KELBROOK PART TWO

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Stanley
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KELBROOK PART TWO

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KELBROOK PART TWO

One of the nice things about talking about Kelbrook in the late 1950s is that very little has changed. In those days the steam trains were still running and the branch to Barlick was alive and well. There was no industrial estate on the bend above Sough and Berry's wood yard stood on the opposite side of the road. Sough Bridge mill was occupied by Bristol Tractors, Kelbrook Metal Products and the Forecast foundry and still had its chimney. The mill was a busy place and we had a constant stream of customers from there. In the morning Mother and I would make about fifty bacon butties on teacakes and we did a hot meal for about 25 in the back room every dinnertime.
One regular customer was Chris Demain from Foulridge who was the local bookie's runner. He popped in from time to time to ring his bets in. Another regular was Tom Ward who worked in the office at Bristol Tractors and later opened a tailor's shop on Rainhall Road where the new pharmacy is now opposite the health centre. Mother had a soft spot for Tom, she was always saying what a nice lad he was! A man called Billy Banks lived in Barlick and worked at the mill. He was a bit of an oddity and the word was that 'he was a very clever bloke but his brain had overheated'. I can't say anything about that but remember him for two reasons. He always came in mid-morning for a meat and potato pie which he called 'A Ten to One. Ten to one there was no meat in it.' same joke every morning. His other peculiarity was that he had what was a common thing in those days, a cycle with a 'Power Pak' driving the rear wheel. This was a small 49cc engine driving the back wheel by a ribbed roller you could lower onto the tyre. He was famous for the fact that he used the engine while travelling downhill from Barlick but pedalled up the hill at the end of the day. I once asked him why and he said that it used too much petrol going uphill. Logical I suppose but it seemed to me that it defeated the object of having the engine in the first place.
In those days the left hand bend out of Sough going towards Kelbrook was notorious for causing accidents due to the bad adverse camber. I think it was altered in the late 1950s and was a lot safer afterwards. Berry's wood yard on the right hand side above the bend fascinated me. Their trade was mainly everyday joinery and the workshop was a glorious place that looked as if it had 'just growed' over the years. All the machinery was belt driven and unusually, all the driving shafts were under the floor so the belts came up from underneath. The prime mover was a Crossley Gas engine in the shed at the back and what intrigued me about it was that the fuel was sawdust! The sawdust from the shop was burned, or rather smouldered, in a gas producer and the engine was started on town's gas but then switched over to running off the smoke. In later years the gas producer corroded badly and it was cheaper to run of town's gas. Unfortunately at some point the gas company fitted a new meter and they found that the gas bill went up to a painful amount! The old meter must have been ready for replacement.
Further up on the same side of the road was Fred Morphet's garage. He had a mechanic called Jack Thompson who was a good man, he had been in the Air Force working on Merlin engines during the war and his biggest adjustment when he came back to Civvy Street was that he had got used to high tensile bolts on the aircraft engines and kept over tightening stuff when he got back to cars. One of Fred's sidelines was that he ran a Guy eight wheeler on general haulage and I always admired it and envied the driver his job. Little did I know that this was the first pangs of the infection that eventually saw me earning my living for years on long distance haulage. A little further up the road and you were in the village. The first building on the right hand side was the Craven Heifer and this is where the story really starts!
Right, you know me well enough to know I'm going to start with the research. The first mention I have found of the pub is in the 1841 census when a man called William Halstead aged 45 lived there with his wife Mary and at least four children. His occupation is given as 'joiner' but this doesn't mean he wasn't the landlord as well. Many publicans had an occupation besides inn-keeping. He was still there in 1851 described as 'farmer and inn keeper' of the Scotsman's Arms. By 1891 Jacob Bell is noted as farmer and licensee of 'The Craven Heifer' so it had changed its name but perhaps not for the first time because I have a reference that describes Jacob as keeping 'The Grey Mare'. In 1911 Henry Bailey was the licensee and the next name I can give is Jimmy Talbot and his wife Gladys in the 1950s when I knew it. I was told once that he was nick-named 'Banana Jimmy' because at one time he sold bananas on the market. Gladys was the daughter of a man called Ayrton who was licensee of the Seven Stars in Barlick so she was brought up in the trade. They went from Kelbrook to keep the Station Hotel in Nelson in the early 1960s and I forget the name of the man who took it then. Bob King once told me that at one time a man called Alphonse, nicknamed 'Fonce' had the Heifer, he was noted for being miserable and having bad ale!
There was once a pub called 'The Half Way House' up Dotcliffe, so called because it was half way along the old green track from Elslack to the Cloth Hall at Colne. What is now Old Stone Trough on the old road from Kelbrook to Foulridge was a pub called The Wilson Arms but was replaced after 1824 with the present Stone Trough Inn when the new turnpike road was built, the present main road.
I feel better now I've got the history off my chest. Next week I'll tell you about the Heifer in the 1950s and some of the stories.

Image

The Crossley gas engine that ran Berry's yard off sawdust.
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Moh »

Someone called Hoole had it late 40's, they had a son Jim and a daughter Marie. I remember a neighbour of ours getting killed on his motorbike on that corner before the Tractors, he left a wife and small child.
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Stanley »

Thanks for the comments. There is much more coming.
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Wendyf »

Someone told me about this postcard on Ebay this morning. I thought Moh would like to see it (it's from wellbefore your time though Moh!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HARDEN-NICHE- ... 500wt_1119
Sorry about the long URL, is there a way of linking text that I am missing?
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Stanley »

Never mind the length Wendy, the link works. Nice pic, looks to be about 1890/1900. Lots of hand coloured cards around that time in this area.
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Wendyf »

I think it must be taken from somewhere above Paris Farm. Moh will know. I have seen the name Harden Nick before, but never seen Harden Niche. Perhaps I should put a bid in.
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by PanBiker »

Wendyf wrote:Sorry about the long URL, is there a way of linking text that I am missing?
Wendy, there is another box under the URL box in the window (enter a description for this page) where you can enter link text. This will give you this effect.


Harden Niche
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Moh »

Yes I agree Wendy, I would suggest it is in the beck actually in the field just below Paris. I used to play in that beck, fallen in a few times which of course you have to do before you can become a 'Kelbrooker'! (It was certainly before my time!!!)
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Wendyf »

Will that be Dotcliffe Mill in the background? There is a wooden bridge over the beck below Paris now, where the footpath crosses over towards Heads Farm. Was there a stone bridge there at one time?
Thanks Ian I will give it a try.
Harden Niche postcard
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Moh »

It could well be. I am sure it was a large single stone slab, certainly not a wooden bridge - probably someone pinched the stone!!
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Stanley »

Bumped and pic reinstated in the article.
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Gloria »

Another interesting one Stanley.
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Stanley »

Thanks Gloria.... :biggrin2:
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Stanley »

Another 2012 episode bumped.....
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Gloria »

Which bookies was Chris Demain a runner for, do you remember?
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

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I don't think I ever knew Gloria.
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Gloria »

Stanley wrote: 19 Nov 2022, 10:12 I don't think I ever knew Gloria.
Just wondered if it was one of ours, I come from a family of bookmakers .
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Wendyf »

Interesting Gloria!
When I read my earlier comment about the footbridge over Harden Beck below Paris Farm I knew that I had been wrong. A slight diversion on my walking route this morning confirmed that it is indeed a stone slab!
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Re: KELBROOK PART TWO

Post by Tripps »

Gloria wrote: 19 Nov 2022, 11:42 I come from a family of bookmakers .
See the 'Owt Else' thread then. . . . :smile:
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