Bamford Woollen Mills, Bamford, Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

Sadly Bamford Woollen mills are no longer in existence as they made way for modern day housing in the early 1980s. Murrayfield, Burnthorpe Close, Ryburn Square and Porritt Close are on that site today at OS Grid Reference: SD 86191272. The large red-brick mill complex along with its own reservoir (mill pond) at the rear stood near the junction of Norden Road and War Office Road in the pretty village of Bamford for many, many years and gave employment to the good folk of Rochdale and the surrounding villages for well over a hundred years or more. The mill seems to have been built about 1880 but there was perhaps an earlier industrial building on that site? At that time (1880) it was owned and run by Samuel Porritt and Sons, who also ran Meadowcroft fulling mill beside the River Roch on Bury Road near Heywood from 1880. Samuel Porritt & Sons were also associated with a mill at Gnat Bank between Crimble and Heywood.

In 1891 Samuel Porritt and Sons ran the mill as a fullers and finishers. There were 160 looms, blanketings, tapes, roller cloths etc at that time, so obviously a thriving textile mill with the clatter of looms day-in-day-out and during the nighttime too for well over a hundred years. There is a Porritt Close named after the mill-owners down Norden Road, Bamford, even today! In the 1960s and 1970s it was still in operation, but by 1980 the mill was in decline and it finally closed down in 1982; after that the mill was demolished, making way for a modern housing estate - situated to the west of Dixon Fold.

The Porritt family’s legacy as mill owners contributed significantly to the economic and social fabric of these towns (Rochdale and Heywood) during the 19th century. Their mills were hubs of industry, weaving together the threads of progress and prosperity at the time when the Industrial Revolution was at its peak. The family continued to run Bamford mill up to more recent times until its closure and have always been well remembered and honoured in the locality.

Grace's Guide gives the following information: "Samuel Porritt and Sons of Bamford, Rochdale 1891 Directory: Listed as Woollen manufacturers. 1914 Merged with Porritt Brothers and Austin, Joseph Porritt and Sons, and J. H. Spencer and Sons, to form Porritt and Spencer."

Sources & References:-

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Samuel_Porritt_and_Sons

https://www.heywoodhistory.com/2018/01/mills-a-z.html https://www.heywoodhistory.com/2018/01/mills-i-p.html

https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/24747

Copyright © RayS57, 2024.

Crimble Mill and Crimble Hall, near Heywood, Greater Manchester.

The Crimble Spinning Mill on Crimble Lane, between Bamford and Heywood, near Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, is sadly today in a ruinous state of delapidation. It was originally built way back in 1780 as a Woollen fulling mill, but, by about 1825-6 the mill had been re-developed by its new owners, the Stott family, for the manufacture of Cotton and had a water-wheel built. In the 1860s it was rebuilt as a spinning mill, and in the 1880s it manufactured woollen products once again and remained as such for much of the rest of its industrial life, at least until the 1920s. A warehouse was added in the 1880s. The Mill finally ceased manufacturing sometime after 1971 when parts of the mill began to fall into disuse, although a dyeing company moved into the building, but that ended in 2005. The mill's engine house was demolished sometime back, and dereliction has recently set in. But, it would be a sacrilege if this once great industrial building had to be demolished, although some might say that 'that is progress' and its now 'time to move on'.

The huge industrial complex that is Crimble Mill stands beside the River Roch at (O.S. Grid Reference: SD 8652 8116) with Queens Park to the west, and the town of Hey-wood about half a mile to the southwest. It is roughly halfway between the Bury And Rochdale Old Road (B6222) and Rochdale Road East (A58). There are plans afoot, sadly, to demolish this Grade II listed mill and build flats and commercial spaces at some point.

The history of Crimble near Heywood goes back to 1810 when John Fenton the wealthy industrialist (1791-1863) built Crimble Hall. John became the first Liberal Party member of Parliament for Rochdale in 1832; the Fenton family were also mill owners in the Heywood area, and they were a family of bankers. Sometime after 1913 a Colonel Hartley lived at the Hall; he later restored the building to what it originally looked like. In the late 1950s or early 1960s the Gartside family (Colonel Gartside) took over Crimble Hall. After that it became a restaurant but that closed in 2019. However, there are now plans to re-develop the hall into new homes. The former hall is located on Crimble Lane, Captain Fold, at OS Grid Reference SD 8647 1199. There is a small park just to the south of the hall.

The place-name Crimble means "small piece of land" or a hamlet. Crimble mill, beside the River Roch, was originally built in 1780 as a wool fulling mill. In 1825 it was re-developed and enlarged into a cotton spinning mill. Its decline began in the early 1970s when a dyeing company took it over, but by 2005 the mill had become abandoned and derelict. Recently, there have been plans to demolish Crimble mill and build flats on the site. The hamlet or settlement of Crimble [itself) probably goes further back in history to the 17th-18th centuries, or earlier.

Sources/References:-

First photo (above) of Crimble Mill, Heywood, is by Dr. Neil Clifton (2013) and is © Copyright Dr Neil Clifton and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crimble_Mill,_Heywood.jpg

Second photo down is: Crimble Mill, Heywood, by Chris Allen (2006) and is © Copyright Chris Allen and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2191927

https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101187124-crimble-mill-spinning-mill-attached-engine-house-and-fire-proof-warehouse-and-attached-warehouse-north-heywood-ward#.ZDCltznMLIU

http://www42.heywoodhistory.com/

https://aboutmanchester.co.uk/the-fentons-and-crimble-hall-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-rochdale-dynasty/

https://www.facebook.com/RochdaleLocalHistory/posts/on-the-9th-june-1880-crimble-hall-the-residence-of-lieutenant-colonel-fenton-sol/799380260219471/

https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/hope-for-stricken-rochdale-mill-as-resi-plans-emerge/

Copyright © RayS57, 2023.

Around Bamford: St James' Chapel, Chapel Lane Near Rochdale, Great...

Around Bamford: St James' Chapel, Chapel Lane Near Rochdale, Great...: On a hilltop roughly halfway between Carr Woods (Coal Bank) and School Lane, near Norden, Rochdale, Greater Manchester, there is an early 16th century chapel dedicated to St James, and an attached graveyard. See more at the following Link:- https://rays57-aroundbamford.blogspot.com/2020/11/st-james-chapel-chapel-lane-near.html

New Housing Complex on the site of Knowl View School.

This is the new housing complex called Cherry Wood House on Bamford Mews that was built on the site of Knowl View School in 1995. Strangely, the whole layout of the complex is very similar to the plan of the school, even the buildings look very similar. Many of the flats appear to be empty! Wonder if there were, or are, any ghosts there!

Knowl View School

This was the boarding school that I attended on Norden Road, Bamford, from 1969-1972.

At School In Bamford

I was at school in Bamford from 1969-1972. Although this was a not a happy time for me at Knowl View School, which was a boarding school for children with emotional problems, I sought solace by walking around Bamford, near Rochdale, and in the countryside around there. In particular, I enjoyed exploring Carr Woods and the Naden brook between Bamford and Norden. I found the old ruined mill and bleach/dye works at Coal Bank of particular interest and would often sit beside the ruins and brook until it was time to get back for tea and the special school that I attended. Not good memories of the school, which I hated, but some good and happy memories of the surrounding countryside. For a couple of hours at least I was able to forget all my problems and surround myself in the rich industrial history of the Ashworth Valley, Carr Woods and the Naden brook. Despite all the bad things - there were "some" good times at Knowl View.

My life at Knowl View School was not a good one, but I had to go there because I had made my mind up that I wasn't going to a mainstream school. Most of the other boys there came from poor backgrounds, many being emotionally disturbed and, quite a few unable to attend proper schools due to their disruptive behaviour and inability to adapt to ordinary school life. The boys at Knowl View were aged from about 7 years to 16 years of age. There were four dormitories: Nirvana,Valhalla, Bliss and Lilliput. Myself, I started off in Nirvana - a pretty dreadful place with some unpleasant kids - the other dorms not much better, perhaps even worse. I wouldn't say the school was run in a military way but at times it seemed like that to me. Some of the teachers were quite nice, others were awful characters who probably shouldn't have been teachers at all. This school was most probably the only one that would take them.
                       
 I hated Knowl View School and I hated everything that 'it' stood for - the very bricks and mortar of the building, the windows, doors, roof, furniture and everything else inside the place. I would look out from my little bedroom window in lilleput dormatory at the world outside this wretched place - the world outside in Bamford and Rochdale. The bus which I hoped would take me away from here came into the village every half hour, then it made its way back to Rochdale and, to home beyond that. The bus was on time, turning around to get to its 'waiting position'. If only I could "be" on that bus, if only, that was the big question.

I loved Bamford, Carr Woods, Norden and Rochdale, but I hated Knowl View School to its very guts. I would lay in bed in the darkness of the night, maybe the only other period that I found peace and quiet, wishing that the morning would never come but, of course, it did. The nightime was my little bit of heavenly solitude for a few hours at least, but the morning always seemed to come very quickly - 7.30 it was rise and shine!

And lastly a footnote: A school friend of mine called Michael took me to a ladies house down on Bury Old Road. She had a stables with horses. Mrs G was a lovely lady and, very motherly. I think she 'felt sorry for the boys at the Knowl View'. She plied me with freshly cooked buns as I remember. I think I told her 'that I wouldn't be able to eat my tea'!. Afterwards me and Michael went to look at the horses where a very nice young lady was mucking out. I think she was Mrs G's daughter. But I can't remember much else about this visit, sadly. But I wished I'd been able to visit Mrs G more often. Thankyou Mrs G for being so nice.