Discover Rochdale, Greater Manchester

Rochdale Town Hall: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rochdale_Town_Hall,_2010.jpg
Author: Tim Green


Rochdale is a market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. Located 16 km (10 mi) to the northeast of downtown Manchester, Rochdale has a population of 100,000 people (2012 estimate). It was formerly part of the county of Lancashire until 1974, when Greater Manchester was created.

Human habitation in the Rochdale area goes back to Roman times. The Romans had a road built through the area linking Mamucium (now Manchester) to Eboracum (now York).

After the departure of the Romans, the area was ruled by the Anglo-Saxons. By the 10th century, Saxon rule was frequently being challenged by invading Danes, forcing the Saxons to built a fort to defend it. That fort has long been destroyed, with no trace remaining.

The earliest mention of Rochdale was in the Domesday Book in 1086, where it was listed as Recedham. Over time, the spelling evolved to Rachedale and eventually to the present Rochdale. By the 18th century Rochdale was a thriving town and a center for the wool trade for northern England.

Scout Moor Wind Farm, Rochdale: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scout_Moor_Wind_Farm_in_Winter_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1075718.jpg
Author: Paul Anderson


The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century transformed Rochdale into one of the first ever industrial towns in the country. The construction of the Rochdale Canal enabled the speedy transportation of raw material such as cotton, wool and coal, as well as finished products such as textile, fueling the town's industrial growth.

By the 20th century, the industries that were the mainstay of Rochdale's economy was in decline. Foreign competition cause the collapse of the town's textile industry. Today Rochdale is a developed town that has moved away from manufacturing into service industries.

Visiting Rochdale

From Manchester, take the M62 motorway to Junction 20, then continue north on the A627(M) motorway, the A664 road and the A58 road to reach Rochdale.

St Martin's Church, Castleton, Rochdale: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Castleton,_St_Martins.jpg
Author: David Ingham

Places of Interest in Rochdale

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.