![Atherton, Lancashire : Official Guide of the Atherton Urban District Council : E. J. Burrow & Co. Ltd. : Cheltenham : nd [c.1960] : cover | by mikeyashworth](http://staging-jubilee.flickr.com/65535/53475424173_535972b2f0.jpg)
Atherton, Lancashire : Official Guide of the Atherton Urban District Council : E. J. Burrow & Co. Ltd. : Cheltenham : nd [c.1960] : cover
A small guide to a small UDC, population only c20,000 at the time of publication, that sat in the South Lancashire industrial area and that was closely bordered by neighbouring Tydlesley, Westhoughton and Leigh, all to the west of Manchester although oddly, the town's postal address was Manchester. The guide follows the usual format with a look at the town's history, a description of its governance and amenities and then a section on the town's industries.
Although being an established part of the Cotton industry area the town also had a claim to being a major manufacturing town for nails, nuts and bolts - a trade that stretched back centuries here thanks to local coal outcrops and indeed, the town still had some colliery actvity at the time. I'm slightly surprised that one local name I know, Stothert's of Atherton, manufacturing chemists and of soft drinks, are conspicuiously absent from the guide. Equally absent is the important local transport operator, the Lancashire UNited Transport undertaking who were based in Howe Bridge to the south of the town. Indeed the trolleybus overhead of their associated concern, South Lancashire Transport, and whose route ran through the town are seen in the photograph of the church despite this form of transport being abandoned in 1958 and replaced by LUT buses.
The town had grown considerably with much new post-war council housing on estates such as Hag Fold to the north of the town and indeed this, in time, would jump the railway and expand right to the borough's northern boundary. The Urban District Council had been formed in 1894 and was abolished in the 1974 local government reform passing to the new Metropolitan Borough of Wigan despite some local opposition as it was felt there were stronger ties to neighbouring Bolton or Salford.
The cover, with the usual coat of arms, is stamped with a previous owner; the Regional Civil Defence Headquarters, then based at Old Trafford in Manchester and someone has marked the local Civil Defence offices on the street map.
Atherton, Lancashire : Official Guide of the Atherton Urban District Council : E. J. Burrow & Co. Ltd. : Cheltenham : nd [c.1960] : cover
A small guide to a small UDC, population only c20,000 at the time of publication, that sat in the South Lancashire industrial area and that was closely bordered by neighbouring Tydlesley, Westhoughton and Leigh, all to the west of Manchester although oddly, the town's postal address was Manchester. The guide follows the usual format with a look at the town's history, a description of its governance and amenities and then a section on the town's industries.
Although being an established part of the Cotton industry area the town also had a claim to being a major manufacturing town for nails, nuts and bolts - a trade that stretched back centuries here thanks to local coal outcrops and indeed, the town still had some colliery actvity at the time. I'm slightly surprised that one local name I know, Stothert's of Atherton, manufacturing chemists and of soft drinks, are conspicuiously absent from the guide. Equally absent is the important local transport operator, the Lancashire UNited Transport undertaking who were based in Howe Bridge to the south of the town. Indeed the trolleybus overhead of their associated concern, South Lancashire Transport, and whose route ran through the town are seen in the photograph of the church despite this form of transport being abandoned in 1958 and replaced by LUT buses.
The town had grown considerably with much new post-war council housing on estates such as Hag Fold to the north of the town and indeed this, in time, would jump the railway and expand right to the borough's northern boundary. The Urban District Council had been formed in 1894 and was abolished in the 1974 local government reform passing to the new Metropolitan Borough of Wigan despite some local opposition as it was felt there were stronger ties to neighbouring Bolton or Salford.
The cover, with the usual coat of arms, is stamped with a previous owner; the Regional Civil Defence Headquarters, then based at Old Trafford in Manchester and someone has marked the local Civil Defence offices on the street map.