Doffcocker is a mostly residential district of

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, lying about 3½ miles from the town centre on the northwest edge of the suburbs on the lower south facing slopes of the

West Pennine Moors The West Pennine Moors is an area of the Pennines covering approximately of moorland and Reservoir (water), reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The West Pennine Moors are separa ...

. Historically within

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, it is bounded by Markland Hill and Heaton to the south and Halliwell to the east. Coal was mined at Doffcocker Colliery in the 19th century from the thin Mountain Mine (seam) of the lower coal measures. Its most prominent feature is Doffcocker Lodge, a former mill lodge (created in 1874) and now a local nature reserve for wildfowl. The history of the name is not certain but it is believed to be formed from the Celtic ''dubh'' meaning dark or black, and ''cocr'' meaning a winding stream, giving "dark winding stream", the stream that fed Doffcocker Lodge. Another version is that it was named after a

Scotsman Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (o ...

who was passing through the area and had to cross the stream. Its waters were exceptionally high following heavy rain, so to keep his stockings (cockers, as they were known in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

) dry the man was obliged to "doff" them. A similar version appears in an old book A Glossary of North Country Words, in Use: With Their Etymology, John Trotter Brockett, E. Charnley 1829 ::COCKERS, or COGGERS, properly half-boots made of untanned leather, or other stiff materials, and strapped under the shoe; but old stockings without feet, used as gaiters by hedgers and ploughmen, are often so called. Cockers occurs in Bishop Hall's Satires. In

the word is often used for stockings. There is a small place not far from Bolton, called Doff-Cocker, where, my friend, Mr. Turner, informs me, it used to be the fashion for the country people who came from church or market to pull off their stockings and walk barefoot home.

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