Farnworth has a lot to be proud of. It is a town that has spawned Great Britain’s most decorated Olympian and a World Cup winner, despite only having a population of around 29,000 people.
In years gone by, it also boasted a top grammar school, a 'superclub' and much-loved market. The latter is something that brings a twinkle to the eye to anyone of a certain age in the town.
"Are you talking about the market!?" 74-year-old Sylvia Mellon beams on a bitterly cold December morning, as she overhears a couple of shoppers talking about long-awaited plans to redevelop Farnworth town centre. "It was the best," she told the Manchester Evening News . "When I was a little girl, I used to go with me mam and there were stalls and there used to be chickens hanging, fish, mussels, cockles, you could get anything. Farnworth was a fantastic place and it went downhill... like a dump. It’s nice to see it coming back up again."
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There is a strong sense that the town has been left behind or even forgotten in recent years and while ambitious £50m plans to redevelop Farnworth may not bring back the traditional markets that were part of the town centre for more than 100 years, it is clear that Farnworthians want to be proud of the area once again. It's a sentiment shared by the local authority and, even before the market was closed down in 2016, Bolton Council had been working on plans to revive Farnworth's tired high street.
It seemed like a massive step when the Market Precinct - linking the shops of Brackley Street with King Street's bus station and the old market - was bought from previous owners St Modwen in 2019. A year later, demolition work started to take place and everything seemed to be heading in the right direction.
However, for the past two-and-a-half years it appeared that things had ground to a complete halt. Despite Manchester-based developers Capital and Centric sporadically releasing computer-generated images of how their 'Farnworth Green' project would look, locals were understandably starting to get restless.
In reality, a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes and December 2022 has seen the demolition of a stretch of empty, eye-sore retail units, some of which have been closed and boarded up for more than a year. According to Capital and Centric, the area will be completely transformed by 2024, with 97 design-led homes, café bars, shops and a 'lush' green public square all promised.
Use the slider below to see how Brackley Street looked before and after demolition began
Development director Scott Mallinson said: "Not only will these new homes and shops transform the high street but they'll also have a positive social impact and we see that on other sites. Creating a new neighbourhood with a vibrant public square creates a sense of space and wellbeing and our aim is to encourage people and families to live in town centres again."
The homes built are set to consist of 85 apartments, as well as 12 town houses looking onto King Street. There are also plans to create a 'community hub' to provide a space for people to meet up, and to erect an events pavilion to host outdoor community events such as live music performances and makers markets.
Farnworth and Kearsley First councillor Paul Sanders chairs the steering group that has helped come up with plans. Coun Sanders told the M.E.N : "The regeneration of Farnworth town centre has been a key priority for our party since we were formed in 2017 with what that can bring for the people of Farnworth and Kearsley - the health benefits, the aspirational benefits, the economic benefits.
"It needed a reboot and it needed to be aspirational to what the high street needs in 2022. I believe it absolutely fits the bill."
"The four years to get to this have been hard but we're there now. People remain sceptical but this is being delivered and it creates an economic impact that will continue to benefit the people of Farnworth and Kearsley for many generations to come."
Bolton Council leader Coun Martyn Cox expressed his 'passion' for Farnworth due to it being the hometown of his parents and somewhere he worked for 30 years. "Over the last 30 years, for all sorts of reasons, Farnworth has not kept pace, but I have a passion to see this town do well," he said.
"Farnworth used to have a whole plethora of attractive public buildings and one-by-one they pulled them down and replaced them with things that aren't as beautiful. District centres are a challenge because you've got to reimagine them. You can't just bring back what was here before, you've got to think what people will want and use - it's a mixture of retail, leisure, community services, council services, you've got to bring them all together and get people living in those centres."
It probably helps that the Town Hall's lead councillor for regeneration is also a 'Farnworth girl'. Speaking at a press conference in early December, Coun Adele Warren said: "Farnworth is an amazing community but I would say that as I am a Farnworth girl. I'm excited and honoured to be involved in the regeneration and giving it the opportunities it deserves."
Funding from the project comes from the Government’s 'Future High Street Fund' and Bolton Council’s 'District Centres Fund', as well as the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s Brownfield Housing Fund, with Mayor Andy Burnham talking last year about 'huge appetite amongst parts of the local people to see the regeneration' of Farnworth. Visiting Farnworth town centre a couple of days before Christmas, Mr Burnham said: "I had to do a little bit of a double take when I arrived because last time I was here there was a fairly big concrete monstrosity (the market precinct).
"When I was first standing to be mayor in 2017 and I was campaigning here, all the shoppers were saying ‘when’s somebody going to do something for Farnworth’, because all of the units here were empty and it didn’t look great, but you could feel the potential of the place - a proud town, a strong town and it needed a focusing of minds on what it could be, so credit to Bolton Council and Capital and Centric who are bringing city centre standards to Farnworth and this place is going to go from strength to strength in the coming years.
He added: "The town is well located. What you want - not to displace any of the current residents or shops - but what you want to do is to bring a younger group of people in, who may work in the city and come here and use the new bars, coffee shops and places to eat and it will bring a vibrancy to the place and everything will be lifted.
"The green will be open for everyone to benefit from. I’m absolutely clear in my mind that when we give Farnworth that better public transport connectivity which is coming next year with The Bee Network, then there is nothing holding it back."
Just metres away from the regeneration of the high street, work is also well underway to refurbish Farnworth Leisure Centre, with an extended fitness suite and dance studio currently being built. The state-of-the-art Bolton College of Medical Sciences is also under construction in the town, at Royal Bolton Hospital, which is aiming to make Farnworth a centre of excellence for healthcare skills, as well as creating 20,000 new jobs and apprenticeships once it opens in 2024.
It all seems really impressive - and as someone who has spent the vast majority of my life living in Farnworth myself, it does feel like something of a new dawn for the town...but what do the people of Farnworth actually want from the town centre redevelopment?
Reflecting on the current state of the high street as she shopped with husband Frank, Sandra Cunliffe, 72, said: "It’s terrible! We’ve got nothing really. It’s a forgotten town. We need to be recognised as a proper town.
"I know you look back to when you’re younger and think it was better then but it was. You could buy anything in Farnworth. I’d like to see markets come back... you could get anything there. It was better than Bury."
Frank, also 72, told M.E.N that he thought leisure facilities were just as important as new shops. He added: "They've been promising it for years. I’m all for improvements so let’s hope it’s changing for the better."
Carol Jones, 58, also commented on the length of time it had taken to see some progress but said that seeing demolition work taking place had given her renewed hope. "They’d just been closing things down so felt like Farnworth had nothing," she said.
"You used to be able to get anything you wanted in Farnworth. We had the market, the Co-op, now there’s none of that.
"Hopefully we get shops that people can afford to rent because the biggest worry is that they’ll make it really good, but will it be feasible for the people of Farnworth to afford to shop there?
"We want some independents but also bigger ones. We used to have lovely card shops and everything. Seeing this gives you that little bit of hope and hopefully we’ll get something really good."
Sylvia, who had reminisced so happily about the markets, believed that the idea of them returning was fanciful. "It’s not going to be a market because it’s too expensive," she said.
"I just want one or two really nice shops. I know it sounds daft but we’ve nothing in Farnworth so a Next or a Marks and Spencers or something like that because at the minute you have to go to Bury or Bolton and get on the bus."
Mum-of-four Gemma Hillyard, 33, added: "Farnworth’s not really a bad place it just needs a revamp.
"[We need] better shops. If you want decent clothes you have to go to the Trafford Centre. We need a B&M Bargains back and Barnardo's because that was great for kids' toys.
"Some really nice coffee shops would be nice as well - just sort of what they have in Bolton but here."
Although the development's projected end date of 2024 might seem a long time away, it will be interesting to watch Farnworth change through the next couple of years. Hopefully once finished, it can allow locals to feel proud of their great town once again.
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