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However there was a northern sector of the Cottonopolis city which was pre-dominantly concerned with bleaching and dyeing which are the most important finishing processes of manufacturing cotton fabrics. This northern sector or 'quarter' included the suburbs of Harpurhey, Crumpsall, Blackley, Moston and Collyhurst, which became a centre for the dyeing and bleaching industries because they were 'too far off and too dry for cotton mills...'; and the little cluster of Miles Platting, Clayton and Newton Heath which also had chemical and dye works. Collyhurst Collyhurst, famed during the earlier years of Cottonopolis for growing a 7ft 8ins (2.3metres) long cucumber in its local tea gardens, expanded rapidly during the latter part of the 19th century. Chemical works were built in Collyhurst Clough a short distance from the collieries. Collyhurst Dye Works stood near Dalton Street and there were three or four other dye works on the banks of the River Tib and a cotton worsted dye works on Crampton's Lane in Hendham Vale. The tea gardens closed in 1852 and workers housing was built on the site. The coming of the railways to Collyhurst , while improving transport facilities, did little for the local environment. 'Railways made heavy demands in Collyhurst, soaring brick viaducts were slung along the Irk Valley, adding gloominess and more pollution to the trapped atmosphere below...' (Revd. A.J.Dobbs, 1978). Harpurhey 'It was very pretty countryside close to Hendham Vale where the River Irk, then a clear stream full of fish, ran through woodlands full of wild hyacinths and meadows of daffodils and primroses...' Few people would recognise this description of Harpurhey today (2003). Harpurhey's fortunes began to change in 1812 when the Andrew family bought the whole of the Harpurhey lands. The family worked in the dyeing trade and their new dye works, which stood near Moss Brook, became very successful in the production of Turkey Red, a new red dye which did not run like the old madder reds. They also produced a new lilac print. Industry and consequently population increased rapidly in Harpurhey; so too did the building of worker's housing and the attendant social problems of the era. In 1836 one writer on Harpurhey complained of '...the drunkenness of slum-urbia...', highlighting the method by which too many workers tried to escape the awfulness of their day-to-day life. Crumpsall Crumpsall, as an outer northern boundary suburb, was affected later during the period of Cottonopolis than many of the other areas. It was on the edge of the dyeing and bleaching industries, although there was a printworks on Robin Hood Street and Crumpsall became home to ICI. In 1850 Joseph Johnson wrote of '...the pretty village of Crumpsall...' and another contemporary writer noted that '...Crumpsall was a pleasant country village unspoilt by industry and surrounded by fields in which wild flowers grow in profusion...' It was demand for workers housing which cast the shadow of the Industrial Revolution over Crumpsall. As more workers poured into Cottonopolis, pressure for accommodation grew. The neighbouring suburb of Cheetham expanded considerably during the latter half of the 19th century and the population overspill continued into Crumpsall. Within the space of just fourteen years (1897-1911) the population of Cheetham and Crumpsall more than doubled from 26,000 to 60,000. House building boomed. Farmland disappeared, along with the '...wild flowers which grow in profusion...', the salmon in the River Irk, and '...the brook in which watercress grew...' and Cottonopolis Crumpsall was born. Blackley Blackley was originally owned by the Byron family, ancestors of the colourful romantic 19th century poet, Lord Byron. Linen weaving had been a cottage industry since the 16th century when French immigrants escaping religious persecution had settled in the area. Heaton Mills were built for the dyeing and printing of textiles close to the remains of a weir built to supply a water driven corn mill near Hollow Lane; and a print works was built around 1816 on the former site of Blackley Hall on Valentines Brow near Rochdale Road's junction with Middleton Road. The Hall was said to be haunted by the ghost of a murdered housekeeper and her little black dog and the print works never prospered. However, like Crumpsall, Blackley escaped the worst excesses of Cottonopolis until the early years of the 20th century when the demand for housing led to a gradual build up of suburbanisation. Blackley boasts a unique souvenir of Cottonopolis because the façade of Manchester's first Town Hall (which stood on King Street and was demolished in 1912) stands in the grounds of Heaton Hall on the edge of Blackley. Moston Moston had a wild and romantic past in a picturesque setting that led Samuel Bamford (mill worker and poet who was one of the speakers at Peterloo) to write of it thus: 'the knight he rode east, t'wards uprising sun but the broad heaths of Moston lay silent and dun..' Cottonopolis however put an end to the silent broad heaths and any self respecting knight would have kept his distance. Since 1547 the Bowker family had owned part of Moston. Bowker comes from 'bowking' which is the washing and bleaching of linen and Moston inhabitants were earning a living from bleaching linen yarn as early as 1595. So, like neighbouring Harpurhey, Moston became specialised in the dyeing and bleaching processes during the years of Cottonopolis. By 1820 Moston Print and Dye Works stood close to the junctions of William's Road with St Mary's Road and shortly afterwards Dean Brook Dye Works was built near the convergence of Dean Brook and Moston Brook. Moston Mill, a cotton spinning mill, was built as late as 1910 but by then Cottonopolis was on the verge of the long sunset. In an ironic twist of fate the world's first digital computer system was built in Moston in 1950, an achievement which heralded the beginning of a new industrial revolution. Newton Heath There had been a cottage industry of linen weaving and bleaching since the 16th century in neighbouring Newton Heath as well as in Moston. Linen would be laid out to dry in the fields (known as a croft) after bleaching and anyone caught stealing from a bleaching croft could expect the worst. In 1798 a lad from Newton Heath was executed for stealing from a local bleaching croft. The building of the Rochdale canal in 1804 brought Cottonopolis to Newton Heath. There was already a silk mill in Newton Heath and this mill collaborated with the Monsall Dye Works to produce sarsnet, a soft silk fabric used for ribbons. Cotton spinning mills, silk/cotton/linen weaving mills and dye works sprang up along the banks of the Rochdale Canal and the nearby River Medlock. Farming collapsed as people flocked to work in the mills and 'scores of small cheap terraced houses were built to accommodate them...' particularly around the Oldham Road area. During the 1840s the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway built two main lines which ran through Newton Heath. In 1877 engine repair sheds and carriage works were also built in Newton Heath and the football team formed by the railway workers in 1878 eventually became Manchester United. Miles Platting Miles Platting is a small northern suburb, born a child of Cottonopolis, and tucked way between Ancoats, Newton Heath and Clayton. The earliest mention of Miles Platting is on map of 1820 and it lies in border territory between cotton spinning mills and the dyeing and bleaching industry. Consequently it was home to Hollands Mill, Victoria Mills and Ducie Mills; as well as to a chemical works and a tannery. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway lines which ran through Newton Heath also ran through Miles Platting where there were huge sidings. Queen Victoria's royal train passed through Miles Platting on its return journey after the Queen had opened the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894 and an eye-witness account survives from one of the excited laughing children who had gathered on Miles Platting station to wave to her as she passed. The lad said that although the Queen acknowledged them she did not smile and he thought her 'a bit of a sauerkraut!', a tongue-in-cheek reference to the German origins of the Queen and her husband, Prince Albert. The grimness of the millscapes may have depressed her but a smile would have cost her nothing compared to what it had cost Cottonopolis to lay the foundations for the wealth of her Empire. Clayton Clayton borders both Newton Heath and Miles Platting. An unexpected survival in Clayton is that of its black and white timbered, moated, medieval manor house, hidden away behind the church of St Cross. There were a number of chemical works in Clayton during the days of Cottonopolis. These included: Clayton Aniline Works (which made artificial aniline dyes) on Ashton New Road; Anderson's Chemical Works on Bank Street; Schofield's Chemical Works which stood by the Ashton Canal; and the Anchor Chemical Works. The chemicals used smelled terrible, '...an awful stink...'; and also, according to one description, from the Works '...came fumes sometimes strong enough to cause considerable discomfort through smarting and watering eyes...' (Frank Pritchard, 1988). In 1894 Newton Heath Football Club moved to a pitch on Bank Street and suffered badly from the toxic emissions of the chemical plants. Newton Heath F.C. changed its name in 1902 to Manchester United. GG View the Northern Quarter collection to find out more > |
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