THE Brooke family have been involved in the cloth trade since Tudor times and the business of John Brooke and Sons at Armitage Bridge Mills is reputed to be the oldest family-run business in the country.
In June, 1828, there was an epidemic of mad dogs in the area. Several of the dogs had to be destroyed.
Like many towns and villages in Britain during the Victorian period, Armitage Bridge suffered an outbreak of cholera.
The four outbreaks of cholera in Britain during the 19th century killed an estimated 30,000 people.
Armitage Bridge suffered many deaths. In some cases entire families were wiped out.
The Drake family suffered this fate. Two brothers and a sister died within a week, with the father and mother both dying on the following Sunday and Tuesday respectively.
To stop the disease villagers burned the furniture of those affected and provided replacements.
In August, 1842, Armitage Bridge Mills was visited by the Plug Rioters.
The Plug Riots took place after Parliament rejected the second Chartist petition (which demanded, among other things, universal male suffrage).
Many workers, enraged by Parliament, went on strike.
The strikes began in the Midlands and spread as far as Scotland. The strikers removed boiler plugs from steam engines in factories to halt production - hence the name Plug Riots.
