News

HLF Project – Update

Touchstones Session – Saturday 3rd February

We have our RMNF session at Touchstones this coming Saturday from 12.30pm.  Janet Byrne (Local Studies Supervisor) is going to collate information on Rooley Moor, Greenbooth and Healey Dell to show us, and is going to guide us through the process of researching our particular areas of interest.

So that we can manage expectations at Touchstones please let us know if you will or will not be there (email: info@rmnf.org.uk).  This is a great opportunity (financed by our HLF grant) to get involved, and we will be able to take copies and make return visits as we need. The agenda is very flexible, we expect the session will last a couple of hours and people will be able to come and go as they wish.

If you are coming, we suggest having a think beforehand about what you would like to get out of the session.  For example, some have said they would like to learn a bit more about people who lived in the area, about the naming of Rooley Moor, the cobbled road, and how the moors have been used over the years.  But the agenda is very open.  Maybe you’d like to know more about the history of your own house and we could recreate the new BBC TV series “A House Through Time”!

Ultimately the outcome from this, and subsequent research, will be the content for the signage and trails we are putting together for the HLF project.  And the more people that are involved the better.

Some of us are going to meet just before 12 in the café at Touchstones for a quick sandwich before the session – join us if you can.

Please do let us know whether you can or cannot join us (email: info@rmnf.org.uk).

HLF Project

Call To Action

The good news is we’ve received our HLF grant into the RMNF bank account, and now we need to start the real work!  There are two things below that I’d like to know as soon as possible if you can get involved with:

  1. Heritage Trail: I thought it might be nice to try out a heritage trail over the Christmas break to help us with putting ours together.  We’ve got a few ideas of where to visit locally, and would welcome more ideas if you know of some.  We could car share to the start and possibly end up in a pub….. I was thinking of walking about 3 miles, so only an hour or two plus pub time.  Could you join us on any of the following dates…
    • Wednesday 27th December?
    • Thursday 28th December?
    • Friday 29th December?
  2. Research at Touchstones: Touchstones are happy to facilitate us reviewing the archives they hold on Rooley Moor, Greenbooth and Healey Dell.  We have to pay a fee, so I am keen that as many of us as possible can make the most of this opportunity.  The staff at Touchstones will gather relevant information for us and they will host a session on how to go about the research. We will be able to take copies of materials away with us.  I suggest we plan a half day on a Saturday in Jan or Feb.  Can you come?  And if so, when would suit you….
    • Saturday 13th Jan am or pm?
    • Saturday 27th Jan am?
    • Saturday 3rd Feb am or pm?

Please come back to me on both points as soon as possible so we can plan to make the most of these opportunities. We will choose the dates where most people are able to join us.

Do let me know if you have any queries.

Many thanks!

Fran

email: info@RMNF.org.uk

Forum wins National Lottery support

Today, Rooley Moor Neighbourhood Forum has received £9,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) towards an exciting project, Sharing the Rich and Varied Heritage of Rooley Moor and the Cotton Famine Road. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, and with partnership funding from Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council, the project focuses on sharing the varied physical and social history in the Rooley Moor area of Rochdale.

The project will consult with a range of local and national groups to develop heritage trails and interpretive signage around the area, which will highlight a range of assets, for example the cotton famine road (featured on the BBC 2 Programme “Black and British: A Forgotten History”), built by Rochdale mill workers during the American Civil War. The people of Rochdale acted in support of the abolition of slavery as cotton supplies dried up. This resulted in great hardship for the people of Rochdale, and they were put to work outside of the cotton mills – for example building the cotton famine road (one of the highest roads in England) where 320,000 cobble setts were laid. The heritage trails will also visit listed buildings from the 16th century, the site of the old Moorcock Inn high up on the moors, sites of mining history and the remains of munitions factories in the nature reserve of Healey Dell. The trails will be supported by QR codes linking visitors to a website with a wealth of written, audio and visual resources providing further information on the physical and social history of the area.

Rooley Moor Neighbourhood Forum CIO is a community group working to protect, promote and preserve the area for future generations and will deliver this project with the support of local people, local organisations, Rochdale Council, United Utilities and the Lord of the Manor. Anyone who would like to be involved in this community based project is very welcome, and should make contact with Rooley Moor Neighbourhood Forum via the website (www.rmnf.org.uk).

Commenting on the award, Andy Meek (Chair of Rooley Moor Neighbourhood Forum) said: “We are thrilled to have received support from HLF thanks to National Lottery players and with the support of United Utilities, the Lord of the Manor and Rochdale Council we are confident this project will engage with local people and allow us to share the wide range of fantastic history that is accessible in our area. We would like to call out to all people with an interest in the area to find out more, and to get involved in this project.”

Asda Foundation

Proud To Champion Our Community

Members of our forum were delighted to receive a cheque for £200, to help with display boards, from the Asda Rochdale Store Community Champion. Our thanks go to Asda and everyone who voted for us.

Pictured from left to right are Alan, Desmond, Andy (RMNF Chair), Win and John.

In Bloom Awards Friday 3rd November – An Historic Day

Nigel Morrell writes:

“Friday 3rd November 2017 was a remarkable day for the whole of our In Bloom Team at Southport!!.

After some really great performances in the It`s Your Neighbourhood Awards, earlier in the week had laid the foundations, the main Awards Day took us to new heights. The day started well, when Rochdale Town Centre retained it`s Silver Gilt Award. We then went on to achieve a Silver Gilt for Castleton Station as new entrants in the Railway Station category; Paul and the Jubilee Park Team attained a Silver Gilt as new entrants in the Parks section. The Flying Horse were Gold Award winners, once again, in the Small Accommodation category. This was followed by a Gold and a category win for Nick and the Team at Spring Hill Hospice and a Gold and a category win for Zen Internet. We were then very pleased when ,for the first time, we retained our Gold Award in the Small City category.

Just when we thought we had had a really good day,along came the “icing on the cake” in the form of our nomination by North West In Bloom to go forward to the National In Bloom Competition, a very surprising and notable first for Rochdale, which takes our Team and our Town to a new level in this prestige competition. This represents an awesome achievement for our whole Team, volunteers, Officers, sponsors and all the Elected Members(particularly our Council Leader, Councillor Farnell) and we can all be justifiably delighted with our success.

The success of Rochdale In Bloom is great, in itself, and, as part of a collection of In Bloom groups representing all parts of our Borough we have really put Our Town on the map.

Heywood In Bloom were spectacularly successful yesterday, their table groaning under the weight of their Awards, Pennines improved their tally to some considerable degree an our new Group in Middleton gained a Silver Medal in their first entry into the competition. An all round brilliant effort which reflects the renaissance of Rochdale.

The Mayor had a very busy day as the most frequent Worshipful visitor to the podium and we thank him for his stamina.

The Rochdale In Bloom Team faces it`s greatest challenge in the near future as we raised our game and enter the national stage.

For the time being, I am content to pause and absorb our massive shared achievement, which reflects our consistent fantastic efforts.

Enjoy the weekend and we will celebrate on Thursday.

Kind Regards,

Nigel”