Rossendale is a local government district with borough status. It is made up of a number of small former mill towns in Lancashire, England centred around the valley of the River Irwell in the industrial North West. The district combines urban with rural aspects, and is close to the more populated areas of Bury, Bolton, Burnley and Manchester. In 2001 the population of Rossendale was 65,652 (Government census records), spread between the larger towns of Bacup, Rawtenstall and Haslingden; the villages of Whitworth, Waterfoot, Helmshore, Crawshawbooth and Edenfield, as well as Cloughfold, Greave, Laund, Loveclough, Lumb, Newchurch, Rockcliffe, Shawforth, Stacksteads, Stubbins, and Weir. Three Rossendale towns have cricket clubs in the Lancashire League - Bacup, Haslingden, and Rawtenstall. The overseas professionals who are associated with the League have therefore often lived in the Rossendale Valley. For example, Everton Weekes was long associated with Bacup; Clive Lloyd with Haslingden. The popular comedy series, The League of Gentlemen is apparently based upon Rossendale (and perhaps Bacup in particular), playing upon stereotypes and exaggerations of the area. Subsequently, the producers filmed in various northern towns, one of which was Bacup itself, which Jeremy Dyson (writer) and Steve Pemberton (actor) proclaimed, "Bacup was the furthest we went into Lancashire. Bacup was our hot favourite, but it was too frightening - when we arrived there was this cartoon drunk with a bottle shaking his fist at us. Bacup in real life was worse than Royston Vasey".  Various towns within the Rossendale valley were used for filming scenes of the BBC TV series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates during the 1990's. The area has a sizeable ski slope, appropriately named Ski Rossendale, which attracts many visitors. The slope has spawned and aided the Brass brothers, Steve Bailey and Danny Wheeler; and more recently Johnny Greenwood, Colum Mytton and Molly Percival to fame in the snowboarding world. Rossendale also hosts the Rossendale Motorbike Show which brings in motorcycle enthusiasts from across the country. More on Rossendale 

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