| Description | A print copy of the earliest surviving photograph of Radcliffe, taken in 1854 by Mr William Smith who was one of Radcliffe's earliest photographers. The photograph shows a side view across the bridge and on up the road with the Old Wool Pack Inn on the right edge of the picture. Men and women wearing period costume of both working and middle class are in the foreground stood on muddy, undeveloped waste land.
The original glass plate (damaged) is also held at Bury Archives.
William's wife Leah ran a newsagent's shop on Stand Lane, Radcliffe. She wrote articles for the Radcliffe Express newspaper under the pseudonym of Linthrin Bant. These articles were authentic, personal recolections of Radcliffe, Pilkington and Whitefield district from the 1830's to 1880 written in the Lancashire dialect. They were gathered together as a pamphlet entitled Bits of Local History and published in 1971. A reference copy is available in the Local History section of Bury Libraries at classmark R65 SMI. |