The River Stink!
 

Where did it come from and where did it go? Did it have a name? I remember when I was a kid back in the 50's when it flowed under the road where the Arndale Centre is now. It did stink and it had a strange colour to it all the time! :confused:

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River Hyndburn twas its name.

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Broad Oak print works used to dump their waste dye overflows into it so sometimes it was a pretty pink, red, green.
Most of the time it was just a foul colour with a foul smell.

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I think it begins near the Bridge pub, where Warmden Water and Woodnook water meet. It passes through Rishton and joins the Calder near Whalley, which joins the Hodder, which joins the Ribble

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Exactly the same thing with the Swanee in Ossy, Cocker Chemicals used to dump all their waste in there too Gordon and that did stink of TCP. for years after they were stopped. It was the cleanest brook in the country all the pebbles were white and no vegetation what so ever, needless to say no fish either:eek:

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Do we know if it still runs?

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We already have threads on this river, its sources & courses over the years.

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:confused::confused:Why shouldn't it? You can see it at several places along Hyndburn Road, such as the bridge on Electricity Street just before you get to Screwfix, at the side of Asda car park. Next time you come to Accy, go and have a look.

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The river is now a lot cleaner than it has been for years, last summer I watched a fisherman catch a trout, and I watched them swim around where the river is underground in a brick tunnel on Dunkenhalgh land.

ps. I have posted many a photo in the "today" thread, where it runs under the motorway bridge and down to the dip at Rishton.

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I seem to remember something about it being so clean now there were fish in it. Is that true, if so is that in Accrington or more in the country, near the Calder?
I know there were fish back in the Calder/Hodder some years ago.

That's good,davemac, you answered my question before I asked it!

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My Dad was born in 1913 at 8 Mill Street, Church, just by Express Gifts, opposite the Sports Centre. He said that Church was known in those days as the "City of the Seven Stinks"! I think that Steiner's chemical works and others discharged all their waste into the river. I seem to remember that when Hyndburn was chosen for the name of the Borough on 1st April 1974 it was rather amusing because the river was still known as the "River Stink" in those days!

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I remember the rubber duck races they used to have near the asda :D

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Think the worst stink in Church was the Tripe curing place, when they were boiling the tripe it stunk to high heaven, you could smell it for miles:)

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Yeh never lived in Church:eek:, Ashworths "Bone Yard" was far worse, in summer yeh couldn't even leave yer Door or Windows open twas that bad.

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Sorry cashy that's what I meant not Tripe Shop, I was once working on a house near Ashworths and I just went back to the workshop, couldn't stand the stink:eek:

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These pictures are of "the river stink" taken late summer last year. The location is in the shadow of the motorway as it goes over the river.

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Great pictures davemac, sure does look better than the last time I saw it!

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Have to say, no young un would ever guess twas called River Stink these days, unless family or friends told em, Great pics Dave,:)

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thanks peeps, the shape of the river changes every time I visit, The bankings are full of pebbles and they wash out very easily, and get deposited on the other side.

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It's not pink,red or green!
Owd a thout it?

Looks lovely now.

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As per the pics posted by Urban Caveman on the Urban Exploration thread the cascade just behind the motorway bridge is aereating the water and helping to clean it up. :D

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Wasn't there a paper mill in Rishton that also dumped its waste into the Stink?

I remember it used to flow merrily along at the bottom of Swales's pasture where I used to go bird's nesting ... I could look out of my bedroom window accross the valley to Great Harwood. What a childhood! I lived next door to the paint works on Rishton Rd., downwind from Basil Brierly's pigs, and a couple of hundred yards from the Stink:theband:

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Back in the day pretty much any commercial premises next to the river allowed their "stuff" to run off into it. Luptons on Grange Lane used to leach their soluble oils and lubricants into it too. There was of course legislation but not too much policing. Have to say the water authorities have got their act together of late, that coupled with the lack of industry in the town. Silver linings and clouds in whatever order suits ;)

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But across from the park, tell it as it was.

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Your photos make Hyndburn look like the Garden of Eden . Brilliant !

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Sure ... but playing in Basil's junk yard was a helluva lot more fun than playing on the swings.:D

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the countryside around here can be very picturesque, and most of the time I am there on my own, with only occasionally another walker passing.

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Then there is also the cones to think about too Dave:rolleyes:

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I still cant sleep at nights thinking about them.

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Whereas I always dream about wafers.

There is also a River Hindburn in Lancashire. It rises on the fells SE of Lancaster

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couple of pics

Think I told this story before.

The tunnel that goes under the asda. As a kid; my sisters and my friends stuck wellies on and went walking through those tunnels - Scared of being told off by my parents; I ran across the car park and waited for them on the other side

looking down at picture #2 is where they would appear

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I know that the river goes underground in Hyndburn Road and in the 50s it used to surface where the sports centre is now then the next sighting I think was in a field passed the canal at the bottom of a large wall, then make its way to Rishton. Anyone know if it still surfaces near the sports centre.

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This is where it emerges after going under the canal, Dunkenhalgh Way is off to the left a few hundred yards. There is a short stretch on the surface close to the sports centre, but access is difficult.
The second picture is where it goes under the main road at the "Rishton dip"

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Where the river comes out must have been altered over the years, as I remember there being a very large stone built wall I would estimate 30ft high with the river looking small coming out at the bottom in a small ravine and then flowing down. Very dangerous. But us kids loved it.

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Not too picturesque where it emerges in Grange Lane. :( Taken earlier today.

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Further up just as it comes out from under the canal there is a metal fence around a section, in this enclosure there is a about a 20 foot drop in the water, it then enters the brick tunnel. Perhaps this is the area you remember before the metal fence boxed it off.

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In the summer when the grass is cut and the sun is shining this area is popular with office workers

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And still no stink, fantastic!!

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In medieval times, monks would have fished for food at this spot. I cannot walk past here without thinking about my grandma, as I remember walking here with her a mere 65yrs ago.

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No laughing here ;) My first fishing expedition complete with bent safety pin on a string and cane was at that very spot 1953 or 4 I reckon. Caught not a sausage :D or a fish !

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Not sure about that gdm, there were a couple of dog walkers skulking about leaving their malodorous "presents"

Don't get me started on 4 legged spit (sic) machines :mad:

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Take it your not a dog lover Mr. D. ;)

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I have mellowed over the years J...on a good day I'll accept it's only the owners that need castrating. :D

Picked one of those Sky Mall mags up on my last flight back in from the states. Someone has invented an adaptor for a bog seat for cats. Now why can't we have that for dogs? I know they have to crap, we all do but let em crap on their owners toilet not on my street corner.
Dragons Den here I go :D

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Possibly so.

Re: The River Stink!
 

Accrington culvertry

Accrington, the new king of culvertry!

Warmden Grotto

The Cavern, Combined Sewer Overflow, Accrington

Superlative Nomenclature, Drain, Accrington

Found these old links in my bookmarks, I don't know if they are of any use now, but some good pictures non the less.

Re: The River Stink!
 

In the earliest editions of the Accrington Observer, and indeed many other papers, the main topic of Letters to the Editor was dog sh.. in the streets.
Going back to the Stink- there was a sewage pipe which opened into the river on Nelson Square just before Henry St. It 'opened' at fixed time. I leave it to your imagination as to what could be seen entering the river.
Alan & Les Bond wrote a poem about the river in the early 80s, but timed it as the river of their youth in the 50s, telling of the smell, the colour and the floating objects seen

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What dates do you ascribe as Medieval times, history defines it as a period long before the Monks arrived in Acc, or even in Lsncashire.

The only fishing area I can find in Acc during the Saxon Period, was on the Hyndburn river near where Asda is.

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Retlaw, the Medieval Period is accepted as starting in the 5th century or before and ending in the mid 1400's. I'm sure you said the monks were around Accrington long before 1450.

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Todays Stinky Photos

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Reckon it must have been me in a previous life :rolleyes: and if not, one of my forebears :cool:
Mind you visit Liege in Belgium, it truly is the dog spit capital of Europe.:mad:

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Restless, there must be something wrong with your camera.
It's picking up the green grass but the river isn't pink or blue- there's no colour,you can see through it! Have you a polarised lens or something?

Almost worth coming back to walk along the banks again.

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Smell-proof lens :D

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I used to play on Nelson Square when I was a lad Bob, wondered what that smell was:rolleyes:

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Maybe I should have said, so as to clarify Retlaw's point, is that it was LIKELY that Cistercian monks and their lay-brothers fished there in the years when a monastic grange was situated on/near Grange Lane. This was in the 13th century as it existed in Kirkstall Abbey's hands for les than a hundred years.

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In the 50's we entered the tunnel wearing wellies, and all carrying torches. Heading under the (then carpark, now Arndale) I can't recall if there was a branch of tunnels, but I'm sure I recall emerging into daylight, perhaps behind the Bridge pub? I also remember the culvert between Catlows fruit and veggie shop and the old market hall. Not sure where this led to, as an outlet behind the Bridge would mean a major turn and tunnelling under Church Street. Any thoughts?

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Can recall going up that tunnel, Never went as far as you Les, had no torches.:D Also was a small round concrete tunnel, just before yeh entered the river tunnel,left hand side as yeh faced in,went up that n came to a shaft seemed very deep,:eek: so went up it via the metal grips, came out of a "Grate" half way up Castle St.:hehetable

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Tunnel under Church st then sharp left near the Ritz up past Police Station, Under Manchester Rd then past Broad Oak printworks (CPA) and source of colours and foul smells, then off up the hillside.

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I cannot remember the stink ever looking like picture no3 Restless. Where did you take that picture?. We left Accy nearly 40years ago. Then it was a mess. It seems to have had a clean up since then.

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The river stink as you call it came from the Broad Oak Print Works, the river can still bee seen down Bell Shop Lane, off Manchester Rd. From there it went into a small lodge (the Ambulance Station is built on that site) then it was used by the Madder works, (next to where the Ambulance Stn is) then it turned left crossed Manchester Rd & under Culvert St, next it turned right down Grange Lane, The Fire Stn yard walls & part of the Police Station are built on it, it then appears for a short distance in Grange Lane, & under Cross St, where it joins Woodnook Water & becomes the Hyndburn. It now travels under ground down what is Duke St Back, crosses Little Blackburn Rd under the Pavement, along Peel St, near Infant St it turns left and goes under what used to be the out door market, there was a manhole cover in the middle of one of the ailse, (which I went down many times whilst with the Fire Brigade), that has now disappeared under Wilkis, from there it now travels towards Church, on its way out of Accrington.
All that water has been clean since Broad Oak Print Works Closed down.

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It`s by hyndburn road, you can see Asda at the left of the pic.

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Photos of tunnel from warden under manchester road and police station areahttp://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/uk-draining-forum/51638-superlative-nomenclature-drain-accrington-june-2010-a.html

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We played there to has kids.Sent from my PRA-LX1 using Tapatalk

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Didn't part of the Stink appear above ground on the lower part of Grange Lane next to the garages at the town end???