Weir, Lancashire

Weir

Children Playing on Weir Park
Weir is in the south-eastern part of Lancashire, close to the eastern boundary of North West England. On this map Weir is about one-seventh in from the eastern edge and one-third in from the southern edge.
Weir
 Weir shown within Lancashire
DistrictRossendale
Shire countyLancashire
RegionNorth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town BACUP
Postcode district OL13
Dialling code 01706
Police Lancashire
Fire Lancashire
Ambulance North West
EU Parliament North West England
UK ParliamentRossendale and Darwen
List of places
UK
England
Lancashire

Coordinates: 53°43′23″N 2°11′49″W / 53.723°N 2.197°W

Weir is an outlying area of Bacup in the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, England and is adjacent to the more historically significant Broadclough.[1] Anciently, Weir constituted a hamlet, but underwent urbanisation and, later, suburbanisation to emerge as a residential suburb of Bacup town after the Burnley Road turnpike was built through the settlement in the 18th Century. Weir straddles the A671 road and is located by the source of the River Irwell, adjacent to the parish of Cliviger. Burnley Road is an accident blackspot, with many crashes taking place over the years often being caused as drivers continue to travel at speeds they would in open countryside.[2][3] Weir has 2 Pubs, 1 school and 1 shop.

Weir has a football team named AFC Weir who compete in the burnley and district Sunday league, formed in 2010 their highest finish was fifth in the 2011/2012 season. They play their home games at stacksteads rec

It is part of the Rossendale and Darwen constituency, with Jake Berry having been the Member of Parliament since 2010.

There have been several attempts to further develop Weir and neighbouring Broadclough, the land on the boundary of Weir, adjacent to Broadclough Farm has had several attempts at development including a 61 home plan[4] as well as an 80 bed residential care unit.[5] however to date these have been refused on several grounds of which the main concerns have been the open moorland/countryside surrounding the settlement and Burnley Road, on which there has been a large number of accidents.[6]

In June 2014 the police announced they would be monitoring the road between Weir and Bacup (which passes through Broadclough) as it has become an accident blackspot with a high number of accidents which have resulted in serious injury and even deaths,[7] and there have been calls from local residents, lead by County Councillor Jimmy Easton,[8] for the creation of a bypass with the suggestion of utilising elements of the old highway Bacup Old Road.

Notable people

Michael Carr, a Liberal Democrat politician and former Member of Parliament for the Ribble Valley, is a resident of Weir.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Town Overview". Whitworth Town Council.
  2. ↑ "Woman Cut Free After Bacup Crash". The Bolton News.
  3. ↑ "RTC in Weir Bacup at 1604hrs". Lancashire Fire and Rescue.
  4. ↑ "Plans Build 61 Homes Rejected". Rossendale Free Press.
  5. ↑ "Specialist Dementia Unit Refused". Rossendale Planning Department.
  6. ↑ "Accident Closes Bacup Road". Burnley Citizen. Burnley Citizen.
  7. ↑ "Police Monitoring Bacup Weir Accident Blackspot". The Bolton News. The Bolton News.
  8. ↑ "UPDATED: Man fighting for life after Bacup crash". Bolton News.
  9. ↑ "Villagers face new moor mine battle". Lancashire Evening Telegraph. Newsquest Media Group. 1999-11-16. Retrieved 2008-09-29.

External links

Media related to Weir, Lancashire at Wikimedia Commons