Glossopdale Through Time

Glossop’s existence as a village, manor, dale, township and borough is recorded since the eleventh century, although ‘Glotts Hop’ is named somewhat earlier. With the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the Cotton Industry, what we know as the town of Glossop came into existence. In over 40 mills, imported cotton was then spun into yarn and woven into cloth, calico was printed and paper was made and these industries provided employment for the area we call Glossopdale. Photographs and similar images, available from the late nineteenth century onward, show a dark and gloomy environment dominated by the many tall mill buildings and chimneys which are darkened by the mixture of low cloud and smoke trapped in the valley. In the new images here almost everywhere is brighter, cleaner and greener and though some open vistas may have gone, other scenes are impossible to match as dense woodland has taken the place of buildings.