Victim Of The Industrial Revolution

Still on the topic of our river, W. Robertson's, 'History Of Rochdale Past And Present' has a chapter about the River Roach :
.........the minnow, the loach and the eel were caught as late as the year 1835,and no doubt the eel much later; but the nauseous matter now poured into the river from the manufactories and sewers has made it a nuisance.