OneGuyFromBarlick

I was looking on line today and it seems that Lothersdale Quarry has now been flooded.

I remember when we used to drive from Bradford to Earby in the early to mid 1960's we would take the road which went through the actual quarry.
If they were blasting, this section of the road would be closed to traffic and you had to drive the longer way around, skirting the quarry itself.
Here's the start of the road in Crosshills in 1965.

I've gone through many a time Mick and once with the wagon I think.



You'll remember this then.... The Hare and Hounds in 1979.

There is just a footpath down the quarry road now, though that has been affected by a mud slide for the past few years and it isn't an easy walk! That section of road in Crosshills has been closed to through traffic for a long time, you have to go through Crosshills and turn right by the police station to get onto Lothersdale Road.

Have a look at this Mick. A TV programme about Lothersdale in the early seventies that shows a way of life that changed completely in the next 20 years.

The Quarry is now Raygill Fisheries and is open with day tickets for Fly and Coarse fishing in the various lakes, they also have a cafe and a cottage for overnight accommodation. Night fishing sessions are available also.

Raygill Fisheries

Thanks W for steering us towards that film. Inconceivable that any such work could be on our screens today. No boxes ticked at all.
A few worthwhile quotes, but I liked the final words "We don't want invading".

I was given a cd of the film a number of years ago and I have watched it many times! It's so sad that everything changed so soon after that, the quarry, mill and small scale farming all gone. My favourites are the wonderful lady outside her farm on the edge of the moor saying "I love it 'ere", and the quarry driver describing his first trip in the motor lorry.

Thanks Wendy, I remember the film from the 70s and one phrase has always stuck in my head, 'Houses that looked as though they could withstand cannon balls'.
My mate Newton Pickles' family originated in Lothersdale so it was nice to see the Pickles.



Here's Ted Booth and Mabel at Dowshaw in 1957, and yes, that lad's the one who was driving the tractor in the film.



If you were really sharp you might remember seeing this bloke in the scene shot in the ring at Skipton Market. It's Keith Drinkall, brother to David and Richard who I worked for as a driver.
A real trip down memory lane Wendy. Thanks.

Wendy

Many thanks for sharing that, it was great!
I remember when you drove through the quarry there were two arches that you drove under, one for each direction the traffic was going.
I don't remember the arches being that high but maybe they were as I saw this in your film....



Stanley

I remember the Drinkalls from Skipton auction and possibly Bingley too from when I went there with an old family friend called Wilson McNally.

Here's a funny tale.
Wilson, after being told I was passing through Bingley that afternoon, asked me to pick up a couple of calves he'd purchased over the phone.
I though nothing of it, having done it before. I would pop the rear end of the calf in an old feed sack (to prevent any possible mess) and put it on the back seat of the car.

I arrived at Bingley auction and was told "they're in there, lad" by the bloke in charge.
My jaw must have almost hit the ground when I saw these 2 "calves". They were huge, no way their back ends were going into a feed sack.
Somehow or other, after removing the back seat from my old Mark 2 Cortina, I managed to get them both into the back of the car and drive them back to Mack's place in Earby. I remember thinking "I hope neither of these calves turns around and coughs". The result would have been, shall we say, a little messy.

I was also concerned about getting pulled over by the cops and trying to explain why I had these very large beasts in the back of my car. I had visions of getting arrested for rustling or something.

Just one of those funny colourful things that happen in your life...

Keith was the Bingley man Mick.