Affetside
Affetside is a village in the
Metropolitan Borough of Bury in
North West England.
The name Affetside is said to be based on the
Old English word
ofer meaning "border" or "boundary" and
side or
site, meaning "hillside". The literal translation of Affetside is the
boundary on the hill, which seems appropriate as the hamlet at its highest point is 900 ft (277 m) above sea level. Affetside is the only place in England with this name.
The village was once torn between two
boroughs which lead to the joke on the name "half o'side in Bolton and half o'side in Bury". Affetside is a village which has been through at least a dozen name changes since the 16th century â€"
Avesyde,
Haffetside,
Affaitsyde,
Offyside,
Affetsid, among them. And after all this confusion the village has reverted back to its original name which made its documented debut in 1504. This identity crisis wasn't helped by the fact that the village was divided between two boundaries, with
local councils arguing for years about who was responsible for the area.
The village entered a new chapter in 1991 as it was given over to Bury Metropolitan Council who now officially administer the village and provide services for its residents.Such a change may at first seem unimportant but the villagers know only too well what problems can occur from being split between two boroughs. No doubt they hope that any problems which arise in the future will be solved far more quickly, because Affetsiders remember a number of instances where the rival boroughs argued over just whose responsibility the problems were.
Trouble struck the village in 1955 when the
Tottington Urban District Council suggested that because certain cottage properties did not meet housing standards the residents should be rehoused in Tottington, adding that the Affetside cottages would then be condemned and demolished. This suggestion received an overwhelming objection. A similar battle for piped water has meant that residents realised they needed to form an action group with piped clean water finally being supplied to the village in 1976. Tne problem was partly the fault of the councils who could not decide whose responsibility it was to provide water.
Affetside is a beautiful and peaceful village situated on the old
Roman road which stretched from
Manchester to
Ribchester with the main street being called Watling Street. The village itself did not really develop until the 1700s, when the growing packhorse movement saw the provision of ample grazing, two blacksmiths and at least three inns. Today one of those inns, the aptly named 'Pack Horse Inn' is still serving drinks to tired travellers. Built in 1443 the pub stands on the highest part of the hill. Now owned by Hydes, a Manchester based brewery, things have obviously altered somewhat with the passing of time, but some relics of the past remain, for example the gruesome skull of an executioner which keeps its hollow eyes on drinkers from its place on the bar. The skull is said to be that of George Whewell, executioner of the
Earl of Derby who commanded the
Royalist troops during the civil war's "Massacre of Bolton". The Earl was captured in 1651 and executed in
Bolton. Tradition says if the skull is removed from the pub, strange things will happen; this was the subject of a story "The Executioners Skull" by Teddy Ashton and written sometime between the wars in the Lancashire dialect. The story involves a customer called Siah Slopp, a Holcombe man, who got a little drunk and stole the skull as a joke. Later that night the landlord heard a banging on the door, and Siah was there with the skull, pleading with him to take it back.
When I geet whum, he said,
I put th' skull on th' dresser an' went to bed. Aw at once I were wakkened up by summat hittin' me on th' nose. I sit up an' I seed summat bobbin' up an' deawn like a giant moth of a ghostly blue colour, sheinin' like phosphorus an' wi' two greit blazin' red een... I seed that it were a skull, that very skull I'd been sich a foo as to bring away... an' there coom a bloodcurdlin' voice saying, ‘Tak me back to wheer I should be, or I'll tormen thy sowl eaut o' thee' The landlord told this tale to three customers who had hiked up to Affetside, who were unconvinced, and one of them decided to test the story for himself. He too stole the skull, and this time he and his two friends were confronted on the road by a ghostly headsman wielding a very solid-looking axe. ‘Tak that skull back or I'll chop thy silly yead off,' cried the ghost. ‘If I have to ax thee again I'st axe thee wi' this.' Even headless axemen, it seems, were not above the occasional pun.
The spectral figure followed the trio back to the Pack Horse, and as soon as they handed back the skull to the landlord, it disappeared.
Yo needn't have any fears that th' ghost ull follow yo any mooar they were told.
Yo're safe neaw it's geet its skull back. Let this be a lesson to yo.The story is an imaginative piece of writing, but it is on record that the skull was removed at one time for a short while. Captain Thomas Hardcastle JP took some members of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, led by a Mr. Redford, to see the skull, but they were informed that the previous tenant of the inn had taken it away with him. Was it returned to its 'home' because of ghostly happenings?? The date of this event is not clear, so the brave ex-landlord who dared to defy tradition cannot be identified but the skull was placed back in residence behind the bar.
Skulls are believed to have strange powers - until well into the 17th Century it was thought the skull was the location of the soul - and many are preserved in various parts of the country.
On a final note, when a photographer moved the skull to get a good shot, he found his flash would not work due a failed new battery. Coincidence???.......Who knows. How the skull got there in the first place is not exactly clear, but nobody has ever tried to steal it again. On the contrary, on very festive evenings, somebody buys it a pint of Hydes Anvil best
!Affetsiders have always found plenty of work, be it farming, coal mining, or working handlooms. However, like workers today, they often had to travel to nearby towns for jobs. Back in 1921 though, the villagers were very enterprising. It was the year of the first (and last) Holcombe Hunt point to point Steeplechase at Affetside. As the crowds rolled in there were an estimated 100,000 visitors that day. Families turned their houses into shops advertising teas, whilst local farmers got in on the act selling milk to the thirsty spectators. The course, which ran over constructed jumps including two over streams, was a great success but it was decided that the event would be held in the future at Nab Fold, Harwood.
Affetside Cross has always prompted questions from people intrigued as to its history. In fact one curious person, believing it concealed hidden treasure, actually pulled it up late one night in the 1890s. However he was to be disappointed, finding nothing, not even a single Roman coin. Fortunately the Roman cross was repaired by the Lord of the Manor and still stands today marking the supposed half way point between London and Edinburgh. Affetside cross still remains a mystery today; thought to date from medieval times and perhaps much earlier. Its close proximity to the Roman road from Manchester Mamucium to Ribchester Bremetenacum has caused many to mistakenly date it as Roman in origin and yet some date it much later. Present thinking considers it as a medieval route marker for Lancashire pilgrims on route to Whalley Abbey. Some see it as a market cross from Jacobean or Georgian times or it may mark the point of a beacon due to its dominant position. The view which holds it is a market cross does not, on the surface, appear to make much sense as Affetside has had no record of ever having a market charter (although it is recognised that many markets did exist throughout Lancashire without a charter ever being granted), and as a market it would have been difficult to access in addition to being very remote and as such would have suffered from competition from adjacent areas with greater populations. The loss of the cross head is undated and furthermore it has never been proven that it ever had one.
The Cross is a listed grade II structure. The cross shaft is cut from a single piece of local gritstone, set into a plinth of 2 stones on 2 steps. The first step is circular, 2.28 m (7.5 ft) in diameter, and 0.1 m (4 inches) high. The second step is 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) in diameter, and 0.25 m (10 in) high. The shaft is of a pillar form with a square base 0.34 m (1 ft) wide tapering to a column 1.43 m (4 ft 8 in) high. At 1.34m (4 ft 4 in) there is a collar surmounted by a bun shaped capital. Cut into the top is a socket that probably held the cross head or stone ball. There are other pilgrims crosses in the area, notably Holcombe Moor to the east, and at Bradshaw, (which has now been removed) and the Pilgrims Cross theory appears to be the most plausible, as the route east to west was an old pack horse trail and was a major route for the passage of goods and people.The year 1879 saw the opening of the day school in the Affetside Chapel. As the building was shared there was no spare room for a permanent classroom so the villagers decided to put out desks on a Monday morning, ensuring they were removed on Friday night in preparation for the Sunday congregation. This procedure continued until closure of the school by Bury Metropolitan Council in August 2003. World War One brought great sadness to Affetside. If we consider the tiny population then we realise how the deaths of 15 young church and school members must have affected the whole village. The chapel congregation, wishing to have a memorial to these brave boys, decided to raise funds with which they purchased a new organ. The organ was unveiled in 1920 and is still played in the church today.The Affetside Society, one of two local amenity societies, concerns itself with the appearance and amenities of the village. It has succeeded in having a 30 mph (48 km/h) restriction through the village. The Affetside society has also planted thousands of daffodil bulbs, shrubs and trees alongside Watling Street in order to improve the appearance of the village. The second amenity society in the Village is the Millennium Green Committee and was formed to propose and oversee an application to the "Millennium Greens" initiative run by the Countryside Commission. The aim was to create a public open space on the old, disused bus turn-around in the centre of the village adjacent to the cross, which would act a focal point for village activities. This application was successful and the Green is used for all types of village activities from a summer Boules competition to the Christmas Carol service.
A local resident and historian, and author of the book; Affetside, an historical survey believes the village's strength shows through its survival. He says::"The building of the local turnpike road was the death knell for the packhorse trains, but the Affetsiders showed great resilience in continuing to build up their village, and so the village did not collapse like others, less fortunate. For such a small village, with only about 150 people to still have a church and pub says a lot about the people who live there."* Maps:
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