At the bottom of  Booth Road on the site of today's Holy Trinity Junior school, was the coal staithe for Stacksteads coal pit, or better known as th' Hile, Isle, or Hile coal pit which opened about 1834.The coal staithe was at the end of the narrow gauge railway line which carried tubs of coal from the Hile pit.The end of the line was elevated and the full tubs ran into a sort of box frame which turned them upside-down, emptying the contents into waiting horse-drawn carts.

 

 

A little further up stood Booth Road Primitive Methodist chapel locally known as the "Ranters " chapel which first began in 1846 in a humble cottage at Bottoms row, with the school house on Booth Road opening in 1850 the large chapel on Booth Road being built in 1874 at a cost of £1,700 and was opened on October 29th of the same year. In 1982 the chapel sustained serious damage when it was struck by lightning. After being demolished in 1983 the area was developed and the bungalows of Old School Mews were built. At one time the land between the Toll Bar and Heath Hill house which was home to the Munn Family was nothing but meadowland some of which was given by Mr Munn to build the new Tunstead school  which was opened in November 1882.

 

 

 

Pictured just outside the driveway on the right to what was until a few years ago Booth Grange Residential home. Originally this was the vicarage for Tunstead church. Built in 1853 by Parson Haworth the first vicar of Tunstead church on land that was known at the time as Great Nunkill New Hold.

 

 

 

Known as Waggoner Tunstead this road lead to the one place most people dreaded, the workhouse. Mitchelfield Nook workhouse had accommodation for 200 inmates. Inmates who spent their days hand loom weaving. At Christmas all inmates received a orange, along with  a traditional Christmas dinner, and much was made of this in the local papers of the time.  Mitchelfield Nook workhouse was given up when the workhouse at Pikelaw Haslingden opened and in 1873 the house was sold at the Market Hotel to a Mrs Knowles for £389.00.

 

 

 

Honeyhole  has been in the Law family since the 16th century. There are two places in Rossendale with the name Honeyhole, one is of course the above mentioned the other is situated in a part of Tong Lane in Bacup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A view over the area of Booth Road.

1 - Holy Trinity church

2 - Heath Hill House home of the Munn family

3&4 - Area of Booth Road housing estate

5 -Rook Hill house

6 - Houses on Rookhill road known as Lower Tunstead

7 - Stacksteads Methodist church

8 - Western school

9 - Atherton Holme/Bacup Shoe

10 - Taylorholme

 

 

Heath Hill House was home to the Munn family, built between 1834 and 1838. It is said that the favourite pastime of  the Munn family was hunting and shooting of which they did a lot of , on the moors surrounding their home.  Robert Munn spent a lot of time hunting in Scotland and became a J.P there before he died here in Stacksteads. In 1913 the house was  taken over and lived in by Dr Falconer of Stacksteads son of the Vicar. In 1920 the land was purchased by Bacup Town Council for the building of house. In 1921 work began levelling the site in 1923 houses on Heath Hill estate were sold for £480.00 for house without parlour or £525.00 for house with parlour.

 

Pictured above is Hill House Barn farm at this time this area of Booth Road was known locally as Folly Clough named after the Clough that ran from Higher Tunstead to the Hare and Hounds. Water still runs this way today but now runs through pipes. The building on the right in the picture was Sykes Foundry both the farm and foundry were owned by John Atherton. This foundry was known as Boggart foundry and the clough as Boggart Hole Clough.

 

 

 

At four lane ends lived a man  known as Doctor James Lord, he used to have a herbalist shop on Bacup Market. It is said that at one time he  was reported by some local gentlemen for selling poison. These gentleman had decided to make a court case and example of Doctor Lord and as such sent him a prescription to be made up such as anyone but a doctor or chemist should make up.  Having made up the prescription he charged them half a crown on delivery. Having got the evidence they were now certain they could make the old man pay and openly boasted of what they intended to do. It happened however that one of the local doctors got to hear about the escapade and confronted the gentlemen, at which time he pointed out that Dr Lord was one of the oldest chemists in Rossendale and if they had looked closely in his shop in Bacup Market they would have seen his Diploma for it was framed and hung in the window. The men had no choice then but to drop the case.

Fearn's Hall dates back to 1557 AD, the original mansion on the site may have been the hall of the Ashworths.