The origins of the area's shoe monopoly date back to the wool mills and cotton industry
Few people know that Lancashire is responsible for inventing slippers - and fewer still are aware of the leading role it once played in footwear manufacturing.
At its peak the shoe industry employed around 60,000 people in Rossendale and its beginnings come from the felt carpets made in Leeds which were sent to Myrtle Grove Mill in Rossendale for dyeing and printing. The mill was eventually adapted to produce its own felt and the region's footwear focus followed soon after.
In 1879 John Rothwell went into partnership with James Gregory - their firm employed Henry Whittaker Trickett from 1881 to 1883 who went on to set up his own mill at Gaghills. By 1900 Trickett was employing over 1,000 people and producing 72,000 shoes a week. R&M Heys Footwear Manufacturers was set up in 1979 and in 1997 moved to Haslingden’s Old Market where it is now run by the founder’s son Steven and his wife Diane who live in Accrington.
In 1926 the company moved to Britannia Mill which had previously been used for manufacturing cotton. The site's first hand-powered spinning mill - Mount Pleasant Mill - dates back to the 1790s and the Lancashire Sock Manufacturing Company is still run by the Ormerod family.
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