Busk is a locality and archaically a hamlet in the town of

Chadderton Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester. Hi ...

in the

Metropolitan Borough of Oldham The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after its largest town, Oldham, The borough had a population of 237,628 making it the seventh-largest district by population ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is located to the east of Chadderton town centre, on the town's eastern border with

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

, contiguous with the Westwood area of that town. The hamlet lay along Busk Road, on a stretch of the road that is now a cycle path. A small recreation ground, Berry's Field, serves the area. Since local government re-organisation in 1974 the area lies within the

Coldhurst Coldhurst (or more rarely Cold Hurst) is an area of Oldham and an electoral ward of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. At the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, it had a population of 11,935, increasing ...

electoral ward district which lies mainly within the town of Oldham. A proposal by The Chadderton Historical Society to move Busk back into the Chadderton North ward was rejected by the

Boundary Commission A boundary commission is a legal entity that determines borders of nations, states, constituencies. Notable boundary commissions have included: * Afghan Boundary Commission, an Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission, of 1885 and 1893, delineated the no ...

in 2003. The place-name Busk survives in the immediately adjoining streets to the west and south of the original hamlet, known as Busk Estate.

History

Due to widespread redevelopment in the 1960s and 1970s, little remains of the original settlement. The Britannia Inn at the heart of the community still stands but has been closed for several years. An early cotton mill, The Busk, was erected in 1847, closing in 1931. See

List of mills in Chadderton This is a list of the cotton and other textile mills in Chadderton, Greater Manchester, England. A–E ...

. In the mid 1960s the land on which the mill stood was reclaimed to become part of the recreation ground Berry's Field to replace land partly lost to housing on the northern part of the Busk Estate. In 1895 Berry's Field was home to Pine Villa Football Club for two seasons. In 1899 Pine Villa became the future league football club

Oldham Athletic F.C. Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

Busk Council School, which had its origins in a Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School, opened in a group of adjoining cottages in August 1862. Following the success of the school a piece of land was then offered in Busk Street and a new church and school was opened in June 1872. The Infants' school closed in December 1924, the Board of Education considering the premises to be 'unsuitable for continued recognition and incapable of improvement'. It was replaced by

Mills Hill Mills Hill is an industrial and residential area that lies on the common border of Middleton and Chadderton in Greater Manchester, England. It lies 1.3 miles east of Middleton town centre and 1.4 miles to the west of central Chadderton. It ...

Council School. The Mixed school continued until 31 March 1926 when the pupils were transferred to North Chadderton Council School. Busk Street Wesleyan Methodist Church continued to serve the area until its closure around 1957. 1932 saw the formation of the Busk Congregational Prize Band, the forerunner of the Chadderton And District Band which in the 1950s became the official band of the Chadderton Urban District Council.

Links

Busk Mill and its environs http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/eaw004458

References

{{Geographic Location , title = Neighbouring localities. , Northwest =

Bare Trees ''Bare Trees'' is the sixth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in March 1972. It was their last album to feature Danny Kirwan, who was fired during the album's supporting tour. In the wake of the band's success in ...

, North = Boundary Park , Northeast =

, West = Chadderton town centre , Centre = Busk , East = Westwood , Southwest = Stock Brook , South = Cowhill , Southeast = Werneth Areas of Chadderton