Burnley & Rossendale Accommodation

Selina Cooper: Radical Suffragist, socialist, peace and anti-fascist campaigner spent most of her life in Nelson.

59 St Mary's Street, Nelson. Home of Selina Cooper from 1901 until her death in 1946.

The Accrington Pals, senseless loss of streets and towns of young men in the North.

Weaver's Triangle, Burnley.

Burnley Nelson Accrington Rossendale Tourist Information Lancashire Labour History Industrial Herita

'[Women] do not want their political power to enable them to boast that they are on equal terms with the men. They want to use it for the same purpose as men - to get better conditions - Every woman in England is longing for her political freedom in order to make the lot of the worker pleasanter and to bring about reforms which are wanted. We do not want it as a mere plaything!''. (Selina Cooper at an open air meeting in Wigan, 1906 - quoted from 'One Hand Tied Behind Us. The Rise of the Women's Suffrage Movement', Jill Liddington & Jill Norris, republished in 2000 by Rivers Oram Press)

Radicalism in the Burnley, Nelson and the Rossendale area has a long hot-bed history, emerging out of nonconformist Methodism. In Nelson, the Independent Labour Party and socialist leaders emerged out of the breakaway Independent Methodists who congregated mostly around Salem Chapel in the centre of Nelson.

Burnley, Nelson & Selina Cooper (1864-1946)

Selina Cooper (1864-1946), is one of Burnley and Nelson's greatest activists. She campaigned tirelessly for better conditions for working men and women in the industrial north, for women's right to the vote, for married women's right to work and for peace against the war of 1914-18. Selina was also committed and involved in the anti-fascist campaign of the 1930s. She lived in Nelson at 59 St Mary's Street for most of her life, and a plague is on the outside of this house to commemorate her life of activism for better conditions.

Selina Cooper began working in the Lancashire mills at age 10 as a half-timer. North-east Lancashire was a unique area in the country at the end of the 19th century in that large numbers of women were wage earners in the mills. Selina Cooper was a key organiser amongst such women, and in 1903 she became founder-secretary of a Nelson and Colne suffrage committee, working closely with other radical suffragists like Sarah Reddish, Eva Gore-Booth and Ester Roper.

For an account of Selina's life of activism and the radical history of Nelson and Burnley see Jill Liddington's 'The Life and Times of a Respectable Rebel', (1984), Virago.

Also see 'One Hand Tied Behind Us. The Rise of the Women's Suffrage Movement', by Jill Liddington & Jill Norris, republished by Rivers Oram Press, 2000.

Other Burnley Attractions:

Towneley Hall, Towneley Park, Burnley www.burnley.gov.uk/towneley/index.htm Local history, freaky stuffed animals, beautiful grounds and garish house, check it out. One of Towneley's more colourful residents was a woman called Lady Alice O'Hagan. Alice was an eccentric ahead of her time, sporting a lorgnette (spectacles mounted on a handle) and cigarette. Her politics were ground in liberalism, and she had progressive views, particularly in encouraging women to enter into local politics. She herself was a member of the Burnley Board of Guardians and the Burnley School Board at the end of the 19th century, and she was a member of the Women's Co-operative Guild. An exhibition on Alice would be most welcome!!!!!

Queen Street Mill, Queen Street, Harle Syke, Burnley BB10 2HX - More working looms - you'll have to do the digging for the radical history!

Gawthorpe Hall, Padiham, Near Burnley, T: 01282 771004 - Jacobean manor house, with a particularly interesting shape. Probably designed by Robert Smythson, and internally renovated by Sir Charles Barry in the 19th century. The Kay-Shuttleworth family were resident toffs, and had links with Charlotte Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell and Liberal progressivism in general.

www.burnley.gov.uk/leisure/index.php

Accrington & Football History - Accrington Stanley

Accrington Stanley began it's life in 1893 as a local side, but pushing on to become one of the best semi-professional sides in the North of England. In 1921 they entered the football league and achieved classic moments like the FA Cup defeat of Blackburn rovers and of course the reign of Walter Galbraith.

The strength of local support for the team can be seen in the determination of a few to ensure the club's survival after it's resignation from the football league in the early 1960s. Starting from nothing, a group of dedicated fans set about rebuilding the club. They're coming through again now - check out Phil Whalley's history of Accrington Stanley Football Club

www.accringtonstanley.co.uk

Accrington & Burnley Tourist Information

Accrington Tourist Information Point, Town Hall, Blackburn Road, Accrington BB5 1LA, T: 01254 872595, www.tourisminhyndburn.co.uk

Burnley Information Centre, Burnley Bus Station, Centenary Way, Burnley, BB11 2EJ, T: 01282 664421

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