A look back at 2019 in our review of the year
Extreme weather featured prominently during the first quarter of the year in the Observer. Here we take a look back at the big stories making the headlines in 2019
JANUARY
New Year Honours FIVE people from Rochdale were among the those recognised in New Year’s honours list.
They included a man who has provided an ‘inspiring’ message since becoming paralysed from the neck down, a police officer who ‘has brought communities together’ and a top headteacher.
Superintendent Umer Khan picked up an OBE for services to policing. Rochdale’s Mary Sheila Isherwood, the head of Camberwell Park School, was given an OBE for services to children and young people with special educational needs. Rachel Pilling, of Rochdale, was awarded an MBE for services to further education.
Dorothy Brierley, vice chair of Rochdale Childer, won a British Empire Medal holder for services to children in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale.
And Andrew Walker was awarded an MBE for services to the disabled community.
Residents take on crime themselves
RESIDENTS took crime fighting into their own hands by forming night time patrols after a spate of thefts and attempted break-ins on homes, businesses and vehicles.
Patrol groups were set up in both Littleborough and Whitworth, responding to community fears that overstretched police resources are leading to the areas becoming an easy target for criminals.
Littleborough Community Wardens patrolled the streets of the town each night – as well as the Smithy Bridge, Stansfield and Hollingworth Lake areas – in reaction to a perceived increase in crime.
The Littleborough group claimed they were providing a ‘pro-active community presence’ and are not vigilantes and have no intention of hurting burglars and car thieves but hope to deter criminals and detain those caught in the act for the police.
A similar group was also out and about in Whitworth every night from before Christmas, with a team of around ten volunteers patrolling on foot and in vehicles in a bid to ‘disrupt and cause a nuisance’ to thieves operating in the town,
A police inspector for the Rochdale West and Central Neighbourhood Team praised the actions of the Littleborough group, saying that the patrols show the success of GMP’s Citizen Contract which states that the force ‘will provide opportunities to be part of policing to keep communities safe’.
FEBRUARY
Cold snap causes chaos THE borough was brought to a standstill during a white out in February with a host of schools closing, bin rounds disrupted and chaos on the roads and transport networks.
It is believed more than 20 schools and children’s centres were closed.
Rochdale Hornets put out an appeal for helpers to clear their snow-covered pitch ahead of their clash with Dewsbury Rams.
Bus services across the region struggled to operate a full service.
There were reports of four-mile long tailbacks each way through Rochdale and Littleborough due to temporary traffic lights at the junction of Smithy Bridge Road, and winter weather affecting the area.
Joe Thompson retires
FOOTBALLER Joe Thompson, who has twice beaten cancer to play for his boyhood hometown club Rochdale, announced his retirement from the game.
Confirming his decision, he said he had ‘battled through some of life’s hardest challenges, and managed to overcome them’.
Rochdale fans will always be remember him for his fairytale strike against Charlton Athletic at the Crown Oil Arena last May, which kept Rochdale in League One and sent rivals Oldham Athletic down to League Two – a goal he said ‘meant the world to me’.
The club released a statement from Thompson confirming his retirement ‘with a heavy heart’.
In it the 29-year-old forward said retirement was ‘one of the hardest I’ve ever had to make’, but confirmed talks had been ongoing with specialists and consultants.
Rochdale’s Number 15 said he had ‘pushed his body to the absolute limit’ and now wants to mentor young professionals in the game.
Since then, he has been working in the fields of motivational speaking and mentoring.
After moving to live in Rochdale, the former pupil of St Cuthbert’s RC High School spent time as a teenager at Manchester United’s academy alongside the likes of now established Premier League stars Tom Cleverley, Danny Simpson, Danny Drinkwater and Tom Heaton.
He was released just days before his 16th birthday and moved to Rochdale in 2006, making his debut in the May, before signing professional terms.
In 2012 he signed for Tranmere Rovers and it was while playing for the club that he was given the news he was suffering from Hodgkin lymphoma and could have been suffering with it for up to three years.
The football world rallied round him during his chemotherapy and he returned to the pitch playing for Bury, Carlisle and then Rochdale again.
But in March 2017, he was given the news that would turn his life upside once again - a tumour was found on his chest.
During his second bout of treatment he had a stem cell transplant and, after months of treatment, he returned to football in December 2017 after being told he was in complete remission.
In total, he made 182 appearances for Rochdale, scoring 19 goals.
Seven Sisters IN February, we spoke to some of the residents of the Seven Sisters tower blocks which have dominated the Rochdale skyline for five decades.
The landmark College Bank flats which loom over the town centre are seen as iconic to some, but are an eyesore to others.
Built in the late 60s and early 70s, they were originally sought after by young professionals.
But over the years they have gained an unwelcome reputation as an estate with high levels of deprivation.
But for those who live there they are simply ‘home’ – the place where they feel comfortable, settled and a sense of belonging.
Yet tenants of ‘The Big Four’ blocks – Mitchell Hey, Dunkirk Rise, Tentercroft and Town Mill Brow – are facing an uncertain future, with the 19-storey flats facing demolition under Rochdale Boroughwide Housing’s (RBH) regeneration masterplan.
RBH says repairing the 60s blocks would be too expensive, push up management fees and only serve as a short-term fix – but have pledged that anyone who wishes to stay in the area will be able to.
Earlier in December, we spoke to people who live in the towers again as RBH confirmed that over half the residents of Mitchell Hey have been moved out.
MARCH
Family flees burning home
A dad told how his family – including an 11-weekold baby boy – escaped their home after a suspected gas blast inside sparked a devastating fire.
The blaze on Lilac Avenue in Newhey late in the night resulted in severe damage to three adjoining terraced properties.
Shaun Koughlan, 31, rented the property at the centre of the fire with his partner Paige Hoyle, 25.
Ms Hoyle and their three children - newborn Hunter, aged just 11 weeks, three-year-old Esme and Faith, aged six were all taken to hospital for tests but have now been released and are unhurt.
Mr Koughlan told the Observer he was watching television with his partner when they smelled ‘burning plastic’. He said he opened a cupboard housing the gas mains and it was ‘engulfed’ in flames.
Mr Koughlan said from the scene: “I opened the cupboard door and the cupboard was engulfed in flames. It was to the left hand side of the cupboard, where the gas mains are. There was absolutely no way of extinguishing it.
“It was just ‘get the kids. Get them out of the house and get them away from it’.
“Within three minutes of crossing the road the flames had erupted straight through the front door, taking out the windowsill and the top bedroom.
“It was shocking how quickly it escalated.”
Schools lollipop crisis
DOZENS of schools across Rochdale were told they would see funding for lollipop men and women axed in order to save the cash-strapped council further money.
Cabinet members voted to cut financial support for the service from 35 primary and secondary schools in a behindclosed-doors meeting.
Schools hit by the plans are those whose road safety risk has been assessed as low by highways chiefs.
The council says schools have to be been informally notified of the decision, but refused to release a full list of those affected, as the process is within a 10-day call-in period.
It says changes could potentially be made to the plans during this time.
Formal letters were due to be sent to headteachers and the council minutes said the cut would come into force from April.
Norden Community Primary School, in Shawfield Lane, was without its lollipop man since September when, parents say, he retired but was not replaced.
One mum said she even resorted to standing in the middle of the road in a yellow coat to make sure children are safe.
Rochdale council said that schools’ financial resources were assessed in coming to the decision, as well as the road safety assessment.
Huge rainfall in a day
ASTONISHING levels of rain fell across Rochdale in one day causing flooding and road chaos.
Urgent flood warnings were issued as several major roads were closed and residents and council staff in the town centre and Littleborough rushed to protect homes and businesses after the River Roch burst its banks.
Littleborough, one of the worst hit areas, saw an incredible 91mm of rain on Saturday, March 16.
The area only usually gets 92mm across all of March, according to Met Office figures.
According to the Environment Agency website in Rochdale town centre the River Roch topped out at 1.85m at 6pm on Saturday.
That’s just 15cm off the record levels seen during the disastrous Boxing Day floods of 2015, when the town centre flooded for the first time in living memory and hundreds of homes and businesses were swamped.
Flood defences were installed around buildings in the town, including Number One Riverside, and trucks containing sandbags were delivered to help protect local businesses.
Town Taxis staff braced themselves for any flooding by using sandbags bought after the 2015 incident and moving items off the floor.
Rochdale AFC’s crucial derby at Accrington Stanley was called off because of a waterlogged pitch, but that didn’t stop die-hard fans walking through the torrential conditions to reach the Wham Stadium. ●●SEE Saturday’s paper for part 2 of our round-up