Bamford & Norden March 2020

It was originally considered this was now
the total extent of the demolition.
Greenbooth House, a beautiful and
substantial home standing in its own
grounds on Greenbooth Road was originally
deemed to be safe and not under threat of
demolition.
However, during construction, an
unexpected problem resulted in the dam
wall when a break point showed that the
current build was not adequate. Disaster
struck for the residents of Greenbooth
House when they experienced shock waves
from that incident. The family who lived
there were devasted when they received
the news that the property had to now be
demolished to make way for a second dam
wall to ensure the safety and viability of
the reservoir. The family had no alternative
but to vacate and were given only 2 weeks’
notice to leave.
The reservoir was completed in 1961 and
was officially opened in 1965. Many local
residents will no doubt remember when
another problem arose in 1983 when there
appeared to be a problem with the dam
sinking. In order for repairs to take place
25 million gallons of water per day was
drained. Many will remember the old
bridge now being revealed, its date of 1870
still being clearly visibly carved into the
stonework.
Heywood and Middleton Water Board
had made a firm promise to restore and
landscape the area surrounding the
reservoir making it available to all. I’m
sure many of us will agree that they finally
fulfilled the promise and that Greenbooth
has provided us with a very beautiful place
to enjoy a walk and enjoy the tranquillity of
the beautiful location. All that now remains
is the tribute plaque attached to wall.
For those however that still have memories
of village, perhaps in their minds eye they
can still see and hear the strain of the village
itself and the children playing on those
cobbled streets. I hope in some way my
articles have helped to bring some of those
lives back to the forefront of our minds and
maybe appreciate a little more the valuable
history and legacy left to us by those long
departed days.
Val Corns
valcorns@hotmail.co.uk
Photographs of Greenbooth House
by courtesy of Simon Duxbury
Greenbooth Plaque photograph taken
by Val Corns
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