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. Bulls Head bridge pictured above was at one time in Bacups
past considered a very undafe place to be. Frequented by young lads, middle aged rakes and old loons, not a place for respectable females to
pass, without being assaulted by disgustung remarks and comments. 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.
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. Behind Broadclough Mill there are the remains of an entrenchment, called the "Dykes,"
respecting the antiquity of which no tradition exists. It is cut out from the gentle slope of an eminence, and in one direction is nearly parallel to the
horizon for more than 600 yards: a part of the line, for about 100 yards, appears to have been levelled; and more than 400 yards present a trench
54 feet in breadth at the bottom, and of proportionate depth. So gigantic and singular a work could only have been intended for some military
purpose: it was probably one side of a vast British camp, designed to have been carried round the eminence, but left unfinished. On the other
side of the road was Carr Bridge a wooden bridge over the river led up to Top of the bank farm.
The name of Weir is said by James L Maxim to mean " a fence for the catching of fish". A less known name for Weir was Jamland derived from a
time when many families survived on jam butties consuming a thousand pots of jam per week. Behind the Weir hotel was at one time the playing
field for the Irwell Springs football team who would go on to become Bacup Borough. About 1867 1868 the local board had passed plans for four
cottages, two dwelling house, a shop and hotel to be built. In total seventeen houses had plans passed for building between 1870 and 1878
previous o this in 1865 the Co-op opened its no1 store in Weir.
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. Bulls Head bridge pictured above was at one time in Bacups
past considered a very undafe place to be. Frequented by young lads, middle aged rakes and old loons, not a place for respectable females to
pass, without being assaulted by disgustung remarks and comments. 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.
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. Behind Broadclough Mill there are the remains of an entrenchment, called the "Dykes,"
respecting the antiquity of which no tradition exists. It is cut out from the gentle slope of an eminence, and in one direction is nearly parallel to the
horizon for more than 600 yards: a part of the line, for about 100 yards, appears to have been levelled; and more than 400 yards present a trench
54 feet in breadth at the bottom, and of proportionate depth. So gigantic and singular a work could only have been intended for some military
purpose: it was probably one side of a vast British camp, designed to have been carried round the eminence, but left unfinished. On the other
side of the road was Carr Bridge a wooden bridge over the river led up to Top of the bank farm.
