These are the steps up to the empty Syke Resevoir accessible from the public road past Syke ponds and Syke Common.

And this is the empty Syke resevoir which leaked from the get go. Home of orchids and in the spring some welcome duck.

Turner Brothers Asbestos, Spotland

The site of the old Turner Brothers asbestos textile factory at Spotland upon which plans for developing a housing estate of 650 houses is currently being considered.

These are some of the iron boundary railings.

Turner Brothers Asbestos (TBA) were pioneers of asbestos material fabrication, and developed spinning and weaving processes. Production commened in the early 1870’s, and it ended in the Spodden Valley in the mid 1990’s.

The world’s first death known to be due to Asbestosis was young Rochdale TBA worker - Nellie Kershaw in 1924. TBA recognised that asbestos worker William Pennington died of mesothelioma in 1936.

Save Spodden Valley is a website created to promote the welcome safe, responsible development of the site.

This is a picture of the site in it's heyday ...