Colne
- For other uses of Colne, see Colne (disambiguation)
| Colne | |
|---|---|
| Population | Expression error: "20,118 (2001 census)" must be numeric |
| OS grid reference | SD884399 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | COLNE |
| Postcode district | BB8 |
| Dialling code | 01282 |
| Police | Lancashire |
| Fire | Lancashire |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
Colne is a town in east Lancashire, in the north-west of England, with a population of around 20,000. It is a principal town in the district of Pendle, and is the last station on the Colne to Preston railway. Colne is located 2½ miles north-east of Nelson (the administrative centre of Pendle), 6 miles north-east of Burnley, 25 miles east of Preston, 25 miles north of Manchester and 30 miles west of Leeds. It is often confused with the nearby unrelated Colne Valley, as well as several rivers also named Colne.
History
The history of the local area dates back to the Stone Age. A Mesolithic camp site, a Bronze Age burial site, and stone tools from the Bronze and Stone Ages have been discovered around nearby Trawden. There are also the remains of an Iron Age fort above Nelson and Colne at Castercliffe which has been dated back to the 6th century BC.
The name Colne is of Celtic origin. It is currently thought to have been founded around the 1st to 4th centuries BC by the Brigantes. It was located along the Trans-Pennine ridgeway, a major trade route dating back to the Bronze Age.
Although a Roman road passes through nearby Barnoldswick, and some Roman coins have been discovered, there is no conclusive evidence of the Romans having occupied the area. There is however some debate among local historians as to whether the Romans may have stayed at Castercliffe.
During the period of Colne's history lasting from the early sixth century to the late tenth century, Colne came under Northumbrian and then Viking rule, finally coming firmly under Norman control in the eleventh century. It is also believed that the Battle of Brunanburh was fought near Trawden, in the year 937.
From the 1090s until 1311, the area was controlled by the de Lacys of Pontefract from their outpost at Clitheroe Castle. Pendle Forest and Trawden Forest date from this period, forest in those times meaning a hunting ground for royals and other nobles. St. Bartholomew's church dates from before 1122.
The town developed in two parts: Colne, on top of the ridge; and Waterside, at the base of the southern side of the ridge, next to the river. By 1296, a corn mill and a fulling mill had been established down by the river. Later, coal was also mined here.
By the 15th century, Colne had become a major centre for the woollen trade, in particular for the production of lightweight kersey. With the Industrial Revolution, cotton manufacturing became the main industry in the town, aided by the completion of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1816, and by the arrival of the railway.
The town was made an urban district in 1894 and designated a borough in 1895. The town's population declined during the 20th century, as with many mid-Lancashire mill towns. In 1911 the census reported 26,000 people, and in 1971 it reported 19,000 people. [1] In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, it was made part of Pendle district.
Two local heroes reside in Colne known for their bravery, good looks and intelligence, going by the names of Sam Dawson and Kyle Goodall. They are highly respected within the local community, and popular with the ladies. Sam and Kyle appreciation day has officialy been named as the 12th September, and they have been blessed by the pope on numerous occasions.
Industry/Employment
Today, Colne's cotton industry has all but disappeared, although other types of industry have taken its place. Many of the old weaving mills that used to dot the landscape have either been demolished, to make way for retail space, or now accommodate alternative manufacturing industries. The service sector is a growth industry with these businesses now occupying some town centre locations. The main industrial area, called Whitewalls,[1] is by the Colne and Nelson boundary, next to the end of the M65 motorway. Many different employment sectors are here, including an abbatoir, retail, automotive components, electronics, equipment hire and engineering/manufacturing.
Transport
Colne is connected to the national railway network.[2] The railway station is ¾m (1 km) west of the town centre. It is at the eastern end of the East Lancashire Line and connects to Nelson, Brierfield, Burnley, and from a station change at Burnley Central railway station to Burnley Manchester Road railway station to the Caldervale Line to Bradford Interchange, Leeds and York; Accrington, Blackburn and from there to Clitheroe, Bolton and Manchester. It also connects to the West Coast Main Line at Preston and then continues to Blackpool.
The local bus company is well known in Colne and other local towns. Burnley & Pendle goes back many years until 1996 it was owned by the two local borough councils. Several private operators have since owned Burnley & Pendle, but the name has always been kept. There are buses every few minutes during the daytime on the 'The Main Line' service between Burnley Bus Station and Colne town centre. Most of these then fork in various directions at each end and travel to Padiham, Clitheroe and Accrington from Burnley and from Colne go on to Earby/Barnoldswick, Trawden and through Laneshaw Bridge to Keighley in West Yorkshire.
Burnley & Pendle also operate the 'The Witch Way' bus service, that runs from Nelson Bus Station to Manchester bus/coach station. Burnley Bus Station also connects to other routes to Blackburn, Preston, Todmorden and Rossendale.
Pennine Transport in Skipton operate an hourly service with distinctive orange buses each way from Skipton to Burnley and travel through Colne.
There are several private hire companies in Colne.
Local Culture / Media
The town sits at the far eastern end of Lancashire, close to the counties of North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. There a new road signs on the A56 road between Earby and Colne that mark the traditional historic Lancashire and West Riding of Yorkshire county boundary. These road signs have been erected by Friends of Real Lancashire and Yorkshire Ridings Society. The original county boundary signs still exist on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal between Colne and Barnoldswick.
As a result of this boundary change and the local geography of the area, the local area is served by TV from both ITV, formerly Granada Television/BBC North West and ITV formerly Yorkshire Television/BBC North. Most of Colne's residents are exclusively served by North West regional TV and not that from Yorkshire. Freeview digital TV is available to those on North West TV, from both the main Winter Hill mast near Bolton and the local Pendle Forest TV/radio relay. Those residents on Yorkshire Television, from the mast at East Marton, do not receive Freeview, but will by 2009, when the Yorkshire TV region loses its analogue signals.
Almost the whole of Colne, excluding some rural areas, are also able the receive cable TV. This has been available since around 1995, when Nynex Cablecomms linked to the area — Nynex later became known as Cable and Wireless, then NTL and is now Virgin Media.
In 2000, Colne – as well as the whole of Pendle – and the nearby boroughs of Burnley and Hyndburn, were to get their first dedicated local commercial radio station called 2BR. 2BR is an initialism for Two Boroughs Radio, which was the name of several short duration trial broadcasts dating back to 1997. Initially Two Boroughs Radio targeted the boroughs of Burnley and Pendle, which is why the name has since been used, despite 2BR covering large parts of Accrington and other areas in the borough of Hyndburn in addition.
BBC Radio Lancashire is the local BBC radio station. Several other radio stations can be received here, due to the altitude of the area. Rock FM was the choice of many before 2BR coming on-air. Several radio stations from Yorkshire are also received, including BBC Radio Leeds and The Pulse of West Yorkshire from Bradford by way of the Huddersfield/Halifax transmitter.
A local weekly newspaper, the 'Colne Times', is sold each Friday in Colne itself as well as its surrounding towns and villages. It is an edition of the local paper of Nelson, the 'Nelson Leader', edited to add more news specific to the Colne area. Both are part of the larger 'Burnley Express', although editorial offices for the Colne, Nelson and Barnoldswick/Earby newspapers are in Nelson town centre. On Tuesdays the same newspaper group publishes a midweek edition called 'The Pendle Express'. These newspapers changed from a broadsheet to tabloid size in the mid 1990s.
The Lancashire Telegraph is the daily newspaper for the whole of East Lancashire. The Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale edition is published Monday to Saturday and covers Colne area news. The paper changed from a broadsheet to tabloid size in the early 1990s. The same publisher also distributes a free weekly paper, the 'Pendle Citizen', on Thursday.
Local Culture / Events
Every August Bank Holiday, the Great British Rhythm and Blues festival[3] takes place, which attracts people and artists from all over the world. Many thousands of people come to the town during the 3 days the festival takes place. Most of the local pubs and clubs stage music gigs from artists, others hold 'fringe' type gigs. The main focus of attention, where the main artists at staged, is the Municipal Hall close to the town centre.
The Colne Gala [4] has been held almost every year since the 1970s. It has been missed a few times in recent years, mainly due to financial reasons and a lack of volunteers, although it was held in June 2007 and planned again for June 2008. In the earlier Colne Gala's, a parade took place along a route through the town and town centre, usually with a well known celebrity en-route and ending up at the main Gala event in Alkincoats Park/Holt House.
Since 2004 Colne has hosted an annual Grand Prix cycle race around the town centre. It follows the 800 metres of the town centre one way road system. Some 2500-4000 local people attend the event, which is a part of the British Cycling season championship. [5] [6]
The town is also known for the British in India Museum, and the Wallace Hartley memorial, in memory of the bandmaster of the RMS Titanic who used to live in Colne.
Parks and Activities
Pendle Leisure Trust [7] own several centres within Pendle. Pendle Leisure Centre is next to the railway station and has a large and small swimming pool, a fitness gym, sauna, sports hall and outdoor all weather pitch. Outside Colne there is a fun pool with slide and a sauna in Nelson, there is also an athletics track there along with a municipal golf course and there is a swimming pool, fitness gym and sports hall in Barnoldswick.
There are two large local parks. One is the King George Playing Fields next to Skipton Road (A56 road) on the road from Colne to Earby. The other is Alkincoats Park off the road between Colne and Barrowford(B6247). Alkincoats Park has bowling greens, hard surface tennis courts, pitch and put golf, a children's play area and footpaths that lead to areas close to the Leeds-Liverpool Canal and the now-dismantled Colne to Skipton railway line.
The Leeds-Liverpool Canal also has long footpaths for leisure purposes. The dismantled Colne to Skipton section of the railway is also another popular, if sometimes muddy, route for walkers, cyclists and dog walkers with a section that starts close to the railway station, leading into Foulridge. It is no longer possible to walk beyond Foulridge due the collapse of a bridge, but further footpaths are available in the Earby area. A footpath exists around the Foulridge Lower Reservoir just to the north of Colne. This reservoir supplies the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, so can be included in a longer walk.
Ballgrove Picnic Area is situated to the eastern end of Colne and into Laneshaw Bridge. It is possible to walk all the way along here, by the local brook/stream and all the way to the historic Wycoller.
Local Landmarks
Situated in the hills of the Pennines, Colne has several well known hills in view. Boulsworth Hill overlooks most of Colne and lies on the Lancashire and West Yorkshire county boundary just south of Trawden. Noyna Hill is a hill that has a rocky outcrop and overlooks Colne from the north east, next to Foulridge. From there it is possible to see most of East Lancashire and into the Yorkshire Dales. Blacko Tower (Stansfield Tower) is clearly visible to the north west.
Arguably the most well known local landmark is Pendle Hill. Colne is about 5 miles east of Pendle Hill and is side on to it, so the hill can be seen at full length, for which it is most well known. Many people walk up Pendle Hill for Halloween celebrations as well as other times of the year. Pendle Hill and its surrounding rural area is well known for the Pendle Witches and several nearby farmhouses are reputed to be haunted. These farmhouses have featured on the TV programmes Most Haunted and Most Haunted Live!.
Sport
Many people from Colne support Burnley F.C., the local Football League team. The Colne Supporters Club arrange travel to away matches.
Colne F.C. is the town's team, which has played against the likes of FC United of Manchester. Colne F.C. currently play in the North West Counties Football League. This is level 9 in the English football league system, or 4 leagues down from the Football Conference. Colne F.C. was born out of the defunct Colne Dynamoes F.C., who ceased to operate during 1990 after failing to be accepted into the Football Conference, after winning the Northern Premier League Premier Division, due to unsuitable ground and stadium standards.
Nearby, Nelson F.C. are also popular.
References
- The History of Colne - Edited by Dorothy Harrison - Published by Pendle Heritage Centre Ltd - Copyright 1988
- http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pif&GRid=7980&PIgrid=7980&PIcrid=638754&ShowCemPhotos=Y& - the grave and memorial of Wallace Hartley.