Whitefield, United Kingdom

At 53°33′7″N 2°17′57″W (53.552°, −2.299°), Whitefield lies on the west side of the conjunction of the M60 and M66 motorways, and south of the River Irwell. The larger towns of Bury and Middleton lie to the north and east respectively. For purposes of the Office for National Statistics, Whitefield forms part of the Greater Manchester Urban Area, with Manchester city centre itself 5 miles (8.0 km) south-southeast of Whitefield.

Localities within Whitefield include Besses o' th' Barn, Hillock, Lily Hill, Park Lane, Stand and to the south of the M60 motorway and separated by it from the rest of the township is Kirkhams.

In 1906 the following textile bleaching, dyeing and finishing businesses existed in Whitefield: John Brierley (at Spring Clough); W.E. Buckley & Co Ltd (Hollins Vale); R.& A. Chambers Ltd (Spring Waters); Thomas L. Livesey Ltd (Hollins Vale); Mark Fletcher & Sons Ltd (Moss Lane Mills, having been founded in Little Lever in 1854); William Hampson (Besses); Kilner Croft Dyeing Co Ltd (Unsworth); Whitefield Velvet & Cord Dyeing Co Ltd (Crow Oak Works); and Philip Worrall (Hollins Vale).

At the same time there were five cotton manufacturers in the area: J.G. Clayton and Nelson, Greenhalgh & Co (both at Albert Mills, on what was then Workhouse Lane); Lord, Frears & Bro. (Whitefield New Mill); Francis Mather (Whitefield Mill); and Worthington & Co (Victoria Mills, Unsworth). There were also two smallware manufacturers in the area, being Prestwich Smallware Co (on Hardmans Green, Besses) and the Victoria Smallware Co on Narrow Lane. There were also at least two firms in the building trade: John Jackson & Son, builder and joiners, on Livesey Street; and F.M. & H. Nuttall, builders and stonemasons, who were on Moss Lane and later had their stoneyard adjoining the west side of Whitefield railway station.

One local newspaper that covers the area of Whitefield (as well as neighbouring Prestwich and Radcliffe) is the Advertiser, (one of the GMWN Greater Manchester Weekly News newspapers) a weekly freesheet based in Salford. The other local paper (not distributed freely, door to door) is the Prestwich and Whitefield Guide.

Sedgley Park R.U.F.C. play their home matches at their Park Lane ground, and were in National Division One until the end of the 2008–09 season.

Besses o' th' Barn Band, and subsequently its associated boys' band, has existed in the area since at least 1818, at which time it had converted from a string band to a reed band. Its founders were John, James and Joseph Clegg – three brothers who were manufacturers of cotton products at Besses o' th' Barn – and for this reason it was for a time known as Clegg's Reed Band. Originally using a room called the mangle room, attached to the old barn at Besses which was pulled down in the 1880s, it has had its headquarters on Moss Lane since 1884. At the peak of its fame in the early 1900s this band, by now using brass instruments, undertook numerous prestigious engagements, including world tours lasting well in excess of 12 months at a time.