Transportation from Todmorden to Haslingden was made a little easier with the opening of the Todmorden to Haslingden Turnpike Trust road which was built in 1789. Just before the end of 1881 the turnpike roads were freed from all Toll fares, the Bacup Toll house at the bottom of Todmorden Road pictured left was kept by Mr John Calvert who was also cashier and collector for the whole district. A member of the Society Of Friends he would walk every Sunday to Crawshawbooth in order to attend the services at the Friends Meeting house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bull baiting was once a common sport in Bacup just as in other parts of the country. Bacup's bull baiting  ground was on Hammerton Green, named after John Hammerton a trustee of the old school house in Bacup of 1773. Also near here was a low building called the " Witching Hoile" and a building shown on a very early map as the "Dungeon". The empty Bacup health centre  is situated on what was Hammerton Green and then the place of the Bacup Corn Mill the whole area once being known as Stansfeild Field.

Across the road stood Burwood House home to many Bacup Doctors including Dr's Whittaker and  for many years Dr Brown and family his coachman and chauffer Mr Hardman lived in the cottage next door.

 

Behind Burwood House and Briggs shop  were Bacup's oldest houses known as the Newgate Areas. With streets called Lower Cross Row , Mount Pleasant, Dawson Brow, Higher Newgate, Lower Newgate. A clearance order for the  Newgate area was issued in 1937. Houses No 1.3.7.9 and 11 Mount Pleasant. No 32 Earnshaw Road. No 1 and 3 Lower Cross Row. No's 4, 5, 6, 8,10,20, 22 and 24 Upper Newgate. No 2 Lower Newgate and No's 1 and 2 Chapel Row.

 

 

The Wellington Pub was originally built to be the town Police  station with the town Lockup just across  the road as already mentioned. Long George shown  right with the stick was the terror of every youngster in Bacup, mothers would frequently threaten their unruly children with George and a trip to the "Dragon Steps" these being the steps inside the old George and Dragon pub which was at the time the local courthouse and place were the Magistrates sat.
 

On the opposite side of  Todmorden Road were houses and with odd shops in between up to Carlton Street with a break at Albion Street. Some of these houses had a basement but most of then had two storey dwellings underneath known as a cellar house, which consisted of a kitchen and bedroom, with one block of toilets anything up to 50 yards away and sometimes only two to satisfy up to 10 houses.

 

 

At Earnshaw Road shown right just before the Great War  was Fred Shaw's carpet shop and the opening to Earnshaw Road, Bentley Street, Scarr Street and Esther Place.

 

 

Behind Esther Place pictured below and Scarr Street was a large area known as Dragon Meadows up to Greensnook Lane, which was used by Bert Brearley a local builder as a store and built over by Clover Street in the early 1920's. The houses numbered 2 - 28 and 3 -15 Scarr Street along with No's 1 -23 Hill Street  and No's 2 - 10 Bentley Street were all compulsory purchased in 1960.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beech house was the home of Arthur Sutcliffe owner of the Corn Mill who spoke peculiarly due to having no roof in his mouth. Beech house was situated behind the trees on the left and in the distance of the picture you can see the chimney of Grove Mill

Travelling up Carlton Street one could go up Dark Lane pictured below.

 

 

 

Greens House situated behind the wall pictured right was a fine Georgian house set back  from the road behind shrubberies on the road  from Bacup to Todmorden. The home of James Maden and family who moved to Greens House from Lane Head farm in 1806.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the top of Greave Road on Todmorden Road stood the Change branch of the Bacup Cooperative society opened in 1868 the houses just above the old Co-op were demolished in March 1978. A few hundred  yards higher up was the Flowers Inn which opened as a Inn by John Heyworth in 1869.

 

 

Two or three hundred yards higher up than the Flowers Inn was Sharneyford tip where all the towns refuse was dumped into a big gulley. One of the highest parts of England, Sharneyford, is the last outpost of Bacup before the county boundary. Sharneyford had the only shaft coal mines in Bacup. Tooter Hill, Blue Ball and Greave collieries each having shafts varying between 60 and 200 feet in depth. Hill Top colliery pictured right  begun in 1949 was  the only colliery  opened by the National coal board in Rossendale. 

 

Higher up than Temperlys houses was Sharneyford day school and another small hamlet which included Parrock Lumb Farm shown left.  Parrock Mill pictured below provided employment for many of the inhabitants originally known as Park Lumb Mill, it changed it's name to avoid confusion with Park Mill at Britannia. This was the highest mill in England with a chimney stack of 1,200 feet above sea level. In 1875 Joshua Hoyle imported some 50 agricultural labourers and their families from poverty stricken Norfolk to work in the mill and others owned by the company.   

 

 

At one time there was no such road as the Todmorden Road we know today. A visit to Todmorden would mean travelling up Lane head lane, over Greensnook and then continuing over Dark Lane pictured below to the the Toll house at Sharneyford. From there you would then continue over Sandy Road down into Todmorden past the contagious diseases hospital at Sourhall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to an area known as the Greave now and home of  the Crown Inn owned in 1866 by the Lord family of Old Bacup Band fame later to be known as The Irwell Springs Band. The Greave Colliery was situated in this area one of a number of small collieries  as well as mills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cottages shown on the left of this photograph above have changed very little over the years, the farm shown in the background was at one time a pig farm owned by the Laycock family the lane leading off  to the left led to Highfield House and Oakenclough Mill built by Richard Lord both can be seen in the picture to the right.

 

 

 

Greenend Mill showing Warcock farm in the distance Greenend Mill was owned by the Maden family of Greens house. In 1951 Bacup town council were asked to demolish  the Greens Mill property as it was a "Dreadful Hovel".

 

 

Abraham Rothwell Grocers 113 Todmorden Road at the junction of Grove Street is pictured right. Going down Grove Street you came onto Vale Street were 75yards to the left stood the Greenend Tavern and in a adjoining building which was once the offices of Greens Mill which stood opposite  Change Band used to practice. Facing down the street was a row of houses called Greens Mill terrace and at right angles and facing Todmorden road was Maden street. A path went from here to Greave behind Greave Mill which when demolished the stone and wooden beams used to build Greave Terrace in 1932.  From here a ruined corner of Calf Hey Mill could be seen.

 

In 1962 a clearance order was issued for the demolition of houses numbered

2, 4, 6 Flower Street, and 66 - 74  and 1 - 7 Vale Street along with numbers 2 - 15 Albion Street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This photograph is a Ariel view of Todmorden Road and surrounding areas. The Greave Brook is shown wending it's way down to Bacup. The houses of Clough Road and Rosendale Crescent are viewed on the left of the picture as is the steeple of t Saviours church in the background.