both thecanalandEast in Hyndburn,Ifeelthat industrial historianliving reason isthat,asan interested inthecanal.One am oftenaskedwhyIso Leeds &LiverpoolCanal,I As theauthorofbookonhistory ofthe interest and pleasureasitdoes tome. hope awalk alongthetowpath brings youasmuch water into the centresofHyndburn’s townships.I Ribble valley, withthecanalbringing wildlifeand Industrial Revolution. the mostimportantfactors in thedevelopmentof People oftenforgetthatthecottontextileindustry today aremuchmore pleasant!Therouteoffers Lancashire weretwoof not justmillsandfactories butalsofineviews was thedrivingforcebehindBritain’seconomic success inthenineteenthcentury-and that across open countrysidetoPendle andthe Hyndburn’s industrial past,thoughconditions stroll alongthecanal isastrollthrough collieries, brickworks andquarries.Infact,a East Lancashirewaswhereitbegan. grown upalongside the canalaswell the yearsothertextile-related industrieshave factories wereestablished atthattime.Over Hyndburn youwillpass severalplaceswhere As youwalkalong the canaltowpathin ILDLIFE variety of animals, though it is towpath provides a home for a M W as the Moorhen which has always becoming more difficult to find the becoming more difficult made the canal its home. In the IKE Kingfisher flies past is becoming today the flash of sapphire as a more and more common. Herons evening twilight, you may even see too can sometimes be seen, as well Birds also live close to the canal, and bats as they forage for insects. C the most industrial of areas. The the most industrial of areas. LARKE The canal brings a taste of the country into Dragonflies are amongst the most numerous. ater Vole, once so common on English canals. ater Vole,

W Plants such as Meadowsweet and Willowherb can often be seen, whilst in the shallow waters at the edge of the canal you may find Arrowhead or Branched Bur-reed. In hot weather, duckweed floats on the surface, its intake of oxygen from the water sometimes causing problems for the underwater pond weeds. the main ones in the Fish too can suffer, Leeds & Liverpool being Roach, Perch and Bream, with a fair number of Pike. The water also provides a home for Swan LeedsMussels and Freshwater Shrimps, with living in the and Newts Toads Frogs, edge. shallower water at the canal’s Many insects spend their larval stages emerging to spend their adult life underwater, amongst towpath flowers. Damselflies and nine years following locationsaremostsuitable: wheelchair usersandthosewithprams, the bridges, thoughatsomeitisbysteepsteps. For Access tothetowpathcanbeobtainedfrom most forget thatthevegetation will also dampen yourlegs. Good shoes orboots arerecommended then, anddon’t Altham andClayton itismuddyin partsafter rain. Generally, thetowpathhasagood surface,thoughbetween are takingplace inClayton. being constructed atChurchKirkand other improvements encourage greater useofthetowpath, and apicnicareais panelsarealsoworking to Members of local ‘Prospects’ been resurfaced, particularlyaroundRishton. W Hyndburn BoroughCouncil havebeenworkingwithBritish aterways toimprove thetowpath,andseveral sectionshave off BridgeStreet andatbridges112 and113 rde17 Nre)ad18 (Rishton) (Norden)and108A Bridges107A , Bridge 114B (WhalleyRoad) OOK OUT HARF Bridge 118 (Altham Barn) CLAYTON-LE-MOORS: Appleby Bridge . W . L was because of these (Church Kirk)

ANAL RISHTON: CHURCH: ALTHAM: 1801. A further were to pass before it opened to Blackburn, the canal

ShipleyIt developments that the route of the canal was altered to pass Church and through Burnley, Blackburn to join the existing Burnley was Wigan. canal at reached in 1796 and the canal was extended to Enfield Wharf (Clayton-le-Moors) in C NFIELD OORS E ERITAGE -M

Bingley ANAL IS ALSO A WALK H NDUSTRIES THAT GREW LE I C - S ’

Keighley REA REDGER AT A LAYTON D C UP AROUND THE POON A ALK ALONG THE AS W ARGE eventually being completed in 1816, forty-six years after construction had first begun. the shortage of yarn created by the earlier introduction of the shortage of yarn created by the earlier introduction the flying shuttle for weaving by the Peels, who It was a local family, John Kay of Bury. were the first to successfully exploit these inventions and who can be said to have founded the Lancashire cotton making several fortunes in the process. textile industry, B THROUGH THE

Silsden FOR THE ASSOCIATED RAWN -D T SPONSORED BY Designed by The Graphics Section,Hyndburn BoroughCouncil ORSE his Leafletwas writtenbyMikeClarke, MilepostResearch, For afreepermittocycle alongdesignatedroutesonthe o afree guideonPlaces toStay&Eat, For H T The Town Hall, Accrington. BB51LA rmore informationplease contact:- or el: 01254 872595Fax:01254 380291

Front Cover: British Waterways Inspection Boatpassing aBarge atChurch, C.1955 Skipton This guideisoneofarangeavailablefrom Accrington Information Centre, O OGTTO HYNDBURN TO GET HOW HR OSA AND EATWHERE TO STAY T T 41 Fountain Street, Accrington. BB50QR e mail:[email protected] The nearestmainlinestationisPreston. canal, pleasecontactBritish Waterways el: 01254872595Fax:380219 The Town Hall, Accrington. BB51LA YPICAL For detailsoftimes Tel: 01254872595 here arestationsat Accrington, Rishton, Church/Oswaldtwistle andHuncoat. e mail:[email protected] Accrington InformationCentre, The areaiseasytoreach fromthe M6 (J29);M65(J70and M6(J9) AT For details Tel: 0345484950

T Greenberfield el: 01942242239 B B B By Bus: Burnley Y Y Y T B C RAIN THE CANAL, PLEASERING BRITISH ith about half of the canal IKE AR FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON The canal was authorised by Parliament in 1770, and by 1777 it had opened between and from Leeds and Gargrave Liverpool to Parbold where it joined the old River Douglas Navigation which allowed coal mines. Wigan’s access to W completed, the company ran out but the investors of money, The were not too worried. WA : : again. : TERWAYS ON01942242239 frame on which unskilled workers could spin yarn, while at Stanhill, close to Oswaldtwistle, James Hargreaves had produced the Spinning Jenny which needed more skill but made These two machines solved better yarn. Preston man, had invented his water- .1900

OMEN C Blackburn W OAT B orkshire men had access to the limestone in Craven, Y while the Liverpool men were being supplied with coal from Wigan. It was not until the upturn in the economy in the 1790s of Independence War American following the end of the that construction began By then the cotton textile industry had become established in East and Lancashire. Wool linen cloth had always been produced here, but cotton was now becoming much more important. New machinery was behind the growth in cotton textiles. Arkwright, a Wigan

Parbold H C L L IVERPOOL YNDBURN One of aseriesofHyndburn Walks NLIN ANAL EEDS The Canal Clog T NDUSTRY I ANAL HE C Liverpool HE OCAL & T L were approached for support. However, finance this huge project - it was the longest

Ribble Valley over an aqueduct at Whalley Nab. over an aqueduct at Valley Ribble Limestone was the reason for this route which passed close to quarries in Craven and Clitheroe, with Liverpool reached by crossing AND the low-lying lands of West Lancashire. West the low-lying lands of north of the River Calder, crossing into the north of the River Calder, Gargrave and Barnoldswick. It was then to go Gargrave Aire valley and across the Pennines by way of To canal to be built in Britain - merchants in industries in the town, they suggested a different route. It went from Barnoldswick different The route planned by the Yorkshiremen was up the Yorkshiremen The route planned by the canal across the Pennines, joining the valleys of the because they wanted a good supply of coal for where their woollen goods could be sent to the then orkshiremen’s route orkshiremen’s as a route to ports such as Lancaster and Liverpool Liverpool colonies in America. Planned at first to link Leeds colonies in and Bradford to Preston, the rapidly-growing port of A Aire and Ribble, was first proposed in 1766 by They wanted a good woollen merchants in Bradford. supply of lime and limestone from Craven, used for land improvement and building construction, as well Liverpool soon became the preferred destination. through East Lancashire and Wigan, joiningWigan, through East Lancashire and the Y The two again at Parbold. sets of merchants argued over the route until, at a meeting in Burnley in 1768, they finally agreed on the more northerly line. canal walk inside page 17/3/08 3:31 pm Page 2 pm Page 3:31 17/3/08 page walk inside canal canal walk inside page 17/3/08 3:31 pm Page 1

CANAL SITES BRICKS AND STONE When the canal opened to Enfield in 1810, a warehouse was built, Fireclay is often found close to coal seams and when some providing an interchange with the turnpikes to Manchester and of the shallow mines ceased to produce coal they became brickworks. Also, during Blackburn. Until the railway opened in 1848, it was the main centre the Ice-Age, the Calder Valley had been filled by ‘Lake Accrington’, the sediment for trade to and from Hyndburn. The warehouse has been extended from the lake forming ideal brick-making material. The best of this clay was used over the years, the last time around 1910 when the canal was still carrying for the world famous Accrington ‘NORI’ brick with its distinctive bright red colour large volumes of goods. and high strength, the industry developing towards the end of the nineteenth century. To improve their service, the canal company took over the warehouse at Until the formation of the brick industry, most local buildings were built from the local Church in the 1870s from the Hargreaves brothers who owned Broad Oak stone. Old quarries can be found throughout Hyndburn, the most important Printworks, with further warehousing being provided at Church as late as the 1950s. canalside one being Norden. The stonework of one of the wharves can ATRAIN OF BOATS TOWED BY A STEAMER PASSING BLYTHE’S still be seen on the edge of the towpath. Many quarries were small, just The reservoir at Rishton, opened in 1828, supplied water for the canal and has opened for the construction of a few houses or the canal, and one is just been extended twice. It has always been used for pleasure, with a sailing club visible at Altham Barn Bridge. using it today. There were several brickworks alongside the canal. George Clarke, whose firebrick works were at The canal through East Lancashire was particularly Rishton, was an influential local Methodist who established the church in the town. The brickworks at difficult to build. High embankments were the Altham were only in operation for a few years before the First World War, the works developing from small problem. In Hyndburn they can be seen at Altham coal mines in the valley below the high, tree covered canal embankment here. Accrington Brick & Tile, the best and three at Church, two used by the Accrington to known local brickworks, did not use the canal, their bricks being transported by rail. Blackburn turnpike when it was built in 1826-7. As far as is known, there was only one boatyard in 120 Higher Shuttleworth 119A Shuttleworth Hyndburn. It closed around 1870, but stonework ➧

118 Altham Barn close to the swing bridge at Church could be part of 119 Shuttleworth Hall N the slipway. Shuttleworth ALTHAM Hall

115 Foster's Swing A 678

116 Smith's Swing 117 Clough Bank 3 114C Pilkington TEXTILES MILLS BY THE CANAL AT RISHTON 115A 114B Whalley Road

8 Hapton 121 Hyndburn’s textile workers Quarries originally produced cloth from A 680 wool and linen, but from the B 6535 CLAYTON-LE-MOORS middle of the 18th Century, cotton 107A Norden A 56 was to become more important. Two Quarries local inventors introduced new machinery; 108 Tottleworth M 65 107 Cut James Hargreaves from Stanhill 106 Side Beet 114A Enfield Changeline produced the Spinning Jenny when A 678 HUNCOAT he lived in what is now the local 108A Rishton 114AA Enfield Green Nori Post Office, while John Hacking RISHTON Dunkenhalgh from Huncoat invented one of the Hotel 3 7 earliest cotton carding Rishton 114 Riley's Sw engines, a window Reservoir being dedicated to him in A 680 Altham Church. M65 113A Peel Bank ing 104B W 104C 112 109 New Barn Church hitebirk 113 Church Sw ACCRINGTON Kirk ing 6 CHURCH

A 679 111D Simpsons 111B Burys No 2 111A Burys No 1

111 Fox Hill Bank Aspen 110 AspenCoke Ovens OSWALDTWISTLE ASTEAMER AND DUMB BOATS AT ALTHAM Both inventions speeded up the production of yarn and were COAL a major influence on changing textiles from a cottage industry to a factory based one. In Hyndburn, coal seams come to the surface in the Calder Valley around Altham and in the valleys around Belthorn. They were easy to work, and have been mined for They significantly increased the amount of cloth being centuries. It was the development of the textile industry and the opening of the produced and Robert Peel set up his calico printing works at canal around 1800 which encouraged the development of the coalfield. Several Church to cope with this increase. The Peel family extended shafts were dug around Altham and these were connected to the canal by tramroads. their textile interests and were certainly one of the most Others were located around Dunkenhalgh at Whin Isle and Coppy Clough, with coal being important influences on the development of the industry. loaded onto canal boats at both. There is an old colliery basin between Rishton and Church, Their print works at Church established Hyndburn as the and the remains of a coal-tip served by a tramway from Broadfield Colliery in Oswaldtwistle, is major centre for textile printing. visible at Church. Aspen Colliery is particularly interesting, with the coke ovens and basin still remaining alongside the towpath with the foundations for the winding engines nearby. Others involved included John Mercer from Great Harwood RISHTON RESERVOIR WAS POPULAR FOR SAILING BUT who developed the ‘Mercerisation’ of cotton cloth (producing ITS PRIMARY USE WAS TO TOP UP THE WATER IN THE CANAL Most of these shallow mines were exhausted by the 1920s, and new shafts had been sunk to reach the deeper a better finish to the cloth and making it easier to print) as well coal seams. Those alongside the canal were at Rishton and Moorfield. A disaster here in 1883, which killed as several important dyes; the Hargreaves brothers who set up the Broad Oak Printworks; and Frederick Steiner 64 miners is commemorated by a plaque in Altham Church. Moorfield’s best known collier was from Alsace who settled here and improved the important ‘Turkey Red’ dye. It was because of the printworks Eric Morecambe who worked here as a ‘Bevan Boy’in the Second World War. The mine closed that a local chemical industry developed whose most important discovery was Terylene, first produced at Broad in 1948, but the coke ovens alongside remained in use until 1962. Oak during the Second World War. Accrington also became a centre for the production of textile machinery, the firm of Howard & Bullough The Leeds and Liverpool Canal Co. establishing an international reputation. Originally they made power looms, but later they were better known for preparation and spinning machinery. Most of their export orders were delivered to the docks at Liverpool and Hull by canal from the warehouses at Church. 3 Historic House Coal Mine Mill Brickworks