Rothwell Heights
 

Can anyone tell me exactly where Rothwell Heights is. I was loooking for it on Willows lane going towards Green howarth. But could not really find what I was looking for.

Does anyone know this area or has anyone heard of Rothwell Mill, which was standing around 1880?

I would be grateful for any information.
Thanks Wendy

Re: Rothwell Heights
 

Hi Wendy, It’s the hill that over looks Miller Fold Avenue, off Willows Lane. Have a look at the map………………..Blocks 5A and 6A…… Rothwell Mill Farm is what we use to call Nelsons farm. The mill was further down the lane above Priestly Clough.

Re: Rothwell Heights
 

Just to help further and perhaps jog memory’s here are two extracts of the first addition maps from the LCC’s Mario site and an aerial shot of the area within the last five years are so.

Re: Rothwell Heights
 

I’ll pop up one evening or at the weekend and take some photos of the area for you. I think almost all trace of the original mill as gone but parts of it might be present in the landscape. Rothwell Mill Farm and the lower cottages have been there throughout the original mills history so it will still give you an idea of how things would have look in general. Having said that the area as changed to a small degree since I left Miller Fold back in the 70s….

Re: Rothwell Heights
 

Re: Rothwell Heights
 

Doug,

Thankyou very much for all the photos and information on Rothwell Mill and Rothwell Heights, what a beautiful area it is. I will look for this next time I go to Accrington. My ancesters lived in Rothwell Mill, I presume there were cottages there next to the mill, as I have no knowledge of them actually working in this mill. The place he worked was actually Turkey Red dye works, which I found last week on my visit to Accrington.

Thankyou very much for all your time and effort I really appreciate it.

Regards Wendy

Re: Rothwell Heights
 

You are very welcome…….The house in the photograph is Rothwell Mill House and most likely the place where they lived…. The other Photograph is Rothwell Mill farm and is made up of at least three dwellings. You would benefit from visiting the Central library; they have an extensive collection of photographs and records of local industry and people. If you need any other information or photos just ask. If you want to pm me and I send the original photographs via e-mail. If you let us know your family name we might be able to dig up some local information for you…….

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Is Rothwell Mill the same as Shoe Mill or am I on the wrong track here altogether?

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Doug, when I was at school (which is a very long time ago now) we used to do our cross country runs in this area.........middle of winter, snow and ice.......us in thin cotton shirts and navy blue gym knickers.......purple mottled legs........thank the lord those days are gone.
Your pics did bring back memories of me being dragged along by my friend who was a brilliant cross country runner.......I was always gasping for breath.....wet and muddy.

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Oh I can remember purple mottled legs, I had those quite often….I even had to wear a pair of them navy blue gym knickers once…and I’m not joking, it’s no joke when your poor and have an older sister back in 1968…….

Margaret…….. I love the area and hold my memories of it with deep fondness, even now 30 odd years on, I could describe what would be found “up here or down there” I was able to find my way around and even describe the changes that have occurred over the years, unfortunately there are a few……Many memories, some good, some bad and even one or two violent were as fresh as the day that those long ago events happened. The only difference is scale, I have said it before, what use to seem miles aren’t, Heights seem to be the same but distance is confusing everything seems to be much closer today. It’s that little leg syndrome again, It come uninvited into my memories all the time. I suppose it’s the difference between a Childs eyes and those of a much old version, age can sometimes preserve our memories, but regrettably not our bodies. I was bloody knackered when I got back to the car….

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You are right Doug.......Priestley Clough up to the five arches was our 'playground'.........we used to cross the brook on the water pipes.....if my memory serves me correctly there were 3 pipes that went across the brook.......one of them had spikes in the middle and we kids used to call that 'Spike Bridge'.......My brother Mick was once acting clever and was walking across one of the pipes like a tight-rope walker. He lost his footing and fell in the water.
I daren't take him home with this clothes wet so we took him up to the five arches, built a fire and tried to dry his clothes.......unfortunately, his pullover ( a lovely multi-coloured fair-isle jobby, knitted by Grandma) fell in the fire and got burnt. So that didn't make it home with us. I got a right good hiding for hom 'losing' his pully. Like I said your pics brought back many memories of the area.

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Yep, I remember those Margaret; Spiky Bridge was always the one to do and almost always beat us. “We only had little legs” One of the pipes was quite high up I seem to remember….We would range from the Miller Fold “Black Rock” area in either direction... If we went left it was down to towards Spiky Bridge and the two great big squire mill ponds below that and town, or if we turned right it is was towards Rothwell Mill area up to the Five Arches, from there we would roam back over past the Shoe Mill area up towards friar hill and then back down towards Bedlam and the two Barns and back down to Rothwell Heights “Nelsons Hill” and home. This was our play ground, one I can only dream of today. We never saw the dangers of our stupidity, nor did we consider the effects of our actions on the landscape, but we lived……"a life of Riley". Talking of which….anyone remember walking up to Old Mother Riley’s and the scrambling.........

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Regarding Shoe Mill and Rothwell Mill, does anyone have any information on Elizabeth Fairley, who penned this fab poem on Priestley Clough, It will no doubt strike a cord with many and I am hoping it will be included in my forthcoming book entitled, Baxenden, Rising Bridge and Stonefold. (Please check out my website lancashirebooks.co.uk)



Priestley Clough



I have known this place since childhood,

Have loved each spreading tree,

And the meandering brook which flows

Babbling and fancy free.

On happy, carefree, summer days,

Sun dappled paths I tread,

And listen to the choir of birds

In the branches overhead.



I cross the bridge and rest a while,

On the stones of a ruined mill;

Then refreshed and eager,

Commence to climb the hill.

The faint roar of the waterfall

Is music to my ears,

I used to walk across it

In my childhood years.



Through the gate by the railway bridge,

I enter the upper clough,

The trees here grow more thickly;

The grass is coarse and rough.

Under the Briar rose trees

The bluebells bloom in Spring,

And make an exquisite picture

That’s a joy remembering.



I hear the children laughing,

As they paddle in the stream;

Everything is wonderful!

And seems just like a dream.

Let others go to Westward Ho,

Or lands beyond the sea,

But in Priestley Clough, on a summer day,

That’s where I’d rather be!

Re: Rothwell Heights
 

Where was the 'gate by the railway bridge' leading to the upper clough that she speaks of?

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Hi Wendy,
I used to live in Rothwell House from aoround 1960 to 63, and have many fond memories of that time and that area. I'm wondering what it all looks like now. Have you any info?

regards,
Carolyn

Re: Rothwell Heights
 

What a lovely poem--I wish that i could write like that.This is the area that the Grammar School Cross Country run used to follow in the 1940s. It was easier coming back down Willows Lane than it was going up

Re: Rothwell Heights
 

That pipeline was built to divert the effluent from the Turkey Red Dye works past Woodnook water. The mill owners on Victoria St, who took their water for the mill boilers from Woodnook Water, had complained the effluent was ruining the boilers and condensers.
My Grandfather was born in Shoe Mill Cottages in 1853.

Retlaw.

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I used to live at Rothwell Mill Farm. My mother bought it from Frank Riely in the 70s. We sold it in 1987 as a going concern (Rothwell Riding Centre / Accrington Riding Centre) We loved living there, my brother Mark and I, used to play in all of that area. I will post some pics from that time. Paul

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Thanks for the photos, Paul. It certainly looks like the Nelson's farm that I remember from 1960. 'Old' farmer Nelson used to let me ride in his horse and cart with him as he delivered milk from his farm. And his farm worker Mr. Parker used to invite myself and my brother into his cattage for tea and biscuits. In your second photo, that was the building in the background that juts out at right angles to the rest of the buildings. Of course, I could be completely wrong, but the farm looks soooo familiar, including the big hill that I used to climb to get up there from the house by the river.

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Brilliant photos.....i have lived at the farm for the last 12 years now...yes my 2 aunts purchased the farm from your mum , Francis Manning....
I remember as a child coming down on a saturday paying a few quid and riding on Sebastian up the old railway.
I was lucky to be able to purchase the larger half of the farm from one of my aunts 12 years ago, which included the large farm house, the barns and the lodge and land.
we have since converted the barn into a home now, as it really needed a lot of structual work as it was getting unsafe in places, so it has changed quite a bit now.....but the best part is the beautiful lodge which is now very clean and has has lots of fish put into it, and we have lots of wildlife nesting.
i think i remember you and your brother coming down quite a few years ago...you should come around and have a wander someday....i'm not surprised you loved living here so much . all year round it is beautiful...

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Was Harold Sharpe in one of the photos ? He was a brilliant pianist , and I used to enjoy listening to him on Wednesday nights at the Shoulder of Mutton .

Some photos of the farm , riding centre , lodge with Baxenden in the background , and some of the riders .

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yes these photos are of the first cottage which leads into the farm...the first cottage has a section of land at the entrance, which now comprises of the newly opened riding centre.....
The original riding centre which was owned by Francis Manning was in the further down into the main farm yard,where all her horses were kept in the main large barns...the farm has been split up over the years and now comprises of 4 homes. all owned by different people......but yes the first cottage has made a little riding school on the end piece. The lodge is not attatched to the riding centre, the lodge is owned by me.

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Do you know what's happened to the old cottage at the bottom of the hill? I was in that area as a child in the early 60's.

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Do you mean Rothwell House, which is situated at the bottom of the valley, directly below Rothwell mill Farm ??

As this is the only other property in the area....which still stands today !!

If so Rothwell house is the large detached house which stand alongside of the stream at the bottom of the hill, and is still owned by the same family which purchased it back in the 60s Mr Charlesworth.

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Yes, that sounds like the place! I tried yesterday to post a photo, but it may not have come through. I'll try again ... Apologies if it duplicates.

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I found a couple more photos of Rothwell House, taken by my father about 1962.
They sure bring back memories of living there! Notice the snowman I built!
:)

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Wow what fantastic photos, although it looks freezing cold, must have been tough back then.

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Sadly i have just been informed that a proposal has just been submitted to Hyndburn council by Accrington Riding Centre Millerfold for a 35meter wind turbine to be positioned on the inside of Preistley Clough.

What small beautiful areas and views of greenbelt we have left in Accrington for the local people to enjoy is again being ruined for the sake of someone making money :(

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Sorry to hear this.

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I never swam in this lodge although a group of us lads once built a raft which floated on it rather lopsidedly even with one or two of us on board. In those days, around 1954, we knew it as Shutt's Lodge but no-one has mentioned that name on this post - does anyone have any clues as to why? We also referred to a barn high on the hill somewhere above Rothwell Heights as Benny's Barn - does anyone have any thoughts on that?