Bacup Hookups: Bacup Women Want to Meet

Bacup hookups, around a bridge you can no longer see

Bacup grew up around a bridge over the River Irwell that has since been covered over, and around the crossroads at the centre of town. For centuries it was a small, obscure place where flannel and woollen cloth was woven at home, and many of those weavers' cottages still stand as listed buildings.

Then the mills arrived, big rectangular woollen and cotton ones that took over the skyline, and in 1882 the town got a charter and its own mayor, aldermen and councillors. Since 1974 it has belonged to the borough of Rossendale. About 13,000 people live there, in the South Pennines, close to the borders with West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester.

That makes Bacup a very British place for a hookup: weavers' cottages, old mills and a bigger town a few miles down the road.

Out of the valley: Todmorden, Haslingden or Rochdale

Todmorden is the closest, 4.3 miles off in Calderdale, and Haslingden is five. Rochdale is six miles south, Burnley seven miles north, and Accrington a touch further than that. Rawtenstall is four miles to the west.

If your match comes from the far side of the hills, meet them in one of those rather than making them find Bacup first. Pick a public spot, let a friend have the details, and give the safety page a read before you leave the house.