Went a little walk today

[Topper]

My son paid an impromptu visit home from the smoke and we all went for a bit of a hike. Went to Rivington Pike which has quite some history about it which can be read here It is basically a deserted moor which was bought over 100 years ago by Lord and Lady Leverhulme who were in fact Lord and Lady Lever. The hulme bit of their name is actually his wife's maiden name. But yes it is the soap manufacturer who created Port Sunlight and Rivington Pike was where they had a bungalow and decided to create a fanciful place of recreation for their workers. In the middle of nowhere there is the Pike at the top of the hill, a bridge, the 'folly' which is a stone built 3 story summer house and various other ponds and gardens to allow the factory workers to cleanse their lungs and souls no doubt. Sorry the pics are not much cop but I forgot my camera and had to resort to my phone cam.

One of the photos shows Winter Hill in the distance

 

[rolfw]

Great countryside there Topper, shame the weather was dull, one of the members on TVB has posted a photo of the very same tower, but when the leaves were still on the trees.

 

[Saturlight]

Great pics there, Topper. When's the calendar out? ;)

 

[jimbo]

Lovely pics mate ..... made me feel quite relaxed after a hard week. There's so much more to life when you think about it but we just don't seem to have the time to enjoy it all.

 

[Topper]

The whole place was quite odd really even down to the thin bricks that the bridge was built of, they must have had an enormous amount of money to built firstly a metalled road, made of cobblestones all the way to the place then to have all this stone hand carved and transported up into the moors to build the towers and all the outbuildings some of which I did not have time to investigate. That sort of wealth, all from a bit of soap

 

[PaulR]

Nice pics Topper. William Lever was a very interesting man and a real patrician benefactor. Living where I do I am, of course, quite close to Port Sunlight which he built for his employees so that they would all have good quality homes to go home to.

He was born Lever but when he was enobled he added his wife's surname, Hulme, to his. When a person is enobled (or knighted) they get to choose the name they wish to be known by. The only proviso is that it has to be different from anyone elses.

 

[T_G]

That sort of wealth, all from a bit of soap

At least not dirty money

 

[Topper]

At least not dirty money

Well that's for sure ... clean as a whistle, well on the surface but there is often a dodgy side to most businesses one way or another.

 

[T_G]

A soap factory would be a good place to laundry dirty money...
Anyways, nice pictures, looks like a nice area for a walk

 

[Topper]

A soap factory would be a good place to laundry dirty money...
Anyways, nice pictures, looks like a nice area for a walk

Was nice but a bit too crowded, they have turned two fields into car parks and there is still not enough room for everyone to park, the place was heaving
(just as I was after your last Jade Goody post)

 

[Stephen W]

Lovely place - my Mum and Dad did some of their courting there. No sniggering please!