Barnoldswick

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Barnoldswick
Barnoldswick (Lancashire)
Barnoldswick

Barnoldswick shown within Lancashire
Population 12,000
OS grid reference SD875465
District Pendle
Shire county Lancashire
Region North West
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town BARNOLDSWICK
Postcode district BB18
Dialling code 01282
Police Lancashire
Fire Lancashire
Ambulance North West
European Parliament North West England
UK Parliament Pendle
List of places: UK • England • Lancashire

Coordinates: 53°54′53″N 2°11′22″W / 53.9147, -2.1895

Barnoldswick (colloquially known as Barlick) is a town and civil parish within the West Craven area of the Pendle district of Lancashire, England just outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The town is built in the shadow of Weets Hill, and Stock Beck, a tributary of the River Ribble runs through the town.

Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and nestling on the lower slopes of Weets Hill in the Pennines astride the natural watershed between the Ribble and Aire valleys, Barnoldswick is the highest town on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal,[citation needed] in-between Clitheroe in Lancashire and Skipton in North Yorkshire, and approximately 30 miles from the cities of Leeds, Manchester and Preston.

Barnoldswick is one of the longest place names in the United Kingdom without repeating any letters. Buckfastleigh in Devon is longer with 13 letters.

Contents

[edit] History

Barnoldswick dates back to Viking times. It was listed in Domesday Book as Bernulfsuuick, meaning Bernulf's Town (uuic being an archaic spelling of wick, meaning settlement). [1] [2]

A Cistercian monastery was founded there in 1147 by monks from Fountains Abbey. However they left after six years, before construction was complete, driven out by crop failures and locals unhappy at their interference in the affairs of the local church. They went on to build Kirkstall Abbey. They returned after another ten years to build the isolated church of St Mary-le-Gill close to Barnoldswick to Thornton in Craven road.

For hundreds of years Barnoldswick remained a small village, however the arrival of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, and later the (now closed) railway, spurred the development of the existing woolen industry, and helped it to become a major cotton town. The engine of the last mill, Bancroft Mill, has been preserved and is now open as a tourist attraction - a 600HP steam engine which still can operate.[3]

[edit] Governance

From 1899 until 1974, Barnoldswick lay within the administrative county of the West Riding of Yorkshire (although Blackburnshire in Lancashire sometimes claimed the area [4] [5] [6]. More informally, post used to be addressed via Colne, Lancashire, to addresses in Barnoldswick - prior to 1974. Barnoldswick also had a Burnley telephone code when it was in Yorkshire. However, following the Local Government Act 1972, Barnoldswick was, along with a number of Yorkshire villages, including Earby, Waddington and Gisburn, transferred to the Pendle district of the Non-metropolitan county of Lancashire in 1974.

At present Barnoldswick[7] has a Town Parish Council that is part of the West Craven Area Committee on Pendle Borough Council.[8] [9]

[edit] Local Media

Barnoldswick is only served by TV from Leeds; ITV (Yorkshire Television) and BBC North are both transmitted from the TV mast at East Marton, 3 miles north-east of Barnoldswick.[10] Despite being in Lancashire, Weets Hill completely blocks the reception of TV from any transmitter for the North-West regional TV BBC North West and ITV (Granada Television). Radio reception is also restricted in the town. The BBC has a low power relay close by that has the four main BBC national FM radio stations (Radio 1 to 4), but there is no local FM radio station in the area.[11] Fresh Radio[12] in Skipton claims to cover the area on MW 1413KHz.

The local press is published twice weekly; the Barnoldswick and Earby Times is published on Fridays and the Pendle Express is published on Tuesdays. Some of the Yorkshire press is circulated in the area - due to the geographical anomaly. The Craven Herald & Pioneer and Yorkshire Post newspapers are prominent.

[edit] Local Industry

Rolls Royce plc is a large employer based in the town. It was originally a Rover (car) plant that Rolls Royce purchased in 1943.[13] The model number of many Rolls Royce jet engines start with the initials RB (eg. RB199) which stands for Rolls Barnoldswick, as Rolls Royce aero's design centre is situated in Barnoldswick.[14]

Besides Rolls Royce being a major employer based in the town, Silentnight, part of the Silentnight Group; which produces beds and mattresses at several sites across the UK, is also a large employer, with the head office and manufacturing premises in the town.[15] [16]

[edit] Education

Barnoldswick is served by four primary schools; Gisburn Road, Church School and Coates Lane are mainstream schools, whilst St. Joseph's caters to the town's Catholic poulation. Most secondary age students attend West Craven High Technology College, a Technology specialist school situated in Barnoldswick itself, though a significant minority of students attend Fisher More RC School in Colne, and the Skipton Grammar Schools, Ermysted's and Skipton Girl's High School.

[edit] Transport

Barnoldswick is often cited as the largest town in the British Isles not to be served by any A-roads. However, in spite of this, road links to the town are comparatively good; easy access to the M65, A650 and A59 means that Manchester, Preston, Leeds, Bradford and York can all be reached in an hour by car. Barnoldswick was formerly served by Barnoldswick railway station, the only station on the Midland Railway's branch line off the Skipton to Colne Line, though this was shut under the Beeching Axe in 1965. The pressure group Selrap is currently campaigning for the reopening of the Skipton to Colne line, and although their plans do not include the Barnoldswick Branch, rail travel to the town would be improved by such a reopening. At present, would-be rail passengers must travel to Colne railway station or Skipton railway station. Public transport to the town is therefore restricted to buses. Pennine services from Burnley to Skipton operate every hour, and there are three buses per hour operated by Burnley & Pendle to Colne, Nelson, Burnley and beyond. An infrequent service to Clitheroe and Preston also exists. Manchester Airport and Leeds Bradford Airport are the nearest airports.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Barnoldswick History
  2. ^ Early History of Barnoldswick
  3. ^ Bancroft Mill
  4. ^ Monks' Lands at Barnoldswick
  5. ^ Local Area History
  6. ^ House of Kirkstall history
  7. ^ About Barnoldswick
  8. ^ Barnoldswick Town Council
  9. ^ West Craven Committee (Pendle Borough Council)
  10. ^ Craven/Skipton Area TV Transmitter
  11. ^ Local BBC FM Transmitter
  12. ^ Fresh Radio Website
  13. ^ North West Development Agency Press Release 2006
  14. ^ LCC Lancashire Aerospace Heritage
  15. ^ Silentnight Group Website
  16. ^ Silentnight Beds Website

[edit] External links

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