Turn Right at Mottram Roundabout - Week 7
Tue 20th September 2016 | General | By Stewart Taylor
Last week we discussed, albeit briefly, the difference between a town and a village. The village we were looking for was Cheadle which means that the club was Cheadle Town.
The quick link referred to the Iconix Brand Group. This is the name of the company which bought the sportswear and football equipment manufacturer Umbro in 2012. The headquarters of Umbro were in Cheadle.
The photo is of the impressive stand at the Park Road Stadium.
On to this week and it would be fair to say that the quick link is a bit obscure.
We venture out to one of the many market towns in Lancashire which have football clubs in the League.
Here we are in the very hot bed of the textile trade during the Industrial Revolution but the history of this town pre-dates those times by many centuries. Artefacts from the Bronze Age settlement of the area are displayed at the local Library Theatre.
One of a number of keys to success in the Victorian times was transport. Both the railway and a canal reached this town in the mid 18th century enabling rapid expansion in industry and, with that, not inconsiderable wealth. The most important mill in the town was India Mill built by Eccles Shorrock, a major Lancashire cotton industrialist. The effect of the Cotton Famine of 1860s sounded the death knell for this company but the mill survives to this day and is home to many companies.
The rise and fall of the cotton industry in this part of Lancashire mirrors many of the aspects of the economy of the country today. Whilst the Cotton Famine was, at least in part, a natural disaster whereby supply of the raw material was badly affected, other issues which were, to a greater extent, self-inflicted, saw the real demise of the industry and, with that, a significant change in fortunes for towns which relied heavily on the cotton industry.
This is not the place to write a treatise on the subject but just to say that if the exporting of technology to countries with low wage rates followed by a decline in local manufacturing jobs sounds familiar then you get where I’m coming from!
But back to the plot. It is a feature of many industrial towns that some individuals who had gained significantly financially felt a certain responsibility to “put something back” in terms of philanthropy. One such was Scottish born steel magnate Andrew Carnegie who established 3000 public libraries across the world. One of these is in this town.
A famous event in this town was a visit by Mohandas K. Gandhi in 1931. Gandhi came to the town at the invitation of local industrialists to see for himself the damaging effect of India’s boycott of cotton goods. Although many mill workers were unemployed as a result of this action it is reported that he was greeted warmly.
As the textile industry declined, new forms of industry were needed. This town was prominent in attracting new companies and successful businesses in chemicals and plastics were established here.
On the footballing front this town has a proud and illustrious record. The town side were early pioneers of the professional game in this country having played at the very highest level of English football. The current club, whilst different, can plot its lineage directly back to these early days.
Quick link - What links this club to the actress Patricia Routledge?
Turn Right at Mottram Roundabout - Week 7
Tue 20th September 2016 | General
By Stewart Taylor
Last week we discussed, albeit briefly, the difference between a town and a village. The village we were looking for was Cheadle which means that the club was Cheadle Town.
The quick link referred to the Iconix Brand Group. This is the name of the company which bought the sportswear and football equipment manufacturer Umbro in 2012. The headquarters of Umbro were in Cheadle.
The photo is of the impressive stand at the Park Road Stadium.
On to this week and it would be fair to say that the quick link is a bit obscure.
We venture out to one of the many market towns in Lancashire which have football clubs in the League.
Here we are in the very hot bed of the textile trade during the Industrial Revolution but the history of this town pre-dates those times by many centuries. Artefacts from the Bronze Age settlement of the area are displayed at the local Library Theatre.
One of a number of keys to success in the Victorian times was transport. Both the railway and a canal reached this town in the mid 18th century enabling rapid expansion in industry and, with that, not inconsiderable wealth. The most important mill in the town was India Mill built by Eccles Shorrock, a major Lancashire cotton industrialist. The effect of the Cotton Famine of 1860s sounded the death knell for this company but the mill survives to this day and is home to many companies.
The rise and fall of the cotton industry in this part of Lancashire mirrors many of the aspects of the economy of the country today. Whilst the Cotton Famine was, at least in part, a natural disaster whereby supply of the raw material was badly affected, other issues which were, to a greater extent, self-inflicted, saw the real demise of the industry and, with that, a significant change in fortunes for towns which relied heavily on the cotton industry.
This is not the place to write a treatise on the subject but just to say that if the exporting of technology to countries with low wage rates followed by a decline in local manufacturing jobs sounds familiar then you get where I’m coming from!
But back to the plot. It is a feature of many industrial towns that some individuals who had gained significantly financially felt a certain responsibility to “put something back” in terms of philanthropy. One such was Scottish born steel magnate Andrew Carnegie who established 3000 public libraries across the world. One of these is in this town.
A famous event in this town was a visit by Mohandas K. Gandhi in 1931. Gandhi came to the town at the invitation of local industrialists to see for himself the damaging effect of India’s boycott of cotton goods. Although many mill workers were unemployed as a result of this action it is reported that he was greeted warmly.
As the textile industry declined, new forms of industry were needed. This town was prominent in attracting new companies and successful businesses in chemicals and plastics were established here.
On the footballing front this town has a proud and illustrious record. The town side were early pioneers of the professional game in this country having played at the very highest level of English football. The current club, whilst different, can plot its lineage directly back to these early days.
Quick link - What links this club to the actress Patricia Routledge?
