{"id":4,"date":"2017-03-29T18:39:50","date_gmt":"2017-03-29T18:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/happyvalley.org.uk\/?page_id=4"},"modified":"2025-08-30T20:50:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T19:50:22","slug":"happy-valley","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/happyvalley.org.uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Bollington, the Happy Valley!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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\"Welcome
The hills are alive! Our beautiful hills welcome everyone!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>These are difficult times for many people, so it’s nice to know that Bollington is a place with ‘community’ at its heart. There have always been groups with community fun chief among their objectives, but we also now have many organisations and groups whose principal objective is care – care for those who are struggling, those who are elderly and needing help with everyday things, including modern technology, those with health problems of one kind or another. A good place to start is the Bridgend Centre<\/a>, if they can’t help then they will know someone who can!<\/span><\/p>\n

Drink, Eat, Sleep<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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We honour Sir Terry Waite<\/strong> KCMG CBE<\/span><\/a>, born in the Happy Valley!<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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One of Cheshire’s Market Towns<\/a>,<\/strong> Bollington never stands still, with a constant stream of artistic and volunteer endeavour from the championship Bollington Brass Band<\/a> (North West 1st section<\/span>), the Festival Choir<\/a>, Bollington Musical Theatre Group (BMTG [was BLOG])<\/a>, the Festival Players<\/a>, and so many other gifted groups. The festival groups were borne out of Bollington’s famous Festivals<\/a> which are now held every two to four years, and have been running since 1964, organised and run entirely by volunteers but including performances from both local amateurs and professional performers. The last one was in 2024, so it is time for another in 2026! Festival 2024 was a mini-Festival held in the open air without the usual big top tent – Bollington Festival Diamond Jubilee Jamboree 2024!<\/em> – held over the end-May Bank Holiday weekend. The weather was largely good to us and the whole event was a massive success! As a result, the Festival Committee have decided to plan future festivals without the big top tent because the cost made the festivals financially unviable. Roll on May 2026!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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White Nancy – our logo!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Clarence Mill<\/a> you will find Bollington Civic Society’s<\/a> \u00a0Discovery\u00a0Centre<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>. It continues to be very popular with those wishing to discover more about the town and its history and view their amazing collection of historic pictures, many of which appear in these pages. Canalside Radio on 102.8fm<\/a> has firmly established its popularity throughout the east Cheshire area. A wide range of sporting activity and achievement compliments all this fun.<\/p>\n

For details of What’s On check your copy of Bollington Live!<\/a>, or look at Bollington Arts Centre<\/a> pages. A monthly What’s On leaflet is available at the Town Hall and also available online here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The small town of Bollington is located about three miles north of Macclesfield<\/a>, 18 miles south east of Manchester, in north east Cheshire, in the north west of England – find us on the map<\/a>. It nestles in the western most foothills of the Pennine range of hills above the Cheshire plain, adjacent to the Peak District National Park; the boundary just enters the parish, an area known as the Cheshire Peak District<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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It is a town borne of its rural origins with the industrialisation of the area beginning in the mid 18th century and rapidly developing in the 19th when several large cotton mills were built, coal mines were opened and stone quarried. The opening of the Macclesfield canal<\/a> in 1831 provided important incentive for industrial development as did the railway<\/a> that followed in the late 1860’s. In modern times the mills have been replaced by, usually, smaller businesses although there remain two large paper coating mills, our biggest industry today. We also have one of the UK’s leading silk weavers.<\/p>\n

Tourism is increasingly important, the town providing an easy base for those interested in walking the hills (we hold an annual Walking Festival in September<\/a>) with the Peak District National Park on our doorstep, walking or boating the canal or walking or riding (bikes and horses) on the converted railway track, now known as the Middlewood Way<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Bollington<\/a>
Bollington Rooftops – Peter Etherington<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Known to its residents as the Happy Valley<\/a>, this town is a village is a town! What do I mean? Well, it’s a town of 8,300 population (as of 2011) strung out over a distance of about two miles, never very wide, giving the feeling of one long village. Present day Bollington is really based around three villages that became merged together – Bollington Cross<\/a>, West Bollington<\/a> and Bollington<\/a>, and on the edges you will find Kerridge<\/a> on the high ground and Lowerhouse<\/a> in the valley of the river Dean.<\/p>\n

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\"High<\/a>
Market Place in High Street, Bollington<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was a significant increase in the population during the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s turning the town into a dormitory for Macclesfield and Manchester. Bollington is regarded as a very desirable place to live and work. This has to do with the advantages of its beautiful location amongst the hills, known as the Cheshire Peak District<\/a>, and the fact that the main street is, for all practical purposes, a no through road; the road does go through but leads mainly to places that can be reached more directly by other routes.<\/p>\n

This page provides a range of links to other pages giving an in-depth view of the town and the interests of its population. Have fun! Note that Wednesday is traditionally half day (or early) closing day for shops in Bollington and many still follow this tradition by closing at lunch time – usually 1.00pm – but not the Post Office, Pharmacy, Tesco, or the Co-op, all at West Bollington<\/a>, or Belfield’s Bakery (3pm) in Palmerston Street<\/a>. The Chinese chippy in Palmerston Street is open every day except Tuesday, from 5pm to 11pm.<\/p>\n

Some major projects have been completed or are under way –<\/p>\n