Ramsbottom Grant Arms Hotel in Market Place was the home of William and Daniel Grant, 19th century industrialists closely associated with the rise of the town and reputed to be the inspiration for the Cheeryble brothers in "Nicholas Nickleby" by Charles Dickens. The Grants' employees were paid in tokens that had to be redeemed at a public house owned by the company. The landlord converted the tokens into cash, but only after deducting threepence per person, which had to be spent on beer, a variation on the truck system. A network of roads and railways routed through Ramsbottom allowed for a
Dickens in America in London for advice on what to do and see. The experts include the late Cedric Charles Dickens, great grandson of the Inimitable; Professor Michael Slater, one of the world's most renowned Dickens scholars and author of a recently released biography of Dickens; Dr. Paul Schlicke, then President of the Dickens Fellowship; Professor Lisa Jardine from the University of London and Jan Mark, writer and critic. The conversation ranges from advice on some of the lesser known places to go, to a discussion of what Dickens expected to do and accomplish. The Dickensians show Miriam the original Daniel Maclise drawing