Copster Green the name? Goose Muck Green is one thought; "Copster Green The village near Blackburn, was once known colloquially as 'Goose Muck Green' because villages with grazing rights used to keep geese on the common land is now a pleasant green surrounded by some pretty cottages."

In the days of trams and smog, Copster Green was a popular stop on Sunday walks for the people of Blackburn. You would get the Tram to the end of the line.....(On May 14th 1902 the route was extended to Wilpshire, bringing the delights of the Ribble valley within reach and on the 21st December 1947 the Wilpshire route closed.)(Provied by BwDBC for use in the Cotton Town digitisation project)

Click on all images for larger view.
"An excellent view of the roadside terminus looking towards Blackburn with a tram just arriving from town laden with pasengers probably intent on walking to Copster Green and Ribchester" (Photo and text provided by Newham Local Studies and Archives for use in the Cotton Town digitisation project)

they would walk to the Wilpshire Hotel which is still known localy as Redbrick Pub, apparently because before it was rendered you could see it was made out of red brick but as you can see it must have been rendered a long time ago.

Click for larger view.
(pictures 1 and 2 provided by Newham Local Studies and Archives for use in the Cotton Town digitisation project)

and across the railway bridge towards Salesbury

(provided by A. E. Shaw for use in the Cotton Town digitisation project)

Past the Wilpshire Methodist Church

(provided by BwD for use in the Cotton Town digitisation project)

towards Salesbury

(provided by BwD for use in the Cotton Town digitisation project)

and then turn right into Lovely Hall Lane past the church

the right hand turn
(provided by A. E. Shaw for use in the Cotton Town digitisation project)

Down Lovely Hall Lane

at the point where the cows are you could have looked left and seen Lovely Hall
(provided by A. E. Shaw for use in the Cotton Town digitisation project)

Taken from the middle of the field over the road from Lovely Field
(provided by BwD for use in the Cotton Town digitisation project)

then left  to Copster Green.

    As you stand at the top of the green, on the left hand side there were wooden teahouses where you could purchase refreshments or picnic on the green looking out on a still unchanged, fantastic vista of Longridge Fell, Ribble Valley, the copper domes of Stoneyhurst College. Stoneyhurst College is where the Lord of the Rings was written and some say that middle earth was based on the surrounding area.

  Stoneyhurst College

and Pendle Hill is a major part of the landscape.

Pendle Hill & the Ribble Valley

A short history of Copster Green and Weaving
The number of cotton mills in Blackburn with power looms increased, and most plain sorts of cloth were produced on them in great quantities. 
The boom in the products of the power loom stimulated the demand for finer and patterned cloths which could only be produced on the handloom.
As the handloom manufacturers employed nearly the entire population of the villages, there was less chance of unscrupulous masters undercutting them.
Locally, Tootal, Broadhurst and Lee employed weavers in Mellor Brook, Osbaldeston and Copster Green; Henry Smalley ones in Mellor; while Ribchester and Blackburn suburban areas served Horrocks, Jackson. and Co.
The weavers of Shadsworth and Guide carried their pieces into Darwen.
While the demand for all kinds of cloth was increasing, it was inevitable that more effort would be put into improvements in the power loom which would enable more complicated and patterned cloths to be woven.
In August 1857 an invention was reported at Witton which would enable a loom to produce spots, checks and satin stripes and "The cloth would be more even in texture and smoother in finish than that turned off by a handloom weaver".
These inventions marked the short revival of handloom weaving.
In October 1859, Tootal, Broadhurst and Lee closed down their three storey warehouse in Heaton Street, and many handloom cottages were put on the market.

(Provided by J.S. Miller for use in the Cotton Town digitisation project.)

They would then carry on through what remains of a deer park towards Ribchester. Deer are still seen regularly around Copster Green. The park entrance (no name of the park is known to us) used to be where the Park Gate Inn was (now Yu and You Cantonese restaurant of Copster Green).

(Provided by LET for use in the Cotton Town digitisation project.)

Famous people of Copster Green

(provided by BwD for use in the Cotton Town digitisation project)

William Hayhurst, alias "Old Balshaw" of Copster Green, nr. Blackburn. Died February 4th, 1881 aged 105 years. 

Do you know of anyone else?