Tell me then...

[Kiwi John]

Having never been to Accrington,what is the population and what is the local industry? I saw the picture taken from atop a hill,and the place lokked neat,but smaller than what I imagined.

[cashman]

don,t think we have a local industry to call one now kiwi, used to be many cotton mills also engineering factories these two would be the main employers, but most are long gone sadly.

[Kiwi John]

Cheers Cashman.I'm a bit of a 'wally',cause I didn't expand that photo properly,and I did so last night.Suddenly Accrington was a dam sight bigger than what I first saw.So can you tell me the population?

[Ber999T]

Accrington itself has a population of about 60,000

Used to be a large cotton town as well as enginering there used to be coal mines. One of the best known employers (world wide) Platts Saco Lowell (as it was when I worked there) also known as Howard and Bulloughs they made spinning frames for the cotton industry both in UK and world wide.

[Terry]

Looks like there's not much left in Accy. In 1960 the population of Accy and district was just over 100.000(according to one of the local papers) So I suppose you could say that with the pits, cotton industry and engineering all going out the window and residents leaving for greener fields. erm!!! Well I can't think of what to say. Progress? Not likely. Thatcherism is a better answer.

[Alvin the chipmunk]

Double Post

[Alvin the chipmunk]

Accrington, in the County of Lancashire, is a small former mill town in the industrial north-west of England. Its name is thought to be a corruption of 'acorn-ring-town', although the old oak woods that once encircled the town have long-since gone, victims of the Industrial Revolution. Since the redrawing of the political boundaries in 1974, the town has formed part of the Borough of Hyndburn — a merging of Accrington together with the smaller 'satellite' towns of Oswaldtwistle, Church, Clayton-le-Moors, Great Harwood and Rishton, into one political 'seat'.
The 2001 census gave the population of Accrington town proper as 35,203. The figure for the built-up area ("Accrington Urban Area") was 71,224, up 1.1% from 70,442 in 1991. For comparison purposes that is approximately the same size as Aylesbury, Carlisle, Guildford or Scunthorpe urban areas.
The town is linked to Burnley and Blackburn by railway and by the M65 motorway. There was once a rail link south to Manchester via Haslingden and Bury, but this was closed in the 1960s as part of cuts following the Beeching Report. The trackbed is now mostly covered by the A56 dual carriageway road, which provides a link to the M66 motorway.
There is a sizeable shopping area and precinct in Accrington, with a selection of major chain stores such as Marks and Spencer and Boots.
For many decades, the textile industry was the central activity of the town. Mills and dye works provided work for the inhabitants, but often in very difficult conditions. There was regular conflict with employers, most famously in the 1842 'Plug riots' where a general strike spread from town to town, as thousands of strikers walked over the hills from one town to another to persuade people to join the strike. The strike joined up with the Chartist movement, but was not successful in its aims.



That's a basic outline. For more info on history and industry, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accrington

[Basher]

Don't forget Hollands pies who are based up Baxenden

[Kiwi John]

Thanks for all that.As a bloke from a smaller country(4,100,000) I smiled when it referred to Accrington as a 'Town', where over here, just 50,000 makes you a city.