FORGOTTEN CORNERS

[Stanley]

One forgotten corner of Barlick which says so much about society and leisure at the time is the popularity of music in the late 19th and early 20th century. Many homes had pianos or another musical instrument. There were three amateur orchestras and of course it was the era of the brass bands and singing in choirs. The silent movies demanded pit orchestras and they were all local musicians. Have a look at the LTP and seek out the interviews with Emma Clark and Arthur Entwistle for lots of evidence.
I think that this blossoming of musical talent was a product of the fact that music in the home was the main source of pleasure after reading in the days before mass entertainment and the advent of the wireless. Add to this the fact that as the textile industry was so active families had disposable income, especially if the kids were working. Many examples of the higher grades of workers with children doing very well indeed, some building houses and corner shops for an insurance against poverty in old age, the fear of the workhouse was a powerful incentive. Parental pride in the children often led to them being encouraged (or even forced!) to take music lessons.

[Stanley]

Today's forgotten corner might surprise you but is a good indication of incomes and leisure in Barlick. It's roller skating.
In his memoir 'This is my Life' by Jack Griffin he talks about the Alhambra in Butts being a roller skating rink in 1915. In 'A Way of Life Gone by' edited and compiled by Dorothy Carthy and Margaret Lancaster the Alhambra is mentioned as one of two theatres in the town and I think initially was a cinema as well. (The other was the Palace Theatre in St James' Square which survived until the 1950s when it was converted to our first 'supermarket, Barmy Mick's) The Alhambra is described as an unimpressive building with a good foyer and tip up seats. I'm not sure when it was built but as we have seen, it was a roller skating rink by 1915 and was very popular. It was burned down in a fire in April 1926.



A contemporary pic of the building after the fire. You can see Butts Mill in the background and this places it's location on the site where the Clinic is today. For many years the site was used as an open air market.

In 2004 Walt Fisher told me that the space under the Majestic cinema that for many years was an indoor market was a roller skating rink at one time. He said that the passage behind the stage was always called Mug's Alley because learner skaters used it getting support from the walls. I don't know when it ceased to be used for this but suspect it might have been until WW2 broke out in 1939. He also told me that when the Majestic first opened it had a small gas engine in Ellis Street that powered one arc light for the projectors, it was on a trolley and could be moved between the two projectors. Later they installed a bigger engine and dynamo so that they could power lighting throughout the building.
I have one story and unfortunately haven't noted the source. At one time there was a noted roller skater in Barlick who took part in skating marathons at the Queen's Hall , the Cooperative hall in Cooperative street, so the ballroom there must have been used as a rink as well. His fiancée moved to Luton and said she'd marry him if he roller skated down there. He did so and married her!
How viable would a roller skating rink be today?

[PanBiker]

In the 1950's the indoor market was in the Majestic Ballroom, Thursdays.

[Stanley]

Quite right Ian, I came to Barlick in 1959 and I think it was still open then.
In later years I had some long conversations with Boris Hartley and did some articles about the Majestic. They are archived in Stanley's View if anyone cares to go and have a dig. The thing that really fascinated me was the use of salvaged artefacts from the liner Majestic when it was broken up. Boris still had some of them in his garage which he hadn't used in his bungalow on Greenberfield Lane.



This stained glass in the bungalow came from the ship. I remember that one of the items in the garage was a very ornate chandelier and if I remember rightly the booking office at the Majestic cinema was the Purser's office.

[PanBiker]

Yes, and the brass studded handrails at the side of the entrance steps and the balustrades in the ballroom. Wasn't the ballroom sprung maple? That would probably have come from the ship as well.

[Stanley]

Theresa Hartley had a house on Ellis Street and it was panelled with recovered wood from the ship. Problem was that on the ship very few spaces were square and I remember that the panelling in her bathroom was not straight. It had the same effect as the 'Funny House' on many fairgrounds, your orientation and balance was affected.

[Cathy]

It's amazing what some people have, you just never know what is behind someone's front door.

[plaques]

Once went to view a house where one of the bedrooms had been build from reclaimed ships timbers. As you walked about the room it creaked as though it was still at sea. Real spooky. Didn't buy it of course.

[Stanley]

Dead right Cathy, my shed and the clutter throw many people. I'll bet they put me down as eccentric......
Hey Farm didn't creak but the upstairs landing had a slope to the right as you walked towards the bathroom and whilst we were used to it, visitors almost always commented on it.



This is Stopes House on Colne Road and next door to it is Heather View. Evidence from LTP 84/SP/01 Page 2ff.in which Stephen Pickles talks about being born in Heather View on 15th March 1899. He talks about his father Stephen born 1856 on Newtown and his grandfather Stephen born 1824 and a hand loom weaver. He became a manufacturer in Clough Mill with 20 looms but when the Cotton Famine hit he migrated to Fall River near Boston Massachusetts where they stayed until 1868/72 when they moved back and manufactured at Clough again. Stephen (1824) built Stopes with his own hands and all the family lived there. Stephen (1856) and his wife (Sarah Ellen Cowgill Riley born in Thornton) moved into Heather View in 1899.
I like this little insight into the history of a very important family in Barlick, they eventually owned both Long Ing and Barnsey sheds. Not many people build their own house.....

[Stanley]

Newfield Edge on Folly Lane first came to my attention when many years ago I started to learn about William (Billycock) Bracewell a man who dominated Barlick for most of the 19th century. His business method was to stifle any opposition and it wasn't until his death in 1885 that the late expansion of the textile industry was released in the town. He lived at Newfield Edge and it was only gradually that I learned about the house, it's origins and who actually owned it. (If you want the full story access this LINK to the research on the site)
I was lucky enough to get good evidence from Colin Imrie who owned the house from 1959 to 1970 and had seen the original deeds. He said that the house, barn and attached cottages were built in 1770 by the Mitchell's of Mitchell's Mill, later Clough Mill. In 1837 Mary Anne Bracewell was living in the house and married William Fawcett who at that time was pastor of the Baptists in Barlick and he bought the house off the Mitchells. They lived there until 1845 when William moved to another church at Sutton and rented Newfield Edge to Billycock in 1846 and that was his status all his life, a tenant. Ada Whittaker Bracewell, Billycock's daughter lived in the house after her father's death in 1885 and she married Joseph Slater a manufacturer, she lived there until she died aged 94 in 1925. In 1914 Joseph bought the house from Cecily Deborah Fawcett. Hilda Mary Slater, only daughter of Ada and Joseph, sold the house to Colin and Jean Imrie in 1959 later selling the 20 acres of land it held separately in 1966.

[Stanley]

The Sagars popped up this morning in the 'Isaac Barritt' topic and when I went to look for the index entries on the site I couldn't find it, mind you, I sometimes wonder how thorough that search is. Just to make sure I have posted the index again and edited the reference to 'Holt Lane' which P queried because he is right. The mistake escaped me when I first posted it.If you go into Stanley's View and access the 'Rock Solid' articles based on Jack Platt's life. (LINK) He worked for Sagar for a while and the interesting thing about that is that he almost certainly got the job because when he was a lad be went exploring in the quarry and found a copper tube that was just the right size to take a pencil stub so it could be used to the bitter end. As he and his mate walked down Salterforth Drag he was poking the muck out of the bottom of the tube with a piece of wire and it exploded, blowing off part of his hand. It was a detonator for the explosives used in the quarry. John Sagar took an interest in Jack after that, probably because he was open to prosecution for unsafe storage. Eventually when he left school Sagar gave him a job so you can get a different view of the Sagars and their business. It's well worth a read. There is also the Jack Platt tapes in the LTP.



Jack in retirement. A lot of people thought he was a hard man and perhaps he was but I always got on well with him.



Here's the Maudsley wagon that Jack drove for Wild Brothers. Luckily it has been preserved as a classic.

[Stanley]

Mention of Jack Platt brought this to mind. It's known locally as 'Amen Corner' but its Sunday name is Higher Lee Cottages.



Here it is on the 1892 25" map. The nearby quarry suggests that originally they were quarry men's cottages. At one time I thought they had been demolished but I have an idea that they have been refurbished? The connection is that Jack lived here with his mother in 1914 and stayed there until he married Mona

[Stanley]

Folly Lane has always interested me.





These two maps from the 1892 OS 25" series cover the lane which is also known as Moorgate Road.
My first assumption was that it was an access road to the later enclosures on the moor but I soon realised that whilst its modern size and course supported that theory, the reason for the kink above folly Cottages is to make the gradient less severe and indicates that it was done for later wheeled traffic. However. I then noted the field behind Folly Cottages, 'Causeway Carr' and of course found that the first version of what is now Folly Lane was actually much older, it was a Bronze Age track and went straight up the hill as it was intended for foot traffic and pack animals. Near Standridge House the track leaves the course of today's Folly Lane and roughly follows its course over the top of the moor and forwards into the Ribble Valley. The later course of Folly is quite obviously an access road to the later holdings up the moor side culminating in Duck Pond Farm. There is evidence that there was a connection from Duck Pond to Lister Well Lane but for many years the route to Lister Well via Prospect Farm has been preferred and the remains of the original connection to Folly is still there but overgrown and disused.
I have a suspicion, but no hard evidence, that there was an intermediate stage in medieval times where some sort of adaptation of the Bronze Age track was used as a route over the moor in the general direction of Sandiford. There are indications on the 1587 Whitemoor map that this was the case and also a diversion in the upper part of Lister Well which goes in the same direction. The modern route of Lister Well goes straight forwards on to Gisburn Old Track at Peel House.
All this may appear to be inconsequential to many but I find interpreting the evidence for these old tracks is an essential part of understanding the history. We tend to think in terms of the modern routes developed for wheeled traffic and forget that in the days of foot traffic and pack animals the requirements were different and the routes more direct.



The modern version looking directly down the line of the Bronze Age track from Standridge House.

[Stanley]

I forgot to mention yesterday that if you look at the line of Folly lane from Standridge house down Causeway Carr you'll see that it lines up exactly with Longfield Lane and Park Avenue. All this fell into place and signalled the Bronze age track. One thing that I never understood was the fact that Blue Pot Lane, the predecessor of Park Avenue had a right angled bend in it even on the oldest maps. Years later when John Clayton analysed the LIDAR scans of Barlick it became obvious that there was almost certainly a Roman Fort there and this explains the bend as the track was skirting the perimeter of the fort.
This also threw up a possible answer to another puzzle, how Castle View got its name. I know it is far fetched but somewhere deep in the folk memory it seems likely that the fort was remembered. Don't discount this as fantasy, the folk memory is incredibly retentive and there are many examples of this.



Castle View today. A puzzle solved as far as I am concerned. If better evidence comes up for a different reason we will review it. That's how research works, you go with the best current evidence and the LIDAR is impressive.

[Stanley]

It's worth going back and reviewing John's LIDAR interpretation again, it gives some valuable clues about Letcliffe and the back lane up to it from Park Road, it looks as though the Romans were taking advantage of the height to be able to establish another focus of their activities, perhaps an observation point.
What really grabbed John and me as well was that the scan gave clear indications that there was major contiguous settlement out to the North through Bracewell and towards Horton in Craven. We are used to Barlick being the central focus of the district but this wasn't the case then. This helps explain the importance of Bracewell and Stock until the 17th century and why the first water mill in the district was behind Yarlside Farm. It also indicates why the Tempests had their manor there from the Conquest onwards. Domesday gives us some clues as well, Bracewell gets a better mention than present day Barlick.
Frame of reference is all and this research helps us to assess the relative importance of the locality in the Dark Ages without the fog of our modern perceptions.

[Stanley]

The more I look at the early history of the area, the more clues I find to the fact that the history of habitation goes back far further than anyone suspected. Have a look at THIS for an article I wrote in 2000.
Something I didn't mention was that when John Clayton and I were spending a lot of time on Blacko Hillside John noted signs of habitation and activity that had escaped me. In many cases they were cut through by Stone and Bronze Age traces and we suspect that they are older than the Last Ice Age when we know there was a chance of habitation. It's a very tenuous connection but shouldn't be discounted, we are looking back over 20,000 years!
If that doesn't qualify as a Forgotten Corner I'll stand locking up!

[Stanley]

I once read that The Prophet's definition of eternity was to imagine a rock of infinite size. Every 1,000 years a very fine silk square was allowed to fall brushing the corner of the rock. When the rock had worn away from this treatment, that was the start of eternity.
We are lucky, we live in a district where rock is widely available and has been used for millennia. Every day we see pieces of stone like these....





They tell us stories. I can tell you exactly what the rack stones in the first picture at Booth Bridge Mill, Thornton in Craven signify but the old stones at Letcliffe are a different kettle of fish. The wear shows us that they are very old indeed and the holes show that they have been re-used more than once but I can't tell you what for. All I am sure about is that we are looking back thousands of years, not centuries.



These stones on the gate into the path behind Wellhouse Square are obviously re-used and they are old enough to be worn smooth. Let your mind wander round them and try to imagine what they were originally cut for and when. If you get an answer let me know. Barlick is full of forgotten corners like these!

[Stanley]

We used to have quite a few waterwheels in Barlick, Gillians, Ouzledale, Mitchell's (later Clough) Mill, Parrock and the corn mill. There could have been one more in Walmsgate, I have had clues but never any evidence.
Thousands of words have been written about waterwheels but I have never seen anyone specifically nail down their biggest advantage, true of corn milling and sawmills like Ouzledale but overwhelmingly an advantage if driving textile machinery. This was the uniform turning motion that waterwheels give, it is an inbuilt characteristic. The reciprocating steam engine, whether vertical or horizontal puts power into the flywheel in a cycle of powerful impulses with lulls between. This was particularly bad in the early single acting single cylinder engines. Even at the peak of development of the engines it was still a factor that had to be addressed very carefully and was never entirely eliminated until the advent of the turbine (not many of them used, the Corn Mill had one) and later the electric motor. This characteristic explains why some of the later large wheels were still being used in the late 1940s despite the advent of modern engines. The uniform power was just what textile machinery needed, it became even more important as the more modern machinery came in late in the 19th century. The larger users in Barlick like the Corn Mill, Clough and Ouzledale all used their wheels continuously until late in that century even when supplemented with steam to get more power.
Technical I know but an important attribute that should be more widely recognised.

[Tripps]

There are quite a few ex- water mills round here in very flat Cambridgeshire. Looking at the current (sorry) flow of the water courses which drove them, and find it difficult to imagine that there was enough energy in them to do the job. I doubt the rivers have changed much over the period. I get to thinking - if it used to run a huge corn mill,- couldn't it generate a useful amount of electricity today?

[Stanley]

It all depends on the site characteristics David. Despite their size most common waterwheels only developed on average 5 to 7hp on a good day. The investment of capital into a project to erect a mill that was essential to the food chain by grinding grain for humans and animals could be justified but with a return of less than 10hp in useful energy? Cheaper to use the mains or buy a small petrol driven generator.

[Stanley]

Thinking about energy.... Barlick never had local coal despite some small clues like the name Coal Pit Lane near Gisburn. There were probably some small local bell pits there exploiting outcrop seams from the Burnley coal field but very old and badly recorded, certainly not a reliable fuel supply for Barlick. In Barlick wood would be the domestic fuel for centuries but over time was depleted as the population rose, probably why we lost the ancient woods that we know were a substantial resource around the 12th C. So what was the fuel? We have a small clue, the banning of heavy wheeled vehicles from the roads leading onto Whitemoor during the wet winter months to protect the roads. This ban was imposed by the Manorial Court and I suspect that most of the traffic was bringing peat down off the moor for use as household fuel in the town. I can't think of anything else apart from possibly some burnt lime, there was plenty of good stone nearer the town. So where were the peat beds?
This problem went away at the end of the 18th C as the canal brought coal to the town and in the interim we seem to have completely forgotten peat. I have never seen any direct mention of it in any of my research but it must have been a factor. Perhaps it was so common place and part of common rights to the moor that it was never seen as worthy of mention.

[Wendyf]

Coal was transported to Skipton from Colne on the old road via Pinhaw before it became a toll road in 1755, so couldn't it also be taken to Barlick?
There are a few mentions of men from Thornton in Craven cutting turf across the parish boundary in Carleton or Colne, Kitchen Farm is noted as having a turf house, and I'm sure a sale notice from 1800 for Higher Burnt Hill mentions a right of turbary, so peat was definitely used around here. The coal passing by was probably for the wealthier townsfolk in Skipton.

[Stanley]

You are right Wendy, coal was transported but the cost was so high that only the wealthy could afford it. I have no doubt that some was burned in Barlick but not by the cottagers unless there was indeed some mined over towards Gisburn. Coal Pit Lane has to have a reason! What has always puzzled me is that there has been no mention as far as my research goes, into turf cutting but I am almost certain it must have happened.
I did find evidence about what happened when the coal ran out in Barlick during the General Strike of 1926, a situation very close to medieval times. Arthur Entwistle (LTP 78/AL/01) said that there wasn't a saw or an axe to be bought in the town because people had snapped them up and were felling trees and cutting fences down to burn as Fuel. Dorothy Carthy told me that her uncle, Walter Broughton, farmed at Lower Calf Hall and a rumour swept through the town that wood was available there. A crowd of people gathered and started cutting trees down so he frightened them off by firing his shotgun in the air. The police were called and Walter was arrested and put in the town gaol for the night. (I think that was in the house demolished alongside the Cross Keys to widen the bend opposite the top of Walmsgate.) Dorothy's father had to milk at the farm and do the milk round the next morning.

[Stanley]

I love this image! To us, this looks like extreme poverty and discomfort but that's a mistake, we need to adjust our frame of reference. This old cock is well off compared to many of his contemporaries. He has a rocking chair, a fire and a pot of tea to hand! I like to sit and think and try to project my mind back to these days.
When I was a lad the constant refrain was 'close that door!'. With only one warm room in the house the enemy was draughts. Remember that the windows and doors were definitely not draught proof. Sash windows, even when new and well fitted, let cold air in. Worn single plank wooden doors often had gaps around and underneath them. 'Sausages' of stuffed fabric were in place at the bottom and often a heavy curtain inside the door. Some of these had ingenious lifting mechanisms to swing the curtain back and lift it clear of the floor as the door was opened. One of the great advantages of back to back houses was the absence of through draughts, the cottages on Crow Row on Longfield Lane were built without back doors for this reason.
Even with these precautions, to be reasonably comfortable you have to do what this Old Lad has done, get close to the fire! When we put CH in at Hey Farm the biggest advantage I noted was that the kitchen got bigger. The living space was not confined to the area immediately in front of the Rayburn stove. Many a night when I came home starved to death I kept my coat on and sat in front of the stove with a pot of hot tea until I thawed out, I have never forgotten the experience and so I can empathise with this image.
We have forgotten about these matters. Let your mind wander round the bedroom, today we have heating and good bedding. In those days they were unheated and the only way to keep warm in bed was multiple woollen blankets and even spare clothing on top. Even in the 'modern' semi-detached house at Norris Avenue I often had my Dad's Home Guard greatcoat on the bed to keep warm.
So it's no wonder that I appreciate my condition today, gas CH keeping me warm when it's -5C outside. It's for this reason I draw your attention to this Old Lad. It could make us more appreciative of our modern comforts!

[Stanley]

I often draw attention to the fact that one of the factors that Influenced so much of the early history of Barlick is the fact that transport of heavy goods over any distance was so expensive and difficult. There seems to be one exception to this.
As far as I know, the nearest source of layered rock that can be split into roofing slabs is near Noggarth, on the Wheatley Lane road out of Barrowford. That's far enough from Barlick to be difficult. The biggest source was the quarries near Bingley and yet from the 17th century onwards grey slates (Stone ones) were the favoured roofing material. Many thousands of tons were brought in, possibly by canal after 1800, and their advantage over any other material must have been so great that the cost had to be borne. It's noticeable that as soon as the railway reached the town Welsh blue slate took over completely. Incidentally that's a good way of dating the houses in the town, if they have blue slate they are post mid 19th century.
Another good dating factor is the type of mortar used in building. Prior to the availability of ash/lime mortar made from the clinker produced by burning coal the universal compo was lime/sand mortar. So any buildings with lime/sand are almost certainly pre 1850.



Lime sand mortar. Very slow to set completely but gets harder as the years roll by. Really old good mortar is as hard as glass!