FORGOTTEN CORNERS

[PanBiker]

I see my Grandparents house went for £169,000 this year also. Would like to see the prices for the late 50's early 60's.

[Stanley]

And note that they were freehold. We used to take that for granted but now it's a big bonus.



Exactly the same syndrome here, Look up Orchard Street.... These back to backs in the town centre were slated for 'slum clearance' in the late 1950s. Now they are some of the most sought after 'town cottages'.

[Stanley]

Not a picture today but a small item that I tripped over in my archive this morning....

BLACK LANE ENDS SCHOOL
28/02/05. I was contacted by Mrs Wormwell (nee Proctor) who used to live at Hain Slack Farm [the one on the side of the Sandbeds road not East Hain Slack where Emmotts were] who said she went to school at Black Lane Ends. The school was closed about 1921/22 and she was told she had to walk to Laneshawbridge school. Her father kept her off school and fought the case and in the end the council agreed to pay for transport to the bottom of Long Lane every morning on the milk float. From there she walked to Laneshawbridge. This was 1922/23 and she thinks she may have been one of the first pupils ever to have paid transport to school. She says the school was in the building on the left hand side of the road below the pub going down towards Colne.

This is one of those forgotten corners that can so easily slip into oblivion if they aren't revived every now and then.....

[Wendyf]

I believe Mrs Wormwell used to run Auntie Emily's cafe at Bank House Farm on Stoneybank as you come into Earby. She was descended from the Procter family who lived here at Lower Burnt Hill. I have a copy of the school registers, it opened in 1899 and closed in 1923.

This is a post I put on the Black Lane Ends Facebook page. I'll dig out a photo of the Procters at Hainslack.

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[Wendyf]

Procter family at Hainslack around 1890. Samuel, the older gentleman on the left was born here at LBH Farm, his son George and their wives and children. The lad sat on the basket is Tom Procter who later took over the farm and was the father of Ethel who later became Mrs Wormwell!

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[Stanley]

Thanks Wendy. That wouldn't be a big holding but it is obviously supporting a family of seven.... That's a forgotten corner in itself.

[Wendyf]

I was given that information with the photograph but am now doubting it! Samuel and Ann definitely, but not sure about the other couple, though the family likeness is strong! Tom was Samuel and Ann's son. Hmmm

[Stanley]

We never get a cast iron guarantee with any individual piece of information Wendy. What I find is that if your basis is believing your informants, you get corroboration later by cross referencing with other information. I was often asked why believe informants in research like the LTP and that's what I always told people. Basically if someone tries to fool you it eventually crumbles.....

[Stanley]

Muriel Smith weaving at Bendem in 1982. Bendem had the last weaving shed in Barlick, a small unit of less than 100 looms in Wellhouse Mill that had shafts powered by electric motors. Muriel was a weaver at Bancroft for many years but when we closed moved to Bendem. She was typical of the sort of woman who drove prosperity in Barlick for so many years. Always neat and tidy and a good conscientious worker. Jim Pollard always said that with a shed full of weavers like Muriel any manufacturer could make money. He thought they were solid gold. I;m sure that we have workers who are as good but I don't know where they are! They are my forgotten corner this morning.

[Stanley]

For most people in Barlick, (in fact just about everyone!), this is a forgotten corner. In 1927, just after he got married, John Albert Pickles of Barlick decided he wanted a Birch ornamental turning lathe but he couldn't afford to buy one so being Johnny, he made some patterns, got the castings made and set to and built his own version of the Birch Lathe. I have it in my front room and use it. It is a delight.



This probably means that I am an oddball but I don't care as long as at least a few people remember Johnny Pickles and what a marvellous engineer he was.....
(That's a real forgotten corner for you.)

[Stanley]

Pieces of machinery become forgotten corners until the day when, like yesterday, an old friend of 30 years standing lets you down. This is my Warco mill/drill which has been my vertical milling machine for almost 30 years. A Chinese design (Rong Fu) and made in Taiwan it has been imported by Warren Machine tools for over 30 years. I have always been amazed by its accuracy and reliability. I bought it from a machinery retailer in Todmorden new for about £350 and noted that the same machine, modern version, costs £1,859 now..... I think I have found the fault and ordered the right part to cure it. I hope so and will not be satisfied until it becomes a forgotten corner again!

[Stanley]

Today a proper job of soling and heeling a pair of traditional boots costs over £40. I the far off days when we wore clogs it was a bit different, many people, including me, repaired our own. I still have the makings, shown in the image. Heel and sole irons. Pegs for filling the holes in the wooden sole left by the old clog nails and of course clog nails themselves which were a smaller version of horse shoe nails. The techniques were very similar. They were more simple times but today it's a forgotten corner as indeed is any boot repair. People are more likely to throw footwear away today and but new trainers!

[Stanley]

A pic of Ellenroad Mill when it was running. A forgotten corner now but still interesting. The snow on the roof is dust that was extracted from the air in the mill and discharged through the 'fanny hole', the large aperture in the roof at the far end. One interesting thing I was told was that the reason for the external towers which supported the sprinkler water tank, access stairs and the toilets was that these were not charged rates by the council and so it made sense for them not to take up valuable space in the building. I never got hard proof that was correct but it makes sense.

[Stanley]

This might make him smile..... A younger Tom Phillips on Ellenroad Chimney in 1986. I think he'll agree it's a forgotten corner now....
He and Peter Tatham were rebuilding the top of the stack at the time.....

[Steeplejerk]

I can smell that photograph,no aches and pains back then

[Stanley]

Hey Farm in 1969. As always it's interesting to look for changes.... Apart from the personal changes like no longer owning it! Look at the number of mill chimneys there were then. There are still four cottages at the end of Park Road and of course the barn is still there, Manchester Road hasn't been widened. One personal note, Ted Waite's caravan is in the orchard. Those were good days.....

[Stanley]

Rainhall Road railway bridge before the line was closed and the Co-op Pioneer store built on the site. The cast iron girders you can see that support the roadway were re-purposed when the bridge was demolished and were re-used to build the two bridges across Butts Beck in Valley gardens created between Gisburn Road and the Butts.
Not many people know that!

[Stanley]

Here's one of the bridges in Valley Gardens. You can see the repurposed cast iron girders supporting the walkway. I think they might have a long life!

[Stanley]

I love a good washing line and this one in particular pleased me. Good washing lines are getting increasingly rare!

[Jenniecooper]

Thank you to Stanley and Ian for sorting out my registration on here. I've been trying to do some digging and came across this thread from 2017 about the Coronation Pub on the A59. We have just bought one of the 7 houses built out of the converted pub about 22 years ago. I am an English teacher at West Craven High School in Barlick but I'm originally from Blackpool. My grandad (Harry Cooper) was a driver for Yelloway if anyone remembers the coach firm? He also owned Cooper's hardware in Blackpool if anyone used to know it, back in the 50s and 60s. My partner and I are really into local history and would love some information about the Coronation Pub and any photos and stories you might have from before it was converted. We move there from near Gargrave in February.
Thank you so much,
Jennie Cooper

[Stanley]

Well done Jennie, give it a chance and I think you'll find the site can give more and more. Don't neglect simple things like doing a search in the site index that you can find on the right at the top in the masthead. There is all sorts of stuff in there. Amazing what one single word can throw up!
Thanks Ian.... brilliant job!

[PanBiker]

Yes, welcome Jennie.

Stanley, didn't we have a thread on the site a while ago where we discussed it's use during WWII as a POW site?

[PanBiker]

Found it, it was on of your Stanley's View Articles from the paper. Can of course be read on the site here:

POW Camps

[PanBiker]

A quiet part of the canal tow path at Coates Bridge but a century ago this was a very busy place. It's Coates Wharf and thousands of tons of coal was moved out of the 40 ton capacity canal boats into the yard below and from there carted in 2 ton horse cart loads to the mills. You can still see the base stone of the crane that stood here. Leaving aside employment in the actual mills, how many people had jobs simply shifting the coal to run them and caring for the horses and carts? They were not on the best wages but could support their families and enjoy the dignity of being independent. This is perhaps one of the biggest Forgotten Corners in our world today, the death of these lower echelon jobs that kept our society going. There were other wharves as well, Salterforth and the two main stone wharves at New Road bridge and further west beyond the Anchor. A hive of industry.

Also two at either side of Southfield Bridge on the Marton Road. Favourite fishing spots at one time. Some very nice Bream and Tench in the weed beds on the offside bank.

[Stanley]

Yes, that was where the Estate had its wharf and the coal drops for their coal deliveries.



The wharf on the Salterforth side of the New Road Bridge which was the terminus for the tramways from Sagar's quarries.