Bolton is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, historically and traditionally a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th century, introducing a wool and cotton-weaving tradition. The urbanisation and development of the town largely coincided with the introduction of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution. Bolton was a 19th-century boomtown and, at its zenith in 1929, its 216 cotton mills and 26 bleaching and dyeing works made it one of the largest and most productive centres of cotton spinning in the world. The British cotton industry declined sharply after the First World War and, by the 1980s, cotton manufacture had virtually ceased in Bolton.
Westhoughton is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, 4 miles (6 km) southwest of Bolton, 5 miles (8 km) east of Wigan and 13 miles (21 km) northwest of Manchester.
Horwich is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is 5.3 miles (8.5 km) southeast of Chorley, 5.8 miles (9.3 km) northwest of Bolton and 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Manchester. It lies at the southern edge of the West Pennine Moors with the M61 motorway passing close to the south and west. At the 2011 Census, Horwich had a population of 20,067.
Little Lever is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is 2.4 miles (3.9 km) southeast of Bolton, 1.9 miles (3.1 km) west of Radcliffe and 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Bury. In the 19th century, the population was employed in cotton mills, paper mills, bleach works, terracotta works, a rope works and numerous collieries.
Blackrod railway station serves the village of Blackrod, England, 6.5 miles north west of Bolton railway station. It is just 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) from the town centre of Horwich - closer than Horwich Parkway station.
Horwich Parkway is a railway station serving the town of Horwich and Middlebrook near Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. Located within the historic county of Lancashire the station is 16+1⁄4 miles (26.2 km) north west of Manchester Piccadilly on the Manchester to Preston commuter line. The station is close to Junction 6 of the M61 motorway which adds to its convenience as a park and ride railway station. It has digital information displays.
Farnworth railway station serves the town of Farnworth, in the Greater Manchester, England. The station underwent several name changes before the present name was adopted in 1974.
Horwich Works was a railway works built in 1886 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) in Horwich, near Bolton, in North West England when the company moved from its original works at Miles Platting, Manchester.
Rivington is a village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, occupying 2,538 acres. It is about 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Chorley and about 8+1⁄2 miles (13.7 km) northwest of Bolton. Rivington is a rural area consisting primarily of agricultural grazing land, moorland, with hill summits including Rivington Pike and Winter Hill within the West Pennine Moors. The area has a thriving tourist industry centred around reservoirs created to serve Liverpool in the Victorian era and Lever Park created as a public park by William Lever at the turn of the 20th century, with two converted barns, a replica of Liverpool Castle and open countryside. Rivington and its village had a population of 109 at the 2011 Census.
The West Pennine Moors is an area of the Pennines covering approximately 90 square miles (230 km2) of moorland and reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Middlebrook is a locality that spans the boundaries of Horwich and Lostock in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.
Lever Bank Bleach Works was a Bleach Works at Ladyshore, near Little Lever, Bolton. The works was owned by Thomas Ridgway & Sons. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would appear to be a direct descendant of this family.
Ainsworth Mill, Breightmet is a mercerising mill near the Breightmet neighborhood of Bolton, Greater Manchester. It was bought by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in the 1940s as an attempt to develop a cotton finishing presence.
Holy Trinity Church, commonly known as Horwich Parish Church, is a Grade II listed building in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Church of England parish church and part of the Deane deanery in the archdeaconry of Bolton, diocese of Manchester. Holy Trinity Church is now part of the United Benefice of Horwich and Rivington, which includes the other two Anglican churches in Horwich, St Catherine's Church and St Elizabeth's Church, and Rivington Anglican Church.
Robertson Buchanan (1770–1816) was a Scottish civil engineer from Glasgow.
Charles Taylor was a Manchester calico printer and dyer, who later became Secretary of the Society of Arts.
The Bolton and Preston Railway connected Bolton and Preston, in Lancashire, England. Its authorising Act of Parliament forbade its early completion to protect the North Union Railway and imposed other restrictions that limited the success of the B&PR. A change of route was authorised to by-pass the delay making it dependent on the goodwill of the NUR to reach Preston. The NUR saw the B&PR as a competitor and used underhand tactics to harm the success of the B&PR.
James Watt junior, FRS was a Scottish engineer, businessman and activist.
Joshua Routledge was an engineer and inventor of the early 19th century during the Industrial Revolution.
Horwich is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It contains 19 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. All the listed buildings are designated at Grade II, the lowest of the three grades, which is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest". The parish contains the town of Horwich and the surrounding countryside. It has an industrial heritage, including a bleach works, and a locomotive factory. The listed buildings include buildings surviving from the bleach works, a war memorial associated with the locomotive factory, houses and farmhouses, churches, a public house, a parish hall, a school, and a set of stocks.
