Burnley
Where can you relive the reign of one of Britain's most important 'kings'? In Burnley, where the clattering steam-powered looms in the weaving shed of Queen Street Mill and the industrial townscape of the Weavers' Triangle both allow visitors to relive the nineteenth century reign of King Cotton.
Burnley's location, on the edge of the South Pennine Moors, with its wild landscape and fast-running streams, had everything in place to become the cotton-weaving capital of Britain. Established as a permanent settlement in Anglo-Saxon times, Burnley remained a village until the Industrial Revolution took hold, when the population increased ten-fold in the first 70 years of the nineteenth century.
The Burnley of the 21st century is the perfect place for visitors. As well as its fascinating industrial history, the town has two historic houses, Towneley Hall and Gawthorpe Hall, home of one of the north's great Victorian philanthropists Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth, a great friend of Charlotte Bronte who was one of many famous visitors to the hall. Gawthorpe Hall is a key point on the route of the long-distance Bronte Way, one of many beautiful country walks through Burnley's surrounding countryside.
And if you have a soft spot for shopping, Burnley is definitely the place for you, famous for its magical markets and abundance of mill shops.
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