FORGOTTEN CORNERS

[Stanley]

North Street kids in 1952. I love this pic! I have an idea that Joyce Lawson gave it to me. When I look at it I think about gangs of kids on a back street growing up and playing with each other outside. Some of this survives, our back street which is a dead end is a very safe place and in fine weather we have lots of kids playing. Someone told me the other day that it annoyed them when they made a noise or covered the street with chalk drawings. Don't worry, I put them right and pointed out that it was far better for them to be doing this than hiding in their bedrooms surfing the net or playing computer games. It may not be quite a forgotten corner but I think it is less common than it was then.

[PanBiker]

Look at the age range as well big un's and little un's. Looks just like our gang as well. Check out the "Andy Pandy" romper suit, Cowboy outfit, I bet that gun fires caps and the girl with the handcuffs. I used to have set of those they were cast metal with a release button on the end, they had a key hole and a key but it didn't do anything apart from in your imagination.

[Cathy]

That Andy Pandy romper suit looks like a 'grow into' suit, I wonder how many kids wore that one over the years, haha.

[Stanley]

I can imagine the lad on the left being told by his mother "You're not playing out in those good shoes, put your wellies on!"

[PanBiker]

A lot of sandals on display, my favourites were black and white bumpers for laikin out.

[Stanley]

That's another forgotten corner, 'laikin out' The modern Norwegian word for play is still laik. Others that spring to mind are boose and boskin both referring to cow stalls. Reminders of the Scandinavian genes so many of us carry.....

[Stanley]

The 1853 OS map of Wood End and the canal reservoir. Those of you who follow these notes will recognise White House Spring and Gilbert Well (who was Gilbert?). At one time White House spring was a serious contender for the Barlick water supply but was dropped in favour of the bores at Lane Head. Notice Midge Hole Mill on County Brook as well, the only watermill in Barlick (It's inside the manorial boundary.) that used Arkwright water frames.
However, what has always intrigued me is the name Wood End. I have a lot of evidence that around the 15th century Barlick was recognised as the best source within a 30 mile radius for large timbers. This leads me to suspect that the origin of the name Wood End is just that, the southerly end of a well wooded area on the hillside back towards Barlick and facing south. I doubt if I will have time to find better evidence but an old woodland industry in Barlick based on availability of big timber has always fascinated me.



Have a look at this section of the Midgely Estate map as well. Other sections are on the site.

[Stanley]

Old estate maps are a very good source of reliable information going back well before official mapping. The best example I have come across is this one



It's the Bracewell estate in 1717. Lots of wonderful information including the original open field systems. This one even has indexes of tenants.

[Stanley]

This very old pic of the ruins of the original Bracewell Hall could be as early as 1850. I had heard that it existed and found a distant relative of the Bracewell family still living in the village and she let me copy it. It is believed by the family that old William Bracewell, Billycock, did it and having seen some other early pics of workers at Butts Mill I tend to believe that it might be true. He was one of the few men in Barlick at the time with enough money to pursue what must have been an expensive hobby then.

[Stanley]

Bolton Priory in 1991. Our monastery in Barlick never got to this stage of development, the monks did a runner to Kirkstall when they realised how stroppy the Barlickers were, Kirkstall was a better bet. I often wonder what the effect would have been if they had stayed and we had a Kirkstall Abbey at Calf Hall.

[Stanley]

One of the things I love about Barlick is the enigmatic little corners which are shouting a story at us but at the moment we can't understand it.



These small fields lying in between the end of Esp Lane and Calf Hall. There are clues, two old bridges, one collapsed now, kissing gates where there is no obvious need for them, stepping stones over the beck now replaced by a bridge and Shitten Ginnel itself, an ancient path with no obvious reason for its existence.
For many years I thought the site of our Saxon Church might be here, this is still a contender but John Clayton's work on the LIDAR images suggests that a more likely site is at Calf Hall Farm itself. Then there is the fact that the location of the spring that the monks named St Mary's Well is unclear. Harold Duxbury once told me that an old manufacturer who had a vested interest in water had told him that the well was just over the right hand wall at the end of Shitten Ginnel where it joins Calf Hall Lane. A lot of spoil was dumped there when Calf Hall Shed was extended. How much more do you need to excite your imagination!

[Stanley]

I was listening to a very boring account on R4 yesterday morning about a young man in Chicago who gained fame as a musician and ended up touring the world for a long time. He said that as a result he became depressed because he did,t feel he had a home or a purpose in life. It struck me that he was talking about what is often called 'a sense of place'. It follows that apart from putting roots down in a place by either being reared there or raising a family, taking an interest in Forgotten Corners could be good therapy. I have always said that one of the great advantages about understanding local history is that you are never bored when you are on your home patch. You can associate something with what you see around you even after great changes. I can't imagine living somewhere without being interested in its history.
So this topic is quite possibly good for you!

[Nolic]

Forgotten Corners is the first topic I visit when I log in of a morning. It gives me a warm feeling which might relate to that "sense of place". Nolic

[Stanley]

That's nice and almost certainly Comrade. I know how much I get out of being aware of history.

[Stanley]

Here's an example. Hundreds of people pass this kissing gate on Railway street every day and it means nothing to them. To me it reminds me that when Wellhouse Square was built it was surrounded by fields and stray animals had to be excluded from the gardens. Also the fact incidentally that it is made from reclaimed stones from an earlier and unidentifiable structure

[Cathy]

I've learnt most of what I know about Barlick from this site and have saved many many picks from this topic. I rarely miss a day checking in.

Cheers and thanks

[Stanley]

Thanks for that Cathy. I have a warm glow!

[Stanley]

I did this pic this morning to show how it's changed after the refurbishment of East Hill Street. The colour balance is blue because I did it early this morning.

[Stanley]

Another forgotten corner is that in the earliest days of house building before there was an organised quarrying industry and all masons worked either for the King or the monasteries, houses were built of whatever was available near to the site because transport was a problem as well. That's why we had turf houses in Ireland, 'cob' (clay) houses in some south western parts of England and the ubiquitous half timbered houses with wattle and daub infill. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century masons became available and if stone was available near the site, it was used for house building. Demand and better roads led to the development of quarries and we got modern Barlick. Brick making was never common round here as our shale isn't good quality and until much later stone was cheaper because it was local. Bricks had to be imported.
Even in the 19th century transport was still a problem in some remote areas uphill from the quarries. That's why quarries are often on top of hills, it's a lot easier to cart heavy stone downhill than up. You can see evidence of this in the farmhouses built on the waste after the enclosures of the 19th century. There is always a delph, a small quarry, uphill from the site and you quarried the stone on site for the building. This applied to the building of the stone walls needed for the enclosures. Keep your eyes open and you'll find small delphs at regular intervals along the line of build.

[Stanley]

This is just outside the manor at Demesne on the Gisburn to Long Preston road. If you see a building shaped like this you are looking at a toll keeper's cottage. It was often accompanied by a gate across the road and is where the tolls were collected for using a turnpike road. I have an idea that the nearest turnpike to us was the 'new' road from Kelbrook to Foulridge via New Hague.

[Wendyf]

There were turnpikes at Thornton in Craven and Broughton, but I'm not sure where else on that road.

[Stanley]

Yes Wendy..... I'm not sure about the New Hague Road, just something at the back of my head. Come to think, Mrs Tordoff at Kelbrook said she could remember it being built and she was 90 in about 1960 so could have been too late to be a turnpike.

[Nolic]

There are 2 in Barrowford. One just over the bridge by the college that's now an opticians and one opposite the George and Dragon that has a list of the various charges on a board fixed to the wall. Nolic

[Wendyf]

The Colne to Broughton turnpike road was opened in 1824 but the new road stopped dead by the Craven Heifer in Kelbrook, I think there must have been a land dispute of some sort and the next section round Kelbrook to Sough was completed much later, possibly the 1920's. The section of new road between the main road into Kelbrook village and the pub become known as Limestone Road.
The 1st edition OS map shows a turnpike outside Foulridge, about halfway between the reservoir and the Hare & Hounds Inn.

[Stanley]

The Toll House at Barrowford opposite the George and Dragon. I knew it well Comrade because I refurbished it for Pendle Heritage and used it as the HQ of the Interpretation team for the two years I was there. The bearded bloke is the building foreman and he was a good bloke, we did a lot of good stuff together. Pity I have forgotten his name! We kept as many original features as we could and one thing that amused me was that every door had a hole in it so the toll house cat could mouse wherever it wanted! My office was upstairs and the window looked straight down the road of course. There was always a view with something interesting in it if I was sat at my desk plotting. I remember particularly the almost daily tanker load of vinegar coming up the road and crossing the bridge. At that time the Clough Springs Brewery was in full production. I have an idea that Sarson's owned it, or the conglomerate that bought them out.



The view from my desk in 1983. I loved it......

That all makes sense Wendy, I had an idea there was a turnpike on that road but as you say, it was only a track down to the Stone Trough pub until the road was extended and that date fits in with what Mrs Tordoff said.