ABSTRACT
The loss of population from north-east Lancashire, a lready apparent during the interwar years , has continued in recent decades. Yet the reductions have been small. Between 1961 and 1981 the combined population of the Blackburn, Burnley, and Hyndburn distr icts fe l l from 322,840 to 315,049, more than 2.4 per cent . Urban clearance programmes, coupled with bleak employment prospects, strongly influenced these losses. In the Pendle and Rossendale districts, however, the reductions of earlier years were marginally reversed during the 1970s. This was far more not iceable in Rossendale, which may have become a more popular area for commuters as communication links with Greater Manchester were significantly improved. Between 1971 and 1981, Rossendale’s population rose 5.02 per cent as a result of immigration, though this was partly offset by a natural loss of 1.05 per cent.
