Message from Charles R. Morris, MP Manchester Openshaw Constituency, 1972 As Community life in Failsworth enters a completely new phase, it is perhaps appropriate that we should pause to reflect on the progress which Failsworth has made so far and the tasks which are undoubtedly ahead. Equally, it is right that we record our appreciation of all those individuals who, over so many years, have in so many different capacities served and continue to serve the people of Failsworth. It is to the credit of those who have had the responsibility for Community life in Fails-worth that, in an ever-changing world, Failsworth has retained its identity and a close positive relationship between the local council and the population which it has sought to serve. The prospect of change understandably gives rise to anxieties but the dedication to public service which has characterised local government in Failsworth in the past is our best hope for the future. Message from Councillor George Hughes, Chairman of Failsworth Urban District Council 1972 Unless the Government reverses its policy, this edition of the Failsworth Official Handbook can, as far as the Council is concerned, be regarded as the last. The proposals to re-organise local government with effect from 1st April 1974, will result in Failsworth joining forces with six neighbouring authorities to form a metropolitan district council within the proposed Greater Manchester County Council area. It is hoped that persons who have an interest in the District, its firms, organisations, and people, will find this Handbook of assistance now, and will later keep it as a reference to the Council’s last records.

Failsworth, An introduction

Failsworth lies athwart the main road (A62) leading from Manchester to Oldham and thence to Leeds and other places in Yorkshire as far east as Kingston-upon-Hull. It is a very busy road and is likely to remain so even now that the new Trans-Pennine Motorway is open.

Commercially Failsworth is a town with many diverse industries and is thereby able to weather the vagaries of trade more easily than in the days when cotton textiles formed the major employment. Among the goods manufactured and activities carried on in the town are:The making of hats, umbrellas and paint/Electrical Engineering, Aircraft Manufacturing/A Mail Order House and a Breeze Block Manufacturer.

In status the town is an Urban District with a Council of 15 under the leadership of a Chairman. It forms a second tier authority with the Lancashire County Council as a top tier.

The Old road from Manchester to Oldham can still be traced along Old Road, Wrigley Head and Wickentree Lane. Some cottages of considerable antiquity and an old public house, the Pack Horse, remain to remind one of the old days before motor traffic demanded a wider and straighter road. Terraced houses line the newer trunk road and form a grid pattern on either side of it, behind a facade of small shops. Further back from the main road lie the estates of houses, some owned by the Council as Housing Authority and many others privately owned. As one travels southwards one abruptly comes across fields. This is the old rural district of Limehurst, agricultural and green with the pleasant village of Woodhouses lining Medlock Road. Mellow brick cottages and farms date back over two centuries and more. Southwards again one finds the Medlock Valley, the river running through rolling country­side, particularly fine in early summer when the may blossom gleams on the many bushes and the trees are in young leaf.

Failsworth is no mere suburb of Manchester, although it borders on that great city, nor is it a suburb of Oldham with which it shares a common border too. It is a community in its own right and proud of its independence.

However, the Local Government Bill, now being considered by Parliament will, if it becomes law, take away the administrative inde­pendence of Failsworth. The proposed legislation, to become operative on 1st April 1974, portrays England split generally into fewer Counties. Within these new Counties, the existing local councils will join forces with some of their neighbours to form large administrative district councils.

The new County Councils will, in general, be responsible for those services which are better administered over a large area and the en­larged “second-tier” district councils will be responsible for the rest.

One of the new Counties will be known as the Greater Manchester County Council: its boundaries will take in parts of Lancashire, West Riding of Yorkshire, and Cheshire. Its population will be in the region of 2,771,000 and, from the point of view of population, it will be the second largest county in England.

Greater Mancunians” will live in one of ten districts within the county area. One of these districts will be made up of seven existing towns—Failsworth, Oldham, Royton, Lees, Saddleworth, Crompton, and Chadderton.

It is anticipated that elections for the ten new district authorities within the Greater Manchester County will take place in 1973 and that the newly-elected Councils will take over on 1st April 1974. Thus, on this date, Failsworth, sadly, will lose its independence so far as local government administration is concerned, but not, we can be assured, its identity as a distinct community.
The growth of Failsworth is mainly due to the expansion of the cotton trade. The first large cotton mill was opened in 1834 followed by many others and later still engineering became a local industry but during the 19th century the population vastly increased by migration from neighbouring city and town. With the decline of the cotton industry in recent years many other industries have taken their place and the population increased by another 10,000 in the 1960’s.

1960's map of Failsworth

Short History of Failsworth

Failsworth’s history is bound up with the life of a working population. An independent and strong-minded people characteristic of Lancashire in its occupations of bobbin-winding, hand loom weaving and hat-making, originally carried on as cottage industries until the advent of the large factories in the 19th century. Until this time Failsworth retained its own individuality distinct from that of neighbouring townships with its own expressive speech and humour.
Very little is known of the early history of Failsworth but there is evidence that as far back as A.D. 1200 the inhabitants of Failsworth enjoyed a tract of land for ploughing as well as grazing rights on Fails-worth Common. The North-Western half of the district was held by the Prestwich family and the South-Eastern half by the Byrons. The name Failsworth is of Saxon origin; one theory being that it is derived from the Saxon word ‘Fail” meaning turf or sod and “worth’—rising ground between two streams. The oldest link with the past is the Roman military road, which passed through the area and linked Manchester with York, the line of this road can still be traced in part. Another ancient highway is reputed to be the one running from Stockport to Oldham carrying the salt traffic from Northwich, remains of which still exist as Lord Lane, originally known as Saltergate.

From the 13th to the late 18th century references to land settlements and property owners appear in the records and a few incidents bearing on national events are worth noting—1594 The Sicknesse (plague) was at dough House. In 1662 when the Act of Uniformity was passed the Rev. Mr. Walker was ejected from Newton Chapel for refusing to assent to the Act and set up his Ministry in Dob Lane, Failsworth. On June 10th 1715, the occasion of the birthday of Prince Charles Edward the Young Pretender, the Manchester Jacobites caused a riot and attacked chapels, including the one at Dob Lane.
Refugees from Germany at the time of the Lollard persecutions are reputed to have settled here and Huguenots also came and introduced silk-weaving to the village.
By 1663 there were only 50 families registered in the town and by 1774 there were 242 families—a population of just under 1,400. By 1801 the figure had risen to 2,622 and by 1901 the number was five times greater.
The growth of Failsworth is mainly due to the expansion of the cotton trade. The first large cotton mill was opened in 1834 followed by many others and later still engineering became a local industry but during the 19th century the population vastly increased by migration from neighbouring city and town. With the decline of the cotton industry in recent years many other industries have taken their place and the population increased by another 10,000 in the 1960’s.