Joseph Rayner Stephens, P. M. McDouall, John Bradley, and Cotton Tree, Hyde blue plaque

This blue commemorative plaque records: The Cotton Tree public house Opened in 1830 and so named as it coincided with the opening of the cotton mills in the Newton area by the Ashton Brothers. Features prominently in the Chartist movement, largely because Joseph Rayner Stephens, Dr. P. M. McDouall and John Bradley were arrested as a result of a meeting held here on 28th July 1839 A popular meeting place for the local Chartists where crowds would meet after dark with firearms and banners to further their cause for political and social reform Recorded plaque organisation: Tameside Metropolitan Borough.

The Cotton Tree public house, opened in 1830, became a significant meeting place for Chartists, notably after Joseph Rayner Stephens, P. M. McDouall, and John Bradley were arrested following a meeting there on July 28, 1839, highlighting its role in the Chartist movement's fight for political and social reform.