Blacko

Blacko
Lancashire
Blacko Tower taken from the top of the village
Location
Grid reference:	SD856415
Location:	53°52’8"N, 2°13’1"W
Data
Population:	672  (2011)
Post town:	Nelson
Postcode:	BB9
Dialling code:	01282
Local Government
Council:	Pendle
Parliamentary constituency:	Pendle

Blacko is a village in Lancashire and a civil parish that also extends into the West Riding of Yorkshire. The parish has a population of 672. The village is on the old turnpike road from Nelson to Gisburn (A682). The village enjoys views towards Boulsworth Hill to its south-east, the former cotton town of Nelson, about two miles to its south and Pendle Hill to its west across the valley of Pendle Water.

The parish adjoins those of Middop, Bracewell and Brogden, Salterforth, Foulridge, Colne, Barrowford, Roughlee Booth and Barley-with-Wheatley Booth. Parts of the parish, west of the village are included in the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

History

Spring Field Mill was probably built around 1850 for cotton weaving and powered originally by a beam engine. Later the mill was extended and horizontal engine installed and it reached its fullest extent by 1910. Closed in the 1970s, the building survived into the 2000s, however a small housing estate now occupies the site.

Overlooking the village is Stansfield Tower (also known as Blacko Tower), which was built around 1890. A local grocer, Jonathan Stansfield, built this circular rough stone tower to provide himself with a view over Ribblesdale from the top, but the height fell somewhat short. A Bronze Age axe, believed to be 3,500 years old, was found near the tower in 1952.

The part of Blacko civil parish in Lancashire was formed from part of Barrowford township in the ancient parish of Whalley in 1894. The area around Admergill was added to the civil parish in 1987 from part of Brogden township in Barnoldswick's ancient parish in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Demography

According to the United Kingdom Census 2011, the parish has a population of 672, an increase from 595 in the 2001 census.

People

Stone Edge (historically Stonehedge) was home to a branch of Burnley's Towneley family, some of whom emigrated to Virginia in the 17th century. As well as exporting the Towneley name, their descendants also included both George Washington and Robert E. Lee.

Blacko was the childhood home of Lancashire comedian Jimmy Clitheroe (1921–73), famous for his BBC radio series The Clitheroe Kid, who lived there from 1922 to 1935. Jimmy went to school in Blacko and appeared in many amateur concert party entertainments in the village's Methodist chapel, before turning professional in 1936.

Also during the 1930s it was the home of the comedian Tommy Trafford, who played many summer seasons in the Lancashire seaside resort of Southport between the 1960s and 1980s, resulting in his nickname of Mr Southport.

Blacko from the hillside above Thorneyholme in Barley-with-Wheatley Booth. Stansfield Tower at the summit of Blacko Hill is visible on the far left, with the village extending along the A682 Gisburn Road toward Higherford on the right.

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Clayton, John A. (2007), The Lancashire Witch Conspiracy, Barrowford Press, ISBN 978-0-9553821-2-3 

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Blacko)

• Blacko Village Website
• BBC Sunday Stroll in Blacko