Visit the Gallery to see pictures of these

                           areas

The area we live in is Whitworth Parish which consists of the communities of Healey, Whitworth, 

Facit and Shawforth that are linked by the A671, part of the great turnpike road built in the 18th century.

The railway ran alongside the road and the gradient was so steep it took two engines to pull the train

 

Healey Dell Nature Reserve sits on the border of Whitworth and Rochdale. The river Spodden  flows through the reserve, it's source is  on the moors above Shawforth.  It used to be badly polluted by the local mills in the area, but now it is back to it's natural state.  There are the remnants of a corn mill on the banks of the river which dates back to the 1600's, this later became a fulling mill., where they processed woollen cloth.  The Rochdale to Bacup railway ran through Healey Dell over a 100ft viaduct which can be seen in the photo gallery .  During the war there was an ammunitions factory based there.  Healey Dell is important for it's numbers of amphibians, mammals, birds, flowering plants and Mosses and liverworts.

 

 

 

 

Whitworth is a former Lancashire cotton town and it's moorland is wild and extensive.  Tree planting

schemes and landscaping are bringing many species of birds and wildlife into the area and hiding the scars caused by stone quarrying.  These quarries provided the stone for Trafalgar Square in London as well as

employing many local people.  In the 1950's badgers were brought from Cheshire and released into the area  were they thrived and have been seen with their young in our village this summer (2008).

 

200 years ago the Whitworth Taylor Doctors had their practice in Whitworth Square.  John Taylor was

formerly a blacksmith and horse doctor.  The doctors were local bone setters and as their fame spread they also treated people from overseas and the then Archbishop of Canterbury.  The doctors collected their herbs from Doctor's Wood ( very few trees there now) situated above Cowm Park Reservoir now used by the Disabled Water Skiers Association.  There is a nice walk around the reservoir.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are many lovely places to visit around the Rossendale Valley and over the border in Yorkshire, they are only short car rides away and it gets the shelties out amongst different people especially the puppies..

There are pictures of these places on the photo gallery page.