Turn Right At Mottram Roundabout - Episode 17
Tue 29th November 2016 | General | By Stewart Taylor
The club we were visiting last week in episode 16 was New Mills.
The photo clue was perhaps a bit more obscure than usual in appearing to be any of the many Victorian parish churches we have in the North West. In fact it is St. Georges Church on Church Lane in New Mills, which is the address of New Mills AFC.
The slogans are just two of the many slogans which have appeared on Love Hearts sweets down the years. Love Hearts are made at the Swizzels Matlow factory in New Mills.
Our destination this week takes us to a town which was once a health resort. Admittedly, we need to go back to the latter years of the 18th century and into the early years of the 19th century to find references to this but, nevertheless, there we are.
That being the case we perhaps need to consider what the specific attributes of the town were back then and to look at the development of the town into what it is today.
The discerning reader will by now have realised that the town in question would not immediately spring to mind as being a health resort today, and that is indeed the case.
We have made reference before in these short narratives to the industrialisation of towns and the effects of such industrialisation in terms of population increase. No one would give an authoritative date for the start of the Industrial Revolution in this country as the development was in many ways “organic” and, most certainly, related to specific industries but, for the sake of discussion, let’s work on a date of 1780 and see where that takes us.
Among the first enterprises which moved from cottage industry to organised factory labour were related to the textile industry and our region was at the forefront of that. If we look at cotton then certain atmospheric conditions were necessary for the mechanisation of the cotton spinning industry and these conditions were found in some parts of the North West but not all. In those areas where rapid industrialisation took place we have already noted the population increase associated with that. With such population increase came increasing ill-health, largely to do with poor sanitation and air quality.
Given this then areas close by industrial areas which did not suffer from this rather unsavoury aspect of industrialisation came to be places valued for their potential restorative properties. Where we are today was such a place where doctors would suggest that their more affluent patients could visit for a period of time to try to recover from respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis and consumption by virtue of the clean air.
Move on 150 years and we find ourselves in an area which could have been considered the antithesis of a health resort, and the reason for this change is our old friend industrialisation. Again, we need to look at the type of industry involved and rather than textiles, which were by then in decline, this town looked to newer ways of making money taking advantage of local natural resources and necessary transport links. Almost inevitably, that industry fell into decline due largely to further
improvements in global transport links and much more cost effective methods of manufacturing far away from traditional areas of industry. Today, little remains of the old industry but that’s not to say that the town is in decline.
The town was designated as a new town in 1964 and with that came re-development. Some of the developments were successful exhibiting some quite cutting edge architecture but others rather less so including the Southgate Estate designed by the architect James Stirling and completed in 1977.
Locally, the estate was known as “Legoland” and although the model bricks produced by the Lego company of Denmark are still going strong, this development was demolished by 1992 as the flaws in the innovative design became apparent. We can cross reference this to the 1960s overspill estates referred to in a previous Turn Right at Mottram Roundabout.
The town today has a mix of light industry and distribution centres alongside the remnants of the former major industry. The town also acts as something of a dormitory town for other centres of employment which are not too far away in miles but can take an awful long time to get to by road. This latter point is well understood and improvements of both road and rail systems are ongoing.
The original football club which represented this town could trace its roots back to 1918 and became founder members of the Cheshire County League in the year of the formation of that League (1919). You will have noted that the use of the past tense suggests that this original club no longer exists and that is true although the spirit of it certainly does.
What we have today are two clubs representing the town. The one we are visiting today was formed in 1967 and took its original name from part of the industry which was still strong in the town at that time. Gradual progress has been made in the intervening years including a change of name to the one we know the club by today. And, in a reflection of the changes to the industrial landscape over the last 150 years or so, the view from the clubhouse is dominated by a modern, environmentally inspired, facility.
Quick Link - What links the origins of this club with the origins of the Northern League team Billingham Synthonia?
Turn Right At Mottram Roundabout - Episode 17
Tue 29th November 2016 | General
By Stewart Taylor
The club we were visiting last week in episode 16 was New Mills.
The photo clue was perhaps a bit more obscure than usual in appearing to be any of the many Victorian parish churches we have in the North West. In fact it is St. Georges Church on Church Lane in New Mills, which is the address of New Mills AFC.
The slogans are just two of the many slogans which have appeared on Love Hearts sweets down the years. Love Hearts are made at the Swizzels Matlow factory in New Mills.
Our destination this week takes us to a town which was once a health resort. Admittedly, we need to go back to the latter years of the 18th century and into the early years of the 19th century to find references to this but, nevertheless, there we are.
That being the case we perhaps need to consider what the specific attributes of the town were back then and to look at the development of the town into what it is today.
The discerning reader will by now have realised that the town in question would not immediately spring to mind as being a health resort today, and that is indeed the case.
We have made reference before in these short narratives to the industrialisation of towns and the effects of such industrialisation in terms of population increase. No one would give an authoritative date for the start of the Industrial Revolution in this country as the development was in many ways “organic” and, most certainly, related to specific industries but, for the sake of discussion, let’s work on a date of 1780 and see where that takes us.
Among the first enterprises which moved from cottage industry to organised factory labour were related to the textile industry and our region was at the forefront of that. If we look at cotton then certain atmospheric conditions were necessary for the mechanisation of the cotton spinning industry and these conditions were found in some parts of the North West but not all. In those areas where rapid industrialisation took place we have already noted the population increase associated with that. With such population increase came increasing ill-health, largely to do with poor sanitation and air quality.
Given this then areas close by industrial areas which did not suffer from this rather unsavoury aspect of industrialisation came to be places valued for their potential restorative properties. Where we are today was such a place where doctors would suggest that their more affluent patients could visit for a period of time to try to recover from respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis and consumption by virtue of the clean air.
Move on 150 years and we find ourselves in an area which could have been considered the antithesis of a health resort, and the reason for this change is our old friend industrialisation. Again, we need to look at the type of industry involved and rather than textiles, which were by then in decline, this town looked to newer ways of making money taking advantage of local natural resources and necessary transport links. Almost inevitably, that industry fell into decline due largely to further
improvements in global transport links and much more cost effective methods of manufacturing far away from traditional areas of industry. Today, little remains of the old industry but that’s not to say that the town is in decline.
The town was designated as a new town in 1964 and with that came re-development. Some of the developments were successful exhibiting some quite cutting edge architecture but others rather less so including the Southgate Estate designed by the architect James Stirling and completed in 1977.
Locally, the estate was known as “Legoland” and although the model bricks produced by the Lego company of Denmark are still going strong, this development was demolished by 1992 as the flaws in the innovative design became apparent. We can cross reference this to the 1960s overspill estates referred to in a previous Turn Right at Mottram Roundabout.
The town today has a mix of light industry and distribution centres alongside the remnants of the former major industry. The town also acts as something of a dormitory town for other centres of employment which are not too far away in miles but can take an awful long time to get to by road. This latter point is well understood and improvements of both road and rail systems are ongoing.
The original football club which represented this town could trace its roots back to 1918 and became founder members of the Cheshire County League in the year of the formation of that League (1919). You will have noted that the use of the past tense suggests that this original club no longer exists and that is true although the spirit of it certainly does.
What we have today are two clubs representing the town. The one we are visiting today was formed in 1967 and took its original name from part of the industry which was still strong in the town at that time. Gradual progress has been made in the intervening years including a change of name to the one we know the club by today. And, in a reflection of the changes to the industrial landscape over the last 150 years or so, the view from the clubhouse is dominated by a modern, environmentally inspired, facility.
Quick Link - What links the origins of this club with the origins of the Northern League team Billingham Synthonia?
