History - can someone fill me in??
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History - can someone fill me in??
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...
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...
Re: History - can someone fill me in??
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
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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.Gertie wrote:Yes amayzing!!! I didn't see something I didn't know was there, I really am this stupid.Bruce Rioja wrote:I really can't believe that you've failed to observe Scotsman's Stump. That really does take some doing.
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especially with them wearing no grundies under their skirtsBruce Rioja wrote:I really can't believe that you've failed to observe Scotsman's Stump. That really does take some doing.
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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).
Last edited by Montreal Wanderer on Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme -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)
Read all about him here -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Leverhulme
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Cheers Hoggiewarthog wrote:Rivington Gardens
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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.
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