Mossley Heritage

Mossley Heritage Trails

A Dog's Life

An image of Shirley the Sheepdog St Joseph's School's logo

Shirley the Sheepdog rounded up the Year 6 children of St Joseph’s School and showed them what ‘A Dog’s Life’ was like in Mossley through the ages.

Along the way they met famous people such as George Lawton and Ernest Sykes as well as a former Lord Mayor of Mossley otherwise known as Grandpa Sticks! A link to a small town in Australia was discovered along with the rather stinky details of emptying outside toilets.

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  1. 1
    Mossley Market Place

    Shirley at the Market Ground

    1864
    Shirley the Sheepdog had decided to be part of the much talked about Whit Walks and she was eagerly awaiting the start of the procession at the market ground.

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  2. 2
    George Lawton Hall

    Shirley Meets George Lawton

    1917
    There was an enormous crowd in Top Mossley stretching right from the market ground down to Albion Mill.

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  3. 3
    St. Joseph's Church

    Shirley at St. Joseph's Church

    1965
    Shirley was having her usual mooch round Mossley looking for titbits when she saw lots of people gathered around the new modern looking building on Argyll Street.

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  4. 4
    Old Police Station

    Shirley At The Police Station

    1900
    Shirley was on a mission. She had heard that some sheep rustlers had been caught and really wanted to see them to warn her friends what they looked like.

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  5. 5
    Argyle Street Archway

    Shirley and the Night Soil Man

    1894
    Shirley was out and about in the middle of the night as she was keeping the night soil man company on his rounds.

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  6. 6
    Bottom of Jacob's Ladder

    Shirley Visits The Big Houses

    1878
    Shirley had always wondered who lived in the enormous houses on Stamford Road - they were so different to the usual terraces in Mossley.

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  7. 7
    Mossley Train Station

    Shirley at the Train Station

    1860

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  8. Now head to Mossley Heritage Centre & Emmaus!

Select a trail

Each trail was researched by one of Mossley’s schools and takes you across seven places exploring our local history!