Posts by samuelheywoodeverett
Joe Smith, the Rochdale Steeplejack
Over many years, TV audiences got to know Fred Dibnah and watched him shin up chimneys to repair them or set explosives to demolish them. His personality became celebrated by many but whilst he made a great name for himself as a Lancashire character, Rochdale can claim, as with so many things, that they were…
Read MoreJohnny Clegg
Jonathan Paul Clegg was born on 7th June 1953 in Bacup to a British father, Dennis Clegg, and a Zimbabwean mother, Muriel Clegg nee Braudo. Muriel came from a long line of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants and brought up Johnny as a secular Jew, refusing the bar mitzvah for him. On his parent’s divorce when he…
Read MoreLocal Carnegie Libraries
Following the sale of his assets in 1901 to J P Morgan at the age of 65, the Scottish steel magnate Andrew Carnegie – thought at that time to be the richest man in the world – decided that the moral obligation of his life would be to help others, so under the principle of…
Read MoreNorman Evans
Through TV, film and radio we are familiar with celebrities, but things were very different prior to the 1950’s. Then, variety took place in theatres and tended to take on a local or regional character. Furthermore many of those that took on the stage were ordinary people, often with ordinary jobs and living just down…
Read MoreOld Halls we have lost
The Orchard (The Manor House) Purchased by Sir John Byron in 1638, the Manor House, otherwise known as The Orchard remained in the Byron family until it was sold to James Dearden and then passed to Jeremy Dearden who was Lord of the Manor. In the 19th century Rochdale was without an official Manor House…
Read MorePace Egging in Rochdale
As long ago as the 16th century pageants featuring St George were performed in the streets of England. Thomas Hardy in ‘The Return of the Native’ described a battle between St George and a Turkish knight and doctors plying their trade in miracle plays were well known in the 15th century. The West Country had…
Read MoreRochdale and the Civil War
The English Civil War between 1642 and 1651 was a series of armed conflicts between those who supported Parliament (the roundheads) and those who supported King Charles I (cavaliers or Royalists). It concerned which person or group had the right to govern England. In the early days the Royalists took Newcastle and York in the…
Read MoreRochdale and the original Cricket Ball
Rochdale is certainly the town where the Co-operative Movement began. It was also controversially at one time seen as having the widest bridge in the United Kingdom and it certainly was the birthplace of some of our great entertainers such as Gracie Fields and Norman Evans. But the town also finds its place in the…
Read MoreRochdale boxers
Over the years, Rochdale has produced a number of excellent boxers including Kevin Taylor (the town’s only Olympian), Derek Wormald, Terry Hernon and the Connellan brothers who swept the board in the amateur ring. Two fighters, however, stand out in the professional game : Jock McAvoy and Johnny Butterworth. Jock McAvoy Known as the Rochdale…
Read MoreRochdale boxers
Over the years, Rochdale has produced a number of excellent boxers including Kevin Taylor (the town’s only Olympian), Derek Wormald, Terry Hernon and the Connellan brothers who swept the board in the amateur ring. Two fighters, however, stand out in the professional game : Jock McAvoy and Johnny Butterworth.Jock McAvoyKnown as the Rochdale Thunderbolt, Jock…
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