This cache is placed near Firwoord Fold, a hidden gem of Bolton. It is claimed that Firwood Fold was the birthplace of the industrial revolution. It has some of the best preserved 16th century buildings in the North West and its a special place to me as I grew up in this area and spent many happy hours of my childhood playing here.
To respect the privacy of the residents of the fold I have placed the cache just outside it on Firwood Lane. This in itself is an interesting old place as this has probably been here since the time of the Norman Conquest. The huge brick wall at the top of the lane is all that remains of Firwood Hall. Firwood Hall was demolished in 1972 to make way for a housing estate. My parents (with baby Foinavon!) were one of the first people to move in. It always seemed quite a spooky place to me. We lived in one of the houses at the back of here and at night my brother and sister and I always thought we could hear horses' hooves clattering down the lane in the middle of the night. The olde worlde lanterns aren't authentic, I remember them being built in the 1970s!
Lord Hardcastle of Firwood Hall in 1896
The main claim to fame of the fold is that it is the birthplace of Samuel Crompton who as Bolton residents claim started the industrial revolution with his spinning mule invention. Spinning cotton was always a very a slow and labour intensive process but this changed everything. He produced a prototype in 1779 and by the turn of the 18th century millions of cotton reels were spun on it. So much so that this led to a boom in the slave trade. Bolton had very strong links with slavery and if you are ever in Bolton town centre take a look at the statues at the top of the town hall, you will see a little slave boy in handcuffs.
What all the fuss was about!
Lots of people got rich of this. Unfortunately Crompton himself was not one of them. He was too poor to apply for a patent and he let mill owners use his machines on condition they would pay him. They never did. He petitioned parliament for recognition and compenstation but luck was not on his side. On May 11th 1812 Spencer Percival the only British prime minister who has ever been assassinated was gunned down in the lobby of the house of commons, the day Crompton's petition was due to be heard!
A depiction of the only prime minister whos ever been assassinated
That was that and Samuel Cromptom died in poverty in 1827. It was only after his death that he gained an kind of recognition for his work. In 1862 a statue was unveiled of him in Nelson square in Bolton town centre. One sad anicdote shows his children fared no better. His son John was allowed out of the local workhouse just to see the statue unvelied but marched straight back in again when the festivites started afterwards!
The statue
