In 1899 John Rushtons and Sons
Slater's of Lee Mill won a slating
contract for a new tea facdtry in
New Cross London. The firm had
their offices at the top of Rushton
Street, Lee Mill. Rushtons were
responsible for slating some very
large well known buildings of their
time. Such as, a contract in
Broadheath, Cheshire for the
Linotype Company Ltd. The slating
of the Pilkington Bros glass works
in St Helens in total the Rushtons
did work for the Pilkington Bros
spanning a period of eight to ten
years.
Over a period from 1879 to 1889
Rushtons and Sons carried out
various contracts all over the
country some of these included.
For the Lancashire and Yorkshire
Railway Company station
buildimgs at Pendleton,
Pendlebury, Swinton, Darcy Lever
and Littleborough, goods
wharehouses at Kirkham,
Accrington, and Radcliffe, grain
wharehouses at Halifax,
enginesheds at Lowmoor. 75
cottages at Smedley Road
Manchester. Wharehouses and
loading sheds at Halifax for the
Great Northern Railway
Company.British Insulated Wire
Works at Prescott. Lancashire
Rolex Replica Watch Compnays
Works Prescott.
The Atlas Bobbin Works, Garston,
Liverpool for Wilson Bros Ltd. Holy
Trinity Mission House, Blackfriars,
Salford. St John the Baptist
Church, New Springs Wigan.
Cottage Homes, Middlewood, For
Rochdale Guardians. Buildings in
Heywood Park. Large addiditon to
Kays Hospital Summerseat.
Todmorden Parish Church. St
Pauls Church Macclesfield. River
Wyre Hotel Poulton along with
many others.
Clickers at work at Grove mill
home of Samuel McLeries slipper
works the first of such to arrive in
Bacup in 1898.
At the time of the move to Grove Mill
Samuel had been in the slipper
industry for 20 years and was in
partnership with his two elder sons,
James and Jack but in 1900 they
withdrew from the partnership and
began their own firm J&J Mc'Cleries at
New Hey Mills.
Bacup had a number of Blacksmiths
the forges were more commonly
known as " Smithies" the one at
Change Sharneyford was run by the
Lord family. Mr Richard Lord began
the smithy and ran it with his son
John Robert Lord, who in turn ran it
with his son Herbert who died in
1944. One of the oldest blacksmiths
shop was situated at Lee Mill built
about 1842 the smithy was run by the
Graham family for over four
generations. The first blacksmith
being Mr James Graham who then
passed the business onto his son Mr
John Frederick Graham and then to
his son James Frederick Graham. In
August 1942 the business was sold
when the then owner Fred Lord
Graham was called up to do work of "
National Importance "
The Princess Street blacksmith run
by the Halsteads was put up for sale
in 1881 due to a lack of trade.
Pictured above are right to left Henry
Culley, Fred Dunkling,Dick Halstead
Mr James Taylor was a master
blacksmith who ran a business in
Manor Street Bacup for 45 years the
business closing at the time of his
death in 1956.
Ingham Taylor was one of many
barbers in the area who advertised
his trade by the traditional red and
white stripped pole displayed outside
the shop. At one time Barbers were
also dentists and surgeons
performing enemas, bloodletting and
wound surgery. The history of the
barber pole is intertwined with the
history of barbers and their
bloodletting practices. Patients
would grasp a rod so tightly that their
veins would show, at which point the
barber would cut open their arms
and bleed them until they fainted.
After the procedure, washed
bandages were hung outside on a
pole to dry and to advertise the
ghastly therapeutic specialities
offered in the barbershop. Flapping
in the wind, the long strips of
bandages would twist around the
pole in the spiral pattern we now
associate with barbers. The practice
of bloodletting had long since been
abandoned by barbers.
Rockliffe Vale Corn Mill was situated
just across the track from Ross Mill.
Originally built as a calico printowrks
in 1837.
The mill was taken over for cron
milling in 1865. By 1870 the mill was
being run by Daniel Greenwood and
partner. Parts of the mill were leased
to shuttle makers Joseph Milner &
Co. Various other manufaturers
rented the mill over the years. In
1883 railway sidings were in
place . In 1911 the building was
destroyed by fire and eventually by
1912-1913 the remains had been
demolished.
The Bacup Prudential Team The
Company was founded on 30 May
1848 in Hatton Garden in London
as The Prudential Mutual
Assurance Investment and Loan
Association providing loans to
professional and working people.In
1854 the Company began selling
the relatively new concept of
industrial branch insurance policies
to the working class population for
premiums as low as one penny
through agents acting as door to
door salesmen. The army of
premium collection agents was for
many years identified with the
Prudential as the "Man from the
Pru".
Most houses were lit by candles or oil
lamps. The oil used was parrafin, the
Lamp Oil Man named Smith pictured
above would like the rag and bone
man go from house to house refilling
the householders lamps with the
parrafin oil.
The home of the first Post office in
Bacup was situated at the bottom of
Burnley Road known at the time has
Harris Printers. It was then moved to
Market Street. In 1905 there were
four deliveries per day by postmen
starting at 7.15 am, 1.30 pm, 4.30 pm
and 6.30 pm.
However there was no 6.30 delivery
on any Tuesday. 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 and on a site where once
stood the house of Dr Snell and
others. The first stone being laid in
October. The Post Office opened in
January 1911.
Unfortunately there are no details
about thie group of servants shown
above other than they worked for a
Bacup family. There can be little
doubt the family they worked for
was one of the wealthiest in Bacup.
The likelihood is the lady in the
middle of the picture would have
been the housekeeper.
She would have been responsible
for all the female servants, hiring
and firing of them, the linen and
china cupboards, housekeeping
money and making arrangements
for guests. Also pictured it would
seem are the cook, a ladies made
and nursemaid, housemaid and
kitchen maid along with the butler
who would in some households
also act as he male valet. The
young man pictured was probably
the footman.
Irwell Springs was known as the corner
dye works.The effluent from their
dyeing plant coloured the river Irwell,
black, blue, yellow or whatever colour
was being used at the time. The works
was run by various owners over the
years. John Seiber a swiss national
came into partnership with John
Greenwood but following the deaths of
both partners the business was taken
over by Charles Seiber employing a
workforce of 100 by 1865 trading as the
Irwell Springs Turkey Red Dyeing
Company. The works were eventually
closed until 1896 when it was
purchased by Archibald Edmeston &
Company textile engineers.With Calico
printin being started again in 1898
trading as Irwell Springs Printing
Company. By 1913 there had been
expansions to the works and it now
employed about 400 people. The
company closed in 1964.
Bacup’s Emplyment Exchange was
situated next to the Lancashire and
Yorkshire Bank until the new building
was opened on Gladstone Street in
1930.
The Beeby brothers are pictured
below they were Reed and Heald
makers who had their factory off
Tong Lane opposite the streets of
Brick and Clay street. A reed and
heald were both used in a loom for
the process of weaving. A reed was
like a comb the teeth being secured
at the top and bottom. The heald is
a series of threads into which an
eye has been 'knitted'. The series of
threads are held firm on wooden
staves. Each single thread of the
heald has an eye to separate the
thread as it leaves the back beam
(warp beam).
The warp thread will go through
healds on alternate staves. The
staves alternately move up and
down to form a 'shed' for the shuttle
whilst simultaneously making
pattern in the weave. A 'shed' (as
the space is named) allows the
shuttle to cross through the space
formed between the reed and open
heald.Warp thread then passes
through the reed (usually made of
metal) which keeps the warp thread
separate. The reed, with its to and
fro movement, 'beats' the weft
thread into place (like a comb) as it
is placed by the shuttle passing
across the full width of the loom.
Small boys aged between 5 and 10
were often sought out to become
apprentices to chimney sweeps.
Quite often they were orphans and
had no one to care about the kind of
treatment they received at the hands
of unscrupulous employers. If the
young lad was scared to climb the
narrow high chimneys the sweep
would give him some encouragement
by holding a lighted taper under one
of his bare feet.
One of the first known industrial
diseases was chimney sweeps
cancer which appeared in the
testicles and was caused by the effect
of the soot on the naked body. The
agreement shown below was drawn
up between local chimney sweep
James Swain and his apprentice
Lawrence Slattery. Bacup's last full-
time chimney sweep Mr Roland
Hurrell was given 15 years notice to
quit in June 1972. This was the
amount of time it was thought it would
take to make Bacup a smoke free
zone.