Great Harwood

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Great Harwood
Statistics
Population:	11,217
Ordnance Survey
OS grid reference:	SD737318
Administration
District:	Hyndburn
Shire county:	Lancashire
Region:	North West England
Constituent country:	England
Sovereign state:	United Kingdom
Other
Ceremonial county:	Lancashire
Historic county:	Lancashire
Services
Police force:	Lancashire
Fire and rescue:	{{{Fire}}}
Ambulance:	North West
Post office and telephone
Post town:	BLACKBURN
Postal district:	BB6
Dialling code:	01254
Politics
UK Parliament:	Hyndburn
European Parliament:	North West England

Great Harwood is a small town in the Hyndburn district of Lancashire, England, 4 1/2 miles north east of Blackburn. It is a town with a proud industrial heritage. The Mercer Hall Leisure Centre in Queen Street and the town clock pay tribute to John Mercer (1791-1866), the 'father' of Great Harwood, who revolutionised the cotton dyeing process with his discovery of mercerisation. An agricultural society is also maintained. The town once lay on the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway, the last train serviced the town in November 1957. The town boasted a football team, Great Harwood Town, which unfortunately was forced to fold in July 2006.

The writer Ethel Carnie Holdsworth (1886-1962) - also published as Ethel Carnie and Ethel Holdsworth - lived in Great Harwood until 1917 and some of her poems and early novels were written in the town. Helen of Four Gates (1917) was filmed in 1920. Her last novel, All On Her Own (1929) will be republished in 2007.

Footballer David Dunn was born and brought up in Great Harwood. He initially played for local club Blackburn Rovers but moved to Birmingham City in 2003.

The Coronation Street scriptwriter Leslie Duxbury (1926-2005) was a resident of the town.