Rainford
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Rainford is a village in North West England, five miles north of the town of St Helens in Merseyside. Lately managed by an independent Urban District Council, it has a population of about 9,000[1]. It now forms a Civil Parish and ward within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens. It is unknown when Rainford was founded, but the name of the village is in the Domesday book, thus making Rainford older than the important maritime city of Liverpool. It is known as the largest village in Merseyside[citation needed].
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[edit] History and geography
Rainford lies in the fertile South Lancashire agricultural plain and is effectively an 'urban island' surrounded by large scale farming, mainly arable, but with some livestock herds.
Rainford sits alongside the A570 (Rainford Bypass), a dual carriageway constructed in the late 1930's, which connects at one end to the East Lancashire Road and, at the other end, the M58 motorway. This results in excellent road links, and the village is therefore mainly inhabited by people who commute to the nearby cities of Liverpool and Manchester, and to St Helens.
Rainford is well known for its industrial past when it was a major manufacturer of clay smoking pipes. The nearby coal mines became worked out and closed prior to World War Two. It was also a location for sand mining, for use in the glass factories of St Helens.
The village consists of two main sections - the main body of the village, centred around the parish church; and Rainford Junction, a smaller settlement which has grown up around Rainford railway station. The two parts of the village are separated by a band of farmland, although they come close to meeting at the village's north-western end.
Rainford Junction is so called because it contained the junction between the Liverpool and Bury Railway's Skelmersdale Branch and St. Helens Railway, and is now home to the village's only railway station. The station is on the Kirkby - Wigan line. Passengers wishing to travel to Liverpool must change at Kirkby onto the Merseyrail electrified line. Rainford Village railway station, located on Crosspit Lane, served the centre of the village from 1858 until 1951. It was on the line to St. Helens's Shaw Street station.
There are three smaller villages which are near to Rainford - King's Moss to the east, Crawford to the north-east and Crank to the south-east.
One of the most famous buildings in Rainford is The Rookery, a large 17th century manor house situated off the 'Pottery Padds'. The house was formerly a school and workhouse and has since become home to a tennant farmer.
[edit] Culture and recreation
Rainford has many noted public houses, including the Bottle And Glass, Star Inn, Derby Arms, Golden Lion (reported to be haunted and features in numerous paranormal books)[citation needed], Eagle And Child and The Bridge Inn. It is also home to the George Wright Brewery.
Rainford's Silver Band is highly regarded, and has won many contests. A 'walking day' takes place every year in June and a fairground is set up behind the Golden Lion public house, in which the Silver Band participate.[1]. A well-supported Rainford Show is held each year in early September in the old Rainford Urban District Council offices, with competitive classes for handicrafts, flowers, vegetables, floral art, photography etc.
[edit] Education
Rainford is also noted for its schools. It currently has three primary schools and a secondary school with a large sixth form. The primary schools are Rainford Brook Lodge County Primary School, Rainford C of E Primary School and Rainford Corpus Christi Primary School. The high school and sixth form operate jointly as Rainford High Technology College, and serve to educate students not just from Rainford, but from throughout St. Helens and beyond.
[edit] Sports
There is currently a golf-course called the Northwest National under construction alongside the A570 dual carriageway. This new course will contain 27 holes, a golf academy, restaurant and conference centre.[2]
Rainford also has its own cricket and tennis club, both based behind the Golden Lion Pub.
A speedway training track was operational at some time in the early 1950s.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
[edit] General
[edit] Schools
- Rainford Brook Lodge County Primary School
- Rainford C of E Primary School
- Rainford Corpus Christi Primary School
- Rainford High Technology College
