 Bollington
Civic Society has developed a new Discovery Centre for
Bollington. It is located on the canal side at Clarence
Mill, bringing together the history of this and other
great mills of Bollington, the Macclesfield Canal and
showing their place and importance to the town - the
Happy Valley!
Here you will find the story of Bollington, from an
agricultural backwater in the Macclesfield Forest, to
the realisation of the use of its streams and rivers
to power the cotton mills that made the town what it
is today. King cotton may have gone but fortunately several
of our mills survive, finding new and valuable uses in
the modern era. |
 |
Discovery Centre tiepin! A delightful
addition to your tie or lapel, available now from the Discovery
Centre. £1 |
Discover the importance of the people of the town - how they
worked and played. Climb the stairs to the Gallery and search
the picture database for the historic images of the past, find
the people who developed the industries, see their fine houses;
find the people whose sweat made those industries great, see
their cottages and streets.
Look at the fine views over the town, often from White Nancy,
and see how many of the buildings you can recognise today -
it's surprising how many of the old buildings have gone, but
many remain, and how many new buildings there are, even in
an old town!
Additional display items have now been fitted! A new glass
top display table will be used to show more local items of
interest - come and have a look soon!
The Discovery Centre is open on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
The times will always be posted on this page - see
the panel above left.
Organised school and group visits
can be made outside the normal opening times to suit the
school timetable.
The Discovery Centre can be opened at other times for group
visits or other special purposes by arrangement - see contact
information below.
Exhibitions
We regularly feature displays of art and local history at
the Discovery Centre. The one hundredth anniversary of the canal
breach at Kerridge, locally known as the 'Bollington Burst'
will be celebrated with a special exhibition of pictures taken
of the breach and its aftermath. See panel at top
of page.
This project has been most generously supported by the Heritage
Lottery Fund
, Cheshire Rural Recovery and
the North West Development
Agency,
Clarence Mill Properties Limited, Macclesfield
Borough Council, Bollington
Town Council, Macclesfield Canal Society and
private contributions.
Finding us!
The Discovery Centre is easy to find - from the Macclesfield
direction drive through the main streets of Bollington to the
traffic lights; turn left up Clarence Road. If you are coming
from the Whaley Bridge or Pott Shrigley direction it is just
as simple; drive through the town to the traffic lights and
turn right.
Clarence Mill is in front of you at the top of the hill; follow
the road to the right of the mill and turn first left into
the mill yard. The multi-story car park is in front of you.
Park and find your way on foot; look for the tunnel through
the mill (marked by a Discovery Centre sign board) and turn
left along the canal side. The Discovery Centre is just before
the archway.
On foot, walk up Clarence Road and turn left into canal side
in front of the mill. The Discovery Centre is through the archway
and first door on the right.
We welcome school visits. One of the main purposes of the
centre is to provide educational opportunities, particularly
to local children, in order to help them understand why their
home town has developed to what they see today. The centre
will be opened specially for visits so that the children are
the only visitors at the time. This will provide teachers with
the uninterrupted opportunity to speak to their children as
a group and show them the things they especially want them
to see. For further details please email
us.
One of our greatest assets is our unique collection of historic
pictures of Bollington. Click here to
see the pictures pages. Picture
library now available online!
Take a walk through the town with a one of our walk guides
to show you the way and to describe what interesting buildings
and features you are passing. The Bridgend Centre has prepared
two town walks to help you find the corners of Bollington that
only the well informed would discover!
Majestic Mills
Starting from Clarence Mill, this trail takes you down into
the Recreation Ground and through some interesting back ways
that you might never have guessed were there! Don't forget
to look out for Telford's third Bollington aqueduct, and
certainly don't miss seeing the river flowing out of its
tunnel - did you ever hear of a river in a tunnel before?
Continue to West Bollington. For an extra mile go down Albert
Road and look at the historic buildings of Lowerhouse. Developed
by Samuel Greg,
this community was an outstanding example of early social
engineering, designed for the benefit of the mill workers
and their families. Not to be missed.
From West Bollington head up Grimshaw Lane towards Adelphi
Mill. Turn left onto the Middlewood Way and follow it across
the railway viaduct, enjoying the views on the way over.
Continue to the Lodge Farm exit then head off up to Sugar
Lane, turn left and very quickly descend to the canal towpath.
Turn right and head back to Clarence Mill.
Don't forget to get the Majestic Mills trail guide
(free) at the Discovery Centre for a full description of
the sites of interest that you pass along the way.
Alternatively, continue along the towpath to Aqueduct Cottage,
just beyond the aqueduct, and walk down the Hole I' th' Wall
steps to Palmerston Street. These steps are steep and not
suitable for the infirm or very young children. A safer route
is down Hurst Lane from Aqueduct Cottage and turn sharp right
at the bottom into Palmerston Street. Walk under the aqueduct
and turn left up Clarence Road to the mill.
Yesterday's Folk
This trail takes in the oldest streets in the town including
Queen Street and High Street. It is then decision time! You
can take the short route back to Clarence Mill via Gleave
Avenue and Hurst Lane, or you can take the low road across
the bottom of the hill to Kerridge. If you choose the hill
then there is an opportunity to climb to the summit to see
White Nancy close up and survey all of old Bollington and
the wonderful longer views over the Cheshire Plain and the
city of Manchester to Winter Hill beyond - weather permitting.
For those who want just a short climb, stopping half way
up still provides a very good view!
From Kerridge there is the delightful walk across Hollin
fields and down to the Macclesfield Canal at Bee Hive bridge
28. Return to Clarence Mill along the towpath passing Adelphi
Mill and over two aqueducts with glorious views from Palmerston
Street aqueduct.
Don't forget to get the Yesterdays Folk trail guide
(free) at the Discovery Centre for a full description of
the sites of interest that you pass along the way.
There's more ...
Of course, there is much more to see in Bollington than that
covered by the two trails. They are designed to give you a
flavour of the town. It is the kind of place that rewards many
hours spent walking around the whole area. Buy one or two of
the books describing the town and its history and then explore
for yourself. I'm still making discoveries after 30 years of
living here!
See
an all round view of the Discovery Centre!
360° view by Roger Fielding
We stock a number of books and guides, all related to Bollington
and the local area. We plan a programme of new items to be
published over a couple of years as resources are available.
Our first objective is to re-publish some of the books and
booklets that have previously proved popular in Bollington
but have been out of print for many years. We will add to that
some new books which should prove to be equally popular! Please
have a look at the Discovery Centre books page for details.
Please contact the Discovery Centre if you have any questions,
want to arrange a group or school visit or for mail order books.
Address: |
Bollington Discovery Centre
Canal 5
Clarence Mill
Clarence Road
Bollington
Macclesfield
SK10 5JZ |
Telephone: |
01625−572985
The Discovery Centre is not manned full time. This number goes to the
Town Hall which is open on weekday mornings. |
email: |
discover@happy-valley.org.uk |
The Discovery Centre was opened by John & Terry
Waite.
A partnership project managed
by Bollington Civic Society with the Macclesfield Canal Society.
Most generously
financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Cheshire
Rural Recovery,
Clarence Mill Properties Ltd., the Macclesfield Canal Society, Macclesfield
Borough Council, Bollington
Town Council and private donors.
