Failsworth is a town 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 area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

, England, north-east of

Manchester city centre Manchester City Centre is the central business district of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England situated within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way which collectively form an inner ring road. ...

and south-west of

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 ...

. The orbital

M60 motorway The M60 motorway, Manchester Ring Motorway or Manchester Outer Ring Road is an orbital motorway in North West England. Built over a 40-year period, it passes through most of Greater Manchester's metropolitan boroughs except for Wigan and Bol ...

skirts it to the east. The population at the 2011 census was 20,680. Historically in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, Failsworth until the 19th century was a farming

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

linked ecclesiastically with Manchester. Inhabitants supplemented their farming income with domestic

hand-loom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape o ...

weaving. The humid climate and abundant labour and coal led to weaving of textiles as a Lancashire Mill Town with redbrick

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven b ...

s. A current landmark is the Failsworth Pole.

Daisy Nook Daisy Nook is a country park in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, England, which runs through the Medlock Valley. History The name Daisy Nook came from a book by Benjamin Brierley titled 'A day out' or 'A Summer Ramble'. Brierley asked his friend ...

is a country park on the southern edge.

Etymology

Failsworth derives 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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

and ''worth'', probably meaning an "enclosure with a special kind of fence".

History

Early settlement rested on a road that runs today between Manchester and Yorkshire. This Roman secondary road formed part of a network from Manchester up north, probably to Tadcaster near

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. The section that ran through Failsworth is still known as Roman Road. It was built above marshland and laid on brushwood with a hard surface. Roman Road has also been known as "Street", a Saxon term meaning "metalled road", indicating that it was also used that later period. Early sources suggest the area was occupied in Saxon times. The small hamlet of scattered dwellings made of rough local stone, mud and clay with thatched roofs, may have been stood on ground higher than the surrounding marshland. Daily life would have centred on animal husbandry and agriculture. Unmentioned in the ''

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

'' of 1086, Failsworth appears in a record of 1212 as ''Fayleswrthe'', a settlement was documented as a estate or manor comprising four

oxgang An oxgang or bovate ( ang, oxangang; da, oxgang; gd, damh-imir; lat-med, bovāta) is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England as early as the 16th century sometimes referred to as an oxgait. It averaged around 20 English a ...

s of land. Two oxgangs at an annual rate of 4 shillings were payable by the tenant, Gilbert de Notton, to Adam de Prestwich, who in turn paid tax to King John. The other two oxgangs were held by the Lord of Manchester as part of his fee simple. The

Byron family George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

came to acquire the whole township in the mid-13th century. Apart from a small estate held by

Cockersand Abbey Cockersand Abbey is a former abbey and former civil parish near Cockerham in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England. It is situated near the mouth of the River Cocker. History It was founded before 1184 as the Hospital of St Ma ...

, Failsworth passed to the Chetham family and was then sold on to smaller holders.. By 1663, 50 households were registered. Life centred on natural resources, agriculture and stock farming, with many were employed as labourers to work the land, though tradesmen such as a tailor, a felt maker, a shoemaker, a joiner and a weaver supported them. The earliest record of a place of worship is Dob Lane Chapel, dating from 1698. Sunrise over Failsworth

In 1774, the 242 Failsworth households contained some 1.400 inhabitants, of whom a high proportion were involved in cloth manufacture. Development of the English textile trade was backed by important legislation between 1500 and 1760: a number of acts were passed to encourage it by the compulsory growing of flax. Grants were made to flax growers and duties levied on foreign imports, though Manchester's extensive linen trade used yarn imported from Holland and Ireland. In 1914 the regular Daisy Nook Easter Fair ceased with the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, but resumed in 1920. On 8 June 2007, a 1946 work by

L. S. Lowry Laurence Stephen Lowry ( ; 1 November 1887 – 23 February 1976) was an English artist. His drawings and paintings mainly depict Pendlebury, Lancashire (where he lived and worked for more than 40 years) as well as Salford and its vicinity ...

entitled "Good Friday, Daisy Nook" sold for £3,772,000, then the highest bid ever paid for one of his paintings. Another painting by Lowry from 1953, "Fun Fair at Daisy Nook", sold for £3.4 million in 2011.

Timeline

*1212 – First official record of Failsworth in King John's Great Inquest of Service *1212 – North-western portion of land held by the Lord of the Manor of Prestwick *1212 – South-eastern portion of land held by the Lords of the Manor of Manchester *Mid-13th century – Richard and Robert de Byron acquired both portions of land *1320 – First record of a named place in Failsworth: Wrigley Head named in the Survey of the Manor of Manchester *1600–1699 – Population mostly working the land and supported by production of cloth *1660 – 43 names registered in the town *1663 – 50 recorded families *1673 – Earliest record of a place of worship: Dob Lane Chapel *1700–1799 – Most inhabitants involved in producing linen cloth, others farming *1735 – Manchester, Oldham and Austerlands Turnpike Trust improves the road between them. *1774 – 242 families recorded, with a population 1,400 *1793 – The first Failsworth Pole erected *1796 – The earliest day school recorded is Pole Lane School. *1801 – Population 2,622 *1803 – The main Turnpike Road is widened to 60 feet from Manchester to Dob Lane End. *1804 – Rochdale Canal opens on 21 December. *1825 – The first cotton mill built *1839 – The first mill built by Henry Walmsley *1844 – Failsworth constitutes a new parish: St John's. *1850 – A second Failsworth Pole erected *1851 – Population is 4,433 *1859 – Failsworth Industrial Society is officially registered on 22 July. *1863 – The first Local Government Board is founded with nine members. *1878 – Horse-drawn trams are introduced between Manchester and Hollinwood. *1880 – A railway opens between Oldham and Manchester. *1881 – Failsworth acquires its first railway station in April. *1889 – A third Failsworth Pole erected *1894 – The Local Board is superseded by Failsworth Urban District Council. *1901 – Population 14,152 *1901 – Electric trams replace the horse-drawn ones. *1903 – Merger with Manchester proposed *1904 – Merger with Manchester deferred *1924 – A fourth Failsworth Pole erected *1937 – The Roxy cinema presents its first feature on 20 December. *1946 – Failsworth Urban District Council proceeds with a housing clearance programme. *1946 – The last tram runs in Oldham. *1958 – The fifth and present Failsworth Pole erected *1973 – Failsworth is officially twinned with

Landsberg am Lech Landsberg am Lech (Landsberg at the Lech (river), Lech) is a Town#Germany, town in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich and 35 kilometers south of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Landsberg (district), Lands ...

in Germany. *1974 – Failsworth becomes part of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. *1991 – Population 20,999 *1993 – The bicentenary of the first Failsworth Pole is marked. *2000 – The M60 motorway link opens.

Governance

Lying within the historic county boundaries of

since the early 12th century, medieval Failsworth formed a

in the parish of Manchester and

hundred of Salford The Salford Hundred (also known as Salfordshire) was one of the subdivisions of the historic county of Lancashire, in Northern England (see:Hundred (county division). Its name alludes to its judicial centre being the township of Salford (the s ...

. After the

Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relie ...

, Failsworth joined the Manchester Poor Law Union, a

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

unit. Its first local authority was a

local board of health Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...

set up in 1863 and responsible for standards of hygiene and sanitation. After the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

, the area became Failsworth Urban District within the

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 Lancashire. In 1933 came a small exchange of land with neighbouring Manchester; in 1954, parts of

Limehurst Rural District Limehurst was, from 1894 to 1954, a rural district in the administrative county of Lancashire, England. History Ashton-under-Lyne Rural Sanitary District was created in 1872 and included parishes in both Cheshire and Lancashire.F A Youngs Jr. ...

were added to Failsworth Urban District. Under the Local Government Act 1972, Failsworth Urban District was abolished. Since 1 April 1974 it has formed an

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unpa ...

of the

, a local government district within the metropolitan county of

. Failsworth contains two of the twenty wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham; Failsworth East and Failsworth West. Failsworth lies in Ashton-under-Lyne parliamentary constituency, represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

Angela Rayner Angela Rayner (' Bowen; born 28 March 1980) is a British politician serving as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and Shadow Secretary of State for the Future of Work since 2021. She has been Sha ...

MP of the Labour Party.

Geography

At (53.5102°, −2.1575°) Failsworth lies north-north-west of London, as the southern tip of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, sharing borders with

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

(north to south-west) and

Tameside The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. It is named after the River Tame, which flows through the borough, and includes the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, ...

(south to east). It is traversed by the

A62 road A6, A 6 or A-6 can refer to: Arts and entertainment *A6, a mutated flu virus in the short story "Night Surf" by Stephen King *A-6, a renamed version of the US Security Group in the 1997 comic book movie ''Spawn'' Electronics and software * A6 rec ...

between Manchester and Oldham, by the former rail line of the Oldham Loop and by the Rochdale Canal, across its north-west corner. The

passes through. For the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for t ...

, Failsworth counts as part of the

Greater Manchester Urban Area The Greater Manchester Built-up Area is an area of land defined by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), consisting of the large conurbation that encompasses the urban element of the city of Manchester and the metropolitan area that forms ...

. The land in Failsworth slopes gently from east to west away from the Pennines and from brooks that bound it on the north-west (

Moston Brook Moston Brook is a stream in Greater Manchester in north-west England and a tributary of the River Irk. The brook is formed at the confluence of Bower Brook and Hole Bottom Brook. This occurs near the Rochdale Canal in Failsworth in the Metropoli ...

) and south-east (Lord's Brook). Failsworth has a country park,

, on undulating wooded land on its eastern border largely belonging to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. It is suited to walking, horse riding, fishing and other pursuits.

Demography

Population change

Economy

Failsworth is a centre for hat-making. This began as a cottage industry before the firm of Failsworth Hats was set up in 1903 to manufacture silk hats. For a time the company had a factory near the former Failsworth Council offices and it remains in the area to this day. Other activities include electrical goods manufacture (such as

Russell Hobbs Russell Hobbs is a British manufacturer of household appliances. Formed in 1952 by William Russell and Peter Hobbs, it became the primary kettle maker in the United Kingdom marketplace in the 1960s. Subjected to many corporate acquisitions thr ...

) by

Spectrum Brands Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. is an American diversified company. Headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin, it was established in 2005 as the successor company to Rayovac Corporation. It is one of the Fortune 500 companies, and among the largest of ...

, formerly Pifco Ltd), and plastic production and distribution by Hubron Ltd. Many Failsworth people work in Manchester: the strong transport links include a tram service from Failsworth Metrolink station on the Oldham–Rochdale line. In July 2007, the

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

supermarket chain opened a 24-hour Extra branch superstore on the banks of the wharf. The move was opposed by shop-owners, who claimed they would have lost customers and may been forced to close. Tesco's arrival had been expected to be a catalyst bringing other stores, bars and restaurants to Failsworth. The only other large store is a branch of

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqu ...

housed in a building constructed on the demolished site of Marlborough No. 2 Mill. Oldham Caravans, a subsidiary of Glossop Caravans, has an outlet in Oldham Road.

Landmarks

A Failsworth Pole in Oldham Road was first raised in 1793 as a "political pole", although a local historian suggests there were others before and that maypoles probably stood there for centuries. It now stands on a site from which an earlier one blew down in 1950. After a major restoration of the Pole, clock tower and gardens in 2006, a bronze statue of

Benjamin Brierley Benjamin Brierley (often known as Ben Brierley) (26 June 1825 – 18 January 1896) was an English weaver, who took up writing in Lancashire dialect. He became a prolific journalist. Life He was born in the Rocks area of Failsworth, Lancashire ...

was placed in the gardens. At the road junction of the A62 with Ashton Road West stands a

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

built in 1923 for over 200 Failsworth men who were killed in the

. Attendances at the cenotaph on

Remembrance Sunday Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in Nov ...

remain high at about 2,000. The annual parade is led by 202 Field Squadron, RE (TA), which is based in Failsworth. In June 2007 the war memorial was rededicated after a £136,000 makeover and opened by Colonel Sir John B. Timmins.

Education

The local comprehensive school is Co-op Academy Failsworth, which moved to a new building in 2008 from two buildings known as Upper School and Lower School. It caters for students aged between 11 and 16. The £28-million project brought the town's secondary schooling to come under one roof. It has specialist

sports college Sports Colleges are senior secondary schools which promote sports alongside secondary education. United Kingdom Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The programme enabled seco ...

status.

Religious sites

Transport

Failsworth's main thoroughfare is Oldham Road (A62) between Manchester and Oldham. The M60 is an

orbital motorway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

circling Greater Manchester, with access via Junction 22. Its completion around 1995–2000 saw the installation of a graded junction and other notable changes to the A62. It led to several rows of buildings around the junction being demolished. There are frequent buses through Failsworth between

and Oldham on First Greater Manchester's 83 overground service. There is also a frequent service to Manchester city centre and to

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

Saddleworth Saddleworth is a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It comprises several villages and hamlets as well as suburbs of Oldham on the west side of the Pennine hills. Areas include Austerlands, Del ...

via Oldham, with services 180 and 184. Other bus destinations from Failsworth are

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

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. ...

, Huddersfield,

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Royton Royton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 21,284 in 2011. Close to the source of the River Irk, near undulating land at the foothills of the South Pennines, it is northwest of Old ...

, Saddleworth, Shaw & Crompton and

Trafford Centre The Trafford Centre is a large indoor shopping centre and entertainment complex in Greater Manchester, England. It opened in 1998 and is third largest in the United Kingdom by retail space. Originally developed by the Peel Group, the Trafford C ...

. Failsworth tram stop in Hardman Lane is on the Oldham & Rochdale line of the

Manchester Metrolink Manchester Metrolink (branded locally simply as Metrolink) is a tram/ light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the most extensive light rail system in the United Ki ...

. At peak times, trams run every 6 minutes south towards via central Manchester and north to Shaw & Crompton or

via Oldham. At off-peak times, trams run every 12 minutes to East Didsbury and Rochdale. Previously this was an unmanned rail station on the

Oldham Loop line The Oldham Loop Line was a local railway route in Greater Manchester, England, used by trains that ran from Manchester Victoria to Rochdale via Oldham Mumps. Services on the line at the time of its closure were operated by Northern Rail. The l ...

serviced by

Northern Rail Northern Rail, branded as Northern, was an English train operating company owned by Serco-Abellio that operated the Northern Rail franchise from 2004 until 2016. It was the primary passenger train operator in Northern England, and operated th ...

services to

Manchester Victoria Manchester Victoria station in Manchester, England is a combined mainline railway station and Metrolink tram stop. Situated to the north of the city centre on Hunts Bank, close to Manchester Cathedral, it adjoins Manchester Arena which was co ...

or Rochdale via Oldham. It closed in October 2009 under Phase 3a of Metrolink extension and re-opened as a tram stop in 2012.

Twin town

Notable people

*In 1745, "

Bonnie Prince Charlie Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...

" stayed overnight at the ''Bull's Head'' public house. *The weaver, poet, essayist and writer

was born in Failsworth and famed for his work in the

Lancashire dialect The Lancashire dialect or (colloquially, Lanky) refers to the Northern English vernacular speech of the English county of Lancashire. The region is notable for its tradition of poetry written in the dialect. Scope of Lancashire dialect La ...

. A statue of him was erected in 1898 in Queens Park, Manchester. There is a bronze statue of him is in the public gardens by The Pole. *In politics, Sir Elkanah Armitage was a 19th-century industrialist,

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician and former

Lord Mayor of Manchester This is a list of the Lord Mayors of the City of Manchester in the North West of England. Not to be confused with the Directly elected Greater Manchester Mayor. The Current and 124th Lord Mayor is Cllr Donna Ludford, Labour who has served Si ...

.* *In present-day politics, Jim McMahon MP represents the Oldham West and Royton parliamentary constituency for the Labour Party. He was formerly leader of Oldham Council *

Gary Mounfield Gary "Mani" Mounfield (born 16 November 1962Warshaw, AaronMani allmusic.com) is an English rock bassist, best known for being a member of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream. Career Mounfield attended Xaverian College in Rusholme, Mancheste ...

is a musician who formerly with the band

the Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. One of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist Ian Brown, ...

during the

Madchester Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that developed in the English city of Manchester in the late 1980s, closely associated with the indie dance scene. Indie-dance (sometimes referred to as indie-rave) saw artists merging indie music ...

period and later joined Primal Scream.Taylor, Steve (2004) ''The A to X of Alternative Music'', Continuum, *Dale Longworth is a musician and producer with the electronic music group,

N-Trance N-Trance () are a British electronic music group who were formed by Kevin O'Toole and Dale Longworth in 1991. The group is known for their European hit songs " Set You Free" and " Electronic Pleasure", and their covers of the 1970s disco songs ...

, which found fame with the record Set You Free. James Mudriczki, Lowell Killen, Kevin Matthews, Tony Szuminski (and former member Neil McDonald) make up the line-up for the

Alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band Puressence. *The Lancashire folk singer

Harry Boardman Harry Boardman (1930–1987) was an English folk singer who was born in Failsworth, Lancashire. He sang both unaccompanied and accompanying himself on the Anglo concertina or banjo. "Boardman has specialised in the lore, songs and dialect poe ...

was born in Failsworth. *The Broadcaster, journalist and cricketer Mike Atherton, was brought up in the Lord Lane area of town. The former

and

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 ...

captain has a road, Atherton Close, named after him, opposite the cricket club in Woodhouses where he played in his youth. *

Boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

Anthony Farnell, is a former

WBU The World Boxing Union (WBU) was a boxing sanctioning body. The original WBU was founded in January 1995 by IBF European representative, boxing journalist, actor and former holder of the title of Britain's heaviest man Jon W. Robinson. It sa ...

Middleweight champion known as the ''Woodhouse Warrior''. Retiring at 25, Farnell has since become a fight trainer and owns a gym (Arnie's Gym) in nearby

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial R ...

, where he has tutored David Barnes ( BBBofC Light welterweight champion), Anthony Crolla (2006 ABA

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight ...

champion) and Frankie Gavin (

2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships The 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships were held in Chicago, United States from October 23, 2007 to November 3, 2007. It was held at the UIC Pavilion. It was the biggest World Championships in AIBA history. The competition is under the supe ...

gold medal winner). *Former Manchester United footballer Ronnie Wallwork lived in Woodhouses. *Supermodel

Agyness Deyn Agyness Deyn (; born Laura Michelle Hollins; 16 February 1983) is an English model and actress. She is best known for her successful modelling career in the 2000s, and has been called one of the decade's top models. Since her retirement from mod ...

was brought up in the area before her family moved to

Ramsbottom Ramsbottom is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 17,872. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the River Irwell in the West Pennine Moors, northwest of Bu ...

. *Masters Athlete Mike Coogan, lived in Failsworth, attending St Mary's RC Primary School. He was the 2019 British, European and World 200m Champion. *Actress

Amy James-Kelly Amy James-Kelly (born 15 November 1995) is a British actress. She gained prominence through her role as Maddie Heath in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2013–2015). She has since starred in the Netflix series ''Safe'' (2018) and t ...

('' Coronation Street'', '' Three Families'') grew up in Failsworth.

References

Sources

* *

External links

* {{Authority control Towns in Greater Manchester Unparished areas in Greater Manchester Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham