STREETS and ROADS

Original tracks and lanes

Unless one possessed a carriage one travelled on foot or horseback. Most people walked, for the roads were poor until the turnpike roads were made. Roads were the responsibility of the Parish, which had the right to demand a few days' labour each year from the inhabitants.

In 1768, fifteen shillings were paid to Mr Drinkwater, the Lord of the Manor, for trespass to bring gravel from the Irwell at Bradley Fold. On this occasion eighteen people did three days' work each. The housholders paid one shilling each towards the expenses, the amount collected being £4 7s 10d. The roads repaired were Church Lane, Bent Lane, Rectory Lane, Whittaker Lane and Wash Lane.

In 1775 the village of Prestwich consisted of little more than Church Lane, Longfield, the lower part of Poppythorn Lane and Wash Lane (later re-named Clifton Road). What is now Bury New Road was a path through the fields to Broughton, the old Roman road from Manchester having become completely overgrown. Even Bury Old Road was not constructed till 1754, being the first road to have a turnpike under the control of the Cheetham Hill Trust.

As Bury Old Road was the only road between Bury and Manchester, Prestwich village was in a backwater. Rooden Lane and the Heatons were busier and more populous areas. Even so, they consisted of a few scattrered groups pf cottages and a few farms.

Hilton Lane, originally known as Hulton Lane, because a family of that name lived there for several geneartions, had been in existence from the early seventeenth century or even before that.

Northward, the lane that became Bury New Road led to Hardmans Fold, a hamlet beyond where the motorway slipway now runs. Opposite was a lane to Bury Old Road through Hardmans Green. To approach Radcliffe it was necessary to go up Higher Lane to Stand, and then down Stand Lane. The road to Bury went through the Dales and Nipper Lane to Lily Hill and over the old Roach Bridge. This was part of the old Roman Road.

ROODEN LANE

On the border of Heaton Park was situated Rooden Lane (now part of Bury Old Road). John F Wilson in his book 'a History of Prestwich' makes the claim "Rooden Lane dates back to 1341" though without any qualification. It was through here that part of the army of Bonnie Prince Charlie marched on its way to Manchester in 1745.

Turnpike Trusts

The first road in Prestwich to be have a turnpike was Bury Old Road in 1754. It was under the control of the Cheetham Hill Trust. Other roads in the district were eventually turnpiked. These included Sheepfoot Lane, Scholes Lane and Hilton Lane.

In 1818 an Act of Parliament was passed for the building of a new road between Manchester and Bury. Bury New Road was constructed in 1827, in parts following the course of the Roman Road built nearly two thousand years before.

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