FORGOTTEN CORNERS

[Stanley]

I've just noticed something in that pic. Some kids are carrying brief cases, I wonder if they are the equivalent of schoolbags? I've seen them before but never clocked what they could be.

[Stanley]

Today's forgotten corner is Enoch Powell. In the 1980s he came to Ilkley and gave a lecture at the Winter Gardens. My mate John Martinez was red hot Tory and one of the organisers of the occasion and I got the opportunity to meet Enoch after the lecture. I hold no brief for Enoch's political views of course but I loved the way his brain worked, he was one of the great thinkers of our time, pity he was Conservative!
When I talked to him he was very approachable and appreciated knowing that I had always remembered his famous speech on inflation. I asked him if it was true that his ambition, even in the 1980s, was to be Viceroy of India. He immediately said yes! He said it was the greatest post ever invented, all the power of an emperor and none of the responsibility!

[Stanley]

I'm telling the story of Dobson's dairies in 'Steam engines and water wheels' and even if that subject doesn't normally interest you I'd recommend you to have a look. I doubt if many people associate the Coates Mill site with a dairy these days but it was a busy place running 24X7 all through the war and long after. Apart from bulking milk for their home dairy in Stockport (They used to deliver our milk when I was a lad) they made milk powder and after the war whey powder for animal feed. It was a good source of regular employment for the town.

[Stanley]

The 1892 OS 25" of the Coates Bridge area, I never tire of looking at these old maps, there is so much to be learned from them. This was before the new boiler house was built at Coates Mill but there is lots more. Look at the small building marked on the side of Skipton Road to the west of Bankfield shed. This is Crow Nest Cottages, much older than almost anything else in the area. Eastwood farm with it's occupation bridge over the canal, now long gone. Coates Wharf on the canal was a very busy place, all of the coal for the town came in through it before the railway and it was still favoured long afterwards. There was a big lime kiln there as well. And of course Banks House built by Christopher Bracewell when Bracewell and Sons were king pins in the town. Just one small point, the map must have been revised because in 1892 the first phase of Bankfield Shed hadn't been built.

[Stanley]

Funny how often what you want is right on the edge of the map! This is the 1853 1st Edition of the 6" OS map for the area on Coates Bridge. once again full of interest. You can see the small building on the edge of the canal that was William Bracewell Senior's warehouse or by some accounts, bobbin Mill. You can also see clearly the old Coates Mill and the Mother Dam.



Here's a very old image of the road on the top side of Coates Bridge looking West. I believe this is before 1865 when new Coates was built and there's a hint of a gatepost and an entrance to Bracewell's building.

[Stanley]

Here's the 1853 map of the same area but on the adjacent sheet. I remember once reading an account of warfare by a military man who said it was quite amazing how battles so often took place on the join between maps!
Look at Coates wharf. The lime kiln is shown but not the cottages next to the road in the picture. The survey date was c.1853 and the date of build of New Coates was 1864/65. It's quite possible that Dugdale's new mill was built in the picture of Coates Bridge.
Notice that the new dam is shown at the Corn Mill. Billycock got control of it around 1850 and that was the first improvement he made. He was planning New Mill, later named Wellhouse, at that time and it was built in 1853. I'm convinced that he was already planning to divert water from the Corn Mill to the new mill. We know he installed a 6" CI pipe to the site but for some reason never used it. Notice that Wellhouse isn't shown on this map, for some reason the surveyors missed it. They must have been here too early. The same thing applies to the cottages at Coates Wharf, their build could have been about the same date as Wellhouse.

[Stanley]

The 1853 OS map. We are so lucky to have these maps, they are incredibly detailed and whilst there are occasional mistakes, these are very rare and so we can trust them. This section shows Clough and Butts mills and their relationship.



Here I have pulled out Clough Mill and enlarged it. As you must know by now I have an abiding interest in the way water from Gillians beck got into the Calf Hall beck at butts where it is on a lower level. I believe it was drawn off at Clough and transferred to a balance pond on about the same level in the Parrock, from there it could flow into Calf Hall Back and augment the water supply for the condenser on the engine there.
This map makes it clear that the water from Clough dam was conveyed down the west side of the mill to a balance pond from where it turned east into the mill and out the other side as an open tail race. Incidentally the map is correct in that it shows the tail race going into a culvert under Wapping and we know that this was done in about 1850 when the village green was sold for development. The most likely route for the water into the Butts balance pond in the Parrock is from the balance pond at Clough and this is where the Lea water meter mentioned in the CHSC Minute Books would be sited. The question remaining is how the water was conveyed. I suspect via a 6" CI pipe routed along the bed of the tail race into the Parrock, that would be the easiest way to do it.
One of these days.......

[Stanley]

I've been furtling in the 1853 OS sheets adjoining Barlick and this one of Rainhall Quarry bears close inspection. The first thing that struck me was that when the survey was done the bridge wasn't there over the quarry, it was a tunnel. There must have been a healthy demand for the stone to make it economic to do away with the tunnel and replace it with a bridge so they could quarry the stone the tunnel was dug through. I wonder how they maintained access to the church while the cut was being dug deep enough to build the bridge pillars? I suspect they built the bridge further up the cut and finished it before taking the tunnel out.

[PanBiker]

You are slightly out with your map reading there Stanley. That version does not show the full extension of the cutting up to the quarry, it must pre-date the building of the viaduct and the extension. The two tunnels on the length shown on the map are correct. One below Barnsey into the cut and one under Salterforth Lane. That is the one that collapsed in the late 1960's, I was fishing the rock on the morning that the tunnel collapsed. The viaduct was built to preserve the bridle route through to Rainhall Farm when the cutting was pushed through to the quarry.

[Stanley]

You're right Ian and I should have realised that because I knew there were two tunnels.



Here's the 1892 map showing the extended quarry and the bridge.

[Stanley]

Another 1853 map for you. Lots to study here! Note that this is before the railway and it was to be another 80 years before Kelbrook New Road was built. The Anchor Inn was called 'The Canal Tavern'....



And this is 'Town Bridge'.

The way to Barlick was either by the hilly route via Salterforth Lane or the more level route via Cross Lane to Coates and Gill. For some reason that I have never fathomed Cross Lane was never developed as a public road. At one time the Manorial Court barred wheeled traffic from using it. I think it must have been something to do with responsibility for maintaining the road.
As I have mentioned before, the canal is a good spirit level and using it as a guide you can prove that Coates was on exactly the same level as Salterforth. On the face of it using the hard climb up Salterforth lane and the equally steep road from Tubber Hill down into the town is crazy and a big handicap for horse drawn traffic. Someone along Cross Lane had a lot of pull with the court!

[Stanley]

Salterforth School in about 1890.

[Stanley]

Here's a map to get your teeth into. The 1892 25" OS of Barlick Town. Full of forgotten corners. This was before Moss and Barnsey sheds were built. Look at Butts, you can see that the beck surfaced close to the mill and of course the Model Lodging house and the road through to Federation Street hadn't been built.

[Stanley]

Digging in the 1853 first edition again I realised that Bare Banks Laithe still existed when I worked for West Marton Dairies. It was at the end of Vicarage Road and the dairy used it as a cold store for Barlick bottle milk supplies.

[Stanley]

I was tempted to dive into the old maps again but I don't want to bore you. Dial either 1853 or 1892 into the search facility in the gallery and take your pick. I guarantee that every map you open will throw up forgotten corners. What strikes me today is that the biggest change in the last fifty years has been the fact that watercourses are no longer a priority. If you look at Monday's map you'll see the number of blue patches showing lodges on it. Many of them have gone because the need for them no longer exists. This led to neglect of the culverts and backs and later we were to pay for this neglect in terms of flooding during exceptional weather events. Think 1932 flood and more recent incidents particularly the culvert under Ghyll Meadows.
Perhaps the planners should look at our maps and take notice of what to them are Forgotten Constructions. They were all part of the overall water management of the town.
Always remember how important the canal is in this. There are worrying signs of decreasing investment in maintenance under the new regime. This may be a short term gain but it's also a long term danger!

[Stanley]

I shall be voting today in what used to be the Wesleyan School on Rainhall Road. I wonder how many young people realise what the building was? Didn't they build well over a hundred years ago..... It's still a fine building and a credit to the town.

[Nolic]

I attended there in the 50's when Doris Riding was headmistress. Mrs Lemon the wife of the Earby Station Master taught there as well as lovely Miss Ogden who had taught my dad when he attended. Not the best academically in the town but a very caring school. Nolic

[Stanley]

Lovely! Thanks for that Comrade.....
Today's forgotten corner is difficult to illustrate. With the current elections in mind, I remembered the evidence I collected in the LTP of political meetings, hustings, in the inter-war years. In those days they were regarded as useful entertainment and Ernie Roberts in particular liked to attend them. He said that it didn't matter what party the candidate was from, they went because they enjoyed the heckling! With our modern media hustings are almost a thing of the past and certainly wouldn't be regarded as entertainment. The question in my mind is are we any better informed? Do we vote more rationally? Somehow I doubt it.......

[Cathy]

I attended Rainhall Road School in 1963. Mrs Lemon taught our older sister.

[Stanley]

And I was delivering your school milk! That's a forgotten corner in itself!

[PanBiker]

That's the cooler on Valley Road, Havre Park behind. Part of my adventure playground.

[Stanley]

That's right Ian. Notice the Tubber Hill setts. The roads might not have been as smooth as they are today but you didn't normally get potholes. The wagon is a Bedford with the GMC 28hp 6 cylinder petrol engine in it. Only a 6v system so the starting handle was essential equipment in winter! No heater, 4 speed crash gear box and brakes that were just about adequate. Makes you wonder how we managed with about 7 tons on the flat. That's in 1957 and 11 years later the 1968 Traffic Act put all those old wagons off the road.

[Stanley]

Back to Coates Bridge, I was reminded by Steam Engines and Waterwheels of the time Coates mill installed a new boiler in about 1920/1930. It was a big boiler, 9' 6" diameter, possibly the biggest Lancashire boiler ever installed in the town. When they were hauling it over the crown of the old canal bridge it bottomed on the road and stuck fast. It took them over two days to get it jacked up and off the bridge. Just think of the disruption that would cause if the same thing happened today!

[Stanley]

Today's forgotten corner is the garden front. I live with one between East Hill Street and Wellhouse Square and am all in favour of them. Vehicle access is to the backs of the houses and there is only a footpath at the front. The advantages are no wasted space and quiet houses, less traffic noise! No car doors slamming in the middle of the night and less aerial pollution. Bad news for parking of course but good for quality of life. Not a bad principle and it should be more widely applied.

[Stanley]

Looking at that picture and the wider built environment I am reminded how lucky we are in having such good building stone available in Tubber Hill! They made good setts as well and we are reminded of this by the fact that more and more of them are becoming visible in the potholes that are plaguing us!



When Newtown and Rainhall Road were resurfaced in 2013 the original small granite setts were uncovered. I have been told that these, the first setts laid in the town, were put in by French Paviors who used their favourite materials and also the fan-shaped pattern called 'Durex'. They were unpopular with the carters because being so hard they gave the horses very little grip. The Tubber Hill setts used later would give better grip.