Accrington - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Accrington is a town in Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, within the borough of Hyndburn

Hyndburn

Hyndburn is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Accrington. The district is named after the River Hyndburn....

. It lies about 4 miles (6 km) east of Blackburn, 6 miles (10 km) west of Burnley

Burnley

Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....

, 20 miles (32 km) north of Manchester city centre

Manchester City Centre

Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England. It lies within the Manchester Inner Ring Road, next to the River Irwell...

and is situated on the mostly culvert

Culvert

A culvert is a device used to channel water. It may be used to allow water to pass underneath a road, railway, or embankment. Culverts can be made of many different materials; steel, polyvinyl chloride and concrete are the most common...

ed River Hyndburn

River Hyndburn

The River Hyndburn is a river in Lancashire, England. It passes through the towns of Haslingden, Baxenden, Accrington, Clayton-le-Moors, Great Harwood, before meeting Hyndburn Brook, before ultimately joining the River Calder....

. The town has a population of 35,203 according to the 2001 census

United Kingdom Census 2001

A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

and the urban area has a population of over 70,000.

The town is a former centre of the cotton and textile machinery industries. The town is famed for manufacturing the hardest and densest building bricks in the world, "The Accrington NORI" (iron)

Accrington brick

Accrington bricks, or NORIs were a type of iron hard engineering brick, produced in Huncoat, Accrington, Lancashire, England from 1887 to 2008...

, which were used in the construction of the Empire State Building

Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...

and for the foundations of Blackpool Tower

Blackpool Tower

Blackpool Tower Eye is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire in England which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. . Inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, it rises to 518 feet & 9 inches . The tower is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers...

; famous for its football team

Accrington Stanley F.C.

Accrington Stanley is an English association football club from Accrington in Lancashire, in the North West of England, who play in Football League Two, the fourth-highest division in the English football league system....

and for having Europe's largest collection

Haworth Art Gallery

The Haworth Art Gallery is a public art gallery located in Accrington, Lancashire, northwest England, in the United Kingdom, and is the home of the largest collection in Europe of Tiffany glass from the studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany...

of Tiffany Glass

Tiffany glass

Tiffany glass refers to the many and varied types of glass developed and produced from 1878 to 1933 at the Tiffany Studios, by Louis Comfort Tiffany....

.

Accrington is commonly abbreviated by locals to "Accy".

History

The name Accrington appears to be Anglo-Saxon in origin. Its derivation is uncertain.

In the records it variously appears as Akarinton in 1194; Akerunton, Akerinton and Akerynton in 1258; Acrinton in 1292; Ackryngton in 1311 and Acryngton in 1324.

The name may mean acorn farmstead from Anglo-Saxon æcern meaning acorn and tun meaning farmstead or village. The southern part of Accrington, the township of New Accrington, was formerly in the Forest of Blackburnshire and the presence of oak trees may be inferred from local place names like Broad Oak and Oak Hill. The products of oak trees were once an important food for swine and a farmstead may have been named for such produce. Anglo-Saxon ᴁcerntun might become Middle English

Middle English

Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....

Akerenton, Akerinton and the like. Also worth considering is that in the Lancashire dialect acorn was akran.

There is no known Old English personal name from which the first element can be derived. But if the Frisian names Akkrum, Akkeringa and Dutch name Akkerghem, are derived from the personal name Akker there may be a corresponding Old English name from which Accrington may be derived.

The town we now call Accrington covers two townships

Township (England)

In England, a township is a local division or district of a large parish containing a village or small town usually having its own church...

which were established in 1507 following disafforestation; those of Old Accrington and New Accrington which were merged in 1878 with the incorporation of the borough council. There have been settlements there since the medieval period, likely in the Grange Lane and Black Abbey area, and the King's Highway

King's Highway

King's Highway or Kings Highway may refer to:* King's Highway an ancient trade route from Egypt to Syria* Kings Highway , Australia* King's Highway , United States* King's Highway King's Highway or Kings Highway may refer to:* King's Highway (ancient) an ancient trade route from Egypt to Syria*...

which passes above the town was at one time used by the kings and queens of England when they used the area for hunting when the Forest of Accrington

Royal forest

A royal forest is an area of land with different meanings in England, Wales and Scotland; the term forest does not mean forest as it is understood today, as an area of densely wooded land...

was one of the four forests of the hundred of Blackburnshire

Blackburnshire

Blackburnshire was a hundred, or ancient division of the county of Lancashire, in northern England. It was centred on Blackburn, and covered an area approximately equal to modern day East Lancashire....

.

Robert de Lacy gave the manor

Manorialism

Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

of Accrington to the monks of Kirkstall

Kirkstall Abbey

Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in Kirkstall north-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire. It is set in a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded c.1152. It was disestablished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the auspices of Henry...

in the 12th century. The monks built a grange there; removing the inhabitants to make room for it. The locals got their revenge by setting fire to the new building, destroying its contents and in the process killing the three lay brothers who occupied it. An area of the town is named 'Black Abbey' a possible reference to the murders. Regardless of whatever happened Accrington did not remain under monastic control for long before reverting back to the de Lacy

De Lacy

de Lacy is the surname of an old Norman noble family originating from Lassy . The first records are about Hugh de Lacy . Descendent of Hugh de Lacy left Normandy and travelled to England along with William the Conqueror. Walter and Ilbert de Lacy fought in the battle of Hastings...

s.

It is thought the monks of Kirkstall may have built a small chapel there during their tenure for the convenience of those in charge residing there and their tenants, but the records are uncertain. What is known is that there was a chapel in Accrington prior to 1553 where the vicar of Whalley was responsible for the maintenance of divine worship. However it did not have its own minister and it was served, when at all, by the curate of one of the adjacent chapels. In 1717 Accrington was served by the curate of Church, who preached there only once a month. St. James's Church was built in 1763, replacing the old chapel however it did not achieve parochial status until as late as 1870.

Until around 1830 visitors considered Accrington to be just a "considerable village". The Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

, however, resulted in large changes and Accrington’s location on the confluence of a number of streams made it attractive to industry and a number of mills were built in the town in the mid-eighteenth century. Further industrialisation then followed in the late eighteenth century and local landowners began building mansions in the area on the outskirts of the settlement where their mills were located while their employees lived in overcrowded unsanitary conditions in the centre.

Industrialisation resulted in rapid population growth during the nineteenth century, as people moved from over north-west England to Accrington, with the population increasing from 3,266 in 1811 to 10,376 in 1851 to 43,211 in 1901 to its peak in 1911 at 45,029.

This fast population growth and slow response from the established church

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

allowed non-conformism

Nonconformism

Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...

to flourish in the town. By the mid-nineteenth century there were Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist, United Free Methodist, Congregationalist, Baptist, Swedenborgian, Unitarian, Roman Catholic and Catholic Apostolic churches in the town. The Swedenborgian church was so grand that it was considered to be the ‘Cathedral’ of that denomination.

For many decades the textiles industry, the engineering industry and coal mining were the central activities of the town. Cotton mills and dye

Dye

A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....

works provided work for the inhabitants; but often in very difficult conditions. There was regular conflict with employers over wages and working conditions. On the 24th April 1826 over 1,000 men and women, many armed, gathered at Whinney Hill in Clayton-le-Moors to listen to a speaker from where they marched on Sykes’s Mill at Higher Grange Lane, near the site of the modern police station and Magistrate’s Courts, and smashed over 60 looms. These riots spread from Accrington through Oswaldtwistle, Blackburn, Darwen, Rossendale, Bury and Chorley. In the end after three days of riots 1,139 looms were destroyed, 4 rioters and 2 bystanders shot dead by the authorities in Rossendale and 41 rioters sentenced to death (all of whose sentences were commuted).

In the 1842 'plug riots'

1842 General Strike

The 1842 General Strike, also known as the Plug Plot Riots, started among the miners in Staffordshire, England, and soon spread through Britain affecting factories, mills and coal mines from Dundee to South Wales and Cornwall....

a general strike

General strike

A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...

spread from town to town due to conditions in the town. In a population of 9,000 people as few as 100 were fully employed. From the 15th August 1842 the situation boiled over and bands of men entered the mills which were running and stopped the machinery by knocking out the boiler plugs. This allowed the water and steam to escape shutting down the mill machinery. Thousands of strikers walked over the hills from one town to another to persuade people to join the strike in civil disturbances that lasted about a week. The strike was associated with the Chartist

Chartism

Chartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...

movement but eventually proved unsuccessful in its aims.

In the early 1860s the Lancashire cotton famine badly affected Accrington, although less so than the wider area due to its more diverse economy, with as many as half of the town's mill employees out of work at one time.

Conditions were such that a Local Board of Health was constituted in 1853 and the town itself incorporated in 1878 allowing the enforcement of local laws to improve the town.

A further wave of rioting hit the town in 1962 when local men and youths clashed with some of the Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

n and Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

Commonwealth

Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...

immigrants who had settled in the town since the late 1940s

1940s

File:1940s decade montage.png|Above title bar: events which happened during World War II : From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching "Omaha" Beach on "D-Day"; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Holocaust occurred during the war as Nazi Germany...

Accrington Pals

One well-known association the town has is with the 'Accrington Pals

Accrington Pals

The Accrington Pals was a British First World War Pals battalion of Kitchener's Army raised in and around the town of Accrington in Lancashire. When the battalion was taken over by the British Army it was officially named the 11th Battalion, The East Lancashire Regiment.Recruiting was initiated by...

', the nickname given to the smallest home town battalion

Battalion

A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...

of volunteers formed to fight in the first world war

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. The Pals battalion

Pals battalion

The Pals battalions of World War I were specially constituted units of the British Army comprising men who had enlisted together in local recruiting drives, with the promise that they would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbours and work colleagues , rather than being arbitrarily...

s were a peculiarity of the 1914-18 war: Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War

Secretary of State for War

The position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first held by Henry Dundas . In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854...

, believed that it would help recruitment if friends and work-mates from the same town were able to join up and fight together. Strictly speaking, the 'Accrington Pals' battalion is properly known as the '11th East Lancashire Regiment

East Lancashire Regiment

The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, an infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of two 30th and 59th Regiments of Foot with the militia and rifle volunteer units of eastern Lancashire...

': the nickname is a little misleading, since of the four 250-strong companies that made up the original battalion only one was actually composed of men from Accrington. The rest volunteered from other east Lancashire

Lancashire

towns such as Burnley

Burnley

, Blackburn and Chorley

Chorley

Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry...

.

The Pals' first day of action, Saturday July 1, 1916, took place in Serre in the north of France. It was part of the 'Big Push' (later known as the Battle of the Somme

Battle of the Somme (1916)

The Battle of the Somme , also known as the Somme Offensive, took place during the First World War between 1 July and 14 November 1916 in the Somme department of France, on both banks of the river of the same name...

) that was intended to force the German Army

German Army

The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...

into a retreat from the Western Front

Western Front (World War I)

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...

, a line they had held since late 1914. The German defences in Serre were supposed to have been obliterated by sustained, heavy, British shelling during the preceding week; however, as the battalion advanced it met with fierce resistance. 235 men were killed and a further 350 wounded — more than half of the battalion — within half an hour. Similarly desperate losses were suffered elsewhere on the front, in a disastrous day for the British Army.

Later in the year, the East Lancashire Regiment was rebuilt with new volunteers — in all, 865 Accrington men were killed during World War I

World War I

. All of these names are recorded on a war memorial, an imposing white stone cenotaph, which stands in Oak Hill Park in the south of the town. The cenotaph

Cenotaph

A cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...

also lists the names of 173 local fatalities from World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

After World War I

World War I

and until 1986, Accrington Corporation buses were painted in the regimental colours of red and blue with gold lining. The mudguards were painted black as a sign of mourning.

Demography

The 2001 census gave the population of Accrington town as 35,203. The figure for the urban area was 71,224, up 1.1% from 70,442 in 1991. This total includes Accrington, Church

Church, Lancashire

Church is a large village in Hyndburn, Lancashire, England; situated a mile west of Accrington. The local travel links are located less than a mile from the village centre to Church and Oswaldtwistle railway station and to Blackpool Airport. Also, the main road running through the village is the...

, Clayton-le-Moors

Clayton-le-Moors

Clayton-le-Moors is a township in Hyndburn in Lancashire, England. The town is locally referred to as 'Clayton'. To the west lies Rishton, to the north Great Harwood, and two miles to the south, Accrington. Clayton-le-Moors is situated on the A680 road alongside the M65 motorway.-Description:It is...

, Great Harwood

Great Harwood

Great Harwood is a small town in the Hyndburn district of Lancashire, England, north-east of Blackburn.-History:Great Harwood is a town with a industrial heritage. The Mercer Hall Leisure Centre in Queen Street and the town clock pay tribute to John Mercer , the 'father' of Great Harwood, who...

and Oswaldtwistle

Oswaldtwistle

Oswaldtwistle is a town within the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies on the course of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, east-southeast of Blackburn and is contiguous to Accrington.-History:...

. For comparison purposes that is approximately the same size as Aylesbury

Aylesbury

Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...

, Carlisle

City of Carlisle

The City of Carlisle is a local government district of Cumbria, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. It is named after its largest settlement, Carlisle, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Brampton and Longtown, as well as outlying villages...

, Guildford

Guildford

Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...

or Scunthorpe

Scunthorpe

Scunthorpe is a town within North Lincolnshire, England. It is the administrative centre of the North Lincolnshire unitary authority, and had an estimated total resident population of 72,514 in 2010. A predominantly industrial town, Scunthorpe, the United Kingdom's largest steel processing centre,...

urban areas.

The borough of Hyndburn

Hyndburn

Hyndburn is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Accrington. The district is named after the River Hyndburn....

as a whole has a population of 81,496. This includes Accrington Urban Area and other outlying towns and villages such as; Altham

Altham, Lancashire

Altham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Hyndburn, in Lancashire, England. It is the only parish in the borough – the remainder is an unparished area. The village is west of Burnley, north of Accrington, and north-east of Clayton-le-Moors, and is on the A678 Blackburn to Burnley...

, Baxenden

Baxenden

Baxenden is a village and ward located in the Borough of Hyndburn in Lancashire, North-West England. Baxenden is sometimes known to the locals as ‘Bash’.- History :...

, part of Belthorn

Belthorn

Belthorn is a small moorland village situated to the south-east of Blackburn in Lancashire, England. It is about half a kilometre away from junction 5 of the M65 motorway, which runs from Colne to Preston....

, Huncoat

Huncoat

Huncoat is a small village in Lancashire, England; situated in the North West. It is located to the east of Accrington.Huncoat railway station is on the East Lancashire Line.-Origins:...

, Rishton

Rishton

Rishton is a small town in the Hyndburn district of Lancashire, England, about west of Clayton-le-Moors and north-east of Blackburn. It was an urban district from 1894 to 1974....

and Stanhill.

Economy

The town centre is home to a number of high street multiples, including: Farmfoods

Farmfoods

Farmfoods is a Scottish supermarket chain operating throughout the United Kingdom. Farmfoods predominately sells frozen food and also grocery items.- History :...

, Greggs

Greggs

Greggs plc is the largest specialist retail bakery chain in the United Kingdom. It was established in the 1930s as a single shop but has approximately 1,500 outlets....

, Argos

Argos

Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...

, Specsavers

Specsavers

Specsavers Optical Group Ltd is the biggest optical retailer in the UK and Ireland. It is also the biggest of the four major opticians that control 70% of the British market for spectacles and contact lenses, with Specsavers having a 39% share of the market...

, Wilkinson's, Shoe Zone

Shoe Zone

Shoe Zone is a footwear retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland which sells shoes at low prices. It has over 800 stores in different cities and towns throughout the UK and Ireland and around 5,750 employees. The company has an annual turnover of 239 million...

, Superdrug

Superdrug

Superdrug Stores PLC is Britain's second-largest beauty and health retailer behind Boots. Superdrug - part of the AS Watson Group which in turn is part of the Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa - is a UK based company with over 890 stores, which since 2006, includes the Republic of Ireland...

, Costa Coffee

Costa Coffee

Costa Coffee is a British coffeehouse company founded in 1971 by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa, as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. Since 1995 it has been a subsidiary of Whitbread, since when the company has grown to over...

, JJB Sports

JJB Sports

JJB Sports plc is a United Kingdom sports retailer. It currently operates 251 stores in the UK and Ireland.- History :The sportshop chain was founded in 1971, when ex-footballer Dave Whelan acquired a single sports shop in Wigan. The original store was established by JJ Broughton in the early...

, Cash Generator

Cash Generator

Cash Generator is a UK-based operator of discount retail stores. Headquartered in Bolton, Greater Manchester, the company opened its first Cash Generator store in the centre of Bolton in 1994 and by the beginning of 2011 had expanded to over 130 stores, many of which are operated by franchisees.The...

, Gamestation

Gamestation

Gamestation is a chain of UK retail shops selling used and new video games, and was the second-largest specialist video game retailer in the UK until it was bought out by Game in 2007...

, GAME

GAME (retailer)

The Game Group plc is a British video games retail company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index....

, Poundland

Poundland

Poundland is a British-based variety store chain which sells every item in its stores for £1. Established in April 1990 by Dave Dodd and Stephen Smith, Poundland stock a variety of around 3,000 home and kitchen-ware, gifts, healthcare and other products, across 16 categories many of which are brand...

, Timpson

Timpson (retailer)

Timpson is primarily a shoe repair business with over 750 outlets in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Timpson also offers key cutting, engraving, jewellery and watch repair, house sign creation and assorted other services, as well as retailing shoe care products.-History:Timpson's...

, Althams Travel, Ladbrokes

Ladbrokes

Ladbrokes plc is a British based gambling company. It is based in Rayners Lane in Harrow, London owned by Bhavin Kakaiya. From 14 May 1999 to 23 February 2006, when it owned the Hilton hotel brand outside the United States, it was known as Hilton Group plc...

, Paddy Power

Paddy Power

Paddy Power is Ireland’s largest bookmaker. Offline it conducts business through a chain of licensed betting offices and by operating Ireland's largest telephone betting service. Online it offers sports betting, online poker, online bingo, online casino games and spread betting...

, Claire's

Claire's

Claire's is a retailer of accessories and jewelry to girls and young women. Claire's has over 3,000 locations worldwide: their stores are in 95% of all U.S. shopping malls, and in 33 countries...

, Grainger Games

Grainger Games

Grainger Games is an independent video game retailer chain in the United Kingdom.The company first launched as a market stall in 1996, in the Grainger Market, Newcastle upon Tyne....

, Post Office, Thomas Cook

Thomas Cook Group

Thomas Cook Group plc is a travel company created on 19 June, 2007 by the merger of Thomas Cook AG and MyTravel Group plc. At flotation on the London Stock Exchange 52% of the shares in the new company were held by the German mail order and department store corporation Arcandor and 48% owned by...

, Thomson

Thomson Holidays

Thomson Holidays is a UK based travel operator and part of TUI Travel PLC. The company was founded as part of the Thomson Travel Group in 1965 following the acquisition of three package holiday travel agencies and the airline Britannia Airways by Roy Thomson...

, Burton, Holland & Barrett

Holland & Barrett

Holland & Barrett is a chain of health food shops with over 600 stores in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, Singapore and Malta. The company also has stores in The Netherlands, where they trade as "De Tuinen".-Ownership:...

, Dorothy Perkins

Dorothy Perkins

Dorothy Perkins, whose trading name was inspired by a rambler rose of the same name, is a large British women's clothing retailer, active mostly in the United Kingdom.- History :...

, Blockbuster, WHSmith, H Samuel, Iceland

Iceland (supermarket)

Iceland is a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Iceland's primary product lines include frozen foods, such as frozen prepared meals and frozen vegetables - hence the name of the company...

, The Carphone Warehouse

The Carphone Warehouse

Carphone Warehouse Group PLC , known as The Carphone Warehouse, is Europe's largest independent mobile phone retailer, with over 1,700 stores across Europe. It is based in the United Kingdom and is a 50% subsidiary of Best Buy...

, Phones 4U

Phones 4U

Phones 4u is a large independent mobile phone retailer in the UK. It is part of the 4u Group based in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. Since opening in 1996, it has expanded to over 550 stores throughout the United Kingdom. - Company Background :...

, New Look, Clinton Cards

Clinton Cards

Clinton Cards is a chain of stores in the UK founded in 1968 by Don Lewin. Mostly selling greeting cards, as the name suggests, the chain claims to be "the largest specialist retailer of greetings cards, plush merchandise and related products in the UK with over 700 shops." They used to be...

, Boots Opticians

Boots Opticians

- History :The company first began trading in 1983 in Nottingham, before opening practices in Peterborough, Leeds, Mansfield, Luton and Derby in 1984...

, Card Factory

Card Factory

Card Factory is a chain of greeting card and gift stores in United Kingdom founded by Dean Hoyle and his wife Janet; the first store opened in 1997. The company currently employs around 4,500 people, mostly in front line positions in its stores. Their advertising claims they have not increased...

, Subway

Subway (restaurant)

Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. . Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 35,519 restaurants in 98 countries and territories as of October 25th, 2011...

, Boots

Boots UK

Boots UK Limited , is a leading pharmacy chain in the United Kingdom, with outlets in most high streets throughout the country...

, Store Twenty One, Poundworld, Peacocks, B&M Bargains, Wetherspoons

Wetherspoons

J D Wetherspoon plc is a British pub chain based in Watford. Founded as a single pub in 1979 by Tim Martin, the company now owns 815 outlets. The chain champions cask ale, low prices, long opening hours, and no music. The company also operates the Lloyds No...

and a mix of other shops.

There is a Homebase

Homebase

Homebase is a British home improvement store and garden centre, with 350 stores across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is well known by its green and orange colour scheme. Together with its sister company Argos , it forms part of Home Retail Group. Homebase recorded sales figures...

, Asda

Asda

Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...

, VUE as well as a Tesco Extra which opened on 22 November 2010. Discount supermarkets include; Lidl

Lidl

Lidl is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany that operates over 7,200 stores across Europe. The company's full name is Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG...

and Aldi

ALDI

ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...

.

Fast-food restaurants include; McDonald's

McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...

and KFC

KFC

KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global...

.

As well as motor dealerships from Ford (Greyhound), Vauxhall

Vauxhall Motors

Vauxhall Motors is a British automotive company owned by General Motors and headquartered in Luton. It was founded in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer, began manufacturing cars in 1903 and was acquired by GM in 1925. It has been the second-largest selling car brand in the UK for...

& Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

(Accrington Garages), the town was home to a Arnold Clark

Arnold Clark

Sir Arnold Clark is one of the wealthiest businessmen in Scotland, ranked 10th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2005 for Scotland.-Biography:Born in Glasgow,in 1927,Clark joined the Royal Air Force aged 17...

car dealer which closed down in 2010.

The town's shopping centre is called the Accrington Arndale Centre.

A retail park near the town centre, Eastgate Retail Park, has stores such as Home Bargains

Home Bargains

Home Bargains is a chain of discount stores, offering home bargains, operating throughout the United Kingdom, founded by Tom Morris in Liverpool, England approximately 30 years ago...

, United Carpets Woodfloor & Beds, Morrisons

Morrisons

Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons formerly Morrison's, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies...

(formley Netto

Netto (store)

Netto is a Danish discount supermarket operating in several European countries. Netto is owned by Dansk Supermarked Group, which in turn is partly owned by A.P. Møller-Mærsk Group.Netto also operates an express version of the store, known as Døgn Netto...

) and Poundstretcher

Poundstretcher

Poundstretcher is a chain of discount stores operating in the United Kingdom. It is based in Deighton, England, near Huddersfield on the A62.-History:...

.

The main shopping street is called Broadway.

Shell

Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...

, Esso

Esso

Esso is an international trade name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. Pronounced , it is derived from the initials of the pre-1911 Standard Oil, and as such became the focus of much litigation and regulatory restriction in the United States. In 1972, it was largely replaced in the U.S. by...

, Texaco

Texaco

Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....

(x2) and BP

BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...

operate garages in the town.

Geography

Accrington is a hill town located at the western edge of the Pennines within a bowl that is largely encircled by surrounding hills. Hill settlements origins were as the economic foci of the district engaging in the spinning and weaving of woolen cloth. Wool lead and coal were other local industries.

Transport

The town has strong local travel links as Accrington railway station

Accrington railway station

Accrington railway station serves the town of Accrington in Lancashire, England. It is a station on the East Lancashire Line 10 km east of Blackburn railway station operated by Northern Rail....

lies on the East Lancashire Line

East Lancashire Line

The East Lancashire Line is a railway line in the Lancashire region of England, which runs between Preston and Colne, through Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley ....

serving trains running locally and trains running from Blackpool

Blackpool

Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...

to York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

. However, recent changes to the train timetables have been a disservice to Accrington, increasing the journey time to Preston (a vital link to London or Scotland) by up to 1.5 hours. However, there are still buses to Manchester every thirty minutes as well as more frequent services to other towns in east Lancashire. The main road running through the town centre is the A680 running from Rochdale

Rochdale

Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...

to Whalley

Whalley, Lancashire

Whalley is a large village in the Ribble Valley on the banks of the River Calder in Lancashire, England. It is overlooked by Whalley Nab, a large picturesque wooded hill over the river from the village....

. The town is served by junction seven of the M65

M65 motorway

The M65 is a motorway in Lancashire, England. It runs from just south of Preston through the major junction of the M6 and M61 motorways, east past Darwen, Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley, Nelson and ends at Colne.-History:...

and is linked from the A680 and the A56

A56 road

The A56 is a road in England which extends between the city of Chester in Cheshire and the village of Broughton in North Yorkshire. The road contains a mixture of single and dual carriageway sections, and traverses environments as diverse as the dense urban sprawl of inner city Manchester and the...

dual carriageway

Dual carriageway

A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...

which briefly merge; linking to the M66 motorway

M66 motorway

The M66 is a motorway in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is long and provides part of the route between the M62 and M60 motorways and the M65, with the rest being provided by the A56.-Route:...

heading towards Manchester. The closest airports are Manchester Airport at 27 miles (43.5 km), Blackpool Airport

Blackpool Airport

Blackpool International Airport is an international airport on the Fylde coast of Lancashire, England, in the Borough of Fylde, just outside the Borough of Blackpool. It was formerly known as Squires Gate Airport....

at 28 miles (45.1 km) and Leeds Bradford Airport at 30 miles (48.3 km).

There was once a rail link south to Manchester via Haslingden

Haslingden

Haslingden is a small town in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. It is north of Manchester. The name means 'valley of the hazels', though the town is in fact set on a high and windy hill. In the early 20th century Haslingden had the status of a municipal borough, but following local government...

and Bury

Bury

Bury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester...

, but this was closed in the 1960s as part of cuts following the Beeching Report. The trackbed from Accrington to Baxenden

Baxenden

Baxenden is a village and ward located in the Borough of Hyndburn in Lancashire, North-West England. Baxenden is sometimes known to the locals as ‘Bash’.- History :...

is now a linear treelined cycleway/footpath.As of november 2011 Hyndburn borough council has plans to re-open the rail link to manchester.

The small minibus operator M & M Coaches and its main competitor Transdev

Transdev

Transdev was a major international public transport group based in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France and operating in several countries. Originally created as Société centrale pour l'équipement du territoire in 1955 and developing transportation activities since 1973, Transdev was a subsidiary...

Lancashire United

Transdev Lancashire United is an English bus operator, running mainly in and around the boroughs of Blackburn, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley. The company was founded in April 2001 following the buyout of Stagecoach Ribble by Blazefield Holdings and has since overcome other operators...

provide service in Accrington, with routes to places such as Blackburn, Oswaldtwistle

Oswaldtwistle

, Rishton

Rishton

Rishton is a small town in the Hyndburn district of Lancashire, England, about west of Clayton-le-Moors and north-east of Blackburn. It was an urban district from 1894 to 1974....

, Burnley

Burnley

and Clitheroe

Clitheroe

Clitheroe is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is 1½ miles from the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists in the area. It has a population of 14,697...

Governance

Accrington is represented in parliament as a part of the constituency of Hyndburn. Note that the constituency boundaries do not align exactly with those of the district of the same name.

Accrington was first represented nationally after the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, in an attempt to equalise representation across...

after the 1885 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1885

-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...

by Accrington (UK Parliament constituency)

Accrington (UK Parliament constituency)

Accrington was a parliamentary constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.-History:...

. This seat was abolished in the 1983 general election and replaced with the present constituency of Hyndburn (UK Parliament constituency)

Hyndburn (UK Parliament constituency)

Hyndburn is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...

.

Hyndburn consists of 16 wards of 35 councillors. Due to its size Accrington is represented by a number of wards in the Borough of Hyndburn

Hyndburn

Hyndburn is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Accrington. The district is named after the River Hyndburn....

. The town largely consists of the Milnshaw, Peel, Central, Barnfield and Spring Hill wards, although some parts of those wards are in other towns in the borough.

Accrington became incorporated as a municipal borough

Municipal borough

Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...

in 1878. Under the Local Government Act 1972

Local Government Act 1972

The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

, since 1974, the town has formed part of the larger Borough of Hyndburn

Hyndburn

Hyndburn is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Accrington. The district is named after the River Hyndburn....

including the former Urban District

Urban district

In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....

s of Oswaldtwistle

Oswaldtwistle

, Church

Church, Lancashire

, Clayton-le-Moors

Clayton-le-Moors

, Great Harwood

Great Harwood

and Rishton

Rishton

Rishton is a small town in the Hyndburn district of Lancashire, England, about west of Clayton-le-Moors and north-east of Blackburn. It was an urban district from 1894 to 1974....

Education

The schools of Accrington include:

Accrington St Christopher's C of E High
Accrington St Christopher's C of E High
St Christopher's C of E High is a voluntarily aided Church of England High School located north of Accrington in Lancashire, north-west England. The school was founded in 1958 and in 2005 earned Technology College status....

, a Church of England secondary school which holds specialist Technology College
Technology College
Technology College is a term used in the United Kingdom for a secondary specialist school that focuses on design and technology, mathematics and science. These were the first type of specialist schools, beginning in 1994. In 2008 there were 598 Technology Colleges in England, of which 12 also...

status.
Accrington Academy, a specialist Sports College
Sports College
Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, PE, sports and dance. Schools that successfully apply to the Specialist Schools Trust and become Sports...
The Hollins Technology College
Accrington and Rossendale College
Accrington and Rossendale College
Accrington and Rossendale College is a further education college based in Accrington, Lancashire, England.- The College :Accrington & Rossendale College is an award winning further education College which specialises in vocational education....

, now named 'Accross', is a further education college for 14-19 Year olds.
Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, a secondary school serving the Catholic community of Hyndburn and those who support its ethos.

The school holds specialist Science College

Science College

Science Colleges were introduced in 2002 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, science and mathematics...

status.
Rhyddings Business and Enterprise High School, in nearby Oswaldtwistle

Oswaldtwistle

, also serves the area.

Health

The local hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

is Accrington Victoria Hospital however, as it only deals with minor issues, A&E is provided by the Royal Blackburn Hospital. Other services are provided at the Accrington Pals Primary Health Care Centre and the Accrington Acorn Primary Health Care Centre. Some wards in Accrington rank amongst the most deprived in terms of healthcare and life expectancy in the country. According to the 1991 census 28% of houses in the borough were considered 'unfit', chiefly those in Accrington and Church. A current urban regeneration scheme, Elevate East Lancashire, is attempting to remedy these problems.

Media

The chief publications in the area are the Accrington Observer, part of MEN media

Manchester Evening News

The Manchester Evening News is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom. It is published every day except Sunday and is owned by Trinity Mirror plc following its sale by Guardian Media Group in early 2010. It has an average daily circulation of 90,973 copies...

, and the Lancashire Telegraph.

Sports

The town's other famous association is with Accrington Stanley F.C.

Accrington Stanley F.C.

, the butt of many (largely affectionate) jokes. The club's name is often invoked as a symbol of British sport's legion of plucky but hopeless causes.

The club entered the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

in 1921 with the formation of the old Third Division (North); after haunting the lower reaches of English football for forty years, they eventually resigned from the League in 1962, due to financial problems, and folded in 1965. The club was reformed three years later and then worked its way through the non-league divisions to reach the Nationwide Conference

Football Conference

The Football Conference is a football league in England which consists of three divisions called Conference National, Conference North, and Conference South. Some Football Conference clubs are fully professional, such as Luton Town, but most of them are semi-professional...

in 2003. In the 2005–06 season, Stanley, after winning against Woking

Woking F.C.

Woking Football Club is a football club from in Woking, Surrey, England, formed in 1889. They are playing in the Conference South in the 2011–12 season. For the 2011/2012 season, Woking are sharing their ground with Conference National club Hayes & Yeading United.-Promotion to the...

with 3 matches to spare, secured a place back in the Football League

The Football League

and the town celebrated with a small parade and honours placed on senior executives of the team. Coincidentally, one of the teams relegated—and thus being replaced by Stanley—were Oxford United

Oxford United F.C.

Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...

, who were voted into the Football League to replace the previous Accrington Stanley. The football stadium is called the Crown Ground. Accrington is the smallest town in England and Wales

England and Wales

England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...

with a Football League club.

Accrington Stanley Football Club has officially had its own pub

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

in the town, the Crown, since July 2007.

The club was ridiculed during the 1980s

1980s

File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...

with a milk

Milk

Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...

advert

Television advertisement

A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...

on television, in which a young boy boasted that Ian Rush

Ian Rush

Ian James Rush, MBE, is a retired football player from Flint, Wales. He is best remembered as a player for Liverpool, where he was among the top strikers in the English game in the 1980s and 1990s. He also had spells playing at Chester City, Juventus, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Sheffield...

had told him that "if [he] didn't drink lots of milk, when [he] [grew] up, [he'd] only be good enough to play for Accrington Stanley".

An earlier club, Accrington F.C.

Accrington F.C.

Accrington Football Club were an English football club from Accrington, Lancashire, who were one of the founder members of The Football League. Accrington F.C. was formed following a meeting at a local public house in 1876...

, were one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888. However, their time in league football was even less successful and considerably briefer than that of Accrington Stanley: they dropped out of the league in 1893 and folded shortly afterwards due to financial problems. The town of Accrington thus has the unique "distinction" of having lost two separate clubs from league football.

Tiffany Glass

The Haworth Art Gallery in Accrington contains an outstanding collection of Tiffany glass

Tiffany glass

Tiffany glass refers to the many and varied types of glass developed and produced from 1878 to 1933 at the Tiffany Studios, by Louis Comfort Tiffany....

ware presented to the town by Joseph Briggs, an Accrington man who had joined Tiffany’s in the late 19th century and eventually became art director and assistant manager. The Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

vases are considered to be the most important such group in Europe. One of the most striking items is a glass mosaic exhibition piece, designed by Briggs himself and entitled "Sulphur Crested Cockatoos".

Regeneration

Accrington and the townships that make up the Borough are being gradually transformed by the ambitious regeneration plans, which are being put in place. One of the most important pieces of the regeneration jigsaw for the Borough is reviving Accrington town centre. The town centre is a principal engine of economic revival not only for all communities across the Borough, but also for Pennine Lancashire.

The Council recognized expert help was required to help shape what the town centre should look like over the next 10–15 years and how to make this happen. The Council using funding from the Single Regeneration Budget appointed URBED (Urban, Built, Environment Design), consultants based in Manchester to help the Council, our partners and the local community develop a new vision for Accrington town centre.

Notable residents

Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson is an English singer-songwriter and musician best known as the former lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes...

, singer with rock band Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...

, was born there
Harrison Birtwistle
Harrison Birtwistle
Sir Harrison Paul Birtwistle CH is a British contemporary composer.-Life:Birtwistle was born in Accrington, a mill town in Lancashire some 20 miles north of Manchester. His interest in music was encouraged by his mother, who bought him a clarinet when he was seven, and arranged for him to have...

, composer
Thomas Birtwistle
Thomas Birtwistle
Thomas Birtwistle, Thomas was a trade unionist and factory inspector. From the age of six he worked in a cotton mill becoming a power-loom weaver at the age of fourteen. In spite of limited education he had a flair for mathematics and was skilled at working out the complicated the way cotton...

, trade unionist
Mike Duxbury, footballer, was born in the town
Graeme Fowler
Graeme Fowler
Graeme "Foxy" Fowler is a former English professional cricketer, who played for Lancashire, England, and later for Durham...

, cricketer, former England batsman, cricket coach and occasional pundit on BBC Radio's Test Match Special
Andy Hargreaves, academic
Julie Hesmondhalgh
Julie Hesmondhalgh
Julie Hesmondhalgh is an English actress.Hesmondhalgh was born in Accrington, Lancashire. As a teenager, she was moderately interested in acting, but wished to become a social worker. She applied to drama school to be with her friends, and studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art...

, actor, Hayley Cropper
Hayley Cropper
Hayley Anne Cropper is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street...

in the TV Soap Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
Vicky Entwistle
Vicky Entwistle
Vicky Entwistle is an English actress who is most famous for playing the role of "loudmouth" factory worker Janice Battersby in ITV1's long-running soap opera Coronation Street....

, actor, Janice Battersby
Janice Battersby
Janice Bernadette Battersby is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Vicky Entwistle, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 6 January 1997....

in the TV Soap Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
Ron Hill
Ron Hill
Ronald "Ron" Hill, MBE, BSc, PhD , is a noted runner and founder of Ron Hill and Hilly Clothing Company. Hill was born in Accrington, Lancashire, England. He was the second man to break 2:10 in the marathon; he set world records at four other distances, but never laid claim to the marathon world...

, long-distance and marathon runner
Netherwood Hughes
Netherwood Hughes
Netherwood "Ned" Hughes was one of the last two Tommies who served the United Kingdom during the First World War, along with Harry Patch, although Patch is the only one to have seen action. Hughes was also one of three British veterans still living in the country, with Patch and Henry Allingham...

, World War I veteran, died in 2009, aged 108
David Lloyd
David Lloyd (cricketer)
David Lloyd is a former English cricketer who played county cricket for Lancashire and Test and One Day International cricket for England. He also played semi-professional football for Accrington Stanley...

, cricketer, now a pundit for Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
Mystic Meg
Mystic Meg
Mystic Meg is a British astrologer and alleged psychic who has regular astrology columns in The Sun and until its demise, the News of the World. She came to greater public notice when she hosted what became a regular item on the first broadcast of the National Lottery draw in 1994...

, astrologer, born in the town as Margaret Anne Lake in 1952
Edward Ormerod
Edward Ormerod
Edward Ormerod was an English mining engineer.Edward Ormerod was born on 2 May 1834 in the village of Church, near Accrington, in Lancashire, England. He worked as a mining engineer at Fletcher, Burrows and Company's Gibfield Colliery in Atherton, Greater Manchester, where he devised and tested a...

, mining engineer and inventor of the Ormerod safety link for use in coal mines
Alan Ramsbottom
Alan Ramsbottom
Alan Ramsbottom was a professional racing cyclist from Clayton-le-Moors, England, who twice rode the Tour de France.-Amateur career:Ramsbottom was a talented amateur in Britain in the late 1950s...

, professional cyclist
Hollie Steel
Hollie Steel
Hollie Steel is a singer and performer from Huncoat, Lancashire, England. At the age of ten she was one of ten finalists on the third series of the ITV reality show Britain's Got Talent....

, Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent series. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's TalkbackThames and Simon Cowell's production company SYCOtv. The show is broadcast on ITV in Britain and TV3 in Ireland...

finalist of 2009
Diana Vickers
Diana Vickers
Diana Vickers is an English singer-songwriter, stage actress and fashion designer who initially came to public attention as a semi-finalist on the fifth series of British talent show The X Factor in 2008...

, singer-songwriter, stage actress and fashion designer
John Virtue
John Virtue
John Virtue was born in Accrington, Lancashire in 1947 to become an English artist who specialises in monochrome landscapes. He is honorary Professor of Fine Art at the University of Plymouth, and from 2003–2005 was the sixth Associate Artist at London's National Gallery.Virtue trained at the...

, artist
John Rex Whinfield
John Rex Whinfield
John Rex Whinfield CBE was a British chemist who, together with James Tennant Dickson investigated polyesters and in 1941 produced and patented the first polyester fibre which they named Terylene, also known as Dacron, equal to or surpassing nylon in toughness and resilience.-Education:Whinfield...

, chemist, inventor of Terylene (polyester), the first completely synthetic fibre invented in UK
Jeanette Winterson
Jeanette Winterson
Jeanette Winterson OBE is a British novelist.-Early years:Winterson was born in Manchester and adopted on 21 January 1960. She was raised in Accrington, Lancashire, by Constance and John William Winterson...

, author, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is a novel by Jeanette Winterson published in 1985, which she subsequently adapted into a BBC television drama...

is an account of her childhood in the town

External links

Hyndburn Borough Council
Accrington Observer Local newspaper's website
Accrington Web Accrington forum and town information
The Bee The local radio station
It's HYNDBURN Local news and information portal
Accrington Market Accrington Victorian Market Hall and Out Door Market
Accrington Moorhead Sports College
A 3D map of Accrington You can see the town of Accrington and parking

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Accrington Pals

Demography

Economy

Geography

Transport

Governance

Education

Health

Media

Sports

Tiffany Glass

Regeneration

Notable residents

Further reading

External links