Tintwistle is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the High Peak district of the

non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.8 million. The term ''shire county'' is, however, an unoffi ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, England. Historically in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, according to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,401, reducing marginally to 1,400 and including Arnfield at the 2011 Census. The village is just north of

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is located east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of the county town, Matlock. Glossop lies near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Manches ...

at the lower end of

Longdendale Longdendale is a valley in the Peak District of England, north of Glossop and southwest of Holmfirth. The name means "long wooded valley" and the valley is mostly in the counties of Derbyshire and Greater Manchester. Geography The eastern part ...

Valley. Tintwistle, like nearby Crowden and Woodhead, lies within the historic county boundaries of

Etymology

The ''-twistle'' part of the name is derived from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''twisla'', meaning "confluence" (English '' twistle'', compare

Haltwhistle Haltwhistle is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, east of Brampton. It had a population of 3,811 at the 2011 Census. Stone-built houses are a feature of Haltwhistle. It is one of two settlements in Great Britain which c ...

, Northumberland). The first part of the name possibly preserves a

Brittonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...

river-name, an old name for the

River Etherow The River Etherow is a river in northern England, and a tributary of the River Goyt. Although now passing through South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester, it historically formed the ancient county boundary between Cheshire and Derby ...

, of the ''*Tīn-'' type (compare

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wate ...

History

Tintwistle was, until 1974, part of the

Tintwistle Rural District Tintwistle Rural District was a local government district in north east Cheshire, England from 1894 to 1974.administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

of Cheshire. After 1936, it shared the rare but not unique distinction of being a rural district in England consisting of one parish. In 1974, when the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

came into force, the nearby urban areas of Cheshire were placed in the

metropolitan county The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, with populations between 1 and 3 million. They were created in 1974 and are each di ...

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 ...

. Placing Tintwistle in the new non-metropolitan county of Cheshire would have left it an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

. Instead it became part of the High Peak district of the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire.

Geography

Tintwistle sits at the western end of the Longdendale valley and is divided in two by the busy A628. The older part of the village sits on the northern side of the road, set back on the valley side. Some buildings in the old part of the village are said to date back to the 16th century, including the Bull's Head

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

. A section of the village is within the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southe ...

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

boundary and is designated a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

. Most of the buildings in the newer parts of the village are of the Victorian period or later and sit closer to, or to the south of, the A628 towards Hadfield. The

Peak District Boundary Walk The Peak District Boundary Walk is a circular walking trail, starting and finishing at Buxton and broadly following the boundary of the Peak District, Britain's first national park. The route was developed by the Friends of the Peak District (a ...

runs south to north through the village.

Local events

The well in the old part of the village is decorated every year as part of the custom of

well dressing Well dressing, also known as well flowering, is a tradition practised in some parts of rural England in which wells, springs and other water sources are decorated with designs created from flower petals. The custom is most closely associated with ...

and there is a Children's Gala held each summer. Tintwistle has a history of hosting an annual horticultural show which was organised by the British Legion until circa 2002 when it ceased. In 2011 Tintwistle Allotment Gardeners' Association took up the cudgel and started the Tintwistle Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Village Show, which takes place in September. At Christmas time, Christ Church holds a candlelit carol service accompanied by Tintwistle Band and the Friends of Conduit Street Playing Fields in conjunction with Arnfield Brass, organise an outdoor carol concert and Christmas fayre, centred around a Christmas tree which is decorated by the Children from the Village School.

Sport

Tintwistle has a football club, Tintwistle Athletic FC, a community charter standard club, who challenge in the Manchester Football League and also have up to 20 junior teams. www.tintwistleathletic.co.uk. The village is also home to Tintwistle Cricket Club and Tintwistle Crown Green Bowling Club.

Culture and community

Tintwistle is home to two brass bands, the original Tintwistle Brass Band and Arnfield Brass, a splinter group of junior members of Tintwistle Brass formed in 2003. Conduit Street Playing Fields is the largest open space in the village and site of the only children's playground. In the summer of 2015, dilapidated play equipment was removed from the site by High Peak Borough Council on safety grounds. This led to the founding of the Friends of Conduit Street Playing Fields, a voluntary community group with the express aim of rejuvenating the dilapidated playground and promoting the site's use as a community resource. The Friends were successful in a bid for £40,000 worth of funding from the Veolia Environmental Trust and a further £10,000 was secured by the group through the Tesco Bags of Help fund. High Peak Borough Council added a further £10,000 to the project. With the funding in place, the design for the new park went out to tender for in February 2017. The tender was based upon responses to the public surveys conducted by the Friends group. A winning bid was chosen, partly by public vote, in March 2017 and work commenced on site in early May. The new play equipment was declared open on 23 May 2017. A small, formal ceremony to officially open the park took place in mid‐June with HPBC Councillor John Haken, Executive Member for Operational Services, in attendance. This was followed by a much larger celebration held on 19 August. Since the completion of the renovations the Friends group has organised a number of community events on the site including an annual Christmas celebration with festive music provided by Arnfield Brass and local businesses providing refreshments. Conduit St New Equipment

Notable locals

* Dame Vivienne Westwood DBE, fashion designer, was born and lived in Tintwistle. * Andrew (AJ) Harris, cricketer, is from Tintwistle. * Nellie Pucell Unthank, Mormon Pioneer, early settler in

Cedar City, Utah Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. It is located south of Salt Lake City, and north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Gam ...

References

{{authority control Villages in Derbyshire Towns and villages of the Peak District Civil parishes in Derbyshire High Peak, Derbyshire