Little Harwood
| Little Harwood | |
|---|---|
  Little Harwood Shown within Blackburn  Little Harwood Shown within Blackburn with Darwen  Little Harwood Little Harwood shown within Lancashire | |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Blackburn |
| Postcode district | BB1, BB2 |
| Dialling code | 01254 |
| Police | Lancashire |
| Fire | Lancashire |
| Ambulance | North West |
| EU Parliament | North West England |
Little Harwood is a small part of the English town of Blackburn in Lancashire, England, situated at the northern edge of the town.[1]
Located within the ward are areas of mixed housing, industrial units and open land, including Blackburn Cemetery. Little Harwood is a multi-cultural place and there are many mosques and churches in the town to cater for the various religious denominations.
Little Harwood is well known as the birthplace of Jack Walker, owner of Walker Steel and Flybe and benefactor of Blackburn Rovers FC, whose parents lived on Whalley Old Road.
There are two state-funded schools located in the ward of Little Harwood: St Stephen's CE Primary School and Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School. St Stephen's was formed 2010 when an infants and junior school combined on one site on Robinson Street at a multi-coloured rectangular building costing around £7million. Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School is a free school which opened in 2012. There are also two independent schools within the ward of Little Harwood; Madressa-e-Islamia Educational Centre and Jamiatul-llm Wal Huda UK School.
Masjid-e-Sajedeen, formerly Unit 4 Cinemas, is the hub of the local Muslim community whose numbers have increased manifold since the arrival of the original Gujerati Sidat, Lorgat, Valli 'Hitler', Desai and Musa families into the area in the early 1960s. The former came from Harangam, India whilst the latter (originally from Sarnar, India) from Nairobi, Kenya.
Nowadays the make up of the local village shops have changed drastically. The former Co-operative is now a shadow into a run down mini market, whilst Barnes Bakery which stood testament to the very last English Bakers ceased trading in May 2017. Cohens Chemist now occupies a location next to the Health Centre whilst further up Whalley Old Road the likes of Reggies Sweet shop and Daves Hairdressers have long gone to be replaced by Poundshops and Asian grocery stores.
Indeed, the make up of Little Harwood population has also markedly changed in the millennium with a significant north Indian and Pakistan origin families establishing themselves here amongst a few original English elderly families residing towards Tintern Crescent.
Broadfold allotments have and continue to be tended by predominantly Indian gardeners as the older generation have faded away. The Lorgat brothers alongside Saabhai and his wife, 'Nana' Wadee and Esat families have been working this land since the late 1960s and are indeed the custodians. Their presence is seen in the annual Asian crops grown behind the now locked allotment gates.
The Little Harwood Clock Tower was unveiled in 1923 and the hourly chime can still be heard in memory of the local lads that fell during the two wars. Its gardens are maintained regularly by council gardeners and provide a quiet retreat from the ever-increasing heavy traffic that daily rushes on the busy Whalley Old Road.
References
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2009-01-31.