Rothwell Heights

[adlersparker]

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

[Doug]

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.

[Doug]

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.

[Doug]

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….

[Doug]

I had a walk down by Rothwell Mill Farm and down by the old Rothwell House area, which is regrettably fenced off. You can get down to the area by going down Miller Fold and by carrying on down the lane that runs off the end of the Avenue, Turn left at the bottom towards Rothwell Mill Farm. You can park your car just before the farm and walk back a little to the Path which is signposted. The path is very steep and requires a pair of good strong shoes or boots in wet weather, the path zigzags it’s way down quite steeply until you reach the old intersecting path across from the old foot bridge which spans Woodnook Water, the bridge was part of the old mill complex and I have little doubt that it would have been known to your ancestor’s. Cross over the bridge and pass through the old iron kissing gate at the other end, the ground rises a little then levels off as it descends down to where Rothwell Mill would have stood. The area is still a little industrial looking; there is no visible trace of the Mill buildings or the previous Coal pit that I can see although the old Rothwell house is still standing to the rear of the site. The last two shots are Rothwell Mill Farm and the lodge. God we use to swim in that, dead dog's an all...........

[adlersparker]

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

[Doug]

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…….

[JohnW]

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

[Margaret Pilkington]

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.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by JohnW

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

Shoe Mill was about three quarters of a mill south of Rothwell Mill John. Think Five Arches and you’re in the area of Shoe Mill. Think of the lodge or reservoir at Rothwell Mill Farm (Nelsons Farm). You’ll remember this view of the five arches minus the Signal Box, Train, Chimney and Mill of course.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

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.

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….

[Margaret Pilkington]

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.

[Doug]

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.........

[Darren Woodhead]

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!

[JohnW]

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