newspaper articles

The Big Valley Hotel

Standing on Meltham Road at the bottom of the hill running down from Netherton to the former Big Valley Garage is a large property which, until very recently, look rather dishevelled and unloved.

This photograph from the Kirklees Image Archive from around 1910 shows the same building on the far right:

For over 100 years, this was a public house and an occasional hotel, most commonly known as the Big Valley Hotel.

The earliest newspaper references I could find are from the early 1840s, when two names are given for the building — the “Dean Wood Beer House” and the “Odd Fellows’ Arms”. The names appear in public house auction listings published in the Huddersfield Chronicle (April 1843) and Leeds Mercury (May 1843) respectively, and both name the location as Big Valley, South Crosland. The latter identifies Hannah Wilson as the current occupier and the former links the property to the Lockwood Brewery.

Hannah appears again in August 1848 when local newspapers name her in the Brewster Sessions applying for a new license for “the Big Valley, South Crosland”.¹ Hannah, who was born around 1797 in Leeds, is listed in the 1851 Census as a widowed licensed victualler at Big Valley.²

On the 1854 map of the area, the building is marked as the “Odd Fellows’ Arms” public house. An article in the Huddersfield Chronicle (11/Dec/1852) identifies the owner of the property as Mr. James Walker and implies that he was linked to the “Grand Order of the Modern Druids, Honley and Huddersfield District”.³ There is some evidence that the pub was also known as the “Walker’s Arms” during Walker’s tenancy.⁴

A couple of years later, the Chornicle reported that the licence for the Odd Fellows’ Arms was transferred from James Walker to John Crowther of Lindley on 4 October 1856.

By 1857, it had been renamed the “Big Valley Hotel” — presumably a reflection that the pub now offered lodgings — and a magistrates court report in the Chronicle named Crowther as the landlord. The report implied that Crowther was regularly in front of the magistrates and in August 1857, having already been fined five times during the past year, his licence was not renewed.

By late 1859, Jesse Kaye had become the landlord. In late August, Kaye’s licence was initially not renewed as Superintendent Heaton gave evidence before the Brewster Sessions that whenever police officers visited the premises, Kaye “abused them, and heaped all manner of vile names upon [officials and] called them ‘a set of dastard thieves and scamps’.” The following month, the bench debated and, having heard that Kaye “had never been convicted of any offence”, decided to renew the Big Valley Hotel licence.

One noteworthy article from April 1865 (coincidentally the month when President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated) details the finding of “a large horse or cavalry pistol” in a “dilapidated state” whilst workmen were clearing an old hedge near Big Valley. The Chronicle described it as being in a “deeply corroded state, the whole of the stock and other woodwork completely rotted away, the lock and ramrod are rusted partially away, but the brass trigger guard, and the brass casing or socket that held the ramrods are in a perfect state of preservation.” The article ends by stating that the pistol was “now in the possession of Mr. Jesse Kaye, landlord of the [Big Valley Hotel], where large numbers of people have been to inspect it.” It was the opinion of many that this was one of the pistols used by the Luddites to murder mill owner William Horsfall in April 1812.

The pistol is mentioned again in an October 1871 article describing the exhibits on display at the “Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition” held at the Methodist New Connexion School at Paddock. Amongst the many dozens of weird and wonderful items loaned for display were two from Jesse — the sword of a swordfish and “the pistol that shot Mr. Horsfall during the Ludd Riots”.

It seems likely that Jesse remained the landlord at Big Valley for over 30 years until around 1890. He died in 1892. What happened to the pistol next remains a mystery!

An inquest held in October 1892 included a witness statement from Sarah Ann Harrison, wife of Thomas Harrison who was named as the landlord of the Big Valley Hotel. Although Sarah Ann died in 1908, Thomas is still listed at the Hotel in the 1911 Census.

The West Yorkshire Alehouse Licences provide details of when licences were granted for the premises:

26.Aug/1879 — Jesse Kaye
24/Aug/1897 — Thomas Harrison
06/Dec/1921 — William Shaw
03/Jun/1924 — Harold Farand
05/Oct/1926 — Ada Wimpenny
14/Feb/1928 — Walter Jackson
07/Jun/1932 — Harry Heap
07/Apr/1936 — Ernest Lockwood Nicholls

A photograph in the Kirklees Image Archive shows the building in the 1960s:

At some point it became a residential property and local carpenter Joseph Hemingway lived there until recently — locals will surely remember the day in 2007 when a fire in his workshop behind the property led to Meltham Road being closed for 24 hours. Me? I managed to sleep through the sound of the fire engines that night!

The property was put up for auction in 2014 and, after selling for £142,000, has undergone what appears to be a full renovation. Hopefully a new chapter in the life of this local landmark is about to begin and, who knows, maybe the next owners of 221 Meltham Road might find the pistol used to kill William Horsfall over 200 years ago hidden somewhere in their house!

At the time of posting this, the renovated property is on the market for £299,950 (view PDF).

The following are a selection of newspaper articles mentioning the property or its landlords.

Huddersfield Chronicle (03/Jan/1857):

Magistrates in Petty Sessions
Guildhall, Saturday, December 27, 1856.
On the Bench : G. Armitage and W. Willans, Esqs.
Irregular Houses.
John Crowther, landlord of the Big Valley Inn, South Crosland, pleaded guilty to having his house open during the hours of divine service on the previous Sunday. Superintendent Heaton visited the house on Sunday morning, and found five persons there drinking and smoking — some in working clothes, apparently neighbours. The defendant was fined 5s., and expenses 5s. 6d.

Huddersfield Chronicle (07/February/1857):

Magistrates in Petty Sessions
Guildhall, Saturday, January 31, 1857.
On the Bench : G. Armitage, J. Haigh, and W. Willans, Esqs.
Irregular Houses.
John Crowther, of the Big Valley beerhouse, pleaded guilty to having his house open after twelve o’clock on Saturday night. Sergeant Sedgwick entered the house at a quarter to two o’clock on Sunday morning, and found four young men in the house, all drunk, with a pitcher of beer and a glass on the table before them. The defendant said two of the young men were going to America. He turned them out at the proper time, but they got in again, and induced him to serve them with a pitcher of beer. Superintendent Heaton said it was but a few weeks since the defendant was before the bench for having his house open at improper hours. The bench fined the defendant £2, and expenses 8s.

Huddersfield Chronicle (25/Jul/1857):

Magistrates in Petty Sessions
Guildhall, Saturday, July 18, 1857.
On the Bench : G. Armitage and W. Willans, Esqs.
Contrasted Decisions. — Where Was the Justice?
John Crowther, Big Valley Hotel, Armitage Fold, was charged with having his house open on Sunday morning at Four o’clock. Mr. Learoyd appeared for the defendant. The case was this:—
A man went knocking at the door of the defendant from two till four o’clock, demanding admittance, which was refused. At last Mr. Crowther, who was unwell, sent down his boy to see to the man, and the boy opened the door and served the man with a glass of ate. Whilst the man was drinking the ale, County Police officer No. 205, who had previously been talking to the man, walked into the house, having, in fact, listened to the knocking, and instead of ordering the man away as a disturber, permitted him to go on until he gained admittance. The defendant was fined £1 and expenses.

The Huddersfield Chronicle (22/Aug/1857) noted that publicans licences were renewed with 4 exceptions, including, “John Crowther, Big Valley Hotel, South Crosland, he having been fined five times during the past year.”

Huddersfield Chronicle (02/Oct/1858):

Magistrates in Petty Sessions
Guildhall, Saturday, September 25, 1858.
On the Bench : G. Armitage and T. Mallinson, Esqs.
A Public House Row.
Joseph Kinder was charged with having assaulted John Gibson on the 20th September, at Lockwood. The two men were drinking in the Big Valley Hotel ; and the complainant, after taking as much refreshment as he deemed necessary, had just got outside the house when the defendant went up and gave him a push, but was prevented from doing more violence there by the landlord. The defendant and another man, however, followed the complainant, and when he was about half a mile from the Big Valley Hotel, the defendant pulled off his coat and challenged him to fight. Complainant refused the invitation, and the defendant then attacked him, kicked him, tore his coat, and got him on the ground, when Mr. Bentley Shaw came up with one of his workmen, and pulled the defendant away. The complainant pro-duced the coat, which was torn to rags, and be estimated the damage at the certainly moderate sum of 5s. The bench fined the defendant 5s., allowing 10s. to the complainant, making a total of £1 2s. ; and in default of payment committed him to the House of Correction for one month.

Huddersfield Chronicle (01/Oct/1859):

Magistrates in Petty Sessions
TUESDAY
On the Bench: G. Armitage, J.T. Fisher, T.P. Crosland, W. Willans, and J.T. Armitage.
The Adjourned Brewster Sessions.
[…] The next application for renewal was that of Mr. Jesse Kaye, of the Big Valley Hotel, South Crosland. Superintendent Heaton said this house was necessary for the accommodation of the public. The police could not visit the house without being insulted, but he wished the bench to deal leniently with the case. Mr. Learoyd, who supported the application for the renewal of the license, said that Kaye had never been convicted of any offence, and never complained of until be appeared at the Brewster Sessions to obtain a renewal of the license, when a charge was for the first time made against him, without his having received any summons or intimation, so that he might have been prepared to rebut it. The license was suspended without conviction, without complaint, and without offence. He held that under the circumstances the bench had not the power under the act of parliament to suspend the license ; for the act provided that the magistrates had only the opportunity of doing this when the party applying had been convicted three times in the course of two years. He asked the magistrates to treat their adjournment of the license as a nullity. Mr. Kaye had succeeded a bad tenant, and had kept the house so well that during two years there had been no complaint and no conviction against him. Superintendent Heaton offered to go into evidence as to the conduct of the defendant towards the police, but the magistrates declined to hear it, and retired to consult as to their decision. On their return, G. Armitage, Esq., the presiding magistrate, said:—
[..] “In the case of Jesse Kaye, the bench merely state what they consider to be their opinion of the law of the case. We contend if we license any public-house in a district, and the keeper infringes the law, and is brought two or three times, and convicted within three months of the licensing day, we can take the license away at once without waiting for the Brewster Sessions. After hearing all that has been done in this case, we shall renew Jesse Kaye’s license in this instance. In case of no conviction, we think the magistrates have the power to take away the license at the end of the year, and, in case of two or three convictions, to take away the license at any time.”
T.P. Croslaud, Esq., said : “This is scarcely the unanimous opinion of the bench. Mr. J.T. Armitage and myself think that, in case of complaint, the party should be summoned and convicted before the license can be suspended.”
Mr. J.C. Laycock, the magistrates’ clerk, then remarked, “Anybody who knows this bench know they will commit no act of tyranny.”

Huddersfield Chronicle (19/May/1860):

DISTRICT NEWS.
Subscription Cradle.
To the great credit of the good people at Armitage Bridge, they are a charitable community altogether, as will appear in the sequel. Some time since, a poor woman in that neighbourhood was confined of twin children, which afforded an opportunity for her neighbours to exercise that spirit of charity for which they are noted. A subscription was at once entered into, and a cradle with two heads was purchased, in which the two babes were to be rocked to sleep at the same time. A week or two ago, another woman had the good fortune to be also confined of twins. The good husband then went for the cradle with two heads, but he was told that it was only to be used by those who were subscribers. The poor man was not of the number. Here, then, was another opportunity for the neighbourhood to do good. Another subscription was made, and another cradle with two heads was purchased at a cost of £3. The cradle is on a greatly improved principle, and is a great favourite with the good housewives at a Armitage Bridge. When out of use, the cradle is to be deposited at the Big Valley Inn ; and this cradle with two heads is also only to be used by those who are subscribers. Of course the subscribers to one or other of the cradles with two heads include almost the whole community at Armitage Bridge, and a fear is now beginning to be felt by the good men that their better-halves will be more anxious to have two at a birth than one, in order that they may have the advantage of one or other of the cradles already provided.

Huddersfield Chronicle (27/Sep/1862):

Vegetable Show
On Monday last tbe first of an intended annual show of vegetables was held at the bouse of Mr. Jesse Kaye, tbe Big Valley Hotel, Netherton, where a very craditable display of excellent grown vegetables were placed on tbe tables. For the first prize — a large handsome copper kettle, given by the landlord — for a tray of vegetables there was a spirited competition, — no less than nine trays being exhibited. It waa won by Brook Lockwood, who has obtained three other kettles this season, for vegetable trays. The following other principal prizes were awarded. Second tray, John Senior. Lewis Lunn obtained first prizes in leeks, parsnips, white turnips, red onions, red potatoes, eschalots, cauliflowers, and dahlias. Brook Lockwood, first in celery, white onions, peas, and white round potatoes. George Stringer, first red cabbage, first scarlet runners. Benjamin France, first carrots. John Booth, first white kidney potatoes. The judges were Mr. Joseph Heys of Armitage Bridge House, and the gardener of Bentley Shaw Esq., and their awards gave general satisfaction.

Huddersfield Chronicle (16/Apr/1864):

NETHERTON
The Railway.
The works of the Huddersfield and Meltham line of railway have at this place progressed very favourably for the few days since its commencement. On Wednesday an unusual bustle was occasioned in the village by the removal of the first barrow of earth from the Netherton end of the Butternab tunnel. The line at this place crosses a stream of pure water, reserved to Mr. Tolson, dyer, of Armitage Fold. To prevent the fouling of this water has been a source of great anxiety to Mr. Tolson. The consequence has been that several interviews have taken place between his manager and the contractors for this part of the works, the result being extremely satisfactory. To cement the amicable feeling originated, Mr. John Worth, manager of the dye-works undertook to remove the first soil for the boring of the tunnel. This took place on Wednesday last in presence of a large number of spectators, who had been attracted there by the novelty of the occurrence, as well as the fineness of the day. On the occasion, Mr. Jesse Kaye, of the Big Valley Hotel, presented Mr. Worth with anew spade, with which he removed the soil like one accustomed to such work. This being accomplished, Mr. Worth and a large number of workmen adjourned to the above hotel, where refreshments were plentifully provided, and a merry evening was afterwards enjoyed by all who partook of the same.

Huddersfield Chronicle (23/Apr/1864):

NETHERTON
Large Duck Eggs.
On Sunday last two ducks belonging to Mr. Jesse Kaye, of the Big Valley Hotel, laid eggs of extraordinary size — one weighing 5oz. and the other 4¾oz.

Huddersfield Chronicle (07/May/1864):

Magistrates in Petty Sessions
TUESDAY
On the Bench : Lieut-Col. Crosland, S.W. Haigh, Josh. Hirst, and Joshua Moorhouse, Esqrs.
A Stormy Scene at the Big Valley Hotel.
Jesse Kaye, William Kaye, Lucy Kaye, and Margaret Sugden, the landlord and household of the Big Valley Hotel were charged with an assault upon Joseph Taylor, a coal merchant, residing at Netherton. Mr. Learoyd supported the charge ; Mr. J.I. Freeman defended. The case was cumbered with a great deal of evidence on both sides. On Tuesday night the complainant, Taylor, who appears to be regarded at the Inn in question as a man of quarrelsome disposition, and between whom and the landlord enmity has existed for a length of time past, introduced himself amongst the company at the Big Valley Hotel, and commenced tossing for “glasses round.” In course of time the old enmity between Taylor and the landlord was revived, and he was ordered to leave the house. He declined to do so, and the landlord then resorted to violence in putting out his unwelcome guest. The other defendants were also alleged to have assisted more or less in the unenviable task. Complainant, on the whole, appeared to have been roughly handled, as he presented an extensively discoloured eye, and produced a coat which had been ripped into ribbons. He claimed the value of the coat under a special charge for damages. The magistrates considered that Jesse Kaye, the landlord, had been guilty of a very gross assault, and fined him £2 and expenses, and 2s. 6d. for the damage done to the coat — total £3 16s. They presumed that the other defendants — if they assisted in the assault — were acting under the landlord’s directions, and consequently dismissed the charges against them.

Huddersfield Chronicle (13/Aug/1864):

Local News
Accident to a Boy.
On Wednesday afternoon, an accident occurred to a boy named Kaye, whose parents reside in the Big Valley, Netherton. The lad is an apprentice with Mr. R. Haigh, mechanic, Folly Hall. On Wednesday he was sent in company with a younger boy to the foundry for some castings belonging to a tearing machine. When returning with about 13 cwt. of them in the hand cart, the shaft was jolted out of his hands and he fell to the ground the castings falling on him out of the cart. He was much bruised and shaken, but fortunately no bones were broken.

Huddersfield Chronicle (08/Oct/1864):

NETHERTON
Dastardly Outrage.
On Thursday evening week a brutal outrage was committed upon a woman named Scott, in this neighbourhood. The woman’s husband, Tom Scott, a pie hawker, lives in Huddersfield, and has been ill a long time. On the above day, Mrs. Scott went to her brother-in-law’s, who is a butcher, at Meltham, to obtain some preserves and other niceties for her sick husband. Having obtained them, she returned home. Upon arriving at a lonely part of the road known as Scotcher Dyke, a man suddenly jumped from Allheys Wood, seized her by the throat, and demanded her money. The poor woman had nothing to give, and in sheer brutality he throttled her till she was nearly insensible, such being his grip that he took a piece of flesh from her chin with his nails. Fortunately someone was heard approaching from the direction of Huddersfield, and the cowardly ruffian made off down the wood. The woman walked on as well as she was able till she met Police Constable Yates, who, finding her in an exhausted state, took her to the Big Valley Hotel, where brandy and other restoratives were administered, and she was forwarded to her home at Huddersfield. The ruffian who attacked her has not since been heard of.

Huddersfield Chronicle (29/Apr/1865):

NETHERTON.
A Relic of Luddism.
The murder of Mr. Horsfall during the reign of terror in this district, consequent on the Luddite disturbance in 1811 and 1812, will not soon be forgotten, and many yet living will remember the circumstances related at the time of the murder, and the search then and afterwards made for the weapons used without discovering them. At that time it was positively asserted that the murderous weapon had been buried somewhere in the neighbourhood of Armitage Bridge, or Netherton Wood. A circumstance transpired during the latter part of last week, which tends greatly to clear up this portion of the dark transaction. Mr. G.S. Tolson, manufacturer, of Dalton, has a dyehouse at Armitage, not far from the bottom of the “Big Valley,” and has lately purchased that estate. A number of men were last week engaged in removing an old quickset hedge, in order to supplant it with a strong fence wall, and while thus engaged, they discovered the remains of a large horse or cavalry pistol buried deep under the hedge. From the dilapidated state in which it was found, there is not the least doubt but it has lain there for more than half a century. On its becoming known that such a weapon was discovered, many circumstances were related tending to confirm the supposition that this was the very instrument by which the murder was committed, as it is well known the murderers took that direction from Crosland Moor in their way to Honley. Among these circumstances, the following was recollected. An old Waterloo veteran, now 73 years of age, named Bob Wood, some five years ago, while conversing in the Big Valley Hotel with the landlord and John Worth, foreman for Mr. Tolson, declared he knew for a positive fact that the identical pistol with which Mr. Horsfall was shot was buried under the hedge at Armitage, but he could not point out the exact spot. Since the fatal occurrence — now nearly 53 years — this instrument of death has lain where it was found till last week. It is in a deeply corroded state, the whole of the stock and other woodwork completely rotted away, the lock and ramrod are rusted partially away, but the brass trigger guard, and the brass casing or socket that held the ramrods are in a perfect state of preservation. It is now in the possession of Mr. Jesse Kaye, landlord of the above hotel, where large numbers of people have been to inspect it.
Rejoicing.
For a long time past the inhabitants of the Big Valley have been using their utmost endeavours to obtain gas mains laid from Messrs. John Brooke and Sons’ works at Armitage Bridge to the top of the hill in order to obtain a supply to their houses. This great desideratum has at length been accomplished, mainly by a private subscription to defray the cost of mains, &c., the principal subscribers being Bentley Shaw, Esq., Messrs. Milnes, Jesse Kaye, and others. On Saturday evening last the Netherton Brass Band met at the Big Valley Hotel and gave a concert of instrumental music in honour of the event, which was well attended.

Huddersfield Chronicle (31/Mar/1866)

NETHERTON
EXTRAORDINARY DUCK EGG.
On Tuesday morning a duck of the common breed, belonging to Mr. Jesse Kaye, of the Big Valley Hotel, laid an extraordinary egg, which measures nine inches round the long way, and seven inches in diameter, and weighs over five ounces.
THE “TRIPLED-HEADED CRADLE.”
About two years since a “triple-headed cradle,” purchased by subscription at the Big Valley, was presented to a working man named Alfred Berry, of Meltham, whose wife had been confined of three boys. A few days ago Mr. Jesse Kaye received the following letter from Berry:— “Meltham. Dear Friend, I am very sorry to inform you we have lost our little ones ; they have died in the measles. I shall send the cradle down to your house in a few days, and I thank you and your friends for the sympathy you have shown towards us.” It seems the children lived to the age of two years and five months, the dates of their deaths being January 13th, January 28th, and February 1st of the present year.

In April 1871, the question of the current whereabouts of the “triple-headed cradle” came up in an article about the birth of triplets in Meltham Mills, to John Marshall.

Huddersfield Chronicle (08/Jun/1867):

SOUTH CROSLAND
An Uncouth Customer.
Thomas Patrick Carney, a navvy, was summoned to appear before the magistrates at the Petty Sessions, on Thursday, on a charge of assaulting Mr. Jesse Kaye, proprietor of the Big Valley Hotel, South Crosland. Last Monday afternoon the defendant and three other men called at the hotel, and were served with a quart of beer. They called for another quart, and Carney asked the complainant to give him credit. He replied that he must be paid for the beer, and one of the party threw down some silver in payment. When the complainant was taking it up. the defendant wanted him to return it to the party, and, because he would not do so, kicked him in the abdomen ; and lie had been suffering ever since from the effects of the kick. The defendant, who, Police Constable Yates stated, had absconded, was fined in the of 10s. and expenses — total 23s. ; in default of payment, 14 days in the House of Correction.

Huddersfield Chronicle (04/Jan/1868):

NETHERTON.
Large Pullet Egg.
On Wednesday afternoon a pullet, in the possession of Mr. Kaye, of the Big Valley Hotel — only eight months old — laid an extraordinary egg, which measured seven inches by six inches, and weighed over 3¼ ounces.
Lost, Lost.
At an early hour on Wednesday morning the inhabitants of the Big Valley were alarmed by hearing a man shouting out, “Lost, lost,” in most pitiful accents. On some of them opening their bedroom windows to ascertain the cause, it was found that one of the musicians, who had been at the Lockwood concert, was returning home, when, from the darkness of the night, and the quantity of “Timmy’s best” imbibed, he became bewildered. Being directed in the right way, he went home rejoicing.

Huddersfield Chronicle (29/Aug/1868):

SOUTH CROSLAND
Breaking Windows at the Big Valley Hotel.
On Thursday, at the Huddersfield Police Court, Geo. Hy. Levi Lumb, delver, Black Moor Foot, was charged with breaking windows at the house of Mr. Jesse Kaye, landlord of the Big Valley Hotel. The complainant stated that, on the day mentioned in the precept, the defendant came into his house, and wanted something to drink. The defendant was labouring under the influence of drink, and he refused to supply him with anything. He (complainant) took hold of him, and he went very peaceably out. The defendant, who did not appear, was fined 2s. 6d., damages 2s. 6d., and costs (total 18s.)

Huddersfield Chronicle (24/Oct/1868):

NETHERTON.
Cricketers Supper.
The annual batting-off supper of the Armitage Bridge Cricket Club took place at the house of Mr. Jesse Kaye, the Big Valley Hotel, on Saturday last, when upwards of 40 of the members and their friends partook of a first-rate spread. Mr. Lewis Lunn occupied the chair. The report of the year’s proceedings was read and adopted, and a very pleasant evening was afterwards enjoyed.

Huddersfield Chronicle (30/Jan/1869):

NETHERTON.
Supper of Employees.
The cloth millers to the number of thirty, employed by the firm of Messrs, John Brooke and Sons, Armitage Bridge, partook of supper together on Saturday night, at the house of Jesse Kaye, the Big Valley Hotel. The after proceedings were conducted by Mr. Wm. Scaife, who occupied the chair, and the evening was spent with singing, reciting, and other recreations.

Huddersfield Chronicle (24/Sep/1870):

SOUTH CROSLAND.
Fatality in a Quarry.
Yesterday morning a fatality occurred, in Robinson Wood delf, near the Big Valley, to Joseph Bangham, a delver, residing on Manchester Road, Huddersfield. It seems the deceased was undermining a portion of rock, when, without any warning, a large piece of rock fell, knocked him down, and killed him almost instantly. A fellow workman, named Swallow, ran to his assistance, as did also a teamer, named Fred Todd. As soon as possible after the accident the deceased was extricated, and the body conveyed to the Big Valley Hotel, to await an inquest.

…at the subsequent inquest, it was heard that Bangham had likely been raising his pickaxe above his head when rock fell, causing the pick to be “driven into his head for some inches, entering just below the right eye”. A verdict of accidental death was recorded.

Huddersfield Chronicle (22/Apr/1871):

Huddersfield County Court.
An Alleged Cigar Transaction.
Jesse Kaye, of the Big Valley Hotel, Netherton, was sued by Henry South-worth, tea dealer, &c., of Huddersfield, to recover the sum of £6 4s. 11d., balance of amount for cigars sold. Mr, John Sykes defended. The evidence of the plaintiff went to show that he had had dealings with the defendant in the years from 1862 to 1865, both inclusive. The last transaction was about November of the latter year, alleging that at that time twelve boxes of cigars, amounting to about £5, were supplied to the defendant. — This transaction was utterly denied by the defendant and his wife, both of whom swore that they had never had a dozen boxes of cigars at their house at one time since they had kept the place. — The plaintiff declared he had taken the order himself, and had packed the goods, and that they were sent by the omnibus. The plaintiff not being in a position to prove the delivery of the goods to the defendant, the case was adjourned till the next court day, May 5th, to prove the delivery.

Huddersfield Chronicle (06/May/1871):

Huddersfield County Court.
A Cigar Transaction.
Southworth v. Kaye.
This was an action brought by Hy. Southworth, tea dealer, &c., Cross Church Street, to recover from Jesse Kaye, of the Big Valley Hotel, the sum of £14 8s. 5d., for cigars sold to the defendant. Mr. J.I. Freeman (for Mr. John Sykes) appeared for the defendant. The case had been partially heard on the previous court day, and was adjourned for the purpose of the plaintiff proving the delivery of a dozen boxes of cigars, which the defendant disputed having received. From the above sum certain payments had to be deducted, reducing the claim to £7 18s. 3d. The plaintiff called James M’Gowran, grocers assistant, who swore to having, in November, 1863, delivered a parcel containing twelve boxes of cigars to John Armitage, the driver of the Meltham omnibus, for delivery to the defendant. After the date named the defendant paid to plaintiff £1 on account. The defence was a denial of ever having received the cigars in question. — His Honour believed the goods had been ordered and received by the defendant, and gave a verdict for the plaintiff for the sum of £7 18s. 3d. and costs.

Huddersfield Chronicle (23/Aug/1873):

NETHERTON.
Club Termination at Netherton.
A small bat successful money club that had been held at the house of Mr. Jesse Kaye, the Big Valley Hotel, Netherton, was brought to a close on Friday week. The books and accounts were audited, and everything connected with the club was found satisfactory and certified by the committee. At the close of the audit, over 20 of the officials and friends of the club partook of a splendid supper provided by Mrs. Kaye, Music was afterwards introduced, and a pleasant evening was spent.

Huddersfield Chronicle (01/Jun/1881):

COUNTY POLICE COURT.
A Disorderly Man.
Albert Bates, logwood grinder, Netherton, was summoned for refusing to quit the Big Valley Hotel, Netherton, kept by Jesse Kaye, for assaulting the landlord, and for tearing Miss Kaye’s imitation sealskin jacket, doing damage to the extent of 13s. Mr. W. Arimtage, for the defendant, admitted the charges. The defendant had a friend who, on the day in question, recovered some money which he thought he had lost. After lodging a substantial portion of it in the bank, the two went and spent some of the remainder. The defendant who had been an abstainer for 12 months, was easily overcome, and he now expressed his regret that he should have misbehaved. On the suggestion of the Bench an arrangement was come to between the parties and the summons for damage was withdrawn. Defendant was fined 5s. for each of the other offences.

Huddersfield Chronicle (01/Jul/1885):

COUNTRY POLICE COURT
A Raid on the Big Valley Hotel
John Brook and Fred Brown, moulders, Primrose Hill, Huddersfield ; Willie Shaw, John Jenkinson, Fred Wood, and William Kaye, moulders, Almondbury ; were summoned for being disorderly, and refusing to quit the Big Valley Hotel, South Crosland; and William Kaye was further charged with doing wilful damage to a window of the hotel, and with assaulting Jesse Kaye, the landlord. The Magistrates decided to take the charge of assault first. Mr. J.H. Sykes appeared for the complainant, and Mr. W. Armitage for the defendant. The case opened for the prosecution was that an apprentice at the place where the men worked had come of age on June 22nd. About noon on that day three men went into the Big Valley Hotel and gave an order. They were supplied with drink. Shortly afterwards three or four more men went in, and it was evident that they were friends of the first lot. They were asked to have a drink, and accepted the invitation. Drink continued to be supplied as ordered until one of the men became ill. A shilling was handed to the prosecutor to pay for the beer supplied and for clearing up the mess which had been made. After that two glasses of beer were supplied and two more ordered. Seeing that there was likely to be a row about the sixpence which had bean given him he asked for payment before leaving the beer. This was refused and he took the beer back to the bar. The men followed him in a very threatening manner, and it appeared as if they would wreck the bar. Prosecutor and his wife did their best to get the men out of the bar and pushed them on the passage. Mrs. Kaye got a whip and used it. She was thrown down and ill-used, and the defendants used very bad language to her. The men persisted in pushing forward, and it was with great difficulty that the bar was protected. Defendant Kaye was one of the most violent of the defendants. He had a belt with a steel hackle round his waist, and in response to calls to use the belt the defendant took it off, succeeded in getting past Mrs. Kaye, and, swinging the belt round, broke the fanlight. He then ran at the prosecutor and struck him with the buckle end of the strap a violent blow on the head. The consequence was very serious, the prosecutor bleeding very freely and suffering from the wound till the present time. The men then apparently thought they had done enough and went away Prosecutor, who was 60 years of age, had kept the hotel for 28 years. Prosecutor said he hid a mallet in his hand during the disturbance but he did not use it. Mrs. Kaye and a man named Brooksbank gave corroborative evidence. Mr. Armitage submitted that Mr. and Mrs. Kaye lost their tempers and behaved themselves in a way which was not becoming for people in charge of an hotel. There was no doubt the belt was taken off, and on being swung round the window was broken. He suggested that the falling glass had cut the prosecutor’s head. It was alleged that the disturbance arose in consequence of the conduct of the landlord and his wife, and a number of witnesses were offered to bear this out. The Magistrates were of opinion that the fact that two of the defendants did not pay for their glasses of beer did not make the six defendants disorderly, and they therefore dismissed the case. Mr. Armitage said the defendant William Kaye admitted breaking the window, and was willing to pay for it. The Magistrates then made an order for the payment of 1s. penalty, 3s. damages, and 13s. coats. They were of opinion that the assault had been committed, and that it was a vary aggravated one. They therefore fined the defendants £1 and £1 Is. 11d. costs.

Huddersfield Chronicle (11/Jun/1890)

COUNTY POLICE COURT. TUESDAY.
Before W. Brooke (in the chair), A. Walker, and F. Greenwood, Esqs.
A Costly Refusal.
Ingham Spencer, millhand, of Lockwood, who did not appear, was charged with being drunk and refusing to quit the Big Valley Hotel, South Crosland, shortly before 10 o’clock on the night of Sunday, the 1st inst. Fined 10s. and expenses.

Huddersfield Chronicle (13/Jun/1894)

COUNTY POLICE COURT. TUESDAY.
Before J.F. Brigg (in the chair), E. Armitage, T.J. Hirst, and J. Crowther, Esqs.
Assaulting a Landlord.
Walter Woffenden, dyer’s labourer, South Crosland, who did not appear, was summoned for assaulting Thomas Harrison, landlord of the Big Valley Hotel, Netherton, on the 15th inst. The evidence was that on the night of the date named the complainant refused to supply the defendant with drink because he thought that he had had sufficient, whereupon the defendant hit him in the face, cutting it and causing it to bleed. A fine of £1, with 17s. costs, was imposed, or in default 21 days’ imprisonment.

Huddersfield Chronicle (02/Feb/1898):

COUNTY POLICE.
In the Snug.
John Jagger, hay and straw dealer, Huddersfield, was summoned for having allowed his horse and waggon to stand outside the Big Valley Inn, Netherton, unattended, for 20 minutes on the afternoon of 18th ult. Defendant was found by Police Constable Cooper and Sergeant Lee in the “snug” of the inn, drinking a glass of beer.

150 Years Ago: Huddersfield Chronicle (10/Jun/1865)

A selection of articles and news from the Huddersfield Chronicle from 150 years ago today.

Adverts

Poetry, Original and Selected

A BIRD’S NEST.
What architect, with well-matured plans,
Could vie with this attractive symmetry,
And raise so light a structure and so sure,
On slender beams that sway with every breeze ?
So snng and smooth is it within, that one
Inspires from it a deeper love of home,
And longs to share in all its perfectness.
Scarce one insinuating drop of rain
Can scare the simple life that breathes within ;
For overhead a canopy of leaves,
So carelessly disposed, yet each soft blade
Overlapping other, that a compact roof
Of velvet green secures from nature’s frown :
But not from ruthless hand of cruelty.
That with one grasp makes vain the work of days,
Creates a song of woe where bright-eyed joy
Was budding into summer ecstacy.
Learn life’s economy, ye thriftless, here !
No sprig too sightless for an honoured place,
Or woolly fragment for the cushioned bed.
Art thou discouraged oft by adverse fate ?
Through what inclement days the parent bird
Piles up with care the units of its home !
Wilt thou less strong appear, when rest
Eternal interests in Stern Duty’s scale ?
Speckled, or white, or blue as southern skies,
Each egg brings newer grace to all within ;
So even holy thought thou utterest may
Within thy home lure tenderest hearts to bring
Such fresh’ning charms a world cannot supply.
— Henry Williamson, Huddersfield.¹

Selections of Wit and Humour

He that is taught to live upon little, owes more to his father’s wisdom that he that has a great deal left him does to his father’s care.

Foreign Miscellany and Gossip

The American papers record the death of Old Hannibal, a travelling show elephant. He was 11ft. 8in. high, weighed 15,000lb, and was 66 years old. He consumed 300lb of hay, three bushels of oats, and 46 gallon of water daily. For 36 years he travelled 3,000 miles every year.

Sales by Private Contract

Public Notices

Local News

We understand the Enderby Hall Estate, situate about five miles from Leicester, was on Wednesday last offered for sale by auction, and purchased for the sum of £67,000 by Charles Brook, Jun., Esq., of Meltham Hall. The estate, which is situated in one of the loveliest parts of Leicestershire, comprises about 730 acres, and 45 acres of woods and plantations. The purchase also includes the lordship of the major, with the advowson. Mr. Henry Tinker, of Holmfirth made the purchase on Mr. Brook’s behalf.

Magistrates in Petty Sessions

A DRUNKEN FREAK. Alfred Whiteley, otherwise known by the sobriquet of “Sixes” was brought up on a charge of drunkenness. On Saturday afternoon the defendant was hired to take to a field a horse belonging to Mr. Henry Stocks, brewer, Spring Mill, but, instead of doing so, he mounted the animal, and rode too and fro until five o’clock, when he proceeded to the stable of F.R. Jones, jun., Esq., with a view of obtaining a saddle, to enhance the pleasures of the afternoon. In the stable, however, he found a horse already saddled, and with the coolest impudence he seated himself upon it, and drove away with the two animals up Crosland Hill. He was pursued by a man on horseback in the employ of Mr. Jones, and overtaken at the bar on Crosland Moor. This witness went to Milnsbridge and gave information to the police, and the defendant was eventually escorted to bridewell. — Mr. Laycock : He pleads guilty to being drunk. — Defendant, who urged that he was “partly” intoxicated, admitted that he took the horse from the stable, so that he could have a ride, but argued that there was a “chief p(o)int” about the case. — The court, however, failed to observe the force of the argument, and apparently believed that the “chief pint” (of ale) was that which impelled the defendant to commit the foolish act with which he was charged. — Mr. Superintendent Heaton informed the Bench that “Sixes” had several times received the special attention of the magistrates.— Defendant asserted that he would “sign teetotal,” and promised never to place himself in a similar predicament again if he were discharged. — The Chairman said they could not believe him, and he would be fined 10s. and expenses ; altogether 10s. — Defendant: Or in default ? — The Chairman : One month to Wakefield. (Laughter)

General District Intelligence

CUMBERWORTH — Accident to a Child.

On Tuesday last an accident occurred to a little girl while walking in procession with the school children in Cumberworth. A wedding party was passing along at the same time, when one of the vehicles knocked the child down, the wheel passing over her. She was immediately picked up, and the marriage party were very solicitious as to her injuries which fortunately proved but slight. One of the gentlemen considerately and handsomely gave the child a sovereign to compensate her for the fright sustained.

FARNLEY TYAS — The Feast.

Wednesday last was a pleasant day at Farnley, it being the annual feast. The day was remarkably fine, which caused an immense influx of visitors, and the village presented quite a lively appearance. The usual quantity of nut, gingerbread, and other stalls filled up the principal attractions till the evening, when a grand gala, got up by Lady Dartmouth’s brass band was held in a field belonging Mr. Robert Kaye, where the usual sports were indulged in till dark.

Cricket

Lockwood v. Manchester.

This match was played at Lockwood, on Whit-Monday, and resulted in favour of the former by 10 runs on the first innings. The game throughout was very closely contested, and the batting, bowling, and fielding were excellent.

Marriages

On the 5th inst., at the Independent Chapel, Honley, by the Rev. Henry Hustwick, Mr. William Waring, sculptor, of Liverpool, to Ann, youngest daughter of Mr. Thomas Heaton, of Honley. This being the first marriage celebrated in the above chapel since its re-opening, a handsome family Bible was presented to the bride by a few of her friends worshipping there.

The Grove Inn

Anyone who knows me will know The Grove Inn is my favourite pub in Huddersfield, so I thought I’d have a rummage through the newspaper archives to see what I could find!

It looks like the pub, which is situated on the corner of Spring Grove Street and Merton Street (as shown on the 1906 map below), sprang into existence sometime around 1850 — an auction in August 1857 described it as comprising of the end three of seven “newly-erected” properties.

An article from December 1852 implies that Sir John William Ramsden (after whom John William Street in named) had just unveiled the plans for laying out Spring Grove Street and Swallow Street, which means the properties were probably built in 1853. Various reports from the meetings of the Improvement Commissioners state that work on completing the street continued well into 1854.

The first three landlords were likely as follows…

James Denison
Born around 1828 in Leeds, son of “beerhouse keeper” Benjamin Denison and his wife Mary. Was working as a “journeyman tailor” at the time of the 1851 Census and living with his parents on Spring Street, Huddersfield. Married Sarah Dixon in late 1852 in Leeds. Listed as an “innkeeper and tailor” living on Swallow Street West in 1861 Census. Died 29 July 1870. The 1871 Census lists widow Sarah Dennison as a “retired innkeeper” living on South Street, Huddersfield, so possibly she briefly ran the pub after the death of her husband?
John Hellawell
Born around 1837 (possibly in Leeds?), son of cloth miller William Hellawell. Worked as a cloth miller. Married widow Sarah Davison (aged 33), daughter of farmer John Middleton, on 17 March 1873 at St. Peter, Leeds. Died 9 June 1877.
Sarah Hellawell
Born Sarah Middleton around 1839 in Pontefract, and married to John Hellawell. 1881 Census, widow innkeeper of Grove Inn, 43/45/47 Spring Grove, with children Florence M. (aged 12) and Thomas A. (aged 10). Probably the “Sarah Ann Hellawell” who died 1897 aged 58.

Although I couldn’t find anything to confirm this, it is possible that James Denison’s father, Benjamin, was the landlord before he took over. If that’s true, then possibly Benjamin was the first landlord of The Grove Inn.

Newspaper Articles

Assuming that the pub didn’t change its name in the late 1880s, there are surprisingly few articles in the archives from the period 1850 to 1900, although there can’t be many pubs in Huddersfield that have been linked to acts of cannibalism!

Unless otherwise stated, the articles are from the Huddersfield Chronicle.

1 July 1854

Huddersfield Police Court.
Offence Against the Beerhouse Act.
James Denison, keeper of the Grove Inn, Wood Street, was charged with allowing persons to drink ale in his house on Sunday afternoon, the 25th ult., during the hours of divine service. The officer on duty saw three young men drink two glasses of ale in defendant’s house, at a little after 3 o’clock. It appeared that the parties had been admitted during a heavy storm or rain. Ordered to pay expenses, 6s.

12 May 1855

Huddersfield Police Court.
A Licensed House in Danger.
James Denison, landlord of the Grove Inn, Spring Grove Street, was summoned for permitting unlawful games in his house on the 1st inst. At a quarter to eleven on the night in question Police Constable Ramsden found four men, one of whom was the defendant, playing cards in a small room adjoining the bar. The cards were produced [in court]. Fined 10s. and costs.

Leeds Mercury 12 January 1856

15 August 1857

Sales by Auction.
Lot 1. All those seven newly-erected, substantial, and well-finished MESSUAGES or DWELLING-HOUSES, three of them being now occupied in one, and licensed as an inn, and known by the name or sign of the Grove Inn, with the Yard and Out Offices behind the same, comprising an area of 664 superficial square yards, more or less, situate in Swallow Street and Spring Grove Street, in Huddersfield, in the county of York, held under a lease from Sir J.W. Ramsden for 60 years, from 29th September, 1852, at the yearly rent of £8 6s., with the right of renewal on payment of certain fines, and now in the several occupations of Mr. James. Denison, Mr. William Butler, Mr. John Wood, Mrs. Booth, and Mr. Eastwood, or their undertenants.

12 August 1865

Magistrates in Petty Sessions.
Cannibalism. Biting a Man’s Lip.
John Edwin Eagland, said to be a tall, powerful man, and described as a clogger, of Lindley, was charged with unlawfully assaulting Richard Linton, a man of low stature, labourer, Lowerhead Row. Complainant stated that, on Monday evening he was at the Grove Inn, Spring Grove Street. He and others were talking about a cricket match, when the defendant introduced the subject of jumping. He (Linton) replied that they wanted nothing to do with jumping, and told the defendant to hold his noise. Eagland then said he would kick the complainant out of the place ; and the latter exclaimed that he could not do it. Presently complainant went out, and was followed by defendant, who seized him, and bit a piece out of his lip. The severed lip had had to be sewed, and the complainant had since the assault been unable to follow his occupation. A young man was called to give corroborative evidence. He deposed that the defendant took the complainant by the coat, pulled him down, got his head under his arm, and then bit him. If he had bit half an inch more he would have had all the lip in his mouth. The defendant did not attend in court. The Chairman said the Bench considered this very brutal assault had been fully proved, and they should fine him £2 ; the complainant would be allowed 15s. for the loss of his week’s work ; and the surgeon’s bill 7s. 6d. ; total £3 10s. 6d., or two month’s imprisonment.

John Eagland had previously been found guilty of assaulting Thomas Golden at Thomas Whiteley’s beerhouse, Lindley, in October 1864. In May 1870, he was acquitted of stealing a box of cigars from the Harmonium Inn, Lindley.

25 April 1868

A Novel Political Gathering.
Prior to the polling at the recent election, it was arranged by a number of the supporters of both Mr. Sleigh and Mr. Leatham, that whichever of the candidates might be returned as member for the borough, a dinner should take place at the house of Mr. James Denison, the Grove Inn. In accordance with the arrangement, the feast took place on Tuesday night. About 40 persons partook of the excellent fare. The chair was occupied by Mr. G. Sykes, and the vice by Mr. James Hall. The usual loyal toasts having been given, Mr. Hall proposed the health of “The borough representative, Mr. E.A. Leatham, M.P.,” which was responded to by Mr. F. Curzon. The Chairman then proposed “The unsuccessful candidate, Mr. W. Campbell Sleigh.” Mr. S. Binns responded. The chairman proposed “The Huddersfield Working Men’s Conservative Association,” which was replied to by Mr. T. Nicholls. The chairman next gave “The Huddersfield Liberal Association,” which was acknowledged by Mr. W.K. Croft. Other toasts followed, and addresses were delivered by Messrs. Hall, J.W. Mellor, S. Binns, and others.

18 June 1870

Kirkburton.
Accident.
On Tuesday afternoon a child, belonging to Edward Heys, chemist, in the employ of Mr. Herbert Sugden, Woodsome Lees, was rather seriously hurt. It seems that the child was playing in the road, near the Spring Grove Tavern, and suddenly ran from behind a large stone at the junction of Storrs Hall Lane with the turnpike road. At the same moment a gig, proceeding in the direction of Huddersfield, passed. The child ran against the iron step of the vehicle, was knocked down, and the wheel grazed its head and face severely. The child was taken home, and attended by Mr. Lockwood, surgeon.

The child survived, as there are no deaths recorded for that (or similar) surname, but may have died the following year. Edward’s daughters are listed in the 1871 Census as Sarah Elizabeth (aged 8), Annie (aged 5) and Hannah Jane (aged 1). Annie was baptised 20 May 1866 and died towards the end of 1871, aged 6. Edward died in late 1885, aged 45, and was buried at All Hallows, Almondbury, on 5 December.

30 July 1870

Deaths.
On the 29th inst., aged 40, James Denison, Grove Inn, Spring Grove Street. Friends will please accept this intimation.

Probate Register 1870

Effects under £200. 21 October. Letters of Administration (with the will annexed) of the Personal estate and effects of James Denison late of the “Grove” Inn Spring Grove Street Huddersfield in the County of York. Innkeeper deceased who died 29 July 1870 at the “Grove” Inn aforesaid were granted at Wakefield to Sarah Denison of the “Grove” Inn aforesaid, Widow of the Relict of the said Deceased she having been first sworn.

22 March 1873

Marriages.
On the 17th inst., at Leeds Parish Church, Mr. John Hellawell, to Mrs. Sarah Davison, Grove Inn, Huddersfield.

17 October 1873

7 November 1876

The Huddersfield Chronicle reported that John Hellawell of The Grove Inn had been granted a licence for music.

11 June 1877

Local and District News.
Sudden Death in the Spring Grove Street.
On Saturday morning last, Mr. John Hellawell, of the Grove Inn, Spring Grove Street, Huddersfield, was engaged in his usual duties, he complained to his wife of being unwell. She accordingly advised him to retire to his bed and rest for some time, while she sent for a medical gentleman, who was immediately in attendance, but notwithstanding that all that medical skill could devise was done for him, he expired in a few minutes. The cause of death was apoplexy.

16 June 1877

Deaths.
On the 9th inst., aged 40 years, Mr. John Hellawell, Grove Inn, Spring Grove Street. Friends will please accept this intimation.

Probate Register 1877

Effects under £600. 6 July. The Will of John Hellawell late of Huddersfield in the County of York, Innkeeper who died 9 June 1877 at Huddersfield, was proved at Wakefield by Sarah Hellawell of Huddersfield Widow the Relict and George Martin of Manchester Road Huddersfield Grocer the Executors.

7 October 1880

Borough Police Court
A Disorderly Customer.
Henry Sissons, plumber, Spring Grove Street, pleaded guilty to being disorderly and refusing to quit the Grove Inn, Spring Grove Street, and with assaulting Sarah Hellawell, the landlady. It appeared that the defendant went to the house on the 4th instant, with a woman, and had some drink. Shortly after, another woman came in, with whom defendant had some words. Mrs. Hellawell said he must not make a disturbance, and asked him to leave, and he not only refused to do so but struck her in the mouth and caused it to bleed. She had to call in Police Constables Townend and Cundle to turn defendant out. Defendant was fined 5s. and costs for refusing to quit, and 20s. and costs for the assault, which the Bench said was a very cowardly one.

2 March 1886

Borough Police Court
A Painful Case.
Edgar Kaye, tailor, Spring Grove Street, was charged on remand with stealing a quantity of cloth, the property of Samuel Taylor, of Buxton Road ; and his mother, Annie Elizabeth Kaye, was charged with receiving the cloth well knowing it to have been stolen. Mr. W. Armitage appeared for the defence. The case was partly gone into on Friday, and additional evidence was now called. From what was stated by the witnesses, it appeared that the prisoner Edgar had for some time been in the employment of the prosecutor, his duty being to give out work and to receive it from the different workpeople when completed. A quantity of cloth, to the value of £4, which was produced, was the property of the prosecutor. The prisoner Edgar disposed of two pieces of cloth to Mrs. Lucas, telling her he was selling them for his master. He also attempted to dispose of another piece by means of a lad named Fred Lucas, but Mr. Field, pawnbroker, to whom the cloth was offered, detained it, and handed it over to the police. When charged with the offence by Police Constable Tunnacliffe at the police office, the prisoner Edgar admitted the charge. On Wednesday morning last Mrs. Kaye went to Mr. Field’s shop, and saw Fred Brook, assistant, with reference to the cloth which had been detained, and said, “The cloth is all right. We gave him permission to sell it. His father bought it from his uncle John at Birkby.” On the 10th ult., when James Mitchell, greengrocer, Summer Street, Lockwood, was going round with his vegetables, Mrs. Kaye called him in, and showed him a piece of cloth, telling him that her husband was a traveller, and had brought that cloth for her to sell. She wanted 11s. for it, and agreed to take it half in money and half in vegetables. On those conditions be bought it, and subsequently pawned it with Mr. Briggs, of Folly Hall. Samuel Whiteley, bookkeeper to the prosecutor, identified the cloth produced as Mr. Taylor’s by the private mark it bore. Sarah Hellawell, widow, who keeps the Grove Inn, Spring Grove Street, bought some cloth from Mrs. Kaye on January 20th for 10s. She told her that her husband had got it for her son, but it was too dark a pattern for him, and therefore it was quite a bargain. Mr. Armitage felt a great difficulty as to the course he should pursue, for the evidence was unanswerable. Mr. Kaye was a man of the highest respectability, and to him the matter came like a thunder-clap. After the evidence he advised his clients to plead guilty, and throw themselves on the mercy of the court. In answer to the formal charge both pleaded guilty. The Magistrates retired for a short time, and upon their return the Mayor said that both be and his brother Justices had every sympathy with Mr. Kaye, but they were there to administer justice. There was no other way of dealing with the matter than by sending the lad to Wakefield for two months and the mother for one month. The Chief Constable said he was only doing justice to Mr. Kaye to say that during all his enquiries be had not heard anything which would lead him to believe that the father had any knowledge of the matter, and he was quite satisfied that Mr. Kaye did not know anything of what was going on, and that his character was as irreproachable in this matter as it had been in all other matters. With respect to Mr. Field he felt that it was his duty to call the attention of the Bench to the prompt way in which be acted in the matter when the cloth was offered to him in pawn by someone who he thought was not likely to have right dealings with it. If all other people would act in a similar way they would have fewer of such miserable scenes as they had in the court that morning, and a far less number of thieves.

Some Random Photos

150 Years Ago: Huddersfield Chronicle (03/Jun/1865)

A selection of articles and news from the Huddersfield Chronicle from 150 years ago today.

Adverts

Wit and Humour

A gentleman a few days ago said to a young lady who had just returned from the sea-side, “I’m delighted to see you’re back — or rather, your face — again.”

To Be Let

WESTFIELD TERRANCE. MRS. FARRAND, having been induced to take a good House at the above address, would be glad to LET SITTING and BEDROOMS to one or two Gentlemen.

Fashions

MISSES SHAW, Milliners, Dress and Mantle Makers, are NOW SHOWING some of the Choicest NOVELTIES, suitable for the present season. An Inspection is respectfully solicited. 15, Ramsden Street.

Turnpike Roads

TOLLS TO BE LET.
LOCKWOOD AND MELTHAM TURNPIKE ROAD.

Notice is hereby given, that the TOLLS arising at the several Tollgates, Bars, and Chains upon the Turnpike Road from Lockwood to Meltham, and a Branch of Road to Meltham Mills, all in the parish of Almondbury, in the West Riding of the County of York, called by the several names of the Dungeon Gate, Netherton Gate, and Chain and Harewood Bridge Gate and Chain, WILL BE LET, either BY AUCTION OR TICKET, to the best bidder, for the term of one or more year or years, as may be agreed on at the time of letting (and subject to such conditions as will be then and there produced), at the house of Mr. Samuel Bradley, the Imperial Hotel, in Huddersfield, on Thursday, the 8th day of June next, between the hours of Three and Five o’clock in the afternoon, in the manner directed by the General Turnpike Act, or Acts of Parliament, which Tolls are now in the hands of the Trustees of the said Road, and produced in the year last past the sum of £1,043 9s. 1d., and will be put up at that sum.

Whoever happens to be the highest bidder must at the same time pay one month’s rent in advance (if required) of the rent at which such Tolls may be let, and give security with sufficient sureties, to the satisfaction of the Trustees of the said Turnpike Road, for the payment of the remainder of the money monthly, or in such other proportions as shall be directed by the said Trustees.

A deposit of £30 will be required from each person intending to become a bidder, previously to any bidding by such person being accepted.

By Order,
EDGAR FENTON, Clerk to the Trustees of the said Turnpike Road.
Huddersfield, 3rd May, 1865.

Public Notices

GRAND CRICKET MATCH OF THE SEASON.
MANCHESTER v. LOCKWOOD

THE above Grand MATCH will be played on the Lockwood Ground on Whit Monday, June 5th. Wickets pitched at Eleven a.m. Admission 6d. No dogs admitted.

Magistrates in Petty Sessions

DAMAGE BY HENS. Daniel Fisher, of Kirkheaton, was charged with doing damage to a field of grass the property of Ephraim Sykes, of the same place. The damage was laid at 6s. Mr. Dransfield defended. The defendant keeps a number of hens, which continually trespass in complainant’s field, and have scratched up his hay grass. He cautioned defendant six weeks since to keep them out, but without effect. The complainant did not press for a penalty, only this his property should not be destroyed. At the recommendation of the Bench he withdrew summons on the expenses being paid.

District Intelligence

CLAYTON WEST — Dastardly Outrage.

During Friday and Saturday nights last, some rascal entered the small plantation belonging to John Kaye, Esq., of Clayton, known as “Plumpton Park,” and cut down and destroyed a number of young valuable trees. A reward of £20 has been offered by Mr. Kaye for the discovery of the perpetrators of the outrage.

MELTHAM — Freak of Nature.

A singluar freak of nature has occurred at Thickhollins, the particulars being as follows. Mr. Benjamin Wilson, spindle maker, of Thickhollins, sat an ordinary English duck on the usual number of eggs to form a brood. On Thursday evening week the duck hatched her progeny, when among the brood was one most extraordinary formed, it having three legs and four feet. The usual two legs — one on each side — are properly formed, but a third one is attached to the body behind, and is perfect down to the centre joint, from which place a fourth foot branches out, so that the little waddler has four perfectly formed feet — the two hind ones being webbed together — and three legs.

NETHERTON — A Long-Needed Improvement.

Netherton for many years past has been much behind many villages in public improvements, but the formation of the railway and other causes appear to have given a good impetus to it, and, of late, considerable improvements have been made. Among the greatest of these is the laying down at present of a substantial and much-needed flagged causeway, together with the erection of a handsome pillar lamp, at the cross, which, when completed, will be an ornament to the village.

LINDLEY — A Centenarian.

On Monday last, a hearty old lady of Lindley, named Sarah Firth, widow of the late Thomas Firth, of that place, accomplished her 100th birthday. The old lady continues in the enjoyment of all her faculties, with the exception of hearing, in which at times she had found herself rather deficient of late years. She walks nimbly about, and goes about her usual household work with alacrity. Her eldest child — a daughter — is still living, and is 79 years of age. This centenarian has forty grandchildren now living, several of whom having emigrated to Australia, no information can be obtained as to the total number of great grandchildren, but there are between forty and fifty of them living in England at the present time. Her eldest grandchild is upwards of fifty years old.¹

Does anyone know if the “handsome pillar lamp” in Netherton is the one stood on Moor Lane? If so, it’s celebrating its 150th birthday this month!

The First Post Boxes in Huddersfield

According to Wikipedia, the first public post box in the United Kingdom was installed at Botchergate, Carlisle, in 1853.

The following article, published in the Leeds Mercury (24/Nov/1855), shows that Huddersfield wasn’t too far behind:

Street Letter Boxes
The Postmaster of Huddersfield has ordered four pillar letter-boxes to be placed in the streets for the accommodation of the inhabitants. The first is situated in Bradford Road, where Fitzwilliam Street crossed it ; the second in Halifax Road, at the top of Fitzwilliam Street ; the third on Chapel Hill ; the fourth on Seed Hill. The letters in them will be taken to the Post Office at 6:45 am, at 7 p.m., and 10:45 p.m., except on Sundays, when they will not be visited.

The approximate locations of the four boxes are shown in red on this 1908 map of Huddersfield, with the believed location of the Post Office in 1855 shown in blue. By 1874, the Post Office had moved to the market side of Northumberland Street (shown in green) and the building still stands. In 1914, the current Post Office was built on the opposite side of Northumberland Street to the old one.

In fact, the Mercury was reporting old news, as the post boxes were actually erected the day before, on Friday 23 November. The Huddersfield Chronicle (24/Nov/1855) gave the following details:

They are cast iron pillars, of an octagonal form ; and will prove a great advantage to the inhabitants of those localities [where the pillars stood] by saving them the necessity of coming into town to post letters. For the information of those depositing letters in the boxes, we may state the boxes will be opened at a quarter to eleven a.m., and again at seven p.m., for the purpose of transmitting the letters by the mails. It is to be hoped that not only the police, but the public, will take an interest in guarding these boxes from any abuse to which inconsiderate parties might attempt to subject them.

It’s possible they looked this surviving octagonal box, situated in the village of Holwell, Dorset (photograph by Barry W.):

A few months earlier, the Huddersfield Chronicle (18/Aug/1855) reported that on 13 August an important alteration to the postal system in Huddersfield had been introduced — “The principal is to give every house, as far as practicable, a free delivery of letters.” The article also mentioned the plan to install the four post boxes and predicted that this, together with the free delivery of letters, “cannot fail to give satisfaction both to the town and the neighbourhood.”

Speaking of old post boxes, here’s one from the reign of Queen Victoria in the little hamlet of Helme, near Meltham, which is still in use:

If anyone knows of other old and/or interesting post boxes in the Huddersfield area, please leave a comment!

William Moore (1797-?)

The Postmaster of Huddersfield, William Moore, was born in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, in 1797.

Moore had taken up his position by the time the Civil, Ecclesiastical, Literary, Commercial, and Miscellaneous History of Leeds, Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford, Wakefield, Dewsbury, Otley and the Manufacturing District of Yorkshire: Volume 2 was published in 1834:

The Post-Office at Huddersfield is in New Street, Mr. William Moore is the post-master. Letters from London, Pontefract, and Wakefield, arrive every evening at six, and are despatched every morning at a quarter before six. Letters from Leeds, Halifax, and Manchester, arrive every morning at a quarter-past seven, and afternoon at a quarter-past two, and they are sent every morning at a quarter-past ten, and in the evening at six o’clock. There are foot-posts to Lockwood, Honley, Thong Bridge, Holmfirth, Paddock, Slaithwaite, Marsden, Longwood, Almondbury, Dogley Lane, Kirkburton, Crossland, Netherton, Eltham¹, Deighton, Sheepridge, Rastrick, Brighouse, Dalton, Kirkheaton, Lepton, Lindley, and Out-Lane, every morning (except Tuesday) at eight.

By the time of the 1851 Census, he was the Postmaster for Huddersfield and was residing on Morpeth Place, Seed Hill, with his wife, Mary, and two of their children. I wonder if it was a coincidence that Moore chose Seed Hill as one of the four locations for the first post boxes?

The 1861 Census shows him still living at Seed Hill, with his son William residing next door with his family.

The following are a summary of newspaper articles relating to William Moore, all from the Huddersfield Chronicle

12/Jul/1851 — Joseph Gaunt, landlord of the Queen Hotel, Market Street, was fined for assaulting William Moore.
18/Dec/1852 — Mr. Moore’s son, William, married Harriet Frances Akers, at the Parish Church in Halifax on 16 December.
22/Jan/1853 — To celebrate the marriage of his only daughter to Mr. John Dobson of Kirkburton, Moore threw a party for the Post Office staff at the Ship Inn. The landlady, Mrs. Richardson, provided “an excellent supper”.
25/Nov/1854 — Moore brought a prosecution against farmer George Heap for attempted to steal £5 worth of manure from near Moore’s property at Seed Hill. Moore represented himself, “in his own peculiar style, exciting occasionally much merriment in court”. The court ruled it had no jurisdiction in this case, as Heap had permission to collect manure from the streets of the town.
03/Feb/1855 — Mr. Moore’s swift actions had saved other packages after someone had illegally posted a package of “wax lucifer matches” which spontaneously combusted in the Post Office.
12/May/1855 — The Postmaster’s annual salary was given as £180, with the total cost of providing the postal service for the Huddersfield division being £1,411.
13/Oct/1855 — The Post Office received a letter addressed to: “thomas grange, cark ey etin spank, ncar, huddersfreed, englind speed.” It was reported that this had been interpreted as “Thomas Grange, Spangled Bull, Kirkheaton, near Huddersfield, England. Speed.”
13/Sep/1856 — A couple of weeks previously, Mr. Moore’s beloved dog, “Curry”, had gone missing. Moore affixed a sign to the front of the Post Office reading, “My favourite dog, ‘Curry’, is lost, nay, stolen — for if the wicked holder will only set him at liberty. I warrant that the beautiful, sleek, chestnut animal will bound his joyous way to Seed Hill. Faithful creature as he is — worth a thousand two-legged animals such as the thief who stole him — if any kindly being will give the hint where he is located, he will receive a full reward.” The Chronicle took great delight in revealing that the dog had been located locked in Lockwood’s Yard on New Street and that it had been the “two-legged” Mr. Moore himself who had accidentally locked Curry there “in a moment of forgetfulness”!
12/Jun/1858 — George Whitehead, a printer who occupied a part of the building above the Post Office on New Street, was charged with assaulting Mr. Moore on 3 June. Whitehead would occasionally work throughout the night and insisted on having the front door to the building left unlocked. Moore had repeatedly remonstrated with Whitehead over this, as it left the Post Office (and the other businesses in the building) vulnerable to robbery. On the night of the incident, Moore insisted that the door must be locked overnight and Whitehead had “both struck and kicked” the Postmaster and then threatened to assault Frederick John North, a post office clerk. In court, Moore was asked if Whitehead struck him more than once, to which he replied, “Aye, hundreds of times. It would be incident or I would bare my body ; you would then see I am full of wounds from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet.” Whitehead was found guilty of assault and fined £2 19s.
25/Feb/1860 — Mr. Moore’s speech at the “8th annual soiree of the Milnsbridge Mechanics’ Institute” was reported.
02/Mar/1872 — A discussion around the potential sites for the new Post Office (which was subsequently built on Northumberland Street) mentioned that the post service in Huddersfield began around 1850 (in reality, it had begun before 1831, when he was suspected of intercepting mail) and that Mr. Moore and his son (also named William) were now running a stock and share brokering business.
31/Jan/1874 — At the annual meeting of the Huddersfield Chamber of Commerce it was reported that the council were deeply unhappy with the choice of Northumberland Street as the location for the new Post Office.
15/Jan/1876 — A reunion took place to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Ramsden Street Independent Chapel and Schools, with around 1,100 former scholars present. Amongst those sending their apologies for not being able to attend were Mr. Moore, “the late postmaster for Huddersfield.”
19/May/1886 — Mr. Frederick North, who worked under Mr. Moore in the early days of the post service in Huddersfield, had been promoted to role of Postmaster of Grantham.

As mentioned above, after stepping down as the Postmaster in the late 1850s, William Moore set himself up as a broker on New Street with his son and their adverts regularly appeared in the Chronicle:²

Locations

Post Office (187?–1914):

Post Office (1914–present):

Killed by a Hen

I’ve got a particular interest in events which happened close to where we live and the stretch of Meltham Road from Netherton down to Lockwood has seen more than its fair share of accidents over the years.

One particularly unusual one was reported in the local newspapers in October 1907 and occurred on the hill which drops down from Netherton to Big Valley…

Yorkshire Evening Post (07/Oct/1907):

CYCLIST KILLED BY A FOWL.
MELTHAM MAN THROWN HEAVILY ON TO HIS HEAD.
THE HEN JAMS THE FRONT WHEEL.
A Meltham cyclist met hit death on Saturday under peculiar circumstances.
George Henry Pogson, aged 24 years, of Mill Moor, Meltham, left home about 2 p.m. on Saturday for a cycle ride. When proceeding down Big Valley when by some means got in between the front wheel of the machine, with the result that it became entangled, and caused the man to be pitched heavily on his head. He was rendered unconscious.
Dr. Mackenzie, of Lockwood, was summoned, and was soon in attendance, and after examining the man’s wound said that Pogson was probably suffering from fracture of the skull. He died at the Huddersfield Infirmary at 11 p.m. the same day.

Yorkshire Evening Post (08/Oct/1907):

THE CORONER ON THE LIABILITY OF FOWL OWNERS.
At the Huddersfield Infirmary, this afternoon, Mr. E H. Hill held an inquest on the body of George Henry Pogson (24), cotton operative, of Mill Moor, Meltham, who succumbed on Saturday night to injuries to the skull sustained during the day by being thrown off his bicycle whilst riding down the Big Valley from Netherton.
The accident, as already stated in “The Yorkshire Evening Post,” was caused by a hen which flew across the road into the front wheel of the machine.
The Coroner said no doubt hens were a great danger to cyclists. From a recent decision, it appeared that the owners of hens straying on the highway and causing damage, could not be held responsible in a civil action for damages. He did not think they could be held responsible criminally.
A verdict of “Accidental death” was returned.

George Henry Pogson was born in Meltham in 1883, the son of local weaver George William Henry Lewis Pogson (1845–1913) and his wife Emma (1852–1900). He likely had six brothers and sisters.

The 1891 Census lists 7-year-old George as living with his parents and siblings, and attending school.

George’s mother, Emma, died in 1900, aged 53, and was buried on 4 December 1900 at the Meltham Wesleyan Chapel.

The 1901 Census lists him working as a 16-year-old cotten piecer and living with his widowed father at Mill Moor, Meltham.

Following the accident, George was buried at the Meltham Wesleyan Chapel on 9 October 1907, the day after the inquest was held into his death.

After George’s death, it seems his father moved from Meltham to live with his widowed daughter, Selina Ann Woodhouse, in Holmbridge where he died in 1913, aged 68. He was buried alongside his wife and son at the Meltham Wesleyan Chapel on 15 April 1913.

Large Mushrooms and Walking Blindfold to Castle Hill

One of the joys of hunting through old editions of local newspapers is stumbling across weird and wonderful articles.

Let it never be said nothing exciting ever happens in Kirkburton:¹

Large Mushroom.
The other day a large mushroom was gathered in a field near to the Stocksmoor Station. It measured ten inches across, and was healthy in appearance.

Meanwhile, over in Armitage Bridge and Berry Brow:²

Extraordinary Feat.
A large number of persons assembled in the Big Valley, Armitage Bridge, on Saturday afternoon, to witness an extraordinary feat performed by Mr. Joshua Longbottom, joiner, Berry Brow. This person had undertaken, for a wager of 50 shillings to walk blindfolded from that place to the top of Castle Hill under 30 minutes. Sponges were placed over his eyes, and tied on by a bandage, and over this was a bag or cap securely fastened. The start took place near the Coalpit Lane, Longbottom having no other assistance than two small sticks in his hands. Off he started in good style, but the small sticks were taken from him, not being considered as coming within the conditions of the race. To supply the place of these he used his two-foot rule, but that aid was also taken away from him. Nothing daunted away he went, and, with no other assistance than his hands and feet, he accomplished the difficult task by reaching the pole (erected by the Sappers and Miners on the crown of the hill some years ago) in the extraordinary short space of 23½ minutes.

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (14/Jan/2014) – Wood Trail is on Track

Wood Trail is on Track

Pupils create nature walk on old rail line

Huddersfield school pupils are helping a special community project take shape and learning about local heritage as they go. The students are working with Friends of Beaumont Park on a lottery-funded scheme to research local railway history and manage nearby woodland. The scheme received £49,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2012 and is supported by Kirklees Council, which owns the site.

It has seen youngsters from five of the area’s schools help clear the old Meltham branch railway line to create a heritage walking trail. They have also designed information boards and created wood carvings for benches near the trail’s entrance, which were put in place yesterday.

Teachers have been trained in Forest School techniques to help them use open space to encourage interactive play, health, recreation and personal development.

Everyone involved in the scheme has been learning about nature and the importance of effective woodland management. Schools taking part in the community project include Moor End Academy and South Crosland Junior School. The scheme is scheduled for completion in 2015 and will also see the creation of an attractive open space for local people to enjoy, as well as a series of nature talKs, leaflets, signposts and trail markings. Meltham branch railway line closed in 1965 and the new heritage walking trail follows its original track bed.

Peter Turner, of the Friends of Beaumont Park, said: “As well as local schools, Kirklees Council, as owners of the site, actively support the project through help from various departments.

“Volunteers for the Friends group will work with them and Environmental Alliance to create an attractive open space for all the community to use. “It is money from the Heritage Lottery Fund which has made this project possible and the Friends of Beaumont Park are extremely grateful to them”.

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (23/Jan/2013) – Rural Pennine Rail Line that Just Refused to Die

Rural Pennine Rail Line that Just Refused to Die

It was due to shut but now carries 1m passengers each year. Paul Salveson is a councillor for Golcar ward and founded the Penistone Line Partnership in 1993. Here he examines a new book about the massive cuts to the local railway network over many years.

Dr Richard Beeching is a name that still sends shudders down the spines of many rail supporters. He was the famous ‘axe man’ who was responsible for the closure of thousands of miles of railways in the 1960s and 1970s. His report — The Re-shaping of British Railways — was published 50 years ago, on March 27, 1963.

A new book puts the Beeching legacy into context and prominently features one particular railway — the Penistone Line — which refused to die.

“Holding the Line — How Britain’s Railways Were Saved” is written by two highly experienced railwaymen, Lord Richard Faulkner and Chris Austin, OBE.

The book is the first detailed account of successive attempts to drastically cut Britain’s railway network, of which Beeching was the low point.

While Richard and Chris are passionate about railways — and their anger about the slashing of our railways in the Beeching era comes through strongly — the book does not harangue the reader. It shows, with clear evidence, that there really was what amounts to a conspiracy in government circles to destroy what was once the best railway system in the world. And it could have been far worse.

Many lines had closed before Beeching published his infamous report.

Locally, Holmfirth lost its passenger service in 1959 and Meltham’s passenger trains ceased 10 years earlier.

The Penistone Line itself from Huddersfield to Sheffield was proposed for closure by Beeching in 1963.

Perhaps, surprisingly, it was reprieved in 1966 by Labour’s incoming transport minister, Barbara Castle, as one of six ‘conurbation commuter services’. However, that was not to be the end of the story.

The section of line between Denby Dale and Sheffield was proposed for closure in 1982, making the remaining section from Denby Dale to Huddersfield unviable.

South Yorkshire Passenger Transport executive relented on the Denby Dale-Sheffield closure but meanwhile West Yorkshire Metro had withdrawn financial support from the Huddersfield section. It wasn’t until 1987, after much pressure from groups such as the Huddersfield Penistone Sheffield Rail Users’ Association that the threat of closure was removed. However, the branch from Shepley to Clayton West saw its last train on January 22, 1983 — one of the last major closures in the country. The authors stress that the threat to large swathes of the rail network continued throughout the 1980s. The Serpell Report of 1983 presented ‘options’ which included a network of just 1,630 route miles — a loss of nearly 9,000 miles, including all of Huddersfield’s railways.

The book demonstrates that the attempts to close substantial parts of the network were highly political. Villains of the piece include Ernest Marples, Conservative transport minister at the time of Beeching, but also the shadowy figure of Alfred Sherman, a right-wing ideologue who had the ear of Mrs Thatcher. His ‘big idea’ was to tarmac over as many railways as possible and turn them into ‘super-highways’. But Labour Governments do not escape criticism either. The incoming 1964 Labour Government of Harold Wilson could easily have saved several well-used routes such as Whitby to Scarborough and York to Beverley.

The last major attempted closure came in the early 1980s when British Rail announced its intention to close the Settle-Carlisle Line. The route had been threatened, but reprieved, in the 1960s. The announcement led to a high-profile campaign which saw over 23,000 objections — including one dog!

The Government backed down. Like many other lines which had been threatened by Beeching, the Settle-Carlisle went on to prosper, today carrying a mix of both passenger and freight trains. Other lines in West Yorkshire which Beeching wanted to close included the now-electrified commuter line to Ilkley.

Sadly, the line to Wetherby succumbed and one has to wonder at the madness of closing what might have been an important part of the West Yorkshire commuter network had it survived.

Since the ‘final’ reprieve in 1987 the Penistone Line has, of course, gone from strength to strength. An active users’ association has been complemented by the Penistone Line Partnership, the first ‘community rail partnership’ in the country, formed in 1993. It became a model for other lightly-used lines around Britain. Passenger numbers have more than doubled and the line now carries well over a million people a year. It could so easily have been lost.

The main problems facing Britain’s local railways today are not lack of passengers but shortage of capacity to meet rising demand.

The so-called ‘basket-case’ lines of the 1970s are now carrying trains which are bursting at the seams. The challenge of the next 20 years will be to provide the capacity — both extra trains and more track capacity — to meet the sort of growth that the so-called experts of the 1960s would have dismissed as a pipe-dream. It was the romantics like John Betjeman who were proved right, not the ‘realists’ such as Beeching, Serpell and Sherman.

“Holding the Line: How Britain’s Railways Were Saved” by Richard Faulkner and Chris Austin is published by Ian Allan.

Manchester Guardian (07/May/1951) – Forty Years On and the First Passenger Train Arrives

FORTY YEARS ON — AND THE FIRST PASSENGER TRAIN ARRIVES

Railway Pilgrims’ Exploration.

HUDDERSFIELD, SATURDAY.

The branch line to Huddersfield Newtown, which was opened by the Midland Railway in 1910 as part of a scheme to win from competing companies the Huddersfield-London traffic, has had to wait until today for its first passenger tram. The passengers, moreover, were not those that the directors would have hoped for ; they were, in a way, railway archaeologists, exploring several “dead” passenger lines in this district of the Pennines.

Similar historical pilgrimages over disused loops and branches have already been arranged from London and Birmingham and in Scotland. In America, too, “railfan excursions” are no new idea. But today’s expedition was the first in the North of England. It was the result of six months’ co-operation between the Manchester Locomotive Society, the Stephenson Locomotive Society, and British Railways. The engine, three coaches, and the crew were provided by British Railways, the societies provided some hundred and forty passengers. In effect the three bodies melted into one, for the engine driver belonged to the Stephenson Society, and many members of the societies were railway servants.

UTTERLY DEFEATED

Nothing — not Stonehenge nor Pompeii nor Ur of the Chaldees — can look more utterly defeated by time than a derelict railway station, with grass and willow-herb pushing through the flagstones, booking offices in which birds have nested, gorse bushes flowering between rusty rails, and rotting sleepers lying about. Yet each of the stations we visited — Meltham, Kirkburton, Stainland, Ripponden, and Rishworth — was served by at least eleven passenger trains a day until 1929 to 1930. The Meltham line was closed as recently as 1949. Huddersfield Newtown never had a station ; the terminus from which travellers were to have been conveyed to St. Pancras was never built, and Huddersfield people still arrive in London at King’s Cross or Euston.

To increase our sense of antiquity the organisers of the pilgrimage had very properly harnessed to our train a tank engine built fifty years ago. She was, one was told, “one of the 2-4-2 side-tank engines of the one-time Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway,” designed by Sir John Aspinall and of the same type as the first engine turned out at the new Horwich works in 1889. To one not steeped in railway lore she had a still more venerable air, although she is still in use, the funnel and dome on the long slender boiler looked lather like a top hat and a tall bowler as they might have been worn at the Great Exhibition.

It was difficult to get used to the idea that the country we were travelling through was not as desolate and derelict as the stations we stopped at. It did not seem fitting that we should see through the windows the same scenery as from the most up-to-date express — the sewage works, the fields and sheep, the lonely textile mills, the old bedsteads in the allotments, and the telegraph wires dipping and rising. It was surprising to find people still living in Ripponden.

EXPERTS AND ENTHUSIASTS

We seem to be living in the past and the present simultaneously. But in fact we were not the pioneers we were inclined to think ourselves when we heard branches brushing or beating against the sides of our coaches, or waited for the guard to open the level-crossing gates. Goods trains still use all the lines regularly, and our own, nosing its way through the overgrown cuttings, was in no danger of having the tracks collapse under it.

My fellow-travellers were both experts and enthusiasts. It is not entirely a metaphor to call the expedition a pilgrimage (a merry one, it is true, like Chaucer’s), the pilgrims felt towards the railways something of the disinterested devotion of hierophants (or “expounders of sacred mysteries”). Their conversation was sprinkled liberally with technical terms, and when the talk did stray from railways it did not get farther than, for instance, the gauge of tramlines in various cities.

Their knowledge was useful towards the end of the six-hour run, for the tram was about an hour late, and much valuable advice could be given about connections home (some of the passengers had come from as far as Swindon and Sevenoaks, although most were from the North). One railway official shamelessly consulted a bus time-table, and so gave one more tiny stir to the poison that had already killed off those decaying lines from whose post-mortem he was returning.