Editing Todmorden (section)

===Early history===
[[File:Tod 1800s.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Todmorden c.1870]]
Settlement in [[Middle Ages|medieval]] Todmorden was dispersed, most people living in scattered farms or in isolated hilltop agricultural settlements. [[Packhorse]] trails were marked by ancient stones, of which many still survive.

For hundreds of years, streams from the surrounding hills provided water for corn and fulling mills. Todmorden grew to relative prosperity by combining farming with the production of woollen textiles. Some [[Yeoman|yeomen]] clothiers were able to build fine houses, a few of which still exist today. Increasingly, though, the area's industry turned to cotton. The proximity of Manchester, as a source of material and trade, was undoubtedly a strong factor. Another was that the strong [[Pennines|Pennine]] streams and rivers were able to power the machine [[loom]]s. Improvements in textile machinery (by [[John Kay (flying shuttle)|John Kay]], [[James Hargreaves]] and [[Richard Arkwright]]), along with the development of [[Turnpike trust|turnpike roads]] (1751–1781), helped to develop the new cotton industry and to increase the local population.