Flow River Flow

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The Roch might be a little river in the wider scheme of things, being a tributary of a tributary of the Mersey, but it's the biggest river that Heywood has and it has played a big part in the history and development of the town. This Ten Thousand Years in Monkey Town slideshow charts the wandering course of the waters from a tiny spring emerging from under a rock high up on Chelburn Moor, then right down to the Irwell. Enjoy.

(Best viewed on 'expand screen' option in YouTube)




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Early Heywood Pubs: The Curse of the Working Classes

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Before the recent spate of pub closures, Heywoodites used to take some pride (rightly or wrongly) in the high number of pubs in the town. It is still a common boast that Heywood was in the Guinness Book of Records for having the most pubs per head of population. There are two things to say about this;


Firstly, it is an urban myth simply because the publishers have no record for ‘most pubs’.

Secondly, if Guinness did have such record, Heywood would have once had a decent chance of holding it, if the figures in this 2008 BBC article are anything to go by. An unscientific survey for a Radio 4 show asked the question ‘which town has the most pubs for its size?’ and resulted in least 25 places staking their claim. These included ‘Glasgow, Glastonbury, Bewdley, Bollington, Weymouth, Witney, Saffron Walden and St Albans’ Some of the top contenders were: Manningtree, Essex: 5 pubs, 900 people (180 per pub) Otley, West Yorkshire: 21 pubs, 15,000 people (714 per pub) Brighton and Hove: 278 pubs…
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General Timeline of Heywood History

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This timeline of the history of Heywood is a work in progress. It is intended to be as accurate as possible, and suggested corrections or additions are welcome.

Pre - A.D. 1270 7th century: Middleton is thought to have been settled by this time.1086: Rochdale recorded in the Domesday Book as Recedham.1164: Heywood family recorded in local area.1183: Records for Ashworth start around this time.1197: Reference to Birtle in records.12th century: Hopwood family recorded at site of current Hopwood Hall.1210: Reference to hamlets of Lumhalghs (Lomax) and Hep (Heap) in records.1260: Land at Pilsworth granted to William de Radcliffe. 1270-1600 1260s-70s: Adam de Bury grants land to Peter de Heywood during this time.1278: William del Bridge granted land near Bury.1292: Reference to Hoppewode in records13th century: Bamford family living in Bamford area.13th century: Peter de Heywood builds Heywood Hall.13th century: Woollen mill recorded at Bamford16th century: Woollen mill recorded at Bridge Hal…
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The Old Mills of Heywood: C-E

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See all the A-Z listing of old mills and workplaces of Heywood here
Cartridge Ropery Rope
Brunswick Street
1843: Established by William Healey.
1874: Became Healey Bros. when his sons William, Robert and Jehu took over the business. They manufactured many types of rope including mill drive ropes, and a rope walk stretched from Cartridge Ropery through the grounds of Brooklands, owned by the Healeys, until 1940.  1888 directory: Healey Brothers (manufacturers of all kinds of rope, twine, cotton & tubular banding; also main driving ropes for mills), Cartridge Steam Ropery & Broadfield Mill. 1960: Healy Bros. taken over by British Ropes.  1971: Became British Twine and Rope.  2018: Building still present and in use.

Castleton Moor Mill
Cotton
Castleton
1890: Not present on OS map.
1908: Present on OS map.
1956: Marked on OS map as Castleton Moor Mill (wool combing).
1960s: Demolished, became the site of a supermarket.

Cheesden Lumb Higher
Cotton
Cheesden Brook, Cheesden Lumb
1845: B…
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