In the early nineteenth century, the township of Bury was governed by constables at the manor court at Whitsuntide. In 1846, however, the residents obtained an Improvement Act, under which the governance was entrusted to twenty-seven commissioners elected by the ratepayers.
A further 30 years passed, and a royal charter was then granted incorporating the township of Bury as a Borough. The council consisted of a mayor, ten aldermen and 30 councillors and was divided into five wards, Church, Redvales, East, Moorside and Elton. As we all know, these names are still with us today.
What links those residents and voters from the Victorian era to those who live here today? What shared communal experiences do we have in common? Gigg Lane was built in 1885, therefore local people were watching football at Gigg at the very earliest stage of representative local democracy and before Bury became a County Borough in 1888. So, I am delighted to read that on the 24th April, Bury FC Women will be back playing in the stadium and the historic chain of Gigg Lane being available for the community is now reconnected to the first match 137 years ago.
I believe investment in our shared collective history and heritage can produce fantastic opportunities and outcomes for all in our area. Over two years, I sought government funding of £1 million to preserve Gigg Lane and to ensure that it continues to be at the heart of cultural and civic life in Bury. It is again fulfilling this role, becoming a central community hub for donations of valuable goods to the people of Ukraine and supporting the fantastic work of the Polish Integration Support Centre and other organisations and individuals.
I continue to campaign for investment in the East Lancs Railway at Buckley Wells. The site, which houses the world’s longest continuously used steam locomotive engine shed constructed in 1856, plans to use our shared industrial heritage to bring jobs, skills training, and opportunity back to a sector where our town was historically world leaders.
The Co-Op Theatre in Ramsbottom was built between 1874 and 1876 and is a unique, nationally significant architectural and cultural site. With appropriate financial support, the theatre will not only create jobs and opportunity but could provide a base for crucial front-line services and, importantly, link ourselves to those who have come before through shared experiences.
Bury, Ramsbottom, Tottington and all the villages within my constituency are very special places. As local residents vote in May’s local elections as their forebears first did in 1846, we must continue to value our shared history and invest in those institutions that mattered so much to Bury voters in the Victorian period as one part of our shared plan to increase prosperity and opportunity for everyone in our Borough.
