Discover Littleborough, Greater Manchester

The Rochdale Canal in Littleborough: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Rochdale_Canal_at_Littleborough.jpg
Author: Tim Green


Littleborough is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale on the northeastern part of Greater Manchester, England. Located in the upper Roch Valley, some 20 km to the northeast of downtown Manchester, Littleborough has a population of 13,000 people (2012 estimate). Until 1974, when Greater Manchester was created, it was part of Lancashire.

The area surrounding Littleborough bears evidence of human settlement in the Neolithic, Celtic, Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. It lies at the cross road of two ancient routes over the Pennines, one of which may have been a Roman road. The town that is known today was little more than a cluster of village houses in 1472.

Littleborough was just a village of farmers and cottage industries until the late-18th century, when it experienced rapid infrastructure development. This came in the form of the Rochdale Canal and the Manchester to Leeds Railway. A man-made lake was also created to serve as a feeder reservoir for the canal. The improvement to the infrastructure spured the industrialization of Littleborough's cloth industry into modern textile mills. As such, the 19th century was a time of prosperity and urbanization.

Skye Road Chapel, Littleborough: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Syke_Road_Chapel,_Littleborough_-_geograph.org.uk_-_400450.jpg
Author: Paul Glazzard


Bythe mid-20th century, the industrial growth was in decline. Stiff overseas competition prompted the gradual deindustrialization of Littleborough. However the town reinvented itself, moving away from its traditional industries and successfully keeping at bay the economic depression that is experienced elsewhere in the region.

Today the stone-built town center of Littleborough is a designated Conservation Area with a number of well-preserved historic buildings.

Visiting Littleborough

Take the M66 motorway out from Manchester. at Junction 2, head east on the A58 road. Continue on the A58 until you arrive in Littleborough.

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About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.