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==Notable people==
==Notable people==
⚫
[[Beatrix Potter]] lived amongst textile factory workers in Bacup.<ref>{{harvnb|Hobsbawm|1996|p=228}}.</ref> Fashion designer [[Betty Jackson]] was born in Bacup in 1949. Her father owned a shoe factory in town. She is one of the United Kingdom's most acclaimed and well known fashion designers.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/lifestyle/2003/09/03/betty_jackson.shtml|publisher=bbc.co.uk|date=2003-09-03|accessdate=2009-10-28|title=Betty Jackson - the Bacup girl done good|first=Katie |last=Grimshaw}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Twenty-five years on, is Betty Jackson still a cut above?|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/twentyfive-years-on-is-betty-jackson-still-a-cut-above-464871.html|publisher=independent.co.uk|work=[[The Independent]]|accessdate=2009-10-28|date=2007-06-09|first=Susannah|last=Frankel}}</ref> [[Marc Pugh]] is a Bacup-born professional [[association football]]er.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.accringtonobserver.co.uk/sport/football/accrington_stanley/s/1137845_hereford_united_2_accrington_stanley_0|publisher=accringtonobserver.co.uk|title=Hereford United 2 Accrington Stanley 0|date=2009-09-24|accessdate=2009-10-28}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://www.rossendalefreepress.co.uk/sport/football/s/1151573_pughs_claret_dream|title=Pugh's Claret dream|publisher=rossendalefreepress.co.uk|date=2009-10-02|accessdate=2009-10-28}}</ref> Actors [[Sam Aston]] and [[Jennie McAlpine]], who play Chesney Battersby-Brown and Fiz Stape in the soap opera ''[[Coronation Street]]'', are natives of Bacup.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/leisure/tv/news/3828726.East_Lancashire_actors_star_in_Coronation_Street___s_special_DVD/|publisher=lancashiretelegraph.co.uk|title=East Lancashire actors star in Coronation Street’s special DVD|date=2008-11-07|accessdate=2009-10-28|work=[[Lancashire Telegraph]]}}</ref>
{{Main|List of people from Rossendale}}

⚫
[[Michael Davitt]] was an [[Irish people|Irish]] politician born in [[County Mayo]] in 1846 at the height of the [[Irish Potato Famine (1845–1849)|Great Famine]]. Davitt, a social campaigner and agitator for [[Irish Home Rule]], migrated with his family to Bacup in the 1850s where he spent is formative years.<ref>{{harvnb|Eagleton|1996|p=x}}.</ref> [[Beatrix Potter]] lived amongst textile factory workers in Bacup.<ref>{{harvnb|Hobsbawm|1996|p=228}}.</ref> Fashion designer [[Betty Jackson]] was born in Bacup in 1949. Her father owned a shoe factory in town. She is one of the United Kingdom's most acclaimed and well known fashion designers.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/lifestyle/2003/09/03/betty_jackson.shtml|publisher=bbc.co.uk|date=2003-09-03|accessdate=2009-10-28|title=Betty Jackson - the Bacup girl done good|first=Katie |last=Grimshaw}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Twenty-five years on, is Betty Jackson still a cut above?|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/twentyfive-years-on-is-betty-jackson-still-a-cut-above-464871.html|publisher=independent.co.uk|work=[[The Independent]]|accessdate=2009-10-28|date=2007-06-09|first=Susannah|last=Frankel}}</ref> [[Marc Pugh]] is a Bacup-born professional [[association football]]er.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.accringtonobserver.co.uk/sport/football/accrington_stanley/s/1137845_hereford_united_2_accrington_stanley_0|publisher=accringtonobserver.co.uk|title=Hereford United 2 Accrington Stanley 0|date=2009-09-24|accessdate=2009-10-28}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://www.rossendalefreepress.co.uk/sport/football/s/1151573_pughs_claret_dream|title=Pugh's Claret dream|publisher=rossendalefreepress.co.uk|date=2009-10-02|accessdate=2009-10-28}}</ref> Actors [[Sam Aston]] and [[Jennie McAlpine]], who play Chesney Battersby-Brown and Fiz Stape in the soap opera ''[[Coronation Street]]'', are natives of Bacup.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/leisure/tv/news/3828726.East_Lancashire_actors_star_in_Coronation_Street___s_special_DVD/|publisher=lancashiretelegraph.co.uk|title=East Lancashire actors star in Coronation Street’s special DVD|date=2008-11-07|accessdate=2009-10-28|work=[[Lancashire Telegraph]]}}</ref>
In 2007, the murder of Bacup resident [[Sophie Lancaster]] attracted media attention to the town from all around the world and the SOPHIE foundation was set up in memory of her.


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 17:09, 14 November 2009

Bacup
Yorkshire Street, Bacup's main throughfare
Population12,763 (2001 Census)
OS grid referenceSD868231
• London175 mi (282 km) SSE
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBACUP
Postcode districtOL13
Dialling code01706
PoliceLancashire
FireLancashire
AmbulanceNorth West
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Lancashire

Bacup (Template:PronEng)[1] is a town within the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, England. Isolated from major urban areas, Bacup is located high in the South Pennines, along Lancashire's eastern boundary with West Yorkshire. The town sits within a rural setting in the Forest of Rossendale, amongst the steep-sided upper-Irwell Valley, through which the River Irwell passes. It is 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of Rawtenstall, 6.4 miles (10.3 km) north of Rochdale and 21 miles (34 km) east of Preston. At the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, Bacup—which encompasses the outlying villages of Britannia, Stacksteads and Weir—had a population of 12,763.

In the late-20th century Bacup became part of the borough of Rossendale—at which time the town was suffering from chronic depopulation and urban decay with little in the way of infrastructural change in a century.[2] Nevertheless, Bacup's historic character, culture and festivities have encouraged the town's suburbanisation and redevelopment as a commuter town; English Heritage has proclaimed Bacup as the best preserved cotton town in England, and its town centre is designated as a conservation area for its special architectural qualities.

Toponymy

The name Bacup is derived from the Old English fūlbæchop. The Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names translates this as "muddy valley by a ridge", which remains a recognisably accurate description; the fūl- element, which meant "foul" or "muddy" was used in the earliest known reference to the area, in a charter by Robert de Lacey, around the year 1200, as used in the Middle English spelling fulebachope.[3] The prefix ful- was dropped from the toponym.[3] The -bæchop element is less clear, possibly meaning "ridge valley",[3] or else "back valley" referring to the locale's position at the back part of the Irwell Valley.[4][5]

Early history

Bacup and its hinterland has provided archeological evidence of human activity in the area during the Neolithic.[6][7] Anglo-Saxons settled in the Early Middle Ages, naming the area fūlbæchop, meaning "muddy ridge valley" in the Old English language. In the 10th century the Anglo-Saxons battled against Gaels and Norsemen at Broadclough in northern Bacup.[8][9][10] Medieval Bacup was an obscure and lightly populated chapelry linked with the parishes of Whalley and Rochdale, and divided between the townships of Newchurch and Spotland in the hundred of Blackburn. This chapelry spanned scattered hamlets and farmsteads spread across the hillsides and open moorland.

Industrial Revolution

The geology and topography of the village lent itself to urbanisation and domestic industries; primitive weavers' cottages, coal-pits and stonequarries were propelled by Bacup's natural supply of water power in the Early Modern period. The adoption of the factory system, which developed into the Industrial Revolution, enabled the transformation of Bacup from a small rural village into a mill town, populated by an influx of famillies attracted by Bacup's cotton mills, civic amenities and regional railway network. Locally sourced coal provided the fuel for industrial scale quarrying, cotton spinning and shoe making operations, stimulating the local economy. Bacup received a charter of incorporation in 1882, giving it honorific borough status and its own elected town government, consisting of a mayor, aldermen and councillors to oversee local affairs.

Bacup's boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution resulted in the town developing into a prosperous and thickly populated industrial area by early-20th century. But the Great Depression and the ensuing deindustrialisation of the United Kingdom largely eliminated Bacup's textile processing sector and economic prosperity.

Deindustrialisation and contemporary

Bacup followed the regional and national trend of deindustrialisation during the early and mid- 20th century; a process exacerbated by the closure of Bacup railway station in 1966. Bacup also experienced population decline; from 22,000 at the time of the United Kingdom Census 1911, to 15,000 at the United Kingdom Census 1971. Much of Bacup's infrastructure became derelict owing to urban decay, despite regeneration schemes and government funding. Shops became empty and others appeared tatty or downmarket. The houses along the main roads endured as the original terraces from Bacup's industrial age, but behind these, on the hillsides, are several notorious council estates.[2][11][12]

Nevertheless, records in 2005 show Bacup to have some of the lowest crime levels in the county,[13] and the relative small change to Bacup's infrastructure and appearance has given the town a "historic character and distinctive sense of place".[2] In 2007, the murder of Sophie Lancaster attracted media attention to the town and highlighted its urban blight and lack of amenities and regeneration.[11][14][15]

Governance

The coat of arms of the former Bacup Municipal Borough Council.

Lying within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire since the High Middle Ages, Bacup was a chapelry linked with the parishes of Whalley and Rochdale, and divided between the townships of Newchurch and Spotland in the hundred of Blackburn.[16]

Bacup's first local authority was a Local board of health established in 1863;[17] Bacup Local Board of Health was a regulatory body responsible for standards of hygiene and sanitation in the Bacup Urban Sanitary District. The area of the sanitary authority was granted a charter of incorporation in 1882, giving it honorific borough status and its own elected town government, consisting of a mayor, aldermen and councillors to oversee local affairs.[8][10][17][18] The Municipal Borough of Bacup became a local government district of the administrative county of Lancashire under the Local Government Act 1894, meaning it shared power with the strategic Lancashire County Council.[18] Under the Local Government Act 1972, the Municipal Borough of Bacup was abolished, and since 1 April 1974 Bacup has formed an unparished area of Rossendale, a local government district of the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire.[18]

Since 1983, Bacup has been represented in the House of Commons as part of the parliamentary constituency of Rossendale and Darwen, by Janet Anderson, a member of parliament belonging to the Labour Party.[19] Bacup had previously formed part of the Rossendale constituency.

Geography

The River Irwell at Weir in the rural north of Bacup.

At 53°42′14″N 2°11′56″W / 53.70389°N 2.19889°W / 53.70389; -2.19889Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (53.704°, -2.199°), 15.4 miles (24.8 km) north-northeast of Manchester city centre and 175 miles (282 km) north-northwest of central London, Bacup stands on the western slopes of the South Pennines, amongst the upper-Irwell Valley. The River Irwell, a 39-mile (63 km) long tributary of the River Mersey, runs southwesterly through Bacup towards Rawtenstall from its source by the town's upland outskirts at Weir.[20] The Irwell is mostly culverted in central Bacup but it is open in the suburbs.[20] Bacup is roughly 1,000 feet (305 m) above sea level;[21] the Dearplay area of Weir is 1,350 feet (411 m) above sea level;[20] Bacup town centre is 835 feet (255 m) above sea level.[8]

Bacup is surrounded by open moor and grassland on all sides with the exception of Stacksteads at the west which forms a continuous urban area with Waterfoot and Rawtenstall.[22][23] The major towns of Burnley and Accrington are to the north and northwest respectively; Todmorden, Walsden and the county of West Yorkshire are to the east; Rochdale and the county of Greater Manchester are to the south; Rawtenstall, from where Bacup is governed, is to the west. Areas and suburbs of Bacup include Britannia, Broadclough, Deerplay, Dulesgate, Stacksteads and Weir.[8][9][2][16]

Bacup experiences a temperate maritime climate, like much of the British Isles, with relatively cool summers and mild winters. There is regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year.

Landmarks

English Heritage, a public body responsible for the management and maintenance of England's significant historical architecture and archaeology, has proclaimed Bacup as the best preserved cotton town in England; the town centre has been designated a Conservation Area of Special Architectural and Historic Interest.[8][24][25] The majority of Bacup's culturally significant architecture is in the Victorian period, but there are older buildings of note are Fearns Hall (1696), Forest House (1815) and the 18th century Stubbylee Hall.[10] The Bacup Natural History Society Museum was formed in 1878.[citation needed]

Bacup is home to the 17 ft (5.2 m) long Elgin Street which held the record as the shortest street in the world until November 2006, when it was surpassed by Ebenezer Place, in the Scottish Highlands.[26]

Transport

A Rossendale Transport bus in Bacup town centre.

The Rochdale and Facit Railway was extended to Bacup in 1883. It rose over a summit of 967 feet (295 m) between Britannia and Shawforth. At Bacup passengers used the terminus opened 30 years earlier by the East Lancashire Railway, joining the Rossendale line just outside the station. Closed in 1947.[27]

Culture and community

The Britannia Coconut Dancers are an English folk dance troupe based in Bacup.

The key date in Bacup's cultural calendar is Easter Saturday, when the Britannia Coconut Dancers beat the bounds of the town via a dance procession. This has been described as 'the most astounding dance occasion in the entire Custom Calendar'. [28] Britannia Coconut Dancers are an English country dance troupe from Bacup whose routines are steeped in local folk tradition. They wear distinctive costumes and have a custom of blackening their faces. The origin of the troupe is claimed to have its roots Moorish, pagan, medieval, mining and Cornish customs.[29] The Easter Saturday procession begins annually at the Travellers Rest Public House on the A671 road. The dancers are accompanied by members of Stacksteads Silver Band and proceed to dance their way through the streets.[29] Their two dances are the Garland Dance and the Nut Dance. The 'nuts' are wooden discs, which are worn on the dancers' hands, knees and belts and are struck in time to the music.[30]

Bacup Muesum is local history hub and exhibition centre in Bacup. The Bacup Natural History Society was formed in 1878. The work of the society is carried out by a group of volunteers who have a base in the Bacup Museum which contains an idiosyncratic collection.[citation needed]

Notable people

Beatrix Potter lived amongst textile factory workers in Bacup.[31] Fashion designer Betty Jackson was born in Bacup in 1949. Her father owned a shoe factory in town. She is one of the United Kingdom's most acclaimed and well known fashion designers.[32][33] Marc Pugh is a Bacup-born professional association footballer.[34][35] Actors Sam Aston and Jennie McAlpine, who play Chesney Battersby-Brown and Fiz Stape in the soap opera Coronation Street, are natives of Bacup.[36]

In 2007, the murder of Bacup resident Sophie Lancaster attracted media attention to the town from all around the world and the SOPHIE foundation was set up in memory of her.

References

Footnotes
  1. ^ Miller 1971, p. 8.
  2. ^ a b c d Willmott, Alex (2007-07-24), "Joint fight to get Bacup back on its feet", Lancashire Telegraph, lancashiretelegraph.co.uk, retrieved 2009-10-27
  3. ^ a b c Mills 2003, p. 28.
  4. ^ Fenton 2006, p. 5.
  5. ^ Cameron 1961, p. 182.
  6. ^ Monument No. 45228, pastscape.org.uk, retrieved 2009-10-27
  7. ^ Monument No. 887154, pastscape.org.uk, retrieved 2009-10-27
  8. ^ a b c d e Manchester City Council, Helmshore Mills, spinningtheweb.org.uk, retrieved 2009-10-28
  9. ^ a b Whitworth Town Council, Whitworth Then, whitworth.gov.uk, retrieved 2009-10-28
  10. ^ a b c Rossendale Borough Council, A Brief History of Rossendale; Bacup, rossendale.gov.uk, p. 2
  11. ^ a b Hodkinson, Mark (2008-09-03), "United in the name of tolerance", The Guardian, guardian.co.uk, retrieved 2009-11-11
  12. ^ Bacup Left to Rot, rossendalefreepress.co.uk, retrieved 2009-11-11
  13. ^ http://www.rossendalefreepress.co.uk/news/s/506864_bacup_crime_levels_lowest_in_county
  14. ^ Korn, Helen, Bacup is the same as any town, thisislancashire.co.uk, retrieved 2009-11-11
  15. ^ Balakrishnan, Angela (2008-10-29), "Goth murderer wins shorter sentence", The Guardian, guardian.co.uk, retrieved 2009-11-11
  16. ^ a b Lewis 1848, pp. 124–128.
  17. ^ a b A select gazetteer of local government areas, Greater Manchester County, Greater Manchester County Record Office, 2003-07-31, retrieved 2007-06-20
  18. ^ a b c "Relationships / unit history of BACUP", Great Britain Historical GIS, visionofbritain.org.uk, retrieved 2009-10-27
  19. ^ "Rossendale and Darwen", The Guardian, guardian.co.uk, retrieved 2009-11-11
  20. ^ a b c Sellers 1991, pp. 265–268.
  21. ^ "Bacup, United Kingdom", Global Gazetteer, Version 2.1, Falling Rain Genomics, Inc, retrieved 2009-10-28
  22. ^ Office for National Statistics (2001), Census 2001:Key Statistics for urban areas in the North; Map 3 (PDF), statistics.gov.uk, retrieved 2008-04-22
  23. ^ Office for National Statistics (2001), Census 2001:Key Statistics for urban areas in the North; Map 9 (PDF), statistics.gov.uk, retrieved 2009-10-28
  24. ^ Rossendale Borough Council, Towns and Villages, rossendale.gov.uk, retrieved 2009-10-27
  25. ^ Freethy, Ron (2007-07-24), "Tourist guide to Bacup", Lancashire Telegraph, lancashiretelegraph.co.uk, retrieved 2009-10-27
  26. ^ "Street measures up to new record", BBC News, news.bbc.co.uk, 1 November 2006, retrieved 2008-08-09 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  27. ^ http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1371976
  28. ^ National Trust Guide to Traditional Customs of Britain pp.45; Brian Shuel; Webb & Bower 1985; ISBN 0-86350-051-X
  29. ^ a b The History of the Britannia Coconut Dancers, coconutters.co.uk, 2005, retrieved 2009-11-11
  30. ^ Once a Year, Some Traditional British Customs pp. 40-41; Homer Sykes; Gordon Fraser, London 1977; ISBN 0 900406 68 2
  31. ^ Hobsbawm 1996, p. 228.
  32. ^ Grimshaw, Katie (2003-09-03), Betty Jackson - the Bacup girl done good, bbc.co.uk, retrieved 2009-10-28
  33. ^ Frankel, Susannah (2007-06-09), "Twenty-five years on, is Betty Jackson still a cut above?", The Independent, independent.co.uk, retrieved 2009-10-28
  34. ^ Hereford United 2 Accrington Stanley 0, accringtonobserver.co.uk, 2009-09-24, retrieved 2009-10-28
  35. ^ Pugh's Claret dream, rossendalefreepress.co.uk, 2009-10-02, retrieved 2009-10-28
  36. ^ "East Lancashire actors star in Coronation Street's special DVD", Lancashire Telegraph, lancashiretelegraph.co.uk, 2008-11-07, retrieved 2009-10-28
Bibliography
  • Cameron, Kenneth (1961), English Place Names, Taylor & Francis
  • Eagleton, Terry (1996), Heathcliff and the Great Hunger: Studies in Irish Culture, Verso, ISBN 9781859840276
  • Fenton, Mary C. (2006), Ashgate, ISBN 9780754657682 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Text "Milton's places of hope: spiritual and political connections of hope with land" ignored (help)
  • Hobsbawm, Eric (1996), The Age of Capital: 1848-1875, ISBN 978-0679772545
  • Lewis, Samuel (1848), A Topographical Dictionary of England, Institute of Historical Research, ISBN 978-0-8063-1508-9
  • Miller, G. M. (1971), BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names, Oxford University Press
  • Mills, A. D. (2003), A Dictionary of British Place-Names, USA: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0198527589
  • Sellers, Gladys (1991), Walking the South Pennines, Cicerone Press, ISBN 9781852840419
  • Shuel, Brian (1985), National Trust Guide to Traditional Customs of Britain, Webb & Bower, ISBN 0-86350-051-X
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