East Lancashire Railway is a 12.5-mile (20 km) heritage railway line in North West England which runs between Heywood, Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. There are intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street, Burrs Country Park, Summerseat and Ramsbottom, with the line crossing the border into Rossendale serving Irwell Vale and Rawtenstall. Before closure, the line terminated at Bacup.
Rossendale is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The council is based in Bacup and the largest town is Rawtenstall. The borough also includes the towns of Haslingden and Whitworth, along with several villages and surrounding rural areas. The borough is located in and named after the Rossendale Valley, being the upper part of the valley of the River Irwell.
Reddish is an area in Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. 4.6 miles (7.4 km) south-east of Manchester city centre. At the 2011 census, the population was 28,052. Historically part of Lancashire, Reddish grew rapidly in the Industrial Revolution and still retains landmarks from that period, such as Houldsworth Mill, a former textile mill.
Haslingden is a town in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. It is 16 miles (26 km) north of Manchester. The name means 'valley of the hazels' or 'valley growing with hazels'. At the time of the 2011 census the town had a population of 15,969. The town is surrounded by high moorland; 370 m (1215 ft) to the north; 396 m (1300 ft) Cribden to the east; 418 m (1372 ft) Bull Hill to the south.
Castleton is an area of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, 1.2 miles (1.9 km) south-southwest of Rochdale town centre and 8 miles (13 km) north-northeast of the city of Manchester.
Ramsbottom is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 17,872.
Tottington is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury in Greater Manchester, England, on the edge of the West Pennine Moors.
Edenfield is a village within the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, England. Lying on the River Irwell, it is around 1.25 miles (2.0 km) north of Ramsbottom, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of Rawtenstall, and 6.0 miles (9.7 km) west of Norden, and has a total population of 2,080, reducing to 2,053 at the 2011 Census.
Rawtenstall is a town in the borough of Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The town lies 15 miles/24 km north of Manchester, 22 miles/35 km east of Preston and 45 miles/70 km south east of the county town of Lancaster. The town is at the centre of the Rossendale Valley. It had a population of 23,000.
Whitworth is a town and civil parish in Rossendale, Lancashire, England, amongst the foothills of the Pennines between Bacup, to the north, and Rochdale, to the south. It had a population of 7,500 at the 2011 Census.
Ramsbottom railway station is a heritage station serving the town of Ramsbottom in Greater Manchester, England.
Helmshore is a village in the Rossendale Valley, Lancashire, England, south of Haslingden between the A56 and the B6235, 16 miles (26 km) north of Manchester. The population at the 2011 census was 5,805. The housing in Helmshore is mixed, with some two-up, two-down terraces, top-and-bottom houses and a few surviving back-to-back cottages. Between the 1970s and 2020 new housing estates have proliferated.
Chatterton is a small village in the southern part of the Rossendale Valley, Lancashire, England.
Strongstry is a small hamlet in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The hamlet is only accessible by an unadopted road running through a factory. It is accessible on several walking routes. For local government purposes, it receives services from Rossendale Borough Council and Lancashire County Council. Nearby are the village of Stubbins and the hamlet of Chatterton. The East Lancashire Railway runs through Strongstry, but there is no station there.
There is evidence of activity around Reddish – a settlement in Greater Manchester, England – before the Norman conquest in the presence of Nico Ditch and some Saxon coins. The recorded history of Reddish begins at the turn of the 13th century when it was documented as "Redich". Reddish remained a predominantly rural settlement throughout the medieval period, but expanded to become a mixed industrial and residential area during the 19th century. It developed rapidly during the Industrial Revolution, and still retains landmarks from that period, such as Houldsworth Mill.
The Alden Valley is a small valley on the eastern edge of the West Pennine Moors, west of Helmshore in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. In the 14th century it was part of the Earl of Lincoln's hunting park. By 1840 it was home to about twenty farms, largely involved in cattle rearing, although most inhabitants were also involved with the production of textiles, which quickly developed during the Industrial Revolution into the building of textile mills. These have now been demolished and the valley is dominated by sheep grazing, with three working farms and a number of smallholdings.
Irwell Vale is a village within the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, in North West England. which lies at the confluence of the River Ogden and River Irwell.
Hoddlesden is a village in the borough of Blackburn with Darwen, in Lancashire, England. The village population at the 2011 census was 1,239. It is in the borough's East Rural ward, and is situated east of Darwen. To the north there are the parishes of Eccleshill and Yate and Pickup Bank, to the east there is Haslingden Grane, part of the West Pennine Moors, and to the south-west there is Blacksnape, a small hamlet.
Broadclough – historically Broad Clough – is a village located to the north of Bacup, previously having been a part of the old borough of Bacup and now with Rossendale borough of Lancashire and part of the Greenclough Ward. It is part of the Rossendale and Darwen constituency, with Jake Berry having been the Member of Parliament since 2010. Like much of Bacup, Broadclough is rapidly becoming a commuter area for cities and towns such as Manchester, Burnley, Accrington, Preston, Blackburn, Rochdale.
St. Anne's on the Sea Land and Building Company was formed in 1874 and played an integral part in the development of the new town of St.Anne's on the Sea from 1875. The company had its roots in the Rossendale area and the most significant investor was William John Porritt, a woollen manufacturer from Helmshore. His money contributed to the building of St Anne's and restored confidence in the project after some early problems.
