History - can someone fill me in??

Gertie · Post by **Gertie** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:06 pm

The unusually hot weather today must have messed with my head... as I foolishly went on bike ride to the top of Winter Hill to the TV Transmitter.

I knew it was a bad idea when I was worn out just going up Victoria Road and that one that leads up the Bob Smithy, anyways I digress...

At the top of Winter Hill by the TV mast there was a plaque from the Mayor of the Isle of Man dedicated to the people of Bolton and Horwich for their aid in the aircraft disaster of 27th February 1958.

I wasn't alive then, but was suprised I hadn't heard mention of it since, either from a someone.... or at school (maybe I was off the day local history was studied).

Sooo, out of the interest of seeing the plaque - what was it all about?? Did a plane crash into the transmitter?? Was TV invented in 1958??

Just curious...

Bertie · Post by **Bertie** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:10 pm

Start looking here Gertie

http://www.boltoneveningnews.co.uk/sear ... n_1958.php

Batman · Post by **Batman** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:13 pm

I walked from my house to Preston town centre (about 2 miles) and I was knackered. Had to stop off on the way back at FOUR pubs to get my breath back.

sluffy · Post by **sluffy** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:57 pm

Gertie wrote:The unusually hot weather today must have messed with my head... as I foolishly went on bike ride to the top of Winter Hill to the TV Transmitter.

I knew it was a bad idea when I was worn out just going up Victoria Road and that one that leads up the Bob Smithy, anyways I digress...

At the top of Winter Hill by the TV mast there was a plaque from the Mayor of the Isle of Man dedicated to the people of Bolton and Horwich for their aid in the aircraft disaster of 27th February 1958.

I wasn't alive then, but was suprised I hadn't heard mention of it since, either from a someone.... or at school (maybe I was off the day local history was studied).

Sooo, out of the interest of seeing the plaque - what was it all about?? Did a plane crash into the transmitter?? Was TV invented in 1958??

Just curious...

A little bit more info for you Gertie (and also some details about the Scotsman's Stump!)

At 9.45am on February 27 1958, tragedy struck on Winter Hill as a plane of businessmen on their way from the Isle of Man to Manchester crashed in thick fog. The First Officer of the Bristol 170 aircraft fed the wrong information into the 'plane's honing device, and instead of starting the descent to Manchester via the given route of the Oldham Beacon, the aircraft started to lose height en route to the Wigan Beacon, across the treacherous terrain of Winter Hill. Because of the mists, the pilot did not realse the dangers into which he was heading, and the 'plane crashed, killing 35 of the 42 people on board. The people of Horwich tended for the sick and dying, and the Victoria Methodist church was used as a Mortuary. A plaque commemorating the dreadful events of that February day is attached to the buildings at the foot of the main television mast at the summit of Winter Hill. Relatives of the dead often visit the plaque to remember their loved ones, and in 1998, the Rotary Clubs of Horwich and Douglas arranged a service

Scotsman's Stump

Scotsman's Stump lies just inside the Horwich Boundary, close to the summit of Winter Hill. It marks the spot where a young Scotsman was murdered on 9 November 1838. George Henderson was a 20 year old native of Annan in Dumfrieshire and he worked for a Blackburn draper as a travelling salesman. He often walked across the moors to settle financial matters with his employer. On the fateful day, an autumnal mist enshrouded the hills as Henderson set out on his last earthly journey. He called into a local hostelry at around twelve noon for sustenance before embarking on the trek over the hill. Shortly after he had left the inn, a young boy saw blood on the road and heard somebody desperately crying for help from a ditch. The boy fetched help, and Henderson was found horribly disfigured by gunshot wounds. Despite attempts to revive him, George Henderson died at 2.00pm that same day.

It is reported that his last words were "I am robbed, I am killed".

Much evidence pointed to the identity of the murderer as James Whittle, a 22 year old man who lived close to the inn where Henderson had taken his last sojourn, and who had bought a shotgun the previous day. So strong was the evidence that Whittle was charged with Henderson's murder and stood trial at Liverpool Crown Court. The main prosecution witness, a Joseph Halliwell of Bolton, became increasingly less reliable as his testimony proceeded, and it took the jury less than an hour and a half to acquit Whittle. Nobody else was charged with the murder. Shortly after George Henderson's murder, a tree was planted to mark the place of his demise. In 1912, a cast iron pillar was bought by public subscription to replace the tree, and it stands there to this day, Scotsman's Stump, a memorial to the young victim of a murder most foul.

In memory of
George Henderson
Traveller
Native of Annan, Dumfrieshire
Who was barbarously
Murdered on
Rivington Moor
At noonday Nov 9th 1838
In the 20th year
Of his age

http://www.horwich.gov.uk/landmarks.html

Gertie · Post by **Gertie** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 10:06 pm

Thanks Bertie and Sluffy, I feel well informed now... I'll look out for the Scotsman's Stump the next time I venture up Winter Hill proably in 2019.

Hope you have got over your physical efforts Batty

Bruce Rioja · Post by **Bruce Rioja** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:11 am

I really can't believe that you've failed to observe Scotsman's Stump. That really does take some doing.

Gertie · Post by **Gertie** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:19 am

Bruce Rioja wrote:I really can't believe that you've failed to observe Scotsman's Stump. That really does take some doing.

Yes amayzing!!! I didn't see something I didn't know was there, I really am this stupid.

mofgimmers · Post by **mofgimmers** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:39 am

I still, quite genuinely, get enthused by local history!

Horwich and Rivington have got so many ace stories... don't start me off about Lord Leverhulme (or William Hesketh Lever, which ever you want to call him)

Bruce Rioja · Post by **Bruce Rioja** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:33 pm

Gertie wrote:
Bruce Rioja wrote:I really can't believe that you've failed to observe Scotsman's Stump. That really does take some doing.
Yes amayzing!!! I didn't see something I didn't know was there, I really am this stupid.

Yes, it's that stump looking thing in memory to a Scotsman, the one that you doubtlessly rested your bike on. You didn't know that there was a commorative plaque there either but you found it.

communistworkethic · Post by **communistworkethic** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:43 pm

Bruce Rioja wrote:I really can't believe that you've failed to observe Scotsman's Stump. That really does take some doing.

especially with them wearing no grundies under their skirts

Montreal Wanderer · Post by **Montreal Wanderer** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:48 pm

The ITV mast must just have been built before the plane crash - I doubt we had any ITV before about 1956 or 1957. We used to get the BBC from Sutton Coldfield (this was 1953) and the picture would vanish in static everytime anyone drove by without a suppressor on their car. Things got better when the Holme Moss transmitter was activated. I do remember walking over Winter Hill to the Pike before the transmitter was built. Oddly I can't remember anyone talking about the plane crash although I would have been away at school in Somerset at the time (as I was a few months later when we won the Cup).

communistworkethic · Post by **communistworkethic** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:54 pm

Hmm, I'm sure the FA Cup is quite big Monty but I don't think we ever lived in it!

blurred · Post by **blurred** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:55 pm

Interesting stories them, folks. Ta.

sluffy · Post by **sluffy** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:23 pm

mofgimmers wrote:I still, quite genuinely, get enthused by local history!

Horwich and Rivington have got so many ace stories... don't start me off about Lord Leverhulme (or William Hesketh Lever, which ever you want to call him)

William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme -

Read all about him here -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Leverhulme

mofgimmers · Post by **mofgimmers** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 4:20 pm

Anyone who hasn't been up to Chinese Gardens must do so at the next availability. One of my fave bits of the world.

Cheers Bill Lever.

Gertie · Post by **Gertie** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 4:22 pm

Now I have found the Chinese Gardens whilst on my bike and they are lovely. It was a really misty day when I was there and it made it all atmospheric.

Perhaps I should read up on what they are all about!!!???

warthog · Post by **warthog** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 4:25 pm

Rivington Gardens

Gertie · Post by **Gertie** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 4:54 pm

warthog wrote:Rivington Gardens

Cheers Hoggie

Bruce Rioja · Post by **Bruce Rioja** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:52 pm

As an aside, this painting of Rivington Lakes by William Hume in the 1850's is one that I've stared at for hours when it's been out on display at the museum in town. Now this IS a painting.

Montreal Wanderer · Post by **Montreal Wanderer** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:55 pm

I went to the gardens many, many times - usually with the dog and my mother. Leverhulme's house was called the Bungalow (I guess it was only one storey). My mother used to go to dances there, but it had been pulled down by the council when I first went there. Must have been something at one time, when they had gardeners to look after the gardens and the Bungalow was being used.