Who Was Living in Heywood in 1871?

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Worrall's 1871 Directory of Bury, Bolton and district provided a list of many of the people living in Heywood.

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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 records 13th century: Bamford family living in Bamford area. 13th century: Peter de Heywood builds Heywood Hall. 13th century: Woollen mill recorded
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The Devil and the Monkey Puzzle Tree

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The Monkey Puzzle tree ( Araucaria araucana ) is not a common sight in Monkey Town. The rather exotic spiked trunk and winding branches always caught the attention of local children, and two in particular that stuck in the memory were the trees in a front garden on Heywood Hall Road (which was on the route to Queen’s Park for many people). One well-remembered aspect of these trees was the superstition surrounding them. Some parents actually told their children to be quiet as they passed the tree, various reasons being that they would have bad luck or lose something, or in some cases even grow a monkey’s tail! This led those children who actually wanted a monkey’s tail to shout out as they passed by the trees. Superstitions about the Monkey Puzzle tree can be found throughout Britain. One widely-shared bit of folklore is that the Devil himself sits in this tree and people have to be quiet when walking past or else they will attract the Devil’s attention and get bad luck. In some
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The Hanging of Walter Martyn, the Plumpton Wood Murderer

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The first local murder case that resulted in a hanging was that of Birtle man  John Diggle in 1826 . The second took place in 1911, when local man Walter Martyn was sent to the Strangeways gallows. Martyn, 25 years old, was lodging at the Adelaide Street family home of his girlfriend Edith Griffiths, a cotton-waste operative aged 23. One evening in September they set off together for a walk to Plumpton Wood. A couple of hours later Martyn entered the Brown Cow pub alone and had a quiet drink with a friend there. Then he headed up to the Black Bull - where he worked - for another drink. The landlord there quickly noticed something very strange about the demeanour of this otherwise quiet, hard-working man. Martyn eventually told him that Edith was lying dead in the woods. Martyn was escorted to the police station by a constable who, after questioning him, headed down to Plumpton Wood where he found the body of Edith lying near the River Roch. This was near the spot where two young b
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