Red Rose revolution

The Red Rose county emerged during the Industrial Revolution as a major commercial and industrial region but what effect did Lancashire’s place at the heart of the cotton industry have on its communities and what kind of legacy has it left behind? Michelle Mckenna reports

Lancashire was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution – quite an achievement for an area of the country which up until then had been considered something of a backwater compared to fashionable London.

By the 1830s, approximately 85 per cent of all cotton manufactured worldwide was processed in Lancashire.

Accrington, Blackburn, Bolton, Rochdale, Chorley, Darwen and Burnley were major cotton mill towns encompassing several hundred dark satanic mills, cutting a gloomy figure over the landscape, which had once been largely inhabited by simple farming folk.

The move away from farming to manufacturing resulted in the upheaval of many communities as people moved out of the countryside and into the towns to find work, leading to the very modern problem of a lack of housing supply. Houses were literally thrown up to accommodate the working masses with very little attention paid to basic sanitation or quality of life.

Reports from that time speak of “hovels” relying on shared toilets at the end of the block and one-room-buildings without proper floors.

The narrow alleys and passages that led to the properties were filled with rubbish and sewage and some of the more unfortunate residents lived in airless, windowless cellars, where sewage seeped through the floors and which often flooded with water from the heavily polluted rivers.

The area was stifled by the smog of factory smoke and cholera and typhoid were rife with more than half of children dying before their fifth birthday. But while life was undoubtedly hard for people, the Industrial Revolution did bring benefits to the region in terms of the infrastructure which has helped to shape the Lancashire of today.

The cotton industry continued to have an impact on the region for centuries to come and when it eventually declined so too did some of its communities. But the area, like many other industrial regions, has undergone various regeneration programmes over the years and in some the old mills have been brought back into use in a variety of settings. For example Oswaldtwistle Mills – a thriving mill employing hundreds of workers in the 1800s – now encompasses 100,000 feet of retail space offering everything from scented candles and craft supplies to clothes and kitchenware, as well as eateries and coffee shops.

Industry in modern-day Lancashire has moved away from the mills and today the largest private industry is defence.

In the 1970s Lancashire had a population of more than five million – making it then the most populous geographic county in the UK – but the county of today is much smaller as a result of boundary reform in 1974 which saw it lose the cities of Manchester and Liverpool and most of their conurbations from within its borders, as well as the northern part of the county that now falls under Cumbria.

Today’s population lies at 1,449,700 and the modern-day non-metropolitan county borders Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and North and West Yorkshire.

While the county takes its name from the city of Lancaster, Preston, which was granted city status in 2002, is the home of the county council, which is based in its County Hall built in 1882.

Lancashire County Council holds responsibility for areas such as education, health and social care and roads while the district councils within the two-tier local government system lead the way on other issues such as housing services. The local government districts are Burnley, Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Pendle, Preston, the Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire, and Wyre. Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen are unitary authorities which form part of the county for various functions such as Lord Lieutenant but do not come under county council control.

All together now
The county is about to enter a whole new economic chapter after receiving backing from the Government for a new Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), which will bring together business leaders, local councils and universities to stimulate Lancashire’s economy and create thousands of new jobs.

The partnership will cover the administrative boundaries served by Lancashire County Council and Blackpool Council and discussions are continuing with Blackburn with Darwen Council about it joining up.

The LEP, which aims to kick-start economic recovery, will submit a bid to create an Enterprise Zone in the county as well as improving Lancashire’s ability to bid for investment from the Regional Growth Fund.

Leader of Lancashire County Council Geoff Driver said: “We want to work with business to protect and create tens of thousands of new jobs in Lancashire over the next decade and the LEP will have a key role in making this possible. A big plus in receiving approval at this stage is that the LEP will be able to put together a bid to form an Enterprise Zone in the next round of applications.

“Local authorities have been required to lead on the preparations for a LEP but what must be recognised now is that this is something businesses will lead on once it is up and running. It is extremely encouraging that many of the county’s biggest employers are already involved and their continued input, together with the involvement of small and medium enterprise, will be vital.”

So modern day Lancashire, the county where it all began, is once again bidding to put itself at the heart of big business.

Lancashire’s districts

Burnley
• The population continues to fall and in 2008 was estimated to be 87,300
• 51.9% of dwellings are classed as being terraced
• 85.7% of dwellings are owner occupied or privately rented
• In 2008, 6.6% of the homes in B urnley were classed as empty - the fifth highest rate in E ngland
• The proportion of dwellings classed as being unfit has fallen from 23.1% in 2004, to 8.1% in 2006
• The mean average house price in 2008 was £96,287

Chorley
• Chorley has a population of 100,449 within an area of about 80 square miles
• People from black and ethnic minority groups account for just over 2% of the population
• House prices are higher than the average for the region as are levels of owner-occupation
• Unemployment is at 1.5 per cent - almost half the regional rate

Fylde
• Fylde covers 166 square kilometers
• In 2009 Fylde had a population of 76,300 – an increase of 3,300 from 2001
• It is estimated that between 2008 and 2033, the population will increase by 9.2%
• Fylde has higher proportions of its stock in the council tax bands E to G, in comparison to the county and national averages
• It has the highest average house price in Lancashire, just below the national average

Hyndburn
• The East Lancashire authority covers 73 square kilometers
• In 2009, Hyndburn had a population of 81,100 with fewer people of pensionable age than is the
average for England and Wales
• It is estimated that between 2008 and 2033 its population will increase by 2.0%
• A very high proportion of its housing stock is in council tax band A
• Hyndburn has one of the lowest house price averages in England and Wales

Lancaster
• It is the second largest Lancashire authority in geographic terms covering 576 square kilometers
• In 2009 it had a population of 139,800 with above average proportions of people in the 15-24 and
65+ age-groups
• It has above average house prices for Lancashire.
• The total unemployment rate in the authority is below the national average

Pendle
• It covers 169 square kilometers
• In 2009 it had a population of 89,300, which has been relatively static since 2001
• It is estimated that between 2008 and 2033 its population will increase by 6.2%
• A very high proportion of its housing stock is in council tax band A
• The authority has for a number of years recorded average house prices well below the county and national averages, and has a high rate of vacant properties

Preston
• It covers 142 square kilometers
• In 2009 it had a population of 134,600
• Over recent years the local university has grown in to one of the largest in the UK having a significant
impact on the regeneration of the core urban centre of P reston
• 2012 will be the year of the next Preston Guild. Held every 20 years, it dates back to the granting of P reston’s first charter by King Henry in 1179
• Between 2008 and 2033, the population of Preston is predicted to increase by 9.1%

The Ribble Valley
• Ribble Valley covers 583 square kilometers but its rural nature means it has the smallest population
in the county - 57,700 people in 2009
• There are higher population percentages in the two older age groups but especially in the 45-64
age group
• It is estimated that between 2008 and 2033, its population will increase by 10.7%
• It was ranked within the top 50 least deprived areas out of 326 districts and unitary authorities in England - by far the best ranking in the Lancashire area
• Most indicators confirm that, in general, it is an affluent authority but a high percentage of households are estimated to be in fuel poverty

Rossendale
• It covers 138 square kilometers
• In 2009 it had a population of 67,100 – a higher than average proportion are in the 0-14 age group
and it has a smaller percentage of people over retirement age than is the norm
• Scout Moor in Rossendale is the largest onshore wind generation project in England with 26
turbines capable of generating 65 megawatts of electricity
• It is estimated that between 2008 and 2033, its population will increase by 8.8%

South Ribble
• It covers 113 square kilometers
• In 2009 it had a population of 108,200 with a higher than average proportion of its population in the two oldest age groups
• It is estimated that between 2008 and 2033, its population will increase by 11.8%
• South Ribble has above average house prices for Lancashire
• It recorded a higher than middle value deprivation ranking being the 207th most deprived area out of 326 districts and unitary authorities in England

West Lancashire
• It covers 347 square kilometers
• In 2009 it had a population of 110,200
• The local agricultural resource base comprises the largest extent of top grade farmland in the west of Britain
• The overall population in the authority has grown only marginally over recent years and in 2009
there was a population decline of -0.2%
• It is estimated that between 2008 and 2033, its population will increase by 5.1%

Wyre
• Wyre covers 283 square kilometers
• In 2009 it had a population of 111,100
• The population of Wyre increased quite noticeably between 2001 and 2009 to 111,100
• It is estimated that between 2008 and 2033, its population will increase by 13.1%
• The total unemployment rate in the authority is well below the broader Lancashire, regional and national averages

Blackpool
• The population has followed a general pattern of decline between 1991 and 2009 in contrast to the
long-term upward trends recorded at the county and national levels
• Average house prices are well below the county and national averages, and the percentages of households receiving housing and council tax benefits are very high
• Blackpool was ranked as the 10th most deprived area out of 326 districts and unitary authorities in England - the worst ranking of all the Lancashire authorities
• A high percentage of households in the authority are estimated to be in fuel poverty.

Blackburn with Darwen
• It covers 137 square kilometers
• In 2009 had a population of 139,900 and has a bias towards a much younger population than is the norm
• It is estimated that between 2008 and 2033, its population will increase by 5.1%
• Average house prices in the authority have been consistently amongst the lowest for authorities in England and Wales, and the authority has a high rate of vacant properties
• The authority has the highest percentage of unfit dwellings in England. In 2006 17.2% of its housing was deemed unfit in contrast with the England average of 4.2%

Sources: Lancashire County Council, Chorley Council and Burnley Council