KEEN rambler and businessman Matthew Kendall was so disappointed to see the
condition of a hilltop memorial, he agreed to fund a replacement.
Since 1866, Lancashire dialect writer and poet Edwin Waugh has had a well
dedicated to him on the moors between Cowpe and Edenfield.
Alongside Waugh’s Well, an information board was placed near the remains of Fo’
Edge Farm. This was a location where Edwin, who was born in Rochdale, would
spend many happy hours writing.
The remote memorial, which is on the Rossendale Way, overlooks Scout Moor High
Level Reservoir and is in the shadow of Scout Moor Wind Farm and Cragg Quarry.
It is an area Matthew knows well having been brought up in Stacksteads. He now
lives in Edenfield where he has developed a Hobbit House in the Dell Air BnB, which
is proving popular with visitors from all over Europe.
Owner of Newtons of Bury, Matthew said: “The information board was next to the
ruins of the old farm and I remember seeing it in 2010. Although the information was
all there, the bottom section of the frame had dropped off. Then, on New Year’s Day
2022, on a return visit I saw that half of the board was missing.”
When he decided to get it replaced, he contacted the Edwin Waugh Dialect Society
as well as the landowners United Utilities.
It took around 12 months to get the wording approved and Matthew kept it as true to
the original board as possible, but added a more detailed map and a QR code which
links straight to the Edwin Waugh Dialect Society website.
Matthew said: “In July, I went up with John Pye, publicity officer of the Edwin Waugh
Dialect Society, and Graham Barnes, whose father used to be the reservoir warden
when they lived at Fo’ Edge Farm. He had a wealth of knowledge about the area.
“When the sign was ready in August, I drove as far as I could in my 4×4, then
strapped the large sign to my back and hiked the rest of the route.
“I have always been a keen rambler and I am pleased to see the sign back where it
should be. I did wonder how long it would be before someone spotted it – and then
along came a dad with his son and they were reading it.
“What matters most to me is that the sign is back and now people can learn all about
Edwin Waugh and his important works.”
Edwin Waugh Himself
Edwin Waugh was born in 1917 and aged 12 started work as an errand boy
for a printer and bookseller and at 14 took up a seven-year apprenticeship
with a Tory printer and bookseller, while there educated himself. His failed
marriage to Mary Ann led him to write and publish his first book of prose and
in 1856 he wrote possibly the most famous dialect poem ‘Come Whom to thi
Childer an’ Me’. He wrote poems, songs, books and articles for the
Manchester Weekly Times and was a founder member and Life Vice-
President of the Manchester Literary Club. He died in 1890.
Also features in The Lancashire Telegraph – https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/24507531.horror-state-edwin-waugh-memorial-prompts-action/
