Saddleworth Historicalsociety Bulletin

Saddleworth Historical Society Bulletin

Volume 49 Number 2 2019

Bulletin of the Saddleworth Historical Society

Volume 49 Number 2 2019

The Enigmatic Austerlands Milestone 35 Mike Buckley

The Development and Decline of Railways in the Saddleworth Area - Part 2 43 David Wharton-Street and Alan Young

An Index of Ammon Wrigley’s Articles and Poems 57 Peter Fox

Letter 72

Cover Illustration: Austerlands Milestone Ken Booth, SHSB Vol. 1, No. 3, 1971.

©2019 Saddleworth Historical Society and individual contributors and creators of images.

ii SHSB, VOL. 49, NO. 2, 2019

THE ENIGMATIC AUSTERLANDS MILESTONE

Mike Buckley1

In October last year a ceremony was held to mark the unveiling of a copy of an ancient milestone that had once stood at Austerlands on the A62 road. The original stone had been discovered in 1971 by the Saddleworth Historical Society and Lees Civic Trust, acting as a gatepost in a wall to the south of the A62 road near the Austerlands Chimney. Some years later, as demolition work was underway nearby, it was decided that the milestone would be stored temporarily in Saddleworth Museum until a new location could be found.2 Oldham Council, which has responsibility for all milestones, gave permission for the stone to be moved. Rex Shepherdson, then chairman of Lees Civic Trust and Mr. T Greenhalgh of Greenhalgh and Crossley, the builders, provided equipment for excavating and transporting the heavy stone to the Saddleworth Museum. Figures 1, 2 and 3 show the stone in the position it was discovered with the now demolished Austerlands Mill in the background. At the time of its discovery Ken Booth produced detailed drawings of the milestone and its inscription. These were first published in the Bulletin in 1971.3 Subsequently the milestone was re-erected on a triangle of land at the bottom of Thorpe Lane, next to the Austerlands chimney, on the north side of the A62. It remained in this position until about twelve years ago when a car, coming up hill, spun out of control and collided with the milestone breaking it in half. The broken portion was taken to the Council highways depot at Mumps with the intention of its eventual restoration. There was some concern about its location in such a vulnerable spot close to a busy highway and no immediate decision was taken on its repair and reinstatement. Some time later, following a change of management in the highways depot, the milestone was forgotten and it was regrettably lost when the depot was closed shortly afterwards. This was particularly unfortunate as the milestone had been Grade II listed and no detailed photographs of it existed. Its replacement with a copy, albeit bearing little resemblance to the original artefact, in the wrong type of stone, and with a mistake in the inscription now provides a close to this sad story. But a number of unresolved questions remain. How old was the original milestone and where was its original location? The inscription on the milestone apparently read:- To Man To Hud cheſter derſfield 10 Mile.. 15 Miles However the distance to Manchester is a point of contention. Ken Booth in his drawings shows the distance as 10 miles while the new replacement stone has the distance as 10½ miles. Photographs show that there was once possibly a half after the 10 but the erosion is too severe to be certain. Bernard Barnes suggested that the milestone belonged to the original Austerlands to Wakefield Turnpike constructed in 1759-60 by John Metcalf, ‘Blind Jack of Knaresborough’. The predecessor of the present A62, the turnpike’s route was altered on a number of occasions. The first 1760 turnpike followed an existing old route along Thorpe Lane and Thurston Clough Road. It is shown on Jefferys’ map of Yorkshire, published in 1772 (Figures 4 & 5).4 Then around 1800, the present route was created at a lower level through Scouthead

1 I would like to thank David Chadderton for suggesting this article and for his help also for providing information and photographs. 2 Oldham Chronicle, November (?) 1979. 3 SHS Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 3. (1971), p. 14. 4 M. Buckley et al. (eds), Mapping Saddleworth, Vol. 1, (SHS, 2010), pp. 2-5.

35 THE ENIGMATIC AUSTERLANDS MILESTONE

Figure 1. North View

David Chadderton Collection

Figure 2. East View

David Chadderton Collection

Figure 3. South View

David Chadderton Collection

36

THE ENIGMATIC AUSTERLANDS MILESTONE and New Delph, superseding the old route along Thorpe Lane. At Austerlands, the new road passed along Old Lane joining Thorpe Lane behind Austerlands chimney. But this was not the final route: around 1820, the present route through Austerlands was created between Heywood Lane and Thorpe Lane avoiding the narrow bends on the old road. So if the milestone was put in place as part of the first Turnpike it follows it would have been somewhere on Thorpe Lane. Only one other milestone has survived on this route. The top part of it remains on a wall at Highmoor.5 It is semi-circular in section and and carved in fine sandstone with high quality lettering (Figure 6), quite different from the crudely produced Austerlands milestone. This suggests that it post dated the Austerlands milestone. The inscription reads:- TO Huddersf’.... Miles TO Oldham 3 Miles Unfortunately, the numbers in both cases have either been effaced or are badly eroded. The number ‘3’ is inverted and appears to be an alteration of possibly an original ‘8’. The distance to Oldham from Highmoor is indeed 3 miles so the milestone must be close to its original position, Jefferys’ map shows it slightly closer to Thurston Clough and gives the Huddersfield distance as 13 miles. As already noted, the route of the first and second Turnpikes at Austerlands passed down Thorpe Lane, the second branching off down Old Lane until its re-routing to its present position in the 1820s. A third milestone at Austerlands adds further to the picture. This milestone (Figure 7) is still in position on the 1820s road near the old Co-op premises.6 The inscription reads: TO TO Manchestr. Huddersdfd. 9 Miles 15 Miles. 1135. YARDS. The shape of the stone is similar to the Highmoor stone but slightly triangular in section with curved faces and the lettering, which uses a small ‘s’ rather than a long ‘s’, is similar to the Highmoor stone, implying that both are similar in date but later than the first Austerlands milestone. It is also clear that the wording ‘1135 YARDS’ has been added at a later date. Writing in 1949, W.B. Crump in his seminal work Huddersfield Highways Down the Ages, commenting on this milestone, states that it ‘is said to have been moved from its original site in Old Lane to its present one in New Road’.7 A similar stone exists at New Delph and there was once another at the end of Harrop Edge Lane.8 Crump goes on to say that these stones were apparently survivors of the first Turnpike shown by Jeffreys; but this is clearly wrong as the three stones are on the route of the second turnpike. The fact that the third stone was once on Old Lane dates it before the 1820s and, as it matches two others on the second turnpike route, would date it after 1800. It seems most likely they all date from 1800, the time the second turnpike was built. A chronology of the three milestones at Austerlands therefore emerges. The Highmoor milestone was on the route of the first turnpike, and must have been abandoned after 1800 with the opening of the second turnpike. It possibly dated from the creation of the first turnpike in 1759-60 but must date from before 1800.

5 At National Grid Reference SD 97413 06347. It is illustrated and described in an article by Ken Booth in SHS Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 3-4. 6 At National Grid Reference SD 95989 05522. 7 W.B. Crump. Huddersfield Highways Down the Ages, (Tolson Memorial Museum, Huddersfield, 1949), p. 74. 8 ibid.

37 THE ENIGMATIC AUSTERLANDS MILESTONE

Figure 4. Jeffreys’ Saddleworth Map of 1772

Figure 5. Jeffreys’ Map of 1772 featuring Marsden

38

THE ENIGMATIC AUSTERLANDS MILESTONE

The Austerlands milestone, which is quite different in style and material from the Highmoor stone must surely pre-date it and is possibly a remnant of the pre-turnpike road which passed through Austerlands. The rough gritstone construction and style of lettering with the long ‘s’ is also consistent with other milestones and waymarkers of an earlier period illustrated by Crump. Guide stoops and milestones appeared as a result of an Act of Parliament of 1698 which ordered Justices to erect guide posts at crossroads, the Justices being liable for a penalty in default. Consequently the Justices of the West Riding in 1700 issues an order to the Townships’ Surveyors of Highways ‘for Stoops to be sett up in Crosse highways’ inscribed with ‘the name of the next Market Town to which each of the joining highways leede’. Further orders appeared in 1733 when it was ordered that guide stoops were particularly to be set up at crossroads ‘upon large Moors and Commons where intelligence is difficult to be had; and in 1738 the distances were to be stated.9 The Austerlands milestone therefore would probably have post-dated this last order and have been produced by the Saddleworth Township’s Surveyor of Highways; it having been made of local material by local labour; perhaps explains its rough form. A similar milestone at Badger Gate near Marsden (Figure 8) provides a further clue to its date. Its bears the inscription: TO TO A H 9 M 6 M From the distances given, letter ‘A’ must refer to Austerlands and ‘H’ to Huddersfield. The county boundary, Austerlands, would have been of no interest to the traveller, but would have been of interest as the beginning of the Manchester to Austerlands turnpike built in 1735. Jeffrey’s map of 1772 shows a stone a little further down the road towards Marsden with this inscription. Five others between this milestone and Huddersfield are also marked with the dual distances to Austerlands and Huddersfield given (Figure 5). Strangely this pattern is not repeated beyond Marsden, the distance to Huddersfield only being given. Were these stones a remnant of an earlier pre-turnpike road that had terminated at the Manchester turnpike at Austerlands? This seems a likely explanation and would point to a possible date of the Austerlands milestone of 1738-1760. It would seem logical to have had a milestone at Austerlands where the Manchester turnpike started and to which the distances related. It is also significant that the distance from Manchester was an approximation, being 625 yards short of the actual distance as evidenced by the lettering on the third milestone. Jefferys’ map is unfortunately ambiguous as to the exact position of the 15 miles to Huddersfield milestone. It could have been at Austerlands or on the Manchester Turnpike at Millbottom near Waterhead Mill; in most cases he marks the milestones by a symbol but in built up areas such as Austerlands, Delph and Marsden omits the symbol just giving the mileage. Reading from the map Millbottom seems more likely.10 This is confirmed by the slightly later 1786 Yates Map of Lancashire which shows a milestone at Millbottom marking its exact position (Figure 9). It is labelled 10 miles to Manchester and appears to be one of a set of similar milestones on the Austerlands milestone can now be seen to be quite significant. If it was 10 miles it would argue it was located at Millbottom, but on the other hand, if it was 10½ miles it is more likely it was at Austerlands. If it was at Millbottom it would almost certainly have been part of set of similar milestones erected in about 1735 when the Manchester to Austerlands turnpike was created and could not have been erected by the Austerlands to Wakefield Turnpike Trust. So there are two possibilities for the

9 Crump, p. 46. 10 The original route of the 1735 Manchester to Austerlands Turnpike was via Millbottom and Greenacres Road. The present route, bypassing Greenacres and Millbottom, was later than both Jeffrey’s and Yates’ maps

39 THE ENIGMATIC AUSTERLANDS MILESTONE

Mike Buckley Figure 6. Highmoor Milestone

Figure 7. Second Turnpike Milestone

Mike Buckley

Figure 8. Milestone at Badger Gate, Marsden

Mike Buckley

40

THE ENIGMATIC AUSTERLANDS MILESTONE location of the first milestone: either at the County Boundary, at the termination of the 1735 turnpike, or as part of a set of milestones on the 1735 turnpike. Whether the distance on to Manchester on the Austerlands milestone was 10 or 10½ miles is clearly an important consideration in establishing its location. One other factor is that Yates gives the distance from Manchester to Huddersfield at 25¼ miles, which would argue that the milestone at Millbottom indicated that the distance to Huddersfield, although not stated on the map, was 15¼ miles. Both these factors would argue that the most probable location of the Austerlands milestone was near where it was discovered, at Austerlands, and that the original mileage to Manchester read 10¼ or 10½ miles.

https://luna.manchester.ac.uk/luna/servlet/s/05w83f Figure 9. Yates’ Map of 1786

County Boundary N

New Manchester Turnpike Pack Horse Route

To Manchester To Huddersfield

A B

Milestone Inscription A To Huddersfield 15 Miles B To Manchester 10 Miles

Figure 10. Probable Original Position of Austerlands Milestone

41

THE ENIGMATIC AUSTERLANDS MILESTONE

As to its exact location at Austerlands, as was stated in the 1971 Bulletin article, it would have been on the side of road, at an angle of 45°. But as the information would have faced the direction of travel it would have been on the south side of the road not the north side as previously stated (see Figure 10). A nineteenth century boundary stone marking the Springhead Urban District already stands in this position and it seems likely that the milestone was moved away from the road following 1894 when the Urban District was created and the present boundary stone put in place. Postscript A further eighteenth century survival of the pre-turnpike era has recently been discovered at Austerlands.11 Built into a garage doorway it is a guide post or stoop, approximately 12in square by 6ft high. Unlike the first milestone it is made from fine sandstone, and finished to a high standard with a smooth sanded surface. It bears the inscription:- Saddle worth 3 M; below which is a pointing hand (Figure 11). It can only have stood on the north side of the junction of Thorpe Lane with Old Lane pointing the traveller down Heywood Lane and through Woodbrook, to Grottonhead from where the road branched to either Wharmton or Grasscroft.

Figure 11. Guide Post or Stoop at Austerlands

Mike Buckley

11 At National Grid Reference SD 95921 05573.

42 SHSB, VOL. 49, NO. 2, 2019

THE DEVELOPMENT AND DECLINE OF RAILWAYS IN THE SADDLEWORTH AREA - PART 2

by David Wharton-Street and Alan Young THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE HUDDERSFIELD TO MANCHESTER RAILWAY The Saddleworth Viaduct

Alan Baxter Ltd Figure 10. Saddleworth Viaduct; looking from the Canal 32

The other major structure of the first railway route was a viaduct located at Uppermill, Saddleworth; spanning the River Tame, the Canal and the Toll Road. Uppermill Viaduct (also known as Uppermill Arches and Saddleworth Viaduct and Dobcross Viaduct) was constructed between 1847-1849 by A S Jee; the engineer for the H&M Railway. It was built using Kinderscout gritstone obtained from local quarries. In total it is 917yds in length and consists of 23 arches. Each arch is semi-circular, has rusticated voussoirs, and is supported on a rectangular pier with projecting plinth and springing band. Three of the arches are skew and flanked by flat pilasters; they are Nos. 9, 15 and 21 (counting from the south). The viaduct became part of the LNWR before completion. It is now Grade II listed by Historic England.33 From the south end of the viaduct, the line hugged the western side of the Tame valley by a series of cuttings and embankments until the tunnel approaching Stalybridge station. It termi- nated end-on with the SA&MR line from Manchester (London Road) via Guide Bridge and the MLR line via Ashton to Manchester (Victoria); thereby providing possible services to both the Manchester termini.

32 Network Rail: TransPennine Route Statement of History and Significance: West of Leeds V3.1 /March 2017, MVL3/61, p.45. 33 https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1068120, accessed 17th September, 2018.

43 RAILWAYS IN SADDLEWORTH

Peter Fox Collection Figure 11. Uppermill viaduct in 1921; showing Saddleworth station at the north end of the bridge.

Over and underbridges This section of the route contains two groups of bridges which are of interest primarily in the way they relate to each other. They were all designed by A.S. Jee. for the construction of the Huddersfield & Manchester Railway in 1845-9. One is a group of unaltered segmental overbridges responding to the steep slope of the valley between Diggle and Mossley (e.g. Roughtown Road, Wrights Mill and Wrights and Heyrod Hall). These are located on the side of the valley over a relatively short distance and can easily be appreciated travelling through the valley. In this group, the basic design retains the same stepped-rusticated voussoirs, quarry-faced walling, and projecting wing walls. The second group is a cluster of handsome skew bridges prominently located near footpaths and roads (e.g. Manchester Road, Mossley and Oldham Road, Greenfield); these are a mixture of underbridges, overbridges and footbridges. In contrast to other bridges on the line, this group is unaltered, all of them being of finely detailed tooled ashlar with elegantly skewed stone soffits. However, despite the quality in these two clusters, none are structurally or aesthetically exceptional. They, too, are typical of many constructed during the mid- nineteenth century. Oldham Road bridge, Greenfield is a particularly fine example. Constructed of Kinderscout Grit and designed by Jee, it is an unaltered skew overbridge at Greenfield station. The segmental arch has stepped, rusticated, ashlar voussoirs with a slightly projecting keystone. The voussoirs are picked ashlar, with tooled margins. The impost band is tooled ashlar with similar detailing, which continues down to the quoins of the abutments. The walling otherwise is of squared and coursed quarry-faced stone.34 Between Standedge and Stalybridge stations were provided at Saddleworth, Greenfield and Mossley (all opened 1st August 1849). The date of opening of Diggle station is uncertain. In the Bradshaw timetable for June 1850 stations are shown at Saddleworth, Greenfield and Mossley but not at Diggle. However, the November 1850 timetable incorporates Diggle station.

34 Network Rail: TransPennine Route Statement of History and Significance: West of Leeds V3.1/ March 2017.

44 RAILWAYS IN SADDLEWORTH

Alan Baxter Ltd Figure 12. Oldham Road skew overbridge, Greenfield Station

THE FIRST TRAIN SERVICE The public train service between Huddersfield and Stalybridge commenced on 1st August 1849 using coaches and locomotives provided by the LNWR. This company had obtained agreement with the MLR to use the Ashton route to Manchester for the train service. The timetable consisted of one weekday train from Huddersfield and six from Leeds; all taking the MLR route from Stalybridge and terminating at Manchester (Victoria) station. Connections to Stockport were provided for every train at Stalybridge using the SA&MR route to Guide Bridge and the LNWR line to Stockport. Similarly, at Manchester (Victoria) all trains connected into Liverpool services (Figures 13 & 14).35 Using the new line from Leeds via Dewsbury to Huddersfield, this provided an overall journey time between Leeds and Manchester for the fastest limited stop trains of 1 hour 50 mins and the slowest all stops time of 2hrs 35mins. This compared with the LYR journey time between Leeds and Manchester, using the Todmorden and Rochdale route, of 3hrs 15 mins. Thus the LNWR definitely had the edge and traffic quickly developed.

35 National Railway Museum, Bradshaw, 12/6. p. 45.

45 RAILWAYS IN SADDLEWORTH

National Railway Museum Figure 13. Leeds to Manchester via Huddersfield Timetable of June 1850

National Railway Museum Figure 14. Manchester to Leeds via Huddersfield Timetable of June 1850

46 RAILWAYS IN SADDLEWORTH

NEW LINES The Delph Branch The second section of railway to be built was the Delph branch which extended from Greenfield to Delph. Although the Delph line had been in the original plans with the building of the main line from Stalybridge to Huddersfield, because of the costs incurred on the mammoth engineering works, the company was not in any mood to incur additional costs and build a short branch line on what it saw as of little potential importance from the small textile district of Delph. The inhabitants of Delph were somewhat frustrated by this decision and aided by local manufacturer James Lees, who resided at Delph Lodge, pressure was put on the company to build the branch. Their efforts were successful and work commenced in April 1850. Construction was accomplished fairly rapidly with no problems of topography. The branch, from immediately south of the new Saddleworth viaduct, to Delph had been approved by the original Act of Parliament but was hardly seen as a source of traffic or profit being only a short line of not much more than a mile in length. The Delph Branch left the main line at Delph Junction, about a mile to the north of Greenfield; Greenfield being the last station before the junction until Moorgate Halt opened in 1912.

Michael & Peter Fox, ‘The Delph Donkey’, p.2 Figure 15. Structures on the Delph Branch

47 RAILWAYS IN SADDLEWORTH

The branch ran along the west side of the Tame valley and consisted of eight overbridges, two level crossings, sidings to Ladcastle Quarry, Bankfield Mill and Bailey Mill and a station and goods warehouse and yard at Delph. The Delph branch was opened on Monday, 1st September 1851. The Government Inspector’s Report on the Delph Branch reads:- Report of the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations for the Proceedings of the Department relating to Railways for the year 1851. London and North Western (Delph Branch) Railway, Office of Commissioners of Railways. Whitehall, July 25th, 1851.36 Sir, I have to report for the information of the commissioners, that I yesterday inspected the Delph branch of the London and North Western Railway. This short branch which is but 1 mile 33 chains in length, commences near the Saddleworth Station of the Manchester and Huddersfield [sic] Railway; the line is single, and there are no works of any importance on it. The Directors anticipate such a small amount of both goods and passenger traffic that they have made arrangements for working the line with horse power. Occasions however may occur to render it necessary to use an engine, and as there is no turntable at Delph, guards have been fitted to the tender of the engine, which may be called into service, so as to lesson as much as possible any danger that might arise from working the engine tender foremost. As the line is so short, and the traffic not of a nature to render it probable that high speed will be attempted, I do not apprehend danger from working the engine in this manner. I am of the opinion that the line is in a fit state to open for the conveyance of passengers, I have etc. Geo. Wynne, Capt. Royal Engineers. The Oldham to Greenfield Branch The line from Oldham to Greenfield Junction was also the brainwave of James Lees of Delph, who pressured the LNWR for its construction. The LNWR route started as an end-on connection from the Manchester (Victoria) to Oldham line at Oldham (Clegg Street) with stations at Oldham (Mumps), Oldham (Glodwick Road) Lees and Grotton. The Engineers to the railway, Messrs Locke and Errington line were responsible for the line’s construction, and the engineering structures on the line were the work of H.J. and Samuel Tredwell.37 The Lydgate Tunnel lies between Grotton and Grasscroft in Saddleworth and runs under the village of Lydgate. The tunnel was constructed under the supervision of J. G. Fraser. When it was constructed it was the longest railway tunnel in Oldham at 1,332yds, of which 1000yds is in a straight line, and the remainder on a curve. It was constructed through coal measures, a mix of shale, rock, coal, clay and limestone. The work was started in August 1854 and completed in March 1856. Five shafts were involved in its construction; one shaft having formerly been a colliery. The excavated material was lifted by steam engines. The average cost of the Lydgate Tunnel was £30 per lineal yard; resulting in a high total cost of £34,800. Within the tunnel are four vertical air vents which appear to have been capped off since closure.

36 Michael & Peter Fox, The Delph Donkey; p. 43; also Appendix No. 14, p. 45 of the Report: (HMSO, 1852). 37 Original plans for the bridges, cuttings and other structures on the line, signed by the Treadwells are in the Society archives.

48 RAILWAYS IN SADDLEWORTH

On 5th July 1856 the double-tracked branch was opened, thereby providing a connection from the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway to Oldham. This line, including the recently-built Delph branch from Greenfield, took on the nickname of the ‘Delph Donkey’. At Greenfield Station, with the construction of the new branch line to Oldham, to the up and down platform on the main line, a bay platform was added on the north side.

N Kirby - ribblevalleyrailway.co.uk Figure 16. Map of the railway from Oldham to Greenfield and Delph

The Micklehurst Loop By the 1880s both the volume and low speed of freight traffic was beginning to interfere with the passenger services. The widenings all took place in the decade from 1881, under enabling Acts assented in 1878-1882:- 1881-91: Huddersfield - Standedge Tunnel, in stages (LNWR) 1881-84: Huddersfield Viaduct - Heaton Lodge Junction (LNWR) 1881-85: Diggle - Stalybridge, a separate line along the Upper Tame Valley known as the Micklehurst Loop (LNWR) This problem was greatest on the steep gradient between Stalybridge and Diggle. Because of the confined nature of the valley, there was no means of adding additional tracks. The LNWR decided to build a new railway line along the shallower gradient of the south-east side of the Tame valley through the villages of Greenfield, Friezland and Micklehurst to Stalybridge and this was referred to as the Micklehurst Loop. Royal Assent for the Micklehurst Loop was obtained by the LNWR on 17th June 1878. A previous Bill of 1877 had failed; if it had been successful there would have been much disruption of the urban fabric and street pattern of Stalybridge. Tenders for the line’s construction were advertised on 13th July 1881, and the successful bid was submitted by Messrs Taylor & Thompson of Manchester at £177,949 8s 2d, about £35,000 below the LNWR’s estimate of the cost of construction. During the construction process there were, as expected, some engineering setbacks and accidents and the customary outbreaks of violence involving the navvies. Uppermill was the scene of several unsavoury incidents involving navvies who were the worse for liquor, requiring attendance by the police. Local interest in the project was stimulated by the innovative practice of continuous construction work during the night, illuminated by powerful electric lights. The Oldham Chronicle reported on 4 August 1883 that work in the cutting at Greenfield attracted curious onlookers, one of whom likened the scene to the promenade at Blackpool. Commencing at a junction south of Diggle with new a junction, the new tracks lay to the south-east of the original route. Construction work started in 1881 and the loop required considerable engineering work for its 6¾-mile length. South of Diggle station two

49 RAILWAYS IN SADDLEWORTH overbridges were required at Church Road and Pickhill Lane and an underbridge at the lane to Ryefield. ‘The contractors working in the new [Micklehurst Loop] line through Saddleworth are making great efforts towards the completion of the section between Diggle and Stalybridge, and, so far as the permanent way is concerned, the track as far as Ryefields Tunnel (also known locally as Butterhouse) from Stalybridge is in a finished condition. The rest of the length from the tunnel end to Diggle is in a state of chaos. Some heavy cutting necessitating a good deal of blasting is being done, and a single arch bridge (spanning two tracks) spanning Ward Lane, in the direction of the Workhouse, has been removed to make way for a girder bridge across the four lines of rail. To remove this bridge special preparations were made, and Sunday noon was taken as the most convenient time not to interrupt the traffic. Rumours of blowing up the bridge had got about, and a large number of spectators were present. But imagine their disappointment, for after a good many puffs and thuds, and a good deal of soap, the bridge was still standing, only being slightly shaken, and the navvies had to set to work and bring it down with crowbars. Thirty-two shots were mined, but only about half went off.’38

Tom Whitehead Figure 17. Greenfield Viaduct

Immediately beyond this was the first of the tunnels - Butterhouse (329yds) (sometimes known as Ryefield Tunnel); the name was derived from the two dwellings above the southern portal. At Greenfield a 16-arch viaduct (242yds), constructed of blue brick, crossed the valley of Chew Brook and this was followed by an overbridge at Chew Valley Road. At Friezland another short 12-arch viaduct (187yds) was followed by the next tunnel, Royal George (140yds), beneath Huddersfield Road and Shadows Lane on the County boundary prior to approaching Micklehurst, where a 15-arch viaduct (243yds) crossed the Staly Brook. The notable feature of the whole route, compared with the original line and local housing, was construction in blue brick instead of local stone.

38 Huddersfield Daily Chronicle, 12 June 1885.

50 RAILWAYS IN SADDLEWORTH

Stations with goods yards and sheds were constructed at Uppermill, Friezland, Micklehurst and Staley & Millbrook. South of Diggle the line was controlled by signal boxes at Uppermill, Friezland, Micklehurst and Millbrook. The Micklehurst Loop was opened for freight traffic on 1st December 1885 and for passenger trains on 3rd May 1886. Excitement was probably muted as each of the settlements through which the line passed already possessed a station on the original line. Jeffery Wells remarks that: ‘acknowledgement of the work’s completion and the line’s opening was treated in a short, matter-of-fact manner, with no embellishment for the interested reader. The Railway Times on 1st May 1886 stated clinically: ‘The LNWR Director’s Report stated that the Stalybridge and Saddleworth railway opened for through traffic on the 1st May 1886, the line being 6 miles 70 chains in length’. A week later on 8th May 1886 the Mossley & Saddleworth Reporter was rather more forthcoming about the occasion referring to the use of the new route experimentally by express trains during the previous week, following the running of goods trains along the route since the beginning of the year. The article noted that goods warehouses had been constructed at the, as yet, incomplete, intermediate stations. The same newspaper reported on 3rd July 1886 that local passenger services had begun on the morning of Thursday 1st July, ‘and at the various stations on the route there was considerable competition as to who should produce the first ticket’.39 Developments at Diggle Station The line between Huddersfield and Manchester was quadrupled in the late 1880s/early 1890s. To accommodate the line of the new tracks Diggle station was rebuilt under a contract let to Messrs Holmes & King in 1889. The station now consisted of three platforms including an island platform.

Trevor Ellis40 Figure 18. Plan of the rebuilt Diggle station in 1894 showing the new two-track rail- way tunnel, extension of the canal tunnel and additional platforms40

It is interesting to reflect that Saddleworth’s rail network could have been even more extensive if various proposals to build new lines had come to fruition.

39 Jeffrey Wells, Miles Platting to Diggle (via Ashton), (Challenger Publications, 1996). 40 Trevor Ellis, The Standedge Tunnels, (Huddersfield Canal Society, 2017), Figure 63, p. 99.

51 RAILWAYS IN SADDLEWORTH

One plan was to extend the Delph Branch up the Castleshaw valley and through the hills to Rochdale. Another was to make a line from Rishworth through Castleshaw and New Tame to Royton. Commencing at the terminus at Ripponden and Rishworth it would require a tunnel one and a half miles from the Rishworth side of the hill to a place called White Hall Farm on the edge of Marsden Hills. Another tunnel would then be made through Standedge Hill to Castleshaw where a station was to be provided, then it would go forward to New Tame where another station was proposed; part of this distance would also have to be tunnelled. From New Tame it would go across the valley to a place called Ramsclough and then through the hill to Moorside and forward through to the Lancashire & Yorkshire line at Royton. The whole line would be ten miles long, nearly five of which would be through the tunnels named. THE TRAIN SERVICE AFTER 1894 In the 1911 timetable for the route Manchester-Stalybridge-Huddersfield-Leeds and return, there was a weekday service of:  14 non-stop express trains, Stalybridge to Huddersfield.  17 stopping trains, Stalybridge to Huddersfield, with stops at Greenfield, Saddleworth & Diggle.  14 non-stop express trains, Huddersfield to Stalybridge.  18 stopping trains, Huddersfield to Stalybridge, with stops at Diggle, Saddleworth & Greenfield. The Greenfield services were also augmented by the Oldham to Delph service. It is obvious that the LNWR did not see the Micklehurst Loop as a passenger line. The very limited service in 1911 was:41

Stalybridge, 10.43am 2.07pm Diggle 8.30am 11.35am 2.45pm 4.48pm Friezland 10.54 2.27 Uppermill 8.37 11.41 2.50 4.53 Uppermill 10.59 2.32 Friezland 8.42 11.46 2.55 4.48 Diggle 11.04 2.37 Stalybridge 8.51 11.57 3.04 5.08

With the proximity of Uppermill station to Saddleworth station and Friezland to Greenfield, and, allowing for the frequency of trains at the latter stations, it is not surprising that the stations on the Micklehurst Loop were poorly supported. Micklehurst station, with its proximity to the station at Mossley, had already closed on 1st May 1907, followed by the relatively isolated Staley & Millbrook station on 1st November 1909. However, the Loop was heavily used by through freight services in both directions; mainly coal trains from Yorkshire and empty wagons returning. This was augmented by the local goods trip trains serving the yards at Uppermill, Friezland, Micklehurst and Staley & Millbrook. Grotton & Springhead Station Although it is, in effect, a suburb of Oldham, Grotton lies within the parish of Saddleworth. Grotton station first appeared in Bradhaw’s timetable in December 1857, the Greenfield- Oldham line having opened to passengers in July 1856. From 1st May 1900 the station was known as Grotton & Springhead. The station had two facing platforms connected at the west end by a footbridge. The principal buildings were at the western end of the Up (Manchester-bound) platform. These consisted of

41 NRM, LNWR Timetable for Summer 1911, AL54/132/C/2.

52 RAILWAYS IN SADDLEWORTH

Alan Young Figure 19. Map of all the Railways and Stations in the Saddleworth Area

53 RAILWAYS IN SADDLEWORTH

Disused Stations website Figure 20. Grotton & Springhead station looking west. BR Standard Class 2 2-6-2T is working a Push and Pull train towards Greenfield sometime between September 1953 and April 1955

Alan Young Figure 21. Grotton & Springhead station site looking east in April 1976. The western portal of Lydgate Tunnel is visible in the distance

54 RAILWAYS IN SADDLEWORTH the station master’s two-storey house built of sandstone in a Gothic style with a steeply pitched slate roof, raised gables and mullioned windows; and a single-storey extension, including waiting facilities, which extended westwards beneath the footbridge and ended with an extremely tall chimneystack designed to emit smoke above the deck of the footbridge. A pitched-roofed timber shed stood to the east of the station master’s house. On the Down platform a diminutive timber waiting shed with a pitched roof was provided. A tall signal box was located on the Down side of the tracks, west of the passenger station, facing the goods shed on the Up side; two goods loops were provided, one of which passed through the shed. Further loops and sidings were located on both sides of the tracks between Grotton and Lees, the next station to the west. The Railway Clearing House Handbook of Stations (1904) noted that a 1-ton 10 cwt capacity crane was installed in the goods yard and listed sidings serving Clough Mill, Livingstone Spinning Company and Springhead Spinning Company. In summer 1887 the weekday passenger train service operated at irregular intervals with sixteen Up and fourteen Down trains calling and five in each direction on Sunday: this was the general pattern of service enjoyed by Grotton & Springhead station. In Bradshaw of July 1922 there were thirty-two Up Monday-to-Friday departures, one fewer on Saturday and six on Sunday. In the opposite direction thirty-two trains called on Monday to Friday, but thirty- four on Saturday and six on Sunday. The station retained its Victorian character throughout its time of LMS operation (1923-47) and into the British Railways era when it was allocated to the London Midland Region. Gas lighting was retained and it is thought that LNWR signage remained in place. Despite growing competition from road transport throughout the twentieth century a generous service of trains was provided even in 1954, the final summer of operation, it did not give the impression of a railway soon to close. On Monday to Friday there were 22 Up departures and 26 on Saturday; in the opposite direction there were 22 on Monday to Friday and 28 on Saturday. A lavish, approximately hourly-interval, service on Sunday was provided only in the summers of 1953 and 1954. Grotton & Springhead station closed both to passenger and goods traffic on 2nd May 1955, the date when passenger trains between Delph, Greenfield and Oldham were withdrawn. The line through Grotton remained in use for goods traffic until 10th April 1964 when the last train passed through; the line officially closed on 13th April. When one of the authors (AEY) visited the site in 2015 the station master’s house, tastefully extended, was in use as a private residence and parts of the platforms were still in place. Grasscroft Station (or Halt) Located on the line between Oldham and Greenfield, Grasscroft station was sited between Lydgate Tunnel and the junction at Greenfield. Opened by the LNWR on 1st January 1912, it consisted of two wooden platforms, each having a waiting shelter with a canopy. The company considered it a 'Motor Station' without the 'Halt' suffix in the official name, as with Moorgate and Dobcross which opened on the same day. However, the Railway Clearing House Handbook of Stations gave these three minor stations the 'Halt' suffix, as did local people. In 1917 a number of Britain’s lesser-used stations were closed allowing staff to be relocated to other stations as many railwaymen had left to undertake military service in the Great War. This fate befell Grasscroft on 16th July, but it reopened on 1st January 1919. Grasscroft was served by Delph-Greenfield-Oldham trains, but not all of them called here. In Bradshaw’s summer 1926 timetable Grasscroft was served in each direction by 25 trains on weekdays and 12 on Sunday. The station closed on 2nd May 1955 when the Delph to Oldham service was discontinued.

55 RAILWAYS IN SADDLEWORTH

Jim Davenport Collection, Saddleworth Museum Archives Figure 22. Grasscroft looking towards Lydgate on 30th April 1955

Jim Davenport Collection, Saddleworth Museum Archives Figure 23. Grasscroft looking towards Greenfield in 1955

56 SHSB, VOL. 49, NO. 2, 2019

AN INDEX OF AMMON WRIGLEY’S ARTICLES AND POEMS

Peter Fox Editorial Note Ammon Wrigley was in his 40s when he published his first books. But for a decade or so before he had published a number of short pamphlets and collections of poems, some of which had first appeared in the Oldham Chronicle. His Annals of Saddleworth had first appeared in 1902 and was republished with additions in 1905. It finally appeared much enlarged as Saddleworth Chronological Notes, published in 1940. His early books contained much historical material, and Songs of a Moorland Parish combined what were probably his best historical essays with his poetry. His interest in Saddleworth history had been nurtured and strongly influences by his friendship with Morgan Brierley and G.F. Buckley of Linfitts in the 1890s. But with time this faded and featured increasingly less in his books. He said in the introduction to Rakings Up, his autobiography, ‘I often think that I have been too much interested in local historical and antiquarian work, and might have done better if I had written nothing but verse and folk tales’. He was probably correct, it is surely not for his historical writings, that he will primarily be remembered, but for his poems and his vivid accounts of life and society in Saddleworth in the days of his youth. None of his published works contained an index. His poems and stories were listed in the contents of each volume and he probably felt that that was sufficient. He was probably right, the subject matter of his anecdotal tales does not lend itself easily to indexing; and probably the very thought of doing so would have been anathema to him. But identifying where a particular story or poem was published is not easy, and requires a search through multiple contents pages. The following index compiled by Peter Fox will hopefully ease this task. The following works, have been indexed and are referred to by the abbreviations indicated:- Saddleworth Superstitions and Folk Customs (W.E. Clegg, 1909) SSFC The Delph Feight in Prose & Verse (H.D. Lee, undated, c.1909) DF Saddleworth: Its Prehistoric Remains (W.E. Clegg, 1911) SPR Songs of a Moorland Parish (Moore & Edwards, 1912) SMP The Wind Among the Heather (Alfred Jubb & Son, 1916) WAH Old Saddleworth Days (W.E. Clegg, 1920) OSD At the Sign of the King’s Head (Taylor & Clifton, 1925) SKH At the Sign of the Three Bonnie Lasses (Taylor & Clifton, undated, c.1920s) STBL O'er the Hills and Far Away (George Whittaker, 1931) OHFA Old Lancashire Words and Folk Sayings: Parish of Saddleworth (G. Whittaker, undated, c. 1930s) OLWF Those Were the Days (George Whittaker, 1937) TWD Songs of the Pennine Hills (George Whittaker, 1938) SPH Saddleworth Chronological Notes: 1200-1900. (George Whittaker, 1940) SCN Lancashire Idylls (George, Allen & Unwin, 1942) LI Rakings Up; An Autobiography (E. Wrigley & Sons, 1949) RU

57 AMMON WRIGLEY INDEX

Index of Essays, Poems and Subjects Agriculture, Neolithic SPR, 11 Alderman and Alphin SMP, 292 Ale, Home Brewed Ale OHFA, 123 Alehouse Pot STBL, 61 Alehouse, Old Puddles OHFA, 188 Alick, Joe, and Rat TWD, 216 All I Ask SPH, 131 Alphabet Stones RU, 79 Alphin and Alderman SMP, 292 Ammon Wrigley - Ancestry RU, 15 Ammon Wrigley - At the Bookshops RU, 81 Ammon Wrigley - Birds, gun and wild RU, 35 Ammon Wrigley - Castleshaw Valley RU, 25 Ammon Wrigley - Early Mill Life RU, 30 Ammon Wrigley - First Payment RU, 90 Ammon Wrigley - Handloom Weaving RU, 33 Ammon Wrigley - Home Remedies RU, 27 Ammon Wrigley - Hound Christening RU, 19 Ammon Wrigley - My Father RU, 18 Ammon Wrigley - My Mother RU, 22 Ammon Wrigley - New Friends RU, 57 Ammon Wrigley - Oil Painting RU, 70 Ammon Wrigley - Old Mill RU, 29 Ammon Wrigley - Ralph Broadbent RU, 16 Ammon Wrigley - Schooling RU, 28 Ammon Wrigley - Whooping Cough RU, 25 Ammon Wrigley - Wrigley's RU, 17 Ammon Wrigley - Writing Rhymes RU, 45 Ammon Wrigley Fellowship RU, 88 Ancestry RU, 15 Ancient Society at Hey TWD, 101 Andrew, John - Huntsman SMP, 214 April on the Mooredge OHFA, 48 April on the Mooredge SPH, 41 Archery OSD, 18 Architecture, Old Homesteads SMP, 12. Arrowhead found on Pule Hill SMP, 211 Arrowhead Pule Hill OHFA, 240 August Days SMP, 275 August Days SPH, 150 Auld Land Syne SPH, 37 Auld Lang Syne OHFA, 23 Austerlands TWD, 76 Bacco Twist and Raw Onion OSD, 73 Backstone Industry SMP, 191 Badger Slacks SMP, 251 Baking RU, 83 Barrow of the Bronze Age SPR, 43 Beacon Hill SPR, 56 Beauty Show and Marriage Market OHFA, 243 Bedchamber, An Old Hillside OHFA, 46 Bell Inn, Delph TWD, 187 Benevolent Society of Females TWD, 101 Bill TWD, 84 Bill's o' Jack’s Grace SMP, 315

58 AMMON WRIGLEY INDEX

Bill's o' Jack's SPH, 39 Bills o' Jacks Moors and Grouse Driving SMP, 134 Billy Shakespeare, A Moorland Inn and Old OHFA, 136 Birds, Gun and Wild RU, 35 Bits o' Cheese WAH, 211 Blackpool, Going to TWD, 61 Blackstone Edge, Sunday at TWD, 172 Boggarts SSFC, 15 Bones SPR, 56 Book - A Farmers Rare Book OHFA, 128 Bookshops, Ammon Wrigley at the RU, 81 Boot Club TWD, 81 Borlow SPR, 51 Bottomleys Mill, Greenfield TWD, 29 Bottomley's Urn SPR, 44 Bread, Gobbed TWD, 221 Bred in the Bone OSD, 188 Brick - Moorland Stone and Red Brick STBL, 53 Brierley, Morgan RU, 57 Brighouse, Sir Samuel RU, 71 Broadbent - family WAH, 171 Broadbent, Ralph RU, 16 Broadhead Noddle, Castleshaw SPR, 47 Brocken, Spectre of RU, 74 Bronze Age SPR, 15 Bronze Age Burial SPR, 50 Brown Hare of Whitebrooke Head SPH, 85 Brownhill SPR, 40 Brun Chapel TWD, 93 Buck Rabbits OSD, 24 Buckley - family WAH, 313 Buckley, G.F. RU, 57 Bull Baiting TWD, 65 Butt Shooting RU, 80 Call of the Country SMP, 221 Castleshaw SMP, 236 Castleshaw and the Roman Fort SPH, 144 Castleshaw Excavations of 1896 SPR, 51 Castleshaw Excavations of 1899 SPR, 52 Castleshaw School, A Moorland Schoolmistress OSD, 111 Castleshaw Valley RU, 25 Castleshaw Valley Poem RU, 96 Castleshaw, Iron Furnace RU, 58 Castleshaw, Roman Fort RU, 58 Cats, Aunt Martha's TWD, 167 Celt SPR, 44 Celt - Rishworth Moor - Bronze Age SPR, 19 Children in Mills TWD, 29 Chronology of Events in Saddleworth SCN, 1 Church, a Moorland STBL, 82 Churchside, Men of the SMP, 204 Churn Getting SMP, 244 Coaching House, A Famous Old TWD, 187 Cockfighting RU, 21

59 AMMON WRIGLEY INDEX

Cold - Curing a Cold OHFA, 74 Configeration, Neolithic SPR, 13 Coronation of George V SMP, 249 Cottage Furnishings RU, 83 Cottage Manufacturers TWD, 161 Country Inn STBL, 40 Country, The call of the SPH, 44 Courtship, A Country SMP, 247 Cremation SPR, 38 Cronies, Owd OHFA, 111 Cross Keys Inn SMP, 185 Crucifixion WAH, 142 Cuckoo - On Hearing on Crompton Moor SMP, 89 Cuckoo, Hearing the SPH, 135 Curing a Cold WAH, 157 Customs and Superstitions OHFA, 96 Dales - An Old Dales Song SMP, 141 Dalesman RU, 102 Dalesman, Bygone TWD, 257 Dated Stones on Old Buildings RU, 78 Days of Old SMP, 185 December Night SMP, 275 December Night SPH, 150 Delph Feight TWD, 233 Delph Feight, a poem DF, 10 Delph Feight, The, 24 April 1826 DF, 1 Delph Show SMP, 232 Delph, Bygone TWD, 197 Devil and Three Men OHFA, 14 Diggle Joe TWD, 52 Dobcross - an Impression WAH, 333 Dog Hunting RU, 77 Dogs, Two TWD, 137 Doldrum Hill in June SPH, 114 Donty's Supperin Do OHFA, 266 Doomed Oak SPH, 157 Dowry Castle SPR, 48 Driving Shot in a Driving Wind SPH, 78 Druidical Altar Supposed Pots and Pans SPR, 60 Dust to Dust STBL, 92 Editor in 1910 RU, 90 Election Time STBL, 194 Elopement, Lady Gwendoline’s OHFA, 42 Events in Saddleworth SCN, 1 Exit SPH, 141 Fairies SSFC, 29 Fairs - An Old Village Fair TWD, 251 Fairs - Delph, Greenfield, Uppermill TWD, 260 Fairy Etcher SMP, 43 Fairy Etcher SPH, 83 Fairy Road from Heights Chapel OSD, 148 Fat of the Land OHFA, 18 Father - Ammon Wrigley RU, 18 Father and Mother - Ammon Wrigley RU, 108 Fauna - Neolithic SPR, 12 Fellowship - Ammon Wrigley RU, 88 Females, Benevolent Society of TWD, 101 Fields of Lurden SPH, 81 Fight - The Delph Fight TWD, 233 Fighting Days, Old TWD, 178 Fitton, Sam RU, 72

60 AMMON WRIGLEY INDEX

Flint Arrowhead SPH, 62 Flint Arrowhead found on Pule Hill SMP, 211 Flint Arrowhead found Pule Hill SPR, 33 Flint Arrowhead Pule Hill OHFA, 240 Flint Hunting RU, 53 Flint Impliments - How Fashioned SPR, 31 Flint Impliments - Personal SPR, 33 Flint Impliments, Characteristics of Worked SPR, 32 Flint Remains SPR, 20 Flint Remains - Character of Impliments SPR, 30 Flint Remains - Distribution SPR, 24 Flint Remains - Moorman's Opinion SPR, 22 Flint Remains - Sites in Saddleworth SPR, 27 Flint Remains - Sites outside Saddleworth SPR, 27 Flint Remains - Southern Site SPR, 29 Flint Remains - Where Found SPR, 29 Flint Remains - Working Materials SPR, 30 Flint Remains - Workshops SPR, 28 Flints - How they got on the Moors RU, 55 Flowers in Oldham Alehouse SPH, 75 Fool SPH, 108 Football Match TWD, 260 Fratch, The First TWD, 69 Friarmere Hunting Day SMP, 68 Friarmere Moorman TWD, 201 Friarmere Old Hunting Day SPH, 159 Frieslonder, An Owd OHFA, 152 Friezland Ale OHFA, 251 Friezland Ale SMP, 27 Friezland Ale SPH, 32 Friezland and Friarmere SMP, 138 Friezlonder, An Owd SMP, , 35 Friezlonder, An Owd SMP, 35 Frost Pictures - The Fairy Etcher SMP, 43 Gartside family WAH, 198 Gentleman, A Fine old English TWD, 38 Germans at Standedge and the Isle of Skye RU, 86 Ghosts SSFC, 15 Golden Eagle in Saddleworth TWD, 56 Good Day OHFA, 241 Good Day SPH, 98 Grains Bar and its Devil OHFA, 232 Grains Devil SSFC, 24 Grange SMP, 285 Greek Inscription - Moors and a Greek Inscription OHFA, 32 Green Road OHFA, 151 Green Road SPH, 60 Greeting SMP, 90 Greeting SPH, 136 'Grenfelt' - Greenfield - poem WAH, 290 Grey Wethers-Inn, At the Sign Off OSD, 122 Grouse Driving on Bills o' Jack’s Moors SMP, 134 Grouse Driving on Bill's o' Jack’s Moors SPH, 64 Haigh, John, on his 82nd Birthday SMP, 268 Hand and Spear, By OSD, 90 Handloom Weaving RU, 33

61 AMMON WRIGLEY INDEX

Hare - The Brown Hare of Whitebrook Head SMP, 213 Hare and Hounds, Mary o' TWD, 206 Harropdale - poem - Battle of Harropdale WAH, 243 Hawkyard OSD, 17 Hawthorns TWD, 193 Haymakers Wages OHFA, 264 Haytime, In the STBL, 113 Health Cures OSD, 20 Heather Cock SPH, 108 Heather Honey STBL, 121 Heaunds are eaut agen SPH, 100 Heights - Moorland Heights OHFA, 261 Heights Chapel SMP, 73 Heights Chapel - The Fairy Road OSD, 148 Hematite and Graphite SPR, 31 Hey - An Ancient Society TWD, 101 Highmoor TWD, 146 Hill Country STBL, 223 Hill Country SPH, 53 Hill of Sleep SPH, 101 Hills of Longendale SPH, 87 Hilltop, Delph SPR, 45 Holmfirth Anthem TWD, 96 Holy Trinity Church, Dobcross, Payments, 1786-88 SKH, 56 Holy Trinity Church, Dobcross, Subscribers, 1786-88 SKH,56 Home Remedies RU, 27 Home, Neolithic SPR, 11 Homestead OHFA, 193 Homestead SMP, 94 Homestead SPH, 88 Homesteads, Old SMP, 12 Horse Racing OSD, 17 Hound and Horn TWD, 100 Hound Christening RU, 19 Hounds - Th' Heaunds ur Eaut Agen SMP, 38 Hounds are Out at Lingards SPH, 153 Hulley, John - Moorman TWD, 201 Hunting - A hunting Morn WAH, 332 Hunting - Old Friarmere Hunting Day SMP, 68 Hunting - Old Hunting Days OHFA, 208 Hunting Calls for the Horn WAH, 374 Hunting Day OSD, 68 Hunting Day SPH, 126 Hunting Morn SPH, 28 Hunting Morn WAH, 332 Hunting Rabbits OSD, 24 Hunting Songs STBL, 9 Hunting Stew LI, 61 Hunting Stew STBL, 139 Huntsman - John Andrew SMP, 214 Huntsman of Home WAH, 374 Hurly LI, 28 Hurly, Jack STBL, 75 Hush Ale TWD, 175 Impliments SPR, 56 In the Country OSD, 33 Incense Cup SPR, 55 Indenture, An Ancient TWD, 133 Inhumation SPR, 38

62 AMMON WRIGLEY INDEX

Inn - Moorland Inn SMP, 182 Inn Customs RU, 84 Inn Sign RU, 84 Inn, The Country STBL, 40 Inns TWD, 264 Inns - Town Inn and Country Inn OHFA, 177 Inns, Bygone Saddleworth TWD, 264 Inscriptions SMP, 1 Iron Furnace, Castleshaw RU, 58 Iron working OSD, 15 Iron Working on the Moors SMP, 162 Jack o' Pity's proves himself a Briton WAH, 82 Jack o' th' Gap's Will TWD, 117 Jim o' Cowd Ben and his Cow OHFA, 169 Jim o' Cowd Ben's and his Cow LI, 113 Joe o' Breb's OSD, 54 Joe o' th' Pinfold's Poncake LI, 21 Joe o' th' Pinfold's Poncake OHFA, 26 Joe o' th Ragstones OHFA, 133 Joe o'th Ragsones and Lurden SMP, 59 Jone o' Grenfilt STBL, 28 Knott Hill - Coming Night SMP, 181 Laceby Wakes TWD, 158 Laddering SSFC, 33 Laddering, A Village TWD, 18 Ladhill Bridge SMP, 108 Ladhill Bridge SPH, 111 Lady Gwendolines Alopement WAH, 268 Lancashire Folk Sayings used in Saddleworth OLWF, 21 Lancashire Neet RU, 80 Lancashire Neet STBL, 221 Lasses, The Three Bonnie STBL, 69 Lawton, Radcliffe TWD, 216 Laycock, Samuel and George Marsden TWD, 125 Lees, James, Delph Lodge TWD, 38 Life WAH, 373 Lightside – The Song of the Lightside Valley SPH, 120 Lightside Valley, the Song of SMP, 229 Little Barrow, Diggle SPR, 47 Loggerheads at Church and Chapel TWD, 150 Longendale, The Hills of OHFA, 131 Low Slack TWD, 214 Lurden and Joe o'th Ragsones SMP, 59 Lurden, The Fields of SMP, 58 Lydgate, Old - A Sketch WAH, 5 Man of the Road OHFA, 65 Man, The Wisest OHFA, 204 Marriage - Beauty Show and Marriage Market OHFA, 243 Marsden Moor Murder OHFA, 21 Marsden, George, and Samuel Laycock TWD, 125 Marshbottom Mill, Denshaw TWD, 29 Mary o' Hare and Hounds TWD, 206 Mary o' th' Pule Side's Day TWD, 229 Mat o' Jamie's SMP, 282 May Morning, As I walked out one OSD, 40 Mayday on a Moorland Road TWD, 110 Mechanics Arms Inn, Delph - "The 'Mop' at Delph WAH, 105 Men of the Churchside SPH, 92

63 AMMON WRIGLEY INDEX

Mill Hours in 1849 TWD, 245 Mill Life RU, 30 Millhench, Joseph TWD, 217 Millstone SMP, 39 Millstones OSD, 20 Millstones on Millstone Edge SMP, 40 Molly's Kiss SMP, 275 Moon, The Harvest STBL, 131 Moor, A Yorkshire OHFA, 218 Mooredge, April on the SPH, 41 Moorland Grave Mound SPR, 57 Moorland Grave Mound SPH, 72 Moorland Heights OHFA, 261 Moorland Inn SPH, 115 Moorland Lad - On Seeing a Moorland Lad in Town SMP, 56 Moorland Lad in Town SPH, 79 Moorland Lass SPH, 51 Moorland Men SMP, 249 Moorland Stone and Red Brick STBL, 53 Moorland Streams OHFA, 262 Moorman - John Hulley TWD, 201 Moorman, Friarmere TWD, 201 Moors - April on the Mooredge OHFA, 48 Moors - Roving o'er a Moorland OHFA, 115 Moors - Summer Evening on the Moors OHFA, 59 Moors and a Greek Inscription OHFA, 32 Mountain Ash TWD, 265 Mowing Matches OSD, 17 Murder on Marsden Moor OHFA, 221 My Way SPH, 141 Nan o' Ratchers LI, 34 Nan o' Ratchers WAH, 183 Nan o' Rathchers OHFA, 115 Neolithic Period SPR, 10 Newhouses TWD, 242 Night at the Black Tup Inn WAH, 249 North Riding Road, An Old SPH, 143 O’er the Hills and Far Away OHFA, 10 Oak - A Doomed Oak OHFA, 131 Oak, A Doomed SPH, 157 Oatmeal Porridge OHFA, 184 Occupation, Neolithic SPR, 14 O'er the Hills and Far Away SPH, 35 Old Cottage Schools OHFA, 36 Old Folks Festival, Dobcross, 1845 SKH, 1 Old Lancashire Words used in Saddleworth OLWF, 6 Old Mill RU, 29 Old People of 70 year and upward, 1845 SKH, 51 Old Saddleworth Days OSD, 9 Old Songs of the Inns RU, 36 Onion Raw and Twist Bacco OSD, 73 Orderment, An LI, 52 Orderment, An OHFA, 51 Orderment, An OSD, 35 Owd Cronies SMP, 154 Owd Donty's Supperin Do WAH, 75 Owd Puddles Alehouse SMP, 276 Paleolithic Periods SPR , 9 Palstave Bronze - Greenfield - Bronze Age SPR, 18

64 AMMON WRIGLEY INDEX

Parson's Pitchers SPH, 138 Parsons, Old Time OHFA, 162 Parting SMP, 37 Parting SPH, 107 Peat Age - Neolithic SPR, 13 Peat Fire, By the WAH, 292 Pennines SPH, 27 Peterloo SMP, 121 Pictures OHFA, 227 Pig Stone OHFA, 91 Place Name - Low SPR, 40 Poem - Battle of Harropdale WAH, 243 Poem - 'Grenfelt' - Greenfield WAH, Poem - On the Standing Moons WAH, Poems LI, 94 Poems STBL, 168 Porridge, Oatmeal OHFA, 184 Pots and Pand Supposed Druidical Altar SPR, 60 Pots and Pans and Supposed Druidical Altar SPR, 60 Prehistoric Art, Neolithic SPR, 13 Prehistoric Periods SPR, 9 Prosecution Society, Delph TWD, 197 Pule Hill - Flint Arrowhead Pule Hill OHFA, 240 Pule Hill Arrowhead SMP, 211 Pule Hill, Marsden SPR, 49 Punch Bowl Inn SMP, 88 Quiet Ways SMP, 223 Ragstones - Joe o' th Ragstones OHFA, 133 Railway Tunnels TWD, 184 Rare Old Inn SPH, 152 Ratcatcher LI, 121 Ratcatcher OHFA, 84 Reception, City Art Gallery, Manchester RU, 60 Rechabite - dialect poem - The Rechabite WAH, 18 Reciting - Ammon Wrigley RU, 49 Religion, Neolithic SPR, 12 Reservoir - for Saddleworth Watermills TWD, 142 Rhyme of the Moors RU, 92 Ripponden, The Road to STBL, 38 Ripponden, The Road to SPH, 118 Rishworth Moor - Celt - Bronze Age SPR, 19 Rising of the Sun RU, 103 Road - I Love the Road SPH, 150 Road - The Shelf Road SMP, 48 Roads, The Green OSD, 143 Roamers Return RU, 105 Roaming - We'll Go Again a-Roaming SPH, 130 Roaming - We'll Go Again a-Roaming OSD, 185 Roman Camp at Castleshaw first excavations SMP, 298 Roman Fort and Castleshaw SPH, 144 Roman Fort at Castleshaw RU, 58 Roving Over a Moorland SPH, 69 Royal Tiger Inn SPH, 55 Ruined Farmstead SPH, 70 Rushcarts OSD, 104 Rutherford, Harry RU, 71

65 AMMON WRIGLEY INDEX

Saddleworth SMP, 269 Saddleworth – In Saddleworth SPH, 132 Saddleworth Church OHFA, 60 Saddleworth Church SPH, 22 Saddleworth, In STBL, 217 Saddleworthshire SPH, 149 Sadleworth Church SMP, 258 Sall o' Jim's o' Cowd Bens WAH, 31 Sandford, Matt RU, 69 Sayings and Words OSD, 157 Schofield - family WAH, 218 Schooling RU, 28 Schoolmistress, A Moorland OSD, 111 Schools - Old Cottage Schools OHFA, 36 Scouthead Road OSD, 86 Scouthead Road SPH, 46 Shaft Ratchers TWD, 22 Shakespeare - A Moorland Inn and old Billy Shakespeare OHFA, 136 Shaw - family WAH, 65 Sheepdog STBL, 47 Shelf Road SMP, 48 Shelf Road SPH, 122 Shelf Side and Butts Lane SMP, 51 Sleep, The Hill of SMP, 71 Snuff Taker RU, 68 Socketed Celt - Bronze Age - possibly Castleshaw SPR, 16 Soldier - John Winterbottom SMP, 98 Song of a Tramp OHFA, 51 Song of Parting SPH, 154 Song Thrush SMP, 31 Song Thrush SPH, 102 Songthrush OHFA, 213 Songthrush near a Town SPH, 49 Southern Friend SPH, 52 Sparrow Catching RU, 50 Spear and Hand, By OSD, 90 Spear Head - Grotton - Bronze Age SPR, 18 Spelling Lesson STBL, 183 Spinning Jenny RU, 87 Sports OSD, 17 Spring - Come Out the Spring is Roaming SPH, 151 Spring in the North Country SMP, 30 Spring in the North Country SPH, 129 Spring Water STBL, 155 Spring Water LI, 82 Spring, West Wind in SMP, 66 Spring, West Wind in OHFA, 89 Springtime STBL, 102 Springtime WAH, 372 Springtime LI, 44 Springtime Letter RU, 104 Springtime Thrush STBL, 37 Standedge Moors, A Rainy evening on SMP, 245 Stanedge Tunnels TWD, 182 Stanedge Tunnels TWD, 182 Stocks OSD, 18 Stone Celts - Castleshaw Valley SPR, 33 Stone Evidences - Bronze Age SPR, 19 Stone, Pig Stone OHFA, 96

66 AMMON WRIGLEY INDEX

Streams, Moorland OHFA, 262 Summer Evening on the Moors OHFA, 59 Summer Night on a Moor SPH, 125 Sunday Schools - Whitsuntide Ale TWD, 90 Superstitions OHFA, 96 Surname - Broadbent WAH, 171 Surname - Buckley WAH, 313 Surname - Gartside WAH, 198 Surname - Schofield WAH, 218 Surname - Shaw WAH, 65 Surname - Winterbottom WAH, 278 Surname - Wrigley WAH, 91 Surnames - origin of Saddleworth surnames WAH, 123 Tale, Telling the STBL, 214 Teacher, A Moorland School OHFA, 197 Telling the Tale LI, 109 Tenter Posts, Stone RU, 76 The Divi's Deann Ages WAH, 364 The 'Mop' at Delph WAH, 105 Thomas Kaye - Huntsman of Home WAH, 374 Thompson, Thomas RU, 65 Those Were the Days TWD, 13 Three Bonnie Lasses LI, 15 Throat, A Sore OHFA, 57 Throstle's Lament SPH, 155 Thrush, A Merry SPH, 31 Thrush, Springtime STBL, 37 Tollbars, Old TWD, 122 Town and Country OHFA, 175 Town and Country RU, 100 Town and Country SPH, 66 Tramp, The Song of a OHFA, 50 Tramp, The Song of a SPH, 43 Trout Stream SPH, 148 Tumuli - Long Barrow SPR, 37 Tumuli - Round Barrow SPR, 37 Tunnels, Stanedge TWD, 182 Tunstead SMP, 161 Tunstead SPH, 77 Twelfth of August OHFA, 176 Twelfth of August SPH, 168 Twelfth of August SPH, 68 Uppermill - an impression WAH, 49 Urns SPR, 43 Urns SPR, 53 Uttley, William TWD, 49 Volunteers WAH, 235 Wages of Haymakers OHFA, 264 Wakes - Bygone Wakes Time OHFA, 214 Wakes Time OSD, 99 Wakes, Laceby TWD, 158 War Memorial STBL, 220 War Memorial SPH, 134 Watermill, The OHFA, 79 Watermill, The SPH, 56 Watermill, The SMP, 5

67 AMMON WRIGLEY INDEX

Watermills - A Reservoir TWD, 142 Wedding, A Brush Steyl RU, 44 West Wind in Spring SMP, 66 West Wind in Spring SPH, 29 West Wind in Spring OHFA, 89 Whinley Dale, In STBL, 65 Whisky Sinning TWD, 175 Whitebrook Head SMP, 136 Whitebrook Head SPH, 142 Whitsuntide Ale at Sunday Schools TWD, 90 Whitsuntides, Two Country OHFA, 142 Whooping Cough RU, 25 Wimberry Time SPH, 148 Wind - A Driving Shot in a Driving Wind SMP, 110 Wind of the Hills SMP, 10 Wind of the Hills SPH, 124 Windybank to Norman Hill OHFA, 154 Winterbottom - family WAH, 278 Winterbottom, John TWD, 219 Winterbottom, John, - Soldier SMP, 98 Winters Neet SMP, 45 Wisest Man LI, 76 Witches SSFC, 26 Woollen Industry - Notes SMP, 111 Woolwall at Delph RU, 76 Words and Sayings OSD, 157 Workhouse Children in Mills TWD, 29 Wrigley - family WAH, 91 Wrigley's RU, 17 Wrigley's - Ammon Wrigley RU, 17 Writing Rhymes RU, 45 Yedweshin Do STBL, 203 Yorkshire Moor, On a SMP, 3 Yorkshire Moor, On a SPH, 20 Yorkshire or Lancashire RU, 93 Youth and Age SMP, 106 Youth and Age SPH, 109

68 AMMON WRIGLEY INDEX

Index of Illustrations1 Most of Ammon Wrigley’s books were well illustrated with photographs and his own sketch- es. Like his poems, illustrations sometimes appeared in more than one publication under the same or different titles. The following index follows the title in the particular volume.

Alderman, Stormy Weather WAH, 211 Alderman, Stormy Weather OHFA, 260 Ammon & Emily Wrigley RU, 48 Ammon Wrigley Portrait SMP, Frontispiece Ammon Wrigley Portrait WAH, Frontispiece Ammon Wrigley Portrait OHFA, Frontispiece Ammon Wrigley Portrait, by Harry Rutherford LI, Face Plate Ammon Wrigley sketch by Sam Fitton STBL, Frontispiece Ammon Wrigley, Cartoon of, as a Prehistoric Man SPH, Face Plate Bakestone Making, Hull Brook SMP, 191 Bakestone Making, in the Castleshaw Valley TWD, 240 Bell at New Delph TWD, 192 Blackstone Edge Moors OHFA, 160 Bloomery Furnace, Castleshaw SMP, 171 Bloomery Furnace, near Castleshaw SCN, 95 Boxing Hole, from Deign Clough SMP, 64 Broadhead Mills, Castleshaw OHFA, 104 Broadhead Mills, Near Castleshaw SMP, 9 Bronze Celt SPR, 19 Bronze Palstave or Winged Celt SPR, 18 Bull’s Head Inn, Old, Ogden TWD, 172 Castleshaw School OSD, 121 Castleshaw School RU, 32 Castleshaw School in Winter OHFA, 200 Castleshaw, A Bit of Old SMP, 236 Cockfight, Old Saddleworth WAH, 11 Dean Clough, Friarmere SPR, Frontispiece Deanhead, Cottage Workshop OHFA ,48 Deanhead, Spinning Jenny & Cloth Looms SMP, 133 Delph Lodge TWD, 40 Delph, Bygone, The Dark Entry and Terrace Steps SMP, 202 Diggle Waterwheel, Old OSD, 184 Diggle Waterwheel, Old OHFA, 80 Dinnerstone STBL, Title Page Dinnerstone, Castleshaw Moor SPH, 14 Dobcross WAH, 333 Dobcross, a Pennine Village SPH, 96 Dobcross, an Old Corner SCN, 93 Fairy Road from Heights Chapel to Delph OSD, 156 Far Hey, Ammon Wrigley’s Birthplace TWD, Title page Far Hey, Friarmere RU, Frontispiece Fernlee, a Moorland Hamlet WAH, 143 Fernlee, a Moorland Hamlet OHFA, 252

1 This is an editorial addition to Peter Fox’s main index.

69 AMMON WRIGLEY INDEX

Fireplace, finely sculpured, in an Oldham Inn TWD, 152 Flint Arrow-head, Pule Moor SPH, 62 Flint Chippings SPR, 28 Flint Implements I SPR, 71 Flint Implements II SPR, 74 Flint Nodules and Cores SPR, 30 Flint, Waste Pieces of SPR, 24 Grains Bar Devil OHFA, 238 Grange Chimney SMP, 285 Greek Inscription OHFA, 35 Greenfield, Moorland Clough, SMP, 56 Greenfield, Moorland Valley OHFA, 220 Greenfield, Moorland Valley, SMP, 292 Hammer, Perforated, Stone Celt & Urn Fragment SPR, 44 Heights Chapel SMP, 73 Heights Chapel OHFA, 144 Higher Kinders, Weavers Outsteps SMP, 25 Hillside Path (untitled) OSD, 110 Hunting Calls WAH, 374 Huntsman’s Tomb, Newchurch-in Rossendale TWD, 108 Husteads Mill - Nightfall SMP, 120 Husteads Mill, Cottage Chimney and Windows. OHFA,184 Implements, Hafted, and Arrowheads SPR, 32 Inn Corner, An Old WAH, 57 Inn Corner, Old SCN, 94 Jack o’ Thrutchers WAH, 298 John Andrew - the Huntsman SMP, 215 John Gartside and Joseph Milne, bygone Gamekeepers TWD, 173 Junter and Jamie o’th Low WAH, 75 Laycock Memorial, Marsden TWD, 128 Low Slack, near Friarmere Moor TWD, 224 March Hill, from Buckstones Road SPR, 20 Millcroft, Castleshaw Valley RU, 24 Millcroft, house at TWD, 200 Millstones, Millstone Edge SMP, 40 Moorland Cottage (untitled) OSD, 142 Nan o’ Ratcher’s WAH, 183 Newhouses, Masonic Doorway, Scouthead SCN, 92 Newhouses, Old Doorway OSD,32 Newhouses, Old Doorway OHFA, Inside cover Old Inn Corner SCN, 94 On Stanedge Moor RU, 96 On the Wing, Friarmere Moor OHFA, 224 Over a Hill the West Wind Loves SMP, 3 Owd Cronies SMP, 154 Own Puddle’s Neetcap SMP, 276 Packhorse Bridge and Cripplehole , Marsden OHFA, 168 Parson’s Pitchers, Friarmere SPH, 140 Pennine Clough, Marsden Moors SPH, 32 Pennine Farm, North Britain, near Swineshaw Moor SPH, 128 Pennine Moors, March Hill and Clowes Moss SPH, 16 Pennine Stream, Saddleworth Moors SPH, 64

70 AMMON WRIGLEY INDEX

Pottery Fragment, Samian Ware, Castleshaw SPH, 147 Prayer Stone, Balckstone Edge Moors TWD, 96 Ragstone Bridge, near Friarmere Moor TWD, 144 Ravenstones, Greenfield Moors TWD, 56 Rev John Buckley Mug OSD, 282 Rev John Buckley, Parson at Heights Chapel, 1779 SCN, 96 Rising Storm on the Moor SMP, 228 Robin Hood’s Bed, Blackstone Edge SMP, 251 Roman Pottery Fragment, Castleshaw SMP, 240 Rose and Crown, Old, Delph TWD, 20 Royal Tiger TWD, 80 Rushcart, Greenfield, Wakes, 1888 TWD, 264 Saddleworth Church SMP, 258 Saddleworth Interior, An Old SMP, 94 Samian Pottery from Castleshaw SCN, 96 Scout Hall, Halifax, Doorway TWD, 109 Socketed Bronze Celt & Flint Knife SPR, 17 Song Thrush SMP, 31 Stone Celt, Castleshaw Valley SPR, 36 Stone Celt, Cudworth SPR , 35 Stone Mould for making Cloth Seals SMP, 116 Stonebreaks, a Pennine Hamlet SPH, 80 Tenter Posts, stone, Wallhill TWD, 160 Tenter Stones, Wallhill SCN, 90 Th’ Owd Clock at Doldrum OHFA, 176 Thieves Bridge, Near Pule Hill TWD, 208 Thomas & Mary Wrigley RU, 16 Thompson, Thomas RU, 64 Tunstead Clough Mill, Greenfield SMP, 111 Urns, Pule Hill SPR, 54 Viking Ring OSD, 146 Waterwheel, Mitchell Mill, Diggle SCN, 91 Waystone, Waystone Edge Moor WAH, 249 Waystone, Waystone Edge Moor OHFA, 32 Wood Mill near Castleshaw SMP, 298 Woolwall at Delph RU, 80

71 SHSB, VOL. 49, NO. 2, 2019

LETTER

Letter from John Felton I was interested to read the short article in the latest SHS Newsletter about the deeds relating to properties in Millgate, Delph, and in particular the Blackburn family. Sarah Ann Shaw was the sister of my great grandfather, George Shaw. She was born around 1839 (I have not been able to find a birth registration), and in 1851 she was living in the family home in Woodhouse, Delph. However, in 1861 she was a domestic servant in Nottingham, in the residence of George Blackburn, a wealthy machinery manufacturer. George was the eldest son of Henry Blackburn who, as you say, was licensee at the Swan Inn, Delph. George Blackburn's wife died in 1862, and by 1881 George had married Sarah Ann, although I cannot find a marriage registration. Nor can I locate Sarah Ann in 1871. The story handed down from my grandparents is that Sarah Ann was working as a barmaid in Delph, when she caught the eye of a wealthy businessman, whom she eventually married. George Blackburn'’s first wife was Jane Booth Fielding of Oldham and in 1851 the couple were living in Oldham. George was an apprentice mechanic at the Mather and Platt engineering company. In 1852 there was a prolonged strike at their factory and George moved to Nottingham, where he helped to set up a business which manufactured hosiery machines. This company eventually became known as Blackburn and Sons. George sat on Nottingham Council from 1874 until his death in 1900, and served for many years as the chairman of the Nottingham Health Committee. He also became a magistrate and an alderman of the city, and he was a prominent freemason. His estate when he died was valued at £102,798. (It looks as though some of this may have come from the properties in Millgate!). Sarah Ann was part of the 'Barnot' Shaw family of Delph. From the early nineteenth century onwards this family were engaged as housepainters, plasterers, glaziers and roofers, and I have been told that they were much involved in the construction of properties in Millgate. Hence my interest in your article. John Felton

The following is an extract from the newsletter article referred to by Dr Felton.1 ‘In 1823 the Lees family sold the [Millgate] property, then comprising three dwellinghouses, to Richard Blackburn, the innkeeper of the nearby Bulls Head Inn at Delph. After his death the property passed to his five children and by a series of labyrinthine transactions was ultimately purchased in 1841 by his son Henry Blackburn, himself a publican, and then of the Swan Inn, Delph. Meanwhile the freehold of the property had passed via multiple conveyances to Uriah Bradbury, surgeon of Mirfield and Miles Wrigley of Scouthead, gent. In 1849 it was also purchased Henry Blackburn. Blackburn moved to the Commercial Inn in Uppermill and died in 1870. Once again the property was divided between his children. It was sold by auction at the Commercial Inn in 1873 and acquired by Joseph Clifton of Delph, woollen Manufacturer, the next year.’

1 Saddleworth Historical Society Newsletter, December 2018.

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