late as the 12th century in the north of Cumbria. This early Celtic heritage remains today in place names such as Carlisle , Penrith and Eccles , and many river names such as Cocker , Kent and Eden . English may have been spoken in
2992-527: The largest minority in the region (as Liverpool has one of the oldest Chinese settlements in Europe), and still do to the far north where Chinese is spoken by small but significant communities. Since the enlargement of the EU, over one million Poles have immigrated to the UK, a large number of them settling in the North West. Places such as Crewe as well as larger cities make Polish written information available for
3060-538: The local minority populations. In the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), North West is a level-1 NUTS region, coded "UKD", which (since 2015) is subdivided as follows: Population > 400,000 Population > 100,000 Population > 70,000 Population > 50,000 Population > 30,000 Population > 20,000 Population > 10,000 Population > 5,000 The five largest metropolitan areas in
3128-615: The mill with 30 horse-power. With increasing need for power, many mills used river water to utilize steam power; in the 1841 mill census, 6 cotton mills and 42 woollen mills used water in this way. At the Rochdale Waterworks Amendment Bill Enquiry, preceding the enactment of the Rochdale Waterworks Amendment Act 1847, evidence was given by mill owners adjoining the River Spodden that proposals for new reservoirs north of
3196-406: The mountainous regions of the Lake District and Pennines. In winter, the most severe weather occurs in the more exposed and elevated areas of the North West, once again mainly the Lake District and Pennine areas. Source: Office for National Statistics Mid Year Population Estimates in 2008 North West England's population accounts for just over 13% of England's overall population. 37.86% of
3264-554: The name a meaning of "River of the great wood" or "River opposite the wood". Another etymology focused on the early forms similarities to Rheged , the Cumbric-speaking kingdom in North West England during the Middle Ages . Although this etymology is used to support the theory that the Roch may have been the centre of a separate kingdom known in Medieval Welsh literature as "South Rheged" or "Argoed" (opposite
3332-413: The nineteenth century as well as the high number of English recusants in Lancashire . Of the nine regions of England, the North West has the fourth-highest GVA per capita —the highest outside southern England. Despite this the region has above average multiple deprivation with wealth heavily concentrated on very affluent areas like rural Cheshire, rural Lancashire, and south Cumbria. As measured by
3400-428: The original Turner brothers built, in partnership with another, a cotton mill called Clod Mill alongside the river, at Spotland Fold. The firm of Turner Brothers was formed in 1871, and diversified firstly into the manufacture of asbestos packing, then, by 1879, into weaving asbestos yarn and asbestos cloth. It rapidly assumed a national, and later a global, prominence. The Clod Mill site expanded considerably. Later still,
3468-486: The population, and 1.1% Black (80,600). 0.6% of the population (39,900) are Chinese and 0.5% (36,500) of people belong to another ethnic group. North West England is a very diverse region, with Manchester and Liverpool amongst the most diverse cities in Europe. 19.4% of Blackburn with Darwen 's population are Muslim, the third-highest among all local authorities in the United Kingdom and the highest outside London. Areas such as Moss Side in Greater Manchester are home to
SECTION 50
#17327903690383536-602: The proposals for elected regional assemblies in England put on hold. The regional leaders' forum, 4NW is based on Waterside Drive in Wigan . The former North West England European Parliament constituency had the same boundaries as the Region. Ten English regions were established by the government in 1994. At that time, Merseyside , which already had its own Government Office, formerly the Merseyside Task Force,
3604-638: The public, to much controversy. Other immigrant languages with a presence in the North West are Spanish, mainly amongst the Latin American communities in Liverpool and Manchester , as well as various other Eastern European and Asian languages. The most taught languages in schools across the North West are English, French and Spanish. German and Italian are available at more senior levels and, in cities such as Manchester and Liverpool, even Urdu and Mandarin are being taught to help maintain links between
3672-416: The region (based on specific wards within those borough areas) are, in descending order—Liverpool, Manchester, Knowsley, Blackpool, Salford, Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Rochdale, Barrow-in-Furness, Halton, Hyndburn, Oldham, Pendle, St Helens, Preston, Bolton, Tameside, Wirral, Wigan, Copeland, Sefton, and Rossendale. In 2007 when Cheshire still had district councils, the least deprived council districts in
3740-399: The region by council district, in descending order, were—Congleton, Ribble Valley, Macclesfield, and South Lakeland. These areas have Conservative MPs, except South Lakeland has a Lib Dem and Labour MPs. At county level, before it was split into two, Cheshire was the least deprived, followed by Trafford, and by Warrington and Stockport. In March 2011, the overall unemployment claimant count
3808-401: The region, comprising Cumbria and northern Lancashire, is largely rural, as is the far south which encompasses parts of the Cheshire Plain and Peak District. The region includes parts of three National parks (all of the Lake District , and small parts of the Peak District and the Yorkshire Dales ) and three areas of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (all of Arnside and Silverdale and
3876-415: The river flows through a narrow gorge, called the Thrutch, "thrutch being a Lancashire dialect word meaning to push, to press, and to crowd, derived from the Anglo-Saxon "thrycan". Within the gorge, the river waters had carved out a cave to the side of the river, and the rocks there had assumed strange shapes, described as "a pulpit, reading desk and seats", leading to the area being imagined, and described, as
3944-433: The river would affect the operation of their mills. In total, 30 woollen or cotton mills were sited alongside the river, together with a stone dressing mill, a plate metal works, and a brick works. Foot Mill, a mill beside the first bend of the river north of Spotland Bridge, featured in Edwin Waugh's Besom Ben story. A feature of the River Spodden is the 100 ft (30 m) high former railway viaduct, built in 1867 for
4012-403: The township of Spotland, one of the four original townships in the Parish of Rochdale, which was first known as "Spoddenland", and, within that township, acted as the boundary between its subsequent divisions of Spotland Further-Side (to the west) and Spotland Nearer-Side (to the east). Spotland was known by that name in 1066, recorded "as part of the possession of Gamel the Thane, immediately after
4080-436: The unbended straightness of its course, which terminates at its junction with the Roch." The Spodden valley, and Spotland, was described in 1854 as "a district where the leaven of the old Saxon tongue, customs and character is less adulterated than in most other parts of Lancashire, as the naming of the Thrutch, below, indicates. The road alongside the river, northwards from Spotland Bridge, was, and remains, Spod Lane. The river
4148-404: The wood), it remains unproven as the kingdom of Rheged's boundaries have not been identified. A further suggestion is that the name "rheged" simply means "area" in the Cumbric language (related to Regio in Latin and Region in Modern English ) and that the kingdom of Rheged and the river merely shared a common Celtic name. Although Rochdale is pronounced / ˈ r ɒ tʃ d eɪ l / (with
SECTION 60
#17327903690384216-419: The works commenced in 2001, though problems continued until 2013. This term was applied to the effects on the River Spodden and the Spodden Valley of a storm which took place on 4 July 1838. The storm was described as one of the most violent storms ever known in the area, and heavy rain and hail led to the river rising, near to the site of Spotland Bridge, to a height of fifteen feet (4.6 m). Spotland Bridge
4284-506: Was 4.2% for the region. Inside the region the highest was Liverpool with 6.8%, followed by Knowsley on 6.3%, Halton with 5.5% and Rochdale with 5.1%. The lowest claimant count is in Eden (Cumbria) and Ribble Valley (Lancashire) each with 1.3%, followed by South Lakeland with 1.4%. In the 2019 general election , the Conservatives gained ten seats, from the Labour Party, with no other seats changing hands. Labour held 42 of their 52 seats, albeit many with slimmed down majorities. They remain
4352-440: Was known locally as the Spod as late as the end of the 1970s. The power of the River Spodden as it rushes through the gorge at Healey Dell was probably first harnessed in Anglo-Saqxon times to power a corn mill. (The word "Healey" itself, meaning high pasture, is of Anglo-Saxon origin.) In 1636 the old corn mill became, or was replaced, by a wool fulling mill, and a replacement corn mill was built upstream at Broadley. The remains of
4420-427: Was regarded as a separate region. In 1998, Merseyside was merged into the North West region. This action was controversial in some quarters. Regional Government Offices were abolished in April 2011 by the Coalition Government. Sir Ernest Marsden (of Blackburn) and Hans Geiger conducted the Geiger–Marsden experiment at the University of Manchester in 1909, where the Geiger counter was invented, which demonstrated
4488-406: Was repeated with a 77% majority for Dan Carden (Labour), when an astonishing 85.7% of the electorate voted for him (the Conservatives came second with 8.6%). In the by-election of 2012 , Manchester Central has the record for the lowest turnout in the UK—18%. Gwyneth Dunwoody , for Crewe and Nantwich, was the longest serving female MP until her death in 2008. In the final European Elections in
4556-439: Was stone freight, for example from Broadley Stone Sidings, beside the river at Broadley Stone Rubbing Mill. The initial building of the line to Facit was "of great service in conveying stone and coal from the quarries and mines in the Whitworth valley to their destination." The railway line closed, and the track was taken up, in 1967; the viaduct remains with a footway and the Rochdale to Whitworth sewer pipe over it. In 1855 one of
4624-419: Was swept away, together with minor bridges in the area. "All the mills and houses near to its banks were much damaged." Mills along the river up to Broadley, including Healey Hall Mills, Foot Mill and Meanwood Die Works, were "almost demolished". The Fairies Chapel, in Healey Dell, (see below), was also damaged. On the following day, hailstones on Rooley Moor were found, weighing as much as 12 oz (340 g);
#37962