Middleton’s Golden Cluster sparkles

Old Boars Head

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Middleton’s golden cluster is shining bright after Visit England hailed it as an example to inspire other towns.

Chris Vere, an assessor for Visit England, visited the Golden Cluster, a quartet of stunning heritage buildings in Middleton, during Golden Cluster month in September.

The site is part of the Middleton and Edgar Wood Townscape Heritage Initiative, which has benefitted from a £1.9m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund as well as council cash.

Mr Vere said: “This is a great credit to Middleton. There is no other town in England with four of these Quality Rose Marque Award winners so close together. Real progress has been made in the quality of the information offered. I’ll certainly be using Middleton as an example to inspire other towns.”

The Golden Cluster, which comprises St Leonard’s Church, the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Ye Olde Boar’s Head and the Edgar Wood Centre, also retained its Visit England PIQAS (place of interest quality assurance scheme) accreditation.

Golden cluster month, which takes place every September, offers visitors the chance to tour these stunning buildings which can normally only be viewed by appointment or during events like the Heritage Open Day Weekend.

There were 930 visits this September, with some visitors from as far afield as the USA and Holland.

Peter Williams, Cabinet Member for Economic Development at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “We already know that we have some fantastic heritage buildings in our borough but to hear comments like this coming from somebody who has no doubt seen heritage buildings from all over the country is praise indeed.

“It is something that everybody in the borough should be proud of and in particular, those who volunteer during Golden Cluster month to make it the spectacular event that it is.”