Heritage Open weekend success

Healey Hall

The annual celebration of England’s architecture and culture took place this weekend, Friday 8 to Sunday 10 September, as the Heritage Open Days took place throughout the country. As in previous years, Rochdale enjoyed one of the most successful weekends and the Rochdale open days had one of their most enjoyable and information packed years so far.

Rochdale’s historic buildings opened their doors to the public for one weekend for them to discover the heritage of the town. The Rochdale Civic Society organised the weekend, which provided Rochdale’s people with a unique opportunity to explore and enjoy some of the most interesting buildings and organisations in the town, all of which was completely free of charge.

In addition to the traditional open days, such as the tours of Healey Hall and of course the Pioneers Museum on Toad Lane, were three new venues. After much hard work by the Civic Society, the Magistrates Court agreed to open its doors to the public and visitors were treated to three mock trials, all of which were well attended. Also open to the public were Clegg Hall in Smithybridge, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Middleton, who organised an event to explore family history which proved to be particularly popular.

Chairwoman of Rochdale Civic Society, Dorothy Greaves, told Rochdale Online about another successful Heritage Weekend. She said: “The Heritage weekend has once again proved very successful. All of the places that I visited, including the Magistrates Court and St John’s Church, were very well attended and I hope all of the other places throughout the borough enjoyed similar success. We already have two new events pencilled in for next year. The Unitarian Church have contacted us, and they have a wonderful history. Former Mayor Sultan Ali has also contacted us in the hope that we can do something in conjunction with the Multi-Faith Partnership.”

Dorothy also spoke of how the Rochdale Heritage Open Days were proving to be amongst the most successful in the UK. Days before the weekend, Rochdale civic trust received a letter from the Civic Trust in London to thank them for their support. The letter contained the sentence, “Your programme has made this year’s heritage open days one of the most exciting, diverse and colourful since their inception in 1994”, proof that the heritage open days continue to go from strength to strength in the town.