Waterfoot, Lancashire

Waterfoot, Rossendale, is a village between Rawtenstall and Bacup where the B6238 from Burnley meets the A681. It is close to the centre of the Rossendale valley in Lancashire.

Footwear

Waterfoot was once the centre for the industrial manufacture of felt, which then developed into a footwear, specifically slipper, industry. Nowadays the remnants of this industry imports most of the footwear and act as distribution centres, which still line the roads approaching the village centre.

Features

The centre of Waterfoot has a distinctive canopied walkway in decorative iron and glass that is in need of restoration, forming the frontage of Trickett's Arcade, built in March, 1899.

Waterfoot has a number of specialist shops including what is thought to be one of the county's original Black Pudding making companies. It also has "Fletcher's Hardware", a traditional hardware supplier of the kind that has almost disappeared elsewhere. Justifiably popular and with highly knowledgable staff, tradesmen from a wide area visit Waterfoot expressly to buy their tools and hardware at Fletcher's.

Also located in Waterfoot is Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School, one of the few state funded selective entry schools left in England. The village is served by two primary schools, Waterfoot Primary and St Anne's C of E Primary, both of which have rising pupil numbers in 2007.

On the moorland above the village is a memorial to the dialect poet, Edwin Waugh, known as runners from the surrounding communities have gathered annually to run a four mile circuit of the hills above the village, passing the well.

For horseriders, The Pennine Bridleway passes through Waterfoot on the Mary Towneley Loop giving access to the unspoilt hill scenery overlooking the village, and it is also on the Irwell Sculpture Trail.

Arts

Waterfoot is the home of the international touring theatre, Horse and Bamboo Theatre, a company who use distinctive masks and puppetry. Their base is known as 'The Boo' and puts on a regular programme of theatre and other arts events. Another long-standing theatre group, The Rossendale Players, have their base at The New Millennium Theatre in Waterfoot, and have been giving performances for over 70 years. The area also has several artist's studios and is the base for Arthouse, a wallpaper design company.

The Slipper Studio is the base for Liverpool artist, Don McKinlay, who is also a member of Manchester Academy of Fine Arts. McKinlay has undertaken several sculpture commissions, including a Christ Child for Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and the memorial to Christopher Gray, the vicar of St Margaret's Church in Anfield, Liverpool, who was murdered in 1996. Fellow Manchester Academician Janina Cebertowicz, is a painter and artist at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

External links

* [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=waterfoot&sll=53.098145,-2.443696&sspn=11.066827,29.663086&ie=UTF8&z=16&ll=53.692419,-2.251221&spn=0.005324,0.021522&t=k&om=1 Aerial map ( Courtesy Google Maps)]
* [http://www.waterfoot.lancsngfl.ac.uk/parents.php Waterfoot County Primary]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/06/school_tables/primary_schools/html/888_3366.stm St Annes C of E]
* [http://www.johnmayall.btinternet.co.uk/waughswell.htm Waugh's Well Fell Race (courtesy of J Mayall)]
* [http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/PennineBridleway/downloads.asp?PageId=37 The Pennine Bridleway - Mary Towneley Loop]
* [http://rossendaleplayers.org.uk/ The Rossendale Players]
* [http://www.rsireland.co.uk/ RS Ireland Black Puddings]
* [http://www.horseandbamboo.org/ Horse + Bamboo Theatre website]
* [http://www.mafa.org.uk/ Manchester Academy of Fine Arts]
* [http://www.donmckinlay.co.uk/ Don McKinlay]
* [http://www.wendyjlevy-art.com/artistpage.php?id=56/ Janina Cebertowicz]