Whitworth Valley Guest Book

I live in 'Hillhurst' the house you can see if you stand in the middle of the viaduct and look up on the hill. It was a great delight to find old picture postcards from circa 1910 of the area surrounding Healey Dell which included more than one shot of my house.
Theses very same pictures will shortly be taking pride of place on the walls of my house for all to see.
Thank you Mike, you've really made my day!
Keep up the good work.
Regards
Ian

Yes Whitworth is a stunning place to visit. Unfortunately they have just got planning permission to build an access Rd to Crooks hill in order to put a wingfarm up. The windfarm is in the Rochdale area but the access will be through Landgate ,a 30 mtr wide corridor with stone being taken from Middle hill quarry. The peat is blanket peat( Google: Windfarms and blanket peat.)and will be destroyed and turn to slush.All this is across United Utilities water catchment area for watergrove reservoir. Against the E.U. directive on drinking water.
Planners !!!!! unbelievable!!!!

Cllr. David Barnes
deputy mayor of Whitworth.

Mike, Proud to be the brother-in-law of such a fantastic site. It puts the best of our chosen home on the map and demonstrates just how much Whitworth has to offer.

so many lovely memories of my childhood so many hours spent on (the scars, jumping the brook , running up the incline(i couldnt do that now) and playing in the railway carriages at facit(naughty but great fun) and who amongst us rememember "ribbon hall" oh the joy. happy days

It is so sad to see the denial of Whitworth's well documented Medieval History. The large number of medieval charters in the Coucher Book of Whalley Abbey alone would be of great interest and the subject of much research in other areas of England, sadly this is not the case in Whitworth.

Despite the mention of these charters in Fishwick's History of the Parish Rochdale (free to download from the Rochdale Touchstones' website) this information has not found its way into modern histories of the area. The usual story of "Saxons and Danes" is far from the truth.

From medieval charters we have a record of the joint Lords of the manor of Whitworth (Elland and Liversedge) that existed even before 1200 (Coucher Book of Whalley Abbey). Ellland was a descended from an Anglo Danish (not Saxon) overlord, Gamel who is controlled Rochdale before the Norman conquest. Gamel was based in Elland in West Yorkshire, the Liversedge connection is with a vassal of the Norman overlord. So Whitworth was shared by the old family (Ellands) and the Norman vassal. Despite the two landowning families many locals in Whitworth were able to grant land to Whalley Abbey and to trade in land, hence the large number of Charters. Evidently there many medieval farmsteads throughout Whitworth, they were probably on the site of earlier settlements, some of these were defended, but have yet to make it to publication. When a detailed survey is made it may be possible to explain why there were so many medieval sites in Whitworth. The greatest mystery is how such a vast body of medieval documentation has failed to be mentioned in surveys and histories of the area.

Stuart

Great website - Whitworth looks like a lovely place to live. We'll be coming for a visit asap. Thanks for putting it on the net!

Whitworth Valley looks to be a mixture of parts of Long Island, Central Park, Flushing Meadow Park NYC: The Rockies, and Florida. All mixed in one place, without having to travel to various places. It appears to be an ideal place to visit.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful, calming Valley.

What a fantastic site, it brought back many memories of my childhood. Well done and I appreciate all the hard work that has gone into the site. Many Congratualations.

If anyone can remember me if possible please contact me.

I have actually written a book on my childhood memories, which is on the 'new books' site. I have written this for charity so the more sales the better. The book is available from www.lulu.com

Keep up the good work.

Its like a trip back home after 20 years away, keep up the good work

Hi thanks for a great walk down memory lane,I left Whitworth when I was 14 yrs of age.
I have unfortunately only ever returned once a couple of years after leaving ,but its nice to see that the old place is still doing well
Cheers Steve Alger.

Many thanks for all the great feedback. Keep visiting the site as more and more contents about Whitworth valley and the surrounding areas will be added over time. The new focus this week is our Local Books section, with a range of fantastic novels and literature about Whitworth.

Brilliant website,if I come across anything which may be of interest I will send it.

Well what can one say,"Wonderful pictures and a walk down memory lane thats for sure"

Ann Turner Ontario Canada.

Hi Mike, this site goes from strength to strengh every week, you are a credit to the community and have proved that Whitworth is an amazing place with great community sprit . . keep up the good work and lets put Whitworth well and truly on the Map !! David Chorlton

OK, congrats on 20K hits!!!

Congrats on 10k+ hits Mike! :-)

Beautiful photographs and postcards. Love the site, really informative and interesting makes me want to visit. As a walker I would love to discover the area and do the walks. Thank you for sharing a hidden gem. Blessings

Mike; your postcard slideshow is just AWESOME!!

Hey there Mike, what a truely wonderful thing you have created!! Your commitment to the valley needs a medal - you never know, with information like this I may even visit! Take care and keep it up...x

Excellent site, very informative. Shows what a beautiful place we live in. Keep up the good work!

Hi folks, thanks for all the feedback and comments. Please keep checking back to the site as more and more information and photographs will be added shortly. Please share the site with your friends, there is a widget to do this on the contact us page. Thank you.
Mike www.whitworthvalley.com

Invited to look by Hazel Heath. If I ever retire (which is unlikely) that's the sort of place I could live - in the summer!

Excellent website Mike you've done a fantastic job, I'm going to point it out to all my friends and family. Don't we live in a beautiful area!

I am researching my EARNSHAW family tree. The earliest of my forbears seems to have come from Healey Stones. I'd love to make contact with anyone else researching this family.

Excellent website with some truly lovely photographs of the area.

Marvellous website, some lovely old postcards! I'm yet to visit Whitworth, but your site has given me a good idea of the places I'd like to call in on when I do make it - a walk around Healy Dell and Healy Stones is a must I think.
Thanks, and keep up the good work as the unofficial Whitworth Valley tourist board - do you do guided tours?!
Emily

Tourist Boards all over the country ought to see this site. They could learn a lot! It knocks spots off the majority. An incredible amount of information and illustration already gathered. It goes from strength to strength. Keep up the good work. Whitworth must be proud of it.

those are awesome pics-very historian sites

Hi Mike I was asked to visit your site by a mutual friend and sign your guest book.
Brightest Blessings )O(

What a brilliant site.

I love Whitworth and the surrounding area and your site is so informative.

Big thumbs up Mike.

Looks like a great place to live. Hope to visit.

Lovely, Lovely place wish I was there.................blessed be...

~Time for a quick visit~! (:

Absolutely beautifujl!! Would love to visit some day!

Hi Mike, congratulations on the evolving site! Whitworth has needed a platform like this for some time...I'm delighted that the right person is doing it!

Thanks for the support too!

Best Wishes

Rob.