It was amalgamated into the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1847; lines ran to Bury, Burnley, Oldham, Manchester and Leeds.

[5] The Rochdale Canal—one of the major navigable broad canals of the United Kingdom—was a highway of commerce during this time used for the haulage of cotton, wool, coal to and from the area.

[5] In 1882, Rochdale, the home of industrial co-operatives, embraced the joint stock limited company and new mills were financed and built.

The canal created jobs for hundreds of local residents, as it enabled the construction of several cotton mills.

With the mills came the need for engineering and from 1892, Castleton was the home of Tweedales and Smalley, who manufactured looms and textile machinery.

In 1913 the directors authorized the addition of another storey to the mill and did not pay a dividend, but made a small profit.

The shareholders agreed to a recommendation to sell the mill to Messrs. Cottam and Mellor, of Oldham, for £258,000; that is £12.15s for each of the 16,000 ordinary shares of £2.10s.

[7] The Bank of England set up the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in 1929 to attempt to rationalise and save the industry.