Ramsbottom

Coordinates: 53°38′54″N 2°19′00″W / 53.64833°N 2.31667°W / 53.64833; -2.31667
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For people with the surname Ramsbottom, see Ramsbottom (surname).

Ramsbottom
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBURY
Postcode districtBL0, BL8
Dialling code01706
PoliceGreater Manchester
FireGreater Manchester
AmbulanceNorth West
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Greater Manchester
53°38′54″N 2°19′00″W / 53.64833°N 2.31667°W / 53.64833; -2.31667

Ramsbottom is a

2011 census was 17,872.[2]

Historically in Lancashire, it is on the River Irwell in the West Pennine Moors,[3][4] 3.9 miles (6.3 km) northwest of Bury, and 12 miles (19 km) of Manchester. Its name is believed to derive from Old English ramm and botm, meaning 'valley of the ram'. Its Victorian architecture, Pennine landscape and industrial heritage, including the East Lancashire Railway, contribute to heritage tourism in the town.

History

Toponymy

The name either means 'ram's valley' from the Old English ramm, 'a ram' and botm, 'a valley' but could mean a 'wild garlic valley', with the first element representing the Old English hramsa meaning 'wild garlic'.[5] A record from 1324 recording the name as Ramesbothum is inconclusive.[6] The town was alternatively recorded as Ramysbothom in 1540.[7]

Early history

Evidence of prehistoric human activity has been discovered in the hills surrounding the town. Early records show that in Norman times Ramsbottom was part of the Forest of Rossendale. There are a number of Bronze Age burial sites around the town, the most notable of which is Whitelow Cairn, one mile (1.6 km) southeast of the town centre and three miles (4.8 km) north of Bury. The cairn was excavated by Bury Archaeological Group between 1960–62, under the leadership of Norman Tyson.[8] Finds include one main and seven secondary cremations, four in urns, dating to the mid Bronze Age. Artefacts found during the excavation are housed in Bury Museum.[9]

The early Anglo-Saxons who gave Ramsbottom its name progressively felled the woodland during the Middle Ages. Ramsbottom became an area of scattered woods, farmsteads, moorland and swamp with a small community of families until the late 18th century.

Industrial Revolution

Ramsbottom developed during the 19th century as a manufacturing and mill town on the road from Bury to Haslingden by the River Irwell, its suburbs stretched south to Hazelhurst and north to Stubbins.[10] Mills were built for spinning, weaving and printing. Square Mill was in its day innovative in combining many such processes under one roof.

With a readily available source of

urbanisation in the area, contributing to it becoming an important and populous mill town
.

The Grant Arms Hotel in Market Place was the home of William and Daniel Grant, 19th century industrialists closely associated with the rise of the town and reputed to be the inspiration for the Cheeryble brothers in

truck system.[12]
The Grant Arms Hotel closed in 2018 and is currently being developed as offices, this has now been completed to a high standard that compliments the area.

A network of roads and railways routed through Ramsbottom allowed for a series of diverse industries, including

calico-printing, cotton spinning, machine-making, rope-making and iron and brass founding
. Imports of foreign goods during the mid-20th century precipitated the decline of these sectors.

Governance

From the

Salford hundred in Lancashire.[13]
It was part of the Bury
Urban District. Parts of Bury Borough and Walmersley with Shuttleworth civil parish were added to the urban district in 1933. The urban district was dissolved in 1974 and the Central, East, South and West wards were included in Bury Metropolitan Borough and the remainder in the Rossendale District of Lancashire.[15]

Ramsbottom is part of the

Bury North
was lost back to the Conservatives, and it is now the most marginal constituency in England, with a majority of 105 votes.

Geography

Ramsbottom lies amongst the South Pennines

The Ramsbottom parish formed in 1844 was a mile and a quarter in length and about three-quarters of a mile in width in the Lower

Holcombe and to the east by Shuttleworth and Turn Village
.

The area is characterised by its position on the south side of the West Pennine Moors. The high ground rises sharply on either side of the town with Holcombe Moor, Harcles Hill and Bull Hill to the west and Top O' Th' Hoof, Harden Moor, Scout Moor and Whittle Hill to the east.

Transport

Rail

LMS 'Jinty' 0-6-0T
No. 47324 at Ramsbottom railway station

The railway arrived in Ramsbottom in 1846 when the

Manchester, Bury and Rossendale Railway Company built the railway from Bury to a junction with the Manchester and Bolton Railway and extended the line northwards to Rawtenstall and opened a railway station in the town centre. The line between Bury and Rawtenstall remained open to passengers until 1972 and for goods until 1980. This line is used by the East Lancashire Railway
, a modern heritage railway which opened in 1987.

Road

The district straddles the

Manchester Outer Ring Road
.

Landmarks

Peel Monument
in August 2022

The skyline is dominated by the

British police force. The tower stands 128 feet (39.0 m) tall on Holcombe Moor.[16] There are views over West Yorkshire, North Lancashire, Greater Manchester, North Wales and the Lancashire Plain. From the top of the tower it is possible to see Blackpool Tower
on a clear day.

Edward Allington's sculpture "Tilted Vase" in the centre of Ramsbottom

Ramsbottom is on the path of the Irwell Sculpture Trail. The "Tilted Vase" by Edward Allington, a sculpture both classical in shape to reflect the surrounding buildings but apparently bolted together to reflect the old industries, is located in Market Place. This piece of work, weighing around two tons and locally known as "the Urn" or "Urnie", was funded with £250,000 of National Lottery money.[17]

Nuttall Park is a large park with facilities for bowls, tennis, football and public events. The park hosts regular fun fairs and family events, and is a popular attraction with locals and tourists alike.

Education

In 1841, cotton mill owners, the Ashtons built a day school in Crow Lane which was used as a Sunday school and for church services.[18]

  • Edenfield CE Primary, Stubbins Community Primary, St Joseph's RC Primary, St Andrew's CE Primary, Hazelhurst County Primary, Emmanuel Holcombe CE Primary, Holcombe Brook Community Primary, Summerseat Methodist Primary, Peel Brow Primary.
  • Rossendale School founded in 1989 is a specialist residential and day school for children aged eight to 16 with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties.[19]
  • Woodhey High School
  • Darul Uloom Islamic College

Religion

St Andrew's Church, the oldest church in Ramsbottom, was built by the Grant family in 1834 as a

Scottish Presbyterian Church. In the 1860s a member of the Grant family deprived the congregation of its church and in 1869 offered the building to the Bishop of Manchester as an Anglican church. It became a mission church for St Paul's Church, Ramsbottom
until 1875 when it was consecrated as the Parish Church of St Andrew. In 1993 the church was refurbished and re-ordered and dedicated in 1994.[20] The Ashton brothers donated farm land as site for St Paul's Church which cost £3,400. It was consecrated in 1850.[18] The Anglican Churches in Ramsbottom are part of the Ramsbottom & Edenfield Team Ministry[21] comprising Christ Church
Roman Catholic Church, St Paul's CE Church and Darul Uloom Islamic College
.

  • St. Paul's CE Church
    St. Paul's CE Church
  • St. Andrew's CE Church
    St. Andrew's CE Church
  • St. Joseph's RC Church
    St. Joseph's RC Church
  • Dundee United Reformed Church
    Dundee United Reformed Church
  • Ramsbottom Pentecostal Church
    Ramsbottom Pentecostal Church

Sports

Ramsbottom Cricket Club plays in the Lancashire League. The team has included professional players such as Seymour Nurse (West Indies),[22] Chris Harris (New Zealand), Brad Hodge (Australia and Lancashire CCC), Ian Harvey (Australia and currently Derbyshire CCC), Ian Chappell (Australia) and Michael Clarke (Australia Captain). Its ground, close to Ramsbottom railway station, has a reputation as being one of the best and most picturesque in the North West of England.

Northern Premier League Division One North (level 8 in the Football League System
). They were crowned champions of the North West Counties League at the end of the 2011–12 season. The club's home games are played at its floodlit pitch, the Riverside Ground which has a capacity of 2,000, and is adjacent to the cricket ground.

Culture and community

Hundreds of people climb Holcombe Hill on

secular, with the public house at the bottom of Holcombe Hill attracting as many as 3,000 visitors leading to complaints from residents and restrictions being imposed by the council.[25]

Ye Olde Gamecock Show, an exhibition of

game fowl is held in the town on New Year's Day. The show was held at The Old Dun Horse from 1843 until it closed in 2010 and has since been hosted by the Ramsbottom branch of the Royal British Legion.[26] This competitive show replaced the annual cockfight that took place in the town square after the New Year Holcome Hunt.[27]
The exhibition, organised by the Holcombe Old English Game Fowl Club, is said to be the oldest
gamecock show in the world.[28]

The Summerseat Players, a registered charity run entirely not-for-profit, puts on five performances in each season, and performances by local schools and dance groups, and the company's youth theatre groups. The amateur dramatic group was formed in 1968, and performed at St Winifred's Church Hall in Summerseat. In 1990, with donations and loans from members and enthusiasts, the company purchased the Theatre Royal on Smithy Street in Ramsbottom.[29]

Ramsbottom hosts an annual

rhythm & blues festival. The now defunct pub the Corner Pin, was where the band Elbow played their first gig.[30]
The Ramsbottom Recorded Music Society was formed in 1967 to promote an interest and appreciation of music and meets bi-weekly on Thursday evenings at Christ Church Neighbourhood Centre.

Ramsbottom has three supermarkets:

Co-Op
, which originally opened in 2001), which also opened in 2009.

The Black Pudding Throwing World Championships are held annually at the Royal Oak (now the Oaks) pub on Bridge Street. Participants have to toss black puddings in an attempt to dislodge a stack of Yorkshire puddings on plinths on two levels (one for children, the other for adults). The winner is the one who dislodges most Yorkshire puddings in three attempts.[31]

TNT Express is found at the heart of Ramsbottom, with staff from all over Lancashire. Originally the office was based in Stubbins but moved to Railway Street following big cuts in 2017.

Notable people

Victoria Derbyshire, 2011

Sport

Media

The area is covered by the Bury Times, Lancashire Telegraph and Rossendale Free Press newspapers. News and sport in the area are covered by BBC Radio Lancashire and BBC Radio Manchester and by Rossendale Radio, a community radio station until it ceased broadcasts in March 2012. For free to air television the area is within the BBC North West and ITV Granada regions.

In 2015 the first

The Midland Hotel, Manchester
. This is an annual awards ceremony voted for by the listeners and community behind each podcast.

In 2014, a scene from A Monster Calls was filmed at the Ramsbottom railway station crossing.[33]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ What is going on in Ramsbottom?, archived from the original on 28 August 2010, retrieved 15 September 2010
  2. ^ "Town population 2011". Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  3. ^ Visiting West Pennine Moors- Food and Drink, archived from the original on 5 April 2011, retrieved 15 September 2010
  4. ^ GENUKI- Ramsbottom, Lancashire, retrieved 15 September 2010
  5. ^ Mills 1976, p. 124.
  6. ISBN 0-7475-0170-X
  7. ^ Nicolaisen, Gelling & Richards, The Names of Towns and Cities in Britain, p. 157.
  8. ^ "Whitelow Hill investigation history". Pastscape.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2008.
  9. ^ Historic England. "Whitelow Hill (45141)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 26 January 2008.
  10. ^ a b Farrer, William; Brownbill, J., eds. (1911), "Tottington", A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5, British History Online, pp. 143–150, retrieved 19 September 2010
  11. ^ Peacock, Doug. "Charles Dickens – writing from life". Cotton Times. Archived from the original on 20 July 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2007.
  12. ^ Aspin 1995, p. 111
  13. ^ a b Lewis, Samuel (1848), "Ramsbottom", A Topographical Dictionary of England, British History Online, pp. 633–638, retrieved 19 September 2010
  14. ^ Workhouse, Workhouses.org, retrieved 19 September 2010[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ Greater Manchester Gazetteer, Greater Manchester County Record Office, archived from the original on 18 July 2011
  16. ^ Bury Council reference to Peel Tower, Holcombe Moor Archived 1 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ "Tilted vase sees light of day". Lancashire Evening Telegraph. This is Lancashire. 6 August 1998. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  18. ^ a b St Paul, Ramsbottom and Edenfield Team Ministry, retrieved 20 September 2010[permanent dead link]
  19. ^ Rossendale School, ISBI.
  20. ^ St Andrew, Ramsbottom and Edenfield Team Ministry, retrieved 20 September 2010[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ Team ministry, Ramsbottom and Edenfield Team Ministry, retrieved 20 September 2010[permanent dead link]
  22. ^ "Cricketer of the Year 1967: Seymour Nurse". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. John Wisden & Co. 1967. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  23. ^ Woodcock, Thomas (1952). Haslingden: A Topographical History. Vol. 4. p. 55.
  24. ^ Easter Traditions Archived 24 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ Bury Council Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  26. ^ Britton, Paul (18 April 2010). "Bird show saved from extinction". Manchester Evening News. Manchester. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  27. ^ "Plenty to crow about". Bolton Evening News. Newsquest Media Group. 4 January 2000. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
  28. ^ "Ode was a hit at Beulah". Rossendale Free Press. M.E.N. Media. 13 January 2006. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
  29. ^ Summerseat Players Archived 9 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ Grimshaw, Jane (16 September 2009). "The Big Interview: Guy Garvey". Liverpool Confidential. Liverpool Confidential. Retrieved 25 September 2009.[permanent dead link]
  31. ^ Benjamin, Tui (9 September 2013). "Hundreds flock to World Black Pudding Throwing Championships in Ramsbottom". The Bolton News. The Bolton News. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  32. ^ "Speeding onto his driveway and throwing his top on the floor... the moments after Bugzy Malone punched two men in self defence". Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  33. ^ Bourne, Dianne (27 October 2014). "Sigourney Weaver movie A Monster Calls films in Ramsbottom". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 7 February 2023.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ramsbottom.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Ramsbottom.
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