Burnley Road was not always known as such but was known as Church Street due to it being the home of the first Parish church in Bacup, St Johns. It was also the home to the very first Cotton mill ever built in Bacup in 1779.  The Burnley Road area was a thriving neighbourhood of shops homes and mills. A varied collection of homes from the very poorest in Underbank to the grand Holmes Villas home to the Shepherd family who owned Shepherds Holmes Mill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The area known as Boston or the Bostings stood at the bottom of Burnley Road on the left hand side. A sign on the wall still shows the name Boston Road today.
At this time the river was open  and there were slaughterhouses were the cenotaph now stands. A potion of the road called “The Bostings” had a number of little  wooden posts also called Bostings and it was to these wooden posts that farmers and delivery men tethered their cattle, horses and ponies. Somewhere about the time of the covering of the river about 1900 the name was changed to Boston Road.

Over the years there were many varied and interesting shopkeepers and characters in Bacup some of these are detailed below. John Kershaw " Old Gab" was a pig butcher who lived in Boston. Mr Kershaw was often seen going down the steps that led from his front door into the river and there wash the entrails of the animals in order to make them fit to use for the making of Black Puddings. It is said that at this time however fish were being caught higher up the River Irwell at Broadclough so the river wasn't too dirty.........

 

 

The home of the first Post office in Bacup was situated at the bottom of Burnley Road  known at the time as Harris Printers. 

In September 1910  the site was laid out for a new Post Office which would stand on the opposite side of the road to the original. The first stone being laid in October. The Post Office opened in January 1911. Next door to the Post Office stood the Liberal Club better known today as the A, B & D centre. The first stones being laid in April 1892 opening six months later on October 19th.

 

 

On the left hands side of Burnley Road stands St Johns church, On the 16th August 1788  Dr Cleavey, Bishop of Chester consecrated St Johns church. The steeple was built ten years later. The Rev Joseph Ogden was the first incumbent, he came from Sowerby Bridge returning there after several Years.At this time the Burial fees were, Seven years of age and upwards 4s 10d each. 1s 8d out of this was paid to Newchurch, the Rev of St John received 1s 6d, his clerk 2d and the sexton 1s 6d. Under seven years of age the fee was 2s each. The Baptismal fee was 10d each. The first burial to be recorded in the Parish register is that of Susan Wife of Nicholas Slater Backup aged 60 years October 12 1788.The Rev Vickers English made his last appearance in Church on 13th October 1929

 

 

The first set of shops that stood in Burnley Road about 1914 were, from the centre of town. Bon Marche, Lolly Ingham's butcher where Lolly could quite often be seen skinning the carcasses of calves or sheep suspended from hooks that could up till recently still be seen on the door jambs. Vokings grocers, Miss White's anything from a aniseed ball to  hanks of wool  could be purchased there.

 

Musk's Pork butchers and Mad Dicks coffee tavern. Where every Sunday most of the towns farmers gathered with their horsesand floats for refreshments. The Prudential assurance company offices, Oliver Ormerod's gents barbers, Miss Lord sweets and tobacco and the entrance to the Kozy Cinema which was over the premises occupied by Mad Dicks coffee house.

 

 

 

 

Stands opposite the Post Office on Burnley Road and was the street my Great-Grandparents lived on up until 1937 the houses of Fern Street and Goose Hill shown below have long since been demolished and the area is now a Car Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The houses below stood opposite Central Methodist, a  large block of house built during the industrial revolution to house as many people as possible known as Dawson's Cottages.  On the front were cellar houses, the one up one down houses of the second level were gained by stone steps with railings. Over these were two more storeys entrance to which was gained by going up the slight incline and round the back where the ground level was equal to the level at the front after climbing the steps. Thus the back consisted of three storeys the first two being classed as 1 up 1 down. Access to the top flights was known as the " Railway" People lived over, besides and next to each other. The building just visible in the right of the picture was Joseph Laycocks Brass Foundry

 

 

 

 

 

Rose Bank Street which leads to Daisy Bank, originally known as Ash Terrace the name being changed to Daisy Bank in 1888.

 

 

 

 

 

Waterside Mill lodge used by Maden and Ireland for a time was a favourite haunt of youngsters. The lodge contained water that had passed through the mill boiler and although it froze in winter there was never a great thickness to it  which made it a dangerous place to be but youngsters being youngsters still tried to skate on it. After Waterside Mill was a yard used by Bert Brearley. The area was cleared in the 1920's and Allen's built a motor garage which is of course still there today. Allen's was home to three Thorneycroft charabancs named Mary, Harold and Hubert, all the seats were in rows from side to side the entry being by a separate door for each row. The top of canvas open at the side with sections that could be put in place if it rained or was cold.

 

 

Holmes Mill is shown on the left hand side of the photograph between the shop and the mill highlighted by the red arrow was a Ginnel down which flowed water from the hillside. In the same area were two passages one that led to a lodge under the mill. The floor of which was supported by on pillars standing in the water. A grating in the roof was an inspection hole. During the war the home guard had their base in Holmes Mill a lad by the name of  John Monks a member of the Home Guard had a bet with the Officer in charge  of the Guard that even though they had guards on the doors and all the windows were locked. The officer accepted the challenge, John went up the Ginnel and crawled through the passage to the grating in the roof that came up into the Home Guard headquarters to the amazement of Captain Crabtree who had taken every precaution.

 

Opposite Holmes Mill was a row of houses one or two had been converted into shops. Harry Richens owned one a barber he always employed a lather boy for shaving. His job was to apply the soap and rub it in well and make a nice lather before Harry did the shaving.

 

 

 

Some of the streets running of the bottom of Cooper Street towards Bacup were. Harper Street, which faced on to the back of Billy Bits chippy. Hargreaves Street and back to this was Clarence Street entered by going under a big archway. The houses of the area known as Underbank came under the 19605 clearance orders and by November 13th 1965 the demolition of these houses was well under way. The Cooper Street Co-op known officially as
Number 5 Branch was opened in 1878. It was quite common for local lads and lasses to use Cooper Street for sledging during snowy weather, very often crashing into the river wall at the bottom. A young girl named Doris Law broker her collar bone doing such a thing when she couldn't stop and went  head on into a gaslight.

 

 

Houses in Abbey Street and Russell Street had indentures of 1874. Whilst numbers 13 &15 Hargreaves Street had a surrender date of April15th 1844 In 1983 part of the houses on Abbey Street were demolished.

 

In 1894 plans were submitted by Mr George Hargreaves & Co for the building of an bridge which would span Burnley Road just below Meadows Mill. In August 1894 the town council minutes read a bridge is to be built at Broadclough over which coal is to be run from a new coal drift now being bored near Whittaker Clough. Concerns were raised about the bridge spoiling the natural beauty of the area.  The bridge stood until April 1942 when it was removed to contribute to the war effort.