Bolton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bolton is a large town in the north-west of England. Located close to the West Pennine Moors, it is the largest settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester,[1] and has a total population of 139,403.
Historically part of Lancashire, Bolton rose to prominence during the 19th century as a mill town centred on textile manufacture and cotton spinning. At its zenith it was one of the largest and most productive centres of cotton manufacture in the world.
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[edit] Geography and administration
[edit] Civic history
In the early 19th century Bolton was split into Great Bolton and Little Bolton with Little Bolton being approximately the area North of the River Croal. The ancient parish of Bolton-le-Moors covered a much wider area including many other townships.
On 11 January 1838 a Charter of Incorporation was drawn up by the councils of Little Bolton and Great Bolton: on that day Bolton was incorporated as a municipal borough under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The election was held on 30 November 1838 and Mr. Charles James Darbishire became the first mayor. Other outlying areas were incorporated into Bolton later in the 19th century - Rumworth in 1872 and in 1877 Tonge with Haulgh and Halliwell. The two parts of Bolton continued to be known as Great Bolton and Little Bolton at least until the end of the 19th century.
[edit] History
[edit] Etymology
The town's name, (in full, Bolton-le-Moors) has been recorded over the years with many derivations of spelling including Bothelton, Boulton and Bolton-super-Moras. However, the exact origins are not totally clear from historical records. [1], [2]. There have been three main hypotheses - one is that because of its location in the valleys of confluencing moorland rivers, it is derived from "Bowl Town" - another suggesting it is a derivation from the Saxon words "bolt" and "tun", meaning "arrow" and "stockade" respectively.[3] A final suggestion is from the words "boul" and "town", where boul means a monument or central feature, though the boul itself is unidentified.
[edit] Early history
Evidence of a Saxon settlement exists in the form of religious objects found when the present Victorian parish church was built.[citation needed]
The town was given a Charter to hold a market in Churchgate in 1251 by King Henry III of England. [4]
[edit] Textile manufacture
The town's position on the west of the Pennines provides a damp climate. It is this feature which probably led to Flemish weavers, fleeing the Huguenot persecutions in the 17th century, to eventually settle here, as moisture-laden air allows for the spinning of cotton with little breakage. The cotton industry was to provide the catalyst for the town's expansion between the 14th and 19th centuries. Large, steam-powered textile mills eventually dominated the town's skyline, providing the major employment and defining the rhythm of the working week, so much so that an annual shut-down for maintenance in late June became the Bolton Holidays. There were also some large iron foundries in the town as well as other engineering works, many connected with the cotton industry.
Bolton was Worktown in the Mass-Observation project which has left us with many photographs taken around the town by Humphrey Spender as part of that project.[5]
[edit] Demographics
The following table outlines the total population of the whole borough since 1801.
| Year | 1801 | 1821 | 1851 | 1871 | 1901 | 1921 | 1951 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 37,417 | 60,319 | 105,957 | 158,917 | 240,014 | 263,413 | 251,388 | 255,627 | 259,993 | 260,229 | 262,880 | 261,035 | |
| Source: Vision of Britain | |||||||||||||
According to the 2001 UK Census [6] , of the 261,035 people living in Bolton, the following ethnicities have been recorded:
[edit] Present day
[edit] Industry and commerce
In recent times, the town has swapped much of its heavy industrial machinery for service-based activities including a large number of data processing and call centres and also hi-tech electronics and IT companies. It is a mecca for shoppers from all over the north of England and further afield, not only to the Victorian splendour of the town centre but to newly-developed Middlebrook retail park, home to Bolton Wanderers, the Bolton Arena, leisure facilities, shops, pubs, restaurants and sundry other businesses. The town retains a variety of more traditional industries, employing people in, amongst other things, aerospace, paper-manufacturing, packaging, textiles, transportation, steel foundries and building materials. The area of Horwich around Middlebrook has been designated by Bolton Council as the `Bolton Economic Development Zone', and is currently seeing much building work, predominantly office space for law firms and business headquarters.
Tourism plays an important part of the local economy, with visitor attractions such as Hall i' th' Wood (the home of inventor Samuel Crompton), Smithills Country Park and Smithills Hall, Rivington, Last Drop Village, Barrow Bridge mill village, Bolton Steam Museum and the civic museums in the town centre. Residents and visitors alike can make use of the facilities at Leverhulme, Moss Bank and Queen's parks.
Bolton is the birthplace of the Reebok brand. The company's European headquarters are located in the town. Bolton is also the home of the family bakery, Warburton's, who began their business in 1876 on Blackburn Road in Bolton. As well as this Bolton is home to MBDA's main production facility in Horwich.
[edit] Society
According to a survey of the British Association for the Advancement of Science Boltonians are the friendliest people in Britain.[2][3]
Bolton is one of the more deprived boroughs in England according to the Indices of Deprivation 2000. It is the 28th most deprived in England in terms of numbers of people who are income deprived. A third of the borough's population lives in seven wards which are amongst the 10% most deprived in England. Despite this, Bolton is currently experiencing much attention and is experiencing an influx of people, leading to property prices increasing faster than most other parts of the UK. The borough already contains traditional and also increasingly affluent areas including Heaton, Horwich, Harwood and Smithills.
On February 13, 2003, Bolton was granted Fairtrade Town status.
Bolton's oldest public house is Ye Olde Man and Scythe, dating from 1251 - one of the oldest remaining public houses in England.
[edit] Sport
Bolton has a Premiership football club called Bolton Wanderers F.C. who play their home games at the Reebok Stadium, and are managed by Sam Allardyce. Bolton Wanderers qualified for the UEFA Cup by finishing sixth in the Premiership in 2004/05, but were knocked out by Olympique de Marseille after a 2-1 defeat. In 2005/06 Bolton finished eighth in the Premiership. Indoor facilities for sports training and major racket sports tournaments are provided courtesy of the newly-built Bolton Arena, which was used for some of the events in the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth games. Bolton is also home to one of the North West's largest Field Hockey Clubs (Bolton Hockey Club)
[edit] Arts
Bolton has an acclaimed theatre called The Octagon along with many small, independent groups such as Bolton Little Theatre, Farnworth Little Theatre and the Phoenix Theatre Company. Inside the town hall there is also a large theatre and conference complex called The Albert Halls[7], named after the prince consort, Prince Albert, who opened the building on June 5, 1873.
Visual arts are also represented in Bolton via Bolton Museum and Art Gallery [8] which boasts a fine collection of both local and international art.
Le Mans Crescent, (currently home to the library, museum, art gallery, aquarium, police station, magistrates' court and town hall) is to be at the centre of a new Cultural Quarter. This area will no longer house the police station and magistrates' court; instead the library and museum are to be extended into these sections of the building, along with other new cultural projects. These works are to take place during a large-scale expansion and improvement project, which is set to more than double the size of the current town centre and improve its appearance, infrastructure and amenities.
[edit] Transport
Given its proximity to Manchester, Bolton is well served in terms of both the local road network and national routes. The A6, a major north-south trunk road, passes through Hunger Hill and Westhoughton. The A666 (sometimes referred to as `The Devil's Highway' because of the numeric designation) is a 4-lane dual carriageway which acts as a spur from the large M61/M60 motorway interchange, carrying traffic to and from the town centre. The M61 itself has 3 dedicated junctions serving the borough.
Bolton is served by the National Express coach network.
Bolton is located on the Manchester loop of the West Coast Mainline and as such is served by Virgin West Coast trains passing through Manchester Picadilly station. There are regular commuter services between most of the local stations and Manchester. The Bolton metropolitan area is served by the following railway stations:
- Bolton Trinity Street - a town-centre transport interchange
- Bromley Cross
- Hall i' th' Wood
- Blackrod
- Horwich Parkway (for the Reebok Stadium - Bolton Wanderers FC)
- Lostock
- Westhoughton
- Moses Gate
- Farnworth
- Kearsley
[edit] Education
Bolton is home to a leading independent day school, Bolton School, whose Boys' Division originated in around 1516. It was endowed by Robert Lever in 1641 and again by William Hesketh Lever (later Lord Leverhulme) in 1898, allowing it to be rebuilt alongside a new Girls' Division on its current site in Chorley New Road.
Bolton also has its own modern university, the University of Bolton. Formerly Bolton Institute of Higher Education, it finally gained university status in 2005 and has seen much building work and growth since.
The town also contains a host of primary and secondary schools such as Canon Slade School, Thornleigh Salesian College, and Turton High School Media Arts College (motto: Integrity and Honour), although some are in special measures. Bolton also has a community college which provides further education to many in the borough and has many sites throughout, as well as Bolton Sixth Form College, which comprises North and South campuses.
Harper Green School is also located in Bolton. Harper Green is home to the Alan Ball Sports Hall, as well as the Peter Kay Drama Complex. Peter Kay also filmed a music video at Harper Green with the Scottish band Texas.
The Bolton Teaching and Learning Centreserves schools as a central point for online materials.
[edit] Media
Local radio is provided by Tower FM, a station which broadcasts across Bolton and Bury.
The town's local daily newspaper is The Bolton News, formerly known as the Bolton Evening News. There are weekly free papers, such as the Bolton Journal and Bolton Council's free monthly newspaper, Bolton Scene.
The town falls under the Granada ITV television region, and North West BBC region, both served by the Winter Hill transmitter in Belmont, just to the north-west of the town.
[edit] Bolton in Popular Culture
Bolton is referenced in the famous Monty Python's Flying Circus Dead Parrot sketch, in which it is the location of the shopkeeper's brother's pet shop. The shopkeeper's brother (played by Michael Palin), incorrectly describes the town as Ipswich. On being challenged by Mr Praline (played by John Cleese), Palin's character defends himself, claiming (wrongly) that Ipswich is a palindrome of Bolton. Cleese's character retorts, "It's not a palindrome. The palindrome of Bolton would be Notlob. It don't work." As a consequence, Bolton is sometimes humorously nicknamed, "Notlob"[citation needed].
[edit] Twin Towns
[edit] Local Groups
Bolton has over 1,000 voluntary and community groups working in the area. Contacts for some of these groups can be found at Bolton Groups Online. The Bolton District Council For Voluntary Service is online and people seeking voluntary work can apply.
Bolton Children's Services Authority was formed on September 1, 2005.
[edit] Famous people linked with Bolton
- Alyn Ainsworth - band leader
- Monica Ali - author - born East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) - pupil of Bolton School
- Hylda Baker - born in Farnworth - comedienne, music hall star and TV personality
- Alan Ball - born in Farnworth - professional footballer - member of the 1966 Football World Cup winning side
- Johnny Ball - broadcaster
- Danny Boyle - film director, born in Radcliffe but educated in Bolton
- Patrick Caulfield - painter - born London, evacuated to Bolton during WW2 as a child
- Mark Charnock - actor in Emmerdale
- Phil Clarke - born in Blackrod, ex Rugby League international and Sky Sports pundit
- Thomas Cole - American painter
- Sara Cox - Radio 1 DJ
- Samuel Crompton - inventor of the Spinning Mule
- Fred Dibnah - steeplejack and TV personality
- Garry Flitcroft - footballer - Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, Sheffield United and England U21's
- Joseph William Foster - founder of the Reebok brand
- Stu Francis - comedian, Crackerjack presenter
- David Gorton, M.B.E.
- Damon Gough - singer, known as Badly Drawn Boy
- Leslie Halliwell - British movie historian and encyclopaediast - Halliwell's Movie Guide fame
- Annie Haslam - lead singer of progressive rock band Renaissance
- Nicky Hunt - born in Westhoughton - footballer - Bolton Wanderers
- Jack Hylton - band leader
- Ronnie Irani - born in Leigh - cricketer for England
- Danny Jones - guitarist and vocalist in the band McFly
- Peter Kay - comedian and writer
- Vernon Kay - TV presenter
- Amir Khan - boxer
- Andy Knowles - musician and artist
- Tony Knowles - snooker player
- Sir Harold Kroto - chemist; Nobel Prize winner in 1996 for his work on Buckminsterfullerene
- William Lassell - Astronomer
- Ralf Little - born in Bury, educated at Bolton School. Star of The Royle Family, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and Children's Ward.
- Tommy Lawton - born in Farnworth - footballer - Burnley, Everton, Arsenal, Chelsea and England
- Lord Leverhulme - Willam Hesketh Lever, founder of Unilever
- Nat Lofthouse - footballer - Bolton Wanderers and England
- Peter Lown – Canadian field hockey player
- Sajid Mahmood - England cricketer
- Patrick McGuinness - comedian
- Ian McKellen - actor; born in Burnley and educated at Bolton School
- Thomas Moran - American painter
- Bill Naughton - author and playwright - born Ireland but grew up in Bolton and work often set in town
- Paul Nicholls - actor - Eastenders
- Maxine Peake - born in Westhoughton - actress - Shameless, etc
- Michael Pollitt - born in Farnworth - Premiership goalkeeper
- David Potts - born in Farnworth - musician and songwriter
- Hovis Presley - Richard Henry McFarlane - poet
- Mark Radcliffe - Radio 1 DJ and writer
- Sir Arthur Rostron Captain of the RMS Carpathia, first ship to aid the RMS Titanic
- Janine Rostron AKA Planningtorock - musician and video maker. Now living in Berlin.
- David Ruffley MP Conservative Politician, educated Bolton School
- Sir Ernest Ryder, High Court Judge, educated Bolton School
- Robert Shaw - Film actor and writer - born Westhoughton - moved to Scotland as a child
- Dave Spikey - comedian and writer
- Henry Warburton - master baker; founder of Warburton's bakery
- Mike Watkinson - born in Westhoughton - ex England cricketer, now coach of Lancashire
- Simon Whaley - footballer - Bury F.C., currently Preston North End
- Robert Whitehead - developed the first self-propelled torpedo and great-grandfather of the Von Trapp children (Sound of Music)
- Jason Wilcox - footballer - Blackburn Rovers, Leeds United and England
- Sammy Winward - actress in Emmerdale
- Bernard Wrigley - actor, comedian and musician
[edit] Places in and around Bolton
- Astley Bridge
- Barrow Bridge, Blackrod, Bradshaw, Breightmet, Bromley Cross, Burnden
- Bolton Central
- Captain's Clough
- Darcy Lever, Daubhill, Deane, Derby,Doffcocker, Dunscar
- Eagley, Edgworth, Egerton
- Farnworth, New Bury and Highfield
- Great Bolton, Great Lever
- Halliwell, Harwood, The Haulgh, Heaton, Horwich, Hungerhill
- Kearsley
- Ladybridge, Little Bolton, Little Lever, Lostock
- Markland Hill, Middlebrook, Moses Gate, Moss Bank
- Prestolee
- Red Bridge, Rumworth
- Sharples, Springfield, Stoneclough
- Tonge Moor, Tonge Fold, Turton (part)
- Westhoughton
[edit] References
- ^ "Official British Place Name Archives - Bolton", Greater Manchester County Records Office - URL accessed February 19, 2007.
- ^ Town 'hot' favourite to be Britain's friendliest, Bolton Evening News, 8 September 2003
- ^ Bolton people 'are friendliest in Britain', Bolton Evening News, 26 August 2003
[edit] See also
| North: Blackburn | ||
| West: Wigan | Bolton | East: Bury |
| South: Salford |
[edit] External links
- Bolton Council
- Bolton Evening News
- Famous Boltonians Listing well over 500 Boltonians - born, bred or adopted
- Bolton Remembers The War An Oral History of Bolton during the Second World War
- Bolton Revisited Local history project created by Bolton residents, past and present
- bolton.org.uk Bolton History, Photos, Links & Trivia
- University of Bolton
- Barbodhan Muslim Community in Bolton A history of one migrant community
- Tribute to Bolton poet Hovis Presley
