go home

About Oswaldtwistle

 


Oswaldtwistle is small town in East Lancashire about 25 miles north of Manchester, between Blackburn and Accrington.

Oswaldtwistle means "Oswald's land between the two rivers". This name comes from a time about 1000 years ago when Lancashire was settled by the Danes and Vikings. No one really knows who Oswald was, or which rivers were the boundaries of his land, but we are glad to have such an unusual name for our town. Some people call it 'Ossy'.


Oswaltwistle is in the Borough of Hyndburn.


There are many streams and small rivers in the town and people speak with an accent and use words than were brought to the area by Danish settlers.


We are in the Pennine Hills of Lancashire and, although there are many towns nearby, we have a lot of lovely countryside.

Oswaldtwistle usually has a lot of rain and the weather can be cold at all times of the year. When the sun shines, the hills look beautiful.

The farms have sheep, pigs, cattle and horses, but not many crops are produced.

There are some lovely walks. You can walk through a pine forest and by Tinker Brook which runs right through Oswaldtwistle. There is a lot of wild life in our local park and, if you are lucky, you may see a squirrel scampering through the trees. In Tinker Brook you may see some trout.

There used to be lots of mills and factories in the town producing cotton. Lancashire was famous for making cotton goods, but most of this is now done in other countries. Most of the mills and factories been knocked down but some are still standing and used for other things.

Near our school there used to be coal mines and places where bricks and pots were made.

James Hargreaves the inventor of the Spinning Jenny lived in Oswaldtwistle and Robert Peel the prime Minister and inventor of the Police owned factories in the town.

In our town we have some big buildings e.g. the Town Hall, a fire station, a library and a theatre. There is a carnival every two years with a fair and decorated floats which make a procession through the streets. In the centre of our town we have a war memorial and in November we meet around the war memorial to remember the people who died in the World Wars. The library was built about eighty years ago with money given by the famous Andrew Carnegie.

There are a group of people called the 'Ossy Cloggers' who do clog dances. Clogs are strong, leather shoes with wooden soles which have metal 'clog irons' fastened to them. Years ago, most people wore clogs because they were cheap, hardwearing and protected their feet in the factories. Clog dancing used to be very popular but nowadays not many people know how to do it and it is hard to buy clogs any more.

There used to be an old lamp on the main road near the library. At the top of the main road 'above the lamp' lived the poor people who were called 'gobbins' by the better-off people who lived at the other end of the town. Some people say that the poor people looked near the coal mines for small bits of coal for their fires. These bits of coal were called 'gobbins and that is how the name started. We still say someone is a Gobbin if they have done or said something silly. See Ossygobbin Page

Oswaldtwistle has a special link with the town of Falkenberg in Sweden. Each year people from Oswaldtwistle go to Falkenberg and we have visitors from Sweden. At Christmas, girls from Falkenberg visit schools in our town and tell us about 'Lussibruden'. On a morning near Christmas, the youngest girl of the family gets up before anyone else and puts on a white dress with a red sash and a special crown of candles. She wakes all the family with cakes and a drink. If there are no girls in the family, the boys can do this and are called 'Star Boys'. Lussi is based on St Lucia, whose story is remembered in many countries near Christmas. People remember that Jesus came to bring light into a dark world.

We hope you have enjoyed our page about Oswaldtwistle. We like living here.


Back to Hippings Home Page

James Hargreaves (c.1730 - 1778).

Cotton Times Article Cotton Town Article

James Hargreaves lived at Stanhill which is part of Oswaldtwistle. His home is now the Post Office.

As a boy he worked in a carpenter's shop and did odd jobs as well. When he grew up he continued as a carpenter but most of the money he earned was made by spinning. A story is told that one day he left his spinner and one of his seven children knocked it over. The wheel lying on its side, with the spindle standing vertically instead of horizontally. James looked at it, and it gave him an idea. Why not make a machine with vertical spindles? A number of them could then be operated on the same wheel - a thing impossible with horizontal spindles.

He soon made a machine with eight spindles and called it a 'Spinning Jenny'. Some people say that he named it after his the daughter who had knocked over the spinning wheel but 'jenny' could just be another name for 'engine'.

At first, James Hargreaves kept the Jenny to make thread for his own weaving, but later he sold some of the machines. In 1768 a mob of spinners, who thought that the new invention would put them out of work, wrecked his home and machines.

Hargreaves went to Nottingham and set up a yarn mill there. Though it made excellent yarn, it earned little money, and Hargreaves died a poor man.

Back to Start

Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850)

Famous Victorians Article

Robert Peel was born near Bury, Lancashire and helped the Lancashire cotton Industry get started. He owned many mills and became a rich man. He used his money to get other people started in business and to give inventors a chance to use their ideas to make the cotton industry more efficient. He was connected with many of the cotton businesses in Oswaldtwistle.

He was Prime Minister in 1834 and 1841-46. 1n 1829 he formed the first police force in London who were known as 'Bobbies' or 'Peelers'.

Back to Start