FORGOTTEN CORNERS

[Stanley]

Barnsey and Moss sheds in 1978.

[Stanley]

From an old postcard. The canal at Long Ing before Barnsey and Moss were built, showing the entrance to the Little Cut.
The chimney at Long Ing is there and the square chimney at Coates. On the extreme right is Bank House, long since demolished.

[PanBiker]

When I was a lad you used to be able to walk through the tunnel at the Barnsey end to get to the fishing length at Rainhall. There were some very nice Perch in that stretch and nice lilly pads and weed beds. Fishing rights were held by the Marsden Star Angling Club, you could also but day tickets at Foden's if you were a non member. it was also visited by the water bailiff as part of his round You could also get through the tunnel under Salterforth Lane, (the tow path was still passable) until it collapsed. I actually went through it the same morning it collapsed in the afternoon!

Toxic now due to leeching from the far end which of course was used as the local council tip for about 20 years. Levelled off now and a methane tap to burn off the gas produced. Viaduct is still there but buried with the parapets removed to field level.

[Stanley]

The stretch of canal Ian refers to and the bridge in 1978. Looking through the arches you can see that tipping had already started in the top end of the quarry.

[PanBiker]

My dads dog Lassie, (Collie) used to walk along the parapet when we went for a Sunday walk. On one occasion she jumped off to chase a rabbit she had seen, she didn't catch it and it was a bit of a trial getting her back up and out of the cutting.

[Stanley]

When you think about it, building that bridge was a very expensive exercise to preserve the right of way to the church.



Here's the tunnel Ian mentioned.

[Stanley]

A postcard sent in 1906 of the tunnel.

[Stanley]

Tipping in progress in 1982 at Rainhall Rock.

[Stanley]

I found another Harden Niche PC on Ebay. Is this the one that Wendy saw and mentioned?

[Wendyf]

Yes it is Stanley. Though I don't remember a coloured version.

[Stanley]

HERE it is Wendy, £3.99.

[Stanley]

The basements under the premises in Commercial Street in 1982. They were used by the town's butchers as slaughter places, all the offal went in the beck which is just to the right. The brick stables on the right have been demolished since then.

[Stanley]

This bench on the main pathway up to Letcliffe always amused me. I took an accurate sprit level up with me one day and checked. The Bench is perfectly level.

[Stanley]

There's a story behind this picture.... Martha's Daughter Emily had asked me to wear the kilt at her wedding in Devon. (She'd seen four weddings and a funeral) This lady Mary was a guest at the wedding and we were staying in the same hotel. She wanted this pic with me and her husband took it. (I didn't need a lot of persuading.)
We kept in touch and about six months later she informed me that they had been trying for a baby for years and she had conceived while she was at the wedding. She reckoned that it was the kilt that had done it! Happy Days.....

[Stanley]

1977, Elslack primary school. Janet (smiling in the centre) at a young Farmer's meeting where they were teaching public speaking.

[Stanley]

One of the bells at All Saints Hamer Rochdale before they were removed and sold. This shows the frame and how the bell was mounted.

[Stanley]

My late brother Leslie in Flanders visiting the war graves. He was a respected historian of the Western Front in WW1.

[Stanley]

Young Ronnie Goggins and his mate (Ronnie is sat down....) on Mons chimney in 1986 when they were demolishing it brick by brick. The chimney was built with bricks from the Newhey Brick works and I wanted them to use on the new head we were building on Ellenroad stack. The unique thing that isn't immediately apparent is that Ronnie had lost a leg in a motor cycle accident but never let it interfere with his trade.....

[Stanley]

The engine at Mons Mill Todmorden. Reputed to be the biggest engine ever installed in a UK textile mill, it was rated at 3,000hp and was built by Carels Frere of Ghent in Belgium. Carels stepped in and financed the building of what was originally Hare Mill after the Hare Mill Company got into difficulties. The engine was so large because the mill had been designed as a double mill but only one half was ever built. I have been told that there were problems with bad bearing ground and this halted construction.
One of the conditions Carels imposed on the company was that the mill's name was changed from Hare to Mons. There was a bit of a problem in that the name 'HARE' had already been built into the chimney in white glazed brick. I had heard this story and asked Ronnie to let me know if he found anything interesting when the demolition reached the name 'MONS'. He told me I was right, when they got to the name the layer of brickwork that contained the name was single skin and not tied into the courses behind it. It peeled of like a skin when they attacked it so I think we can say that the story was true.
One fial thing. My friend Newton Pickles told me he had seen the engine running when he called in one day out of professional interest. He said it was badly maintained, the valves weren't set properly and even if it was perfect it would have been a wastrel.
The engine was scrapped in 1964 and the mill closed in 1968.