Blackburn

Sybil Cavanagh's study of the development of her adopted home charts the survival and development of a community shaken by continual economic insecurity. From the Agricultural to the Industrial Revolution; from cotton to coal; from depression to development, Blackburn's turbulent history is at once representative of the hardships facing small industrial towns in Scotland, yet peculiarly unique. A village held together by the need to work for its living, Blackburn has weathered devastating blows - from the personal disaster of fire to the national calamity of post-war depression - to become the town it is today. This is a comprehensive history of industry in Blackburn, from the building of the Cotton Mill in 1793 to the advent of British Leyland in the 1960s; it is also a study of the physical development of Blackburn, beginning with George Moncrieff moving the whole village in the 1770s and continuing to the present West Lothian Council's town-planning efforts in housing, education and recreation. Sybil Cavanagh's epic chronicle also pays tribute to the contribution of individuals to the life and character of modern Blackburn, and the sense of community spirit that endures to this day.