16858

HUDDERSFIELD
‘no mean city’

Whan tha can sey Castle ‘Ill, that’rt ‘ooam, lad!

Chapter One

Yorkshire
The Promised Land
The Setting for the Gem that is Huddersfield

I am a Yorkshire lad, and proud of it. I was born and bred in Huddersfield in the West
Riding of Yorkshire. Riding is an old term derived from thriding or third. When I was a
boy, the term ‘boy’ was used only to describe a child that had just been born and was male.
Thereafter boys were called ‘lad.’

There was something special about being a lad because it identified you as part of the noble
tribe of Yorkshire folk who were, it is commonly known, a special breed, blessed by God to
possess the broad acres and placed in God’s scheme of things somewhat ahead of the
Twelve Tribes of Israel.

We spoke a language of a different order than other mortals. Broad Yorkshire, a true dialect,
is derived from Old Scandinavian.

For example,

English Yorkshire Norwegian

Play lake leike

Flea lop loppe
Fist nieve neve
Child bairn barn

Yorkshire folk were different from the rest of the British islanders, having originally come
ashore in order to perpetrate a reign of terror among the inhabitants. We managed that all
right, and then settled down to plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land, tend
sheep and cattle, prettify the place in general, and propagate our unique genes and culture.

Some became jealous of us. This is especially true of those dwelling to our west on the
gentle slopes of the Pennines and on the flatlands that reach the Irish Sea. Their envy even
extended to efforts to copy our dialect. They failed in this because they couldn’t manage to
reproduce true Yorkshire vowels. Yorkshiremen say “Ovver thee-ah,” whilst Lancastrian
can only achieve “Ow-vurr thurr.” Even to this day, Yorkshire vowels are the shibboleths
that prevent upstart Lancastrians from passing themselves off as their betters.

Yorkshire has had a lot of history, most of it is too well known to require a second telling
here. It involves cricket; a game probably invented by Yorkshiremen since no one else plays
it quite as well. The sad fact is that for several years now the Yorkshire cricket team has
gone soft to let someone else have a chance at winning summat. I know that some will have
a hard time believing that, in spite of the reputation that Yorkshire folk have for generosity,
fair play, and even self-sacrifice, should the cause demand it.

William the Conqueror didn’t like Yorkshire people. He considered them rough and
independent. We’d not argue with that. After all, we had managed without a king for a very
long time and things were going well enough for us without him sticking his oar in. But, he
had this unification bee in his bonnet and wanted to combine the British kingdoms into one
big one and call it England. All we wanted was to be left alone. But would he? He would
not! He sent his armies up here and they knew they had been in a fight. He took our
determined resistance hard and so in a fit of pique went on to decimate our homeland. After
slaughtering almost all the Yorkshire folk, he planted sheep on our hills and moors, and went
back down south.

To this day, Yorkshire folk don’t trust anyone from London, and that is plainly the fault of
King William, otherwise known as William the Conqueror, the Duc de Normandie.

What William didn’t know was that we were making a comeback. When he thought of
Yorkshire, he thought of sheep. After decimating the population of the Broad Acres, he set
sheep loose to graze among the ruins, on the moors, and homesteads. But, whilst his sheep
were foraging among the scrubby grasslands we were quietly breeding and raising new
generations to think for themselves, to be independent, suspicious, resolute, stubborn to the
point of pig-headedness, dour, and taciturn, unless we had something to say, and intently
harbouring nasty-minded suspicions about anyone who comes from the South, a throw-back
to William who came to Yorkshire from that direction.

Yorkshire folk are well known for being blunt, and are especially helpful if you want to
know your shortcomings, which information is not only delivered as a complimentary
service, but also with the imperative sense of Divine Mission.

Yorkshire was more or less determined by geographical considerations. Lots of things about
Yorkshire have to be understood against a background of more or less. In spite of someone
writing a book about it, there is no South Riding. Had Sheffield ever been considered as
rising to the prominence it did, there would almost certainly have been a place made for a
fourth riding, even though the arithmetic would not have worked as well.

To the West Riding, whose western boundary lies beyond the western slopes of the Pennine
Chain overlooking Lancashire, a permanent reminder to its denizens that they had overseers
of a superior kind, was granted the honour of becoming the finest worsted weavers in the
world, overtaking those who had plied their craft in East Anglia in earlier, less enlightened
times.

The chemical industry reached its maturity there also, as many a crumbling building that fell
foul of their foul fumes mutely attest. Net curtains lasted an average of six months in houses
within a five miles radius of Huddersfield’s chemical factories. Heavy engineering, made
possible simply by the strength of back and arm of Yorkshiremen, developed in the growing
urban townscapes.

The West Riding is synonymous with hard work. Its towns and village spread in places
where there was little room for sprawl, and so they stood shoulder-to-shoulder back-to-back,
and even on top of each other, to fit themselves into too little landscape for too many people,
and too many mills and other places of labour. People could not live without them, for bread
does not grow on trees, but as they helped the folk survive, they exacted a grim toll in return.
But the day came when the factories did not need as many workers, and they threw them out
coldly.
Chapter Two

Description of Huddersfield in 1795

From "40 Miles Around Manchester”, (Aikin, 1795)

H U D D E R S F I E L D.

WE begin our account of the cloathing country with this, town, which is
peculiarly the creation of the woollen manufactory, whereby it has been
raifed from an inconfiderable place, to a great degree of profperity and
population.

The parifh of Huddersfield, fituated in Agbridge hundred, is very extenfive,

ftretching from the river Calder on the north and north-eaft, to the
borders of Lancafhire on the weft. Its breadth is lefs confiderable. It
contains, befides the township of Huddersfield, thofe of Quarmby with
Lindley, Longwood, Golcarr, and part of Scamanden, of Slaughthwaite,
and of Marfden. The church is a vicarage, in the gift of Sir John Ramfden;
and has under it the chapels of Dean- head, and Slaughthwaite.

The town of Huddersfield, except two or three houfes, is entirely the

property of Sir John Ramfden, who has for fome years paft granted
building leafes renewable every twenty years on payment of two years
ground rent. He built a very good cloth hall fome years fince, and made a
navigation, from hence, to the Calder, of which an account is given at p.
128. Within the townfhip there are feveral freeholders. The highest
officer is a conftable, who, with his deputy, is yearly chofen at the court
leet held at Michaelmas at Almondfbury, the manor of which alfo belongs
to Sir John Ramfden.

The markets of Huddersfield are very well fupplied with beef, mutton,
veal, and pork, which are expofed for fale in fhambles built by the lord of
the manor. The market-day is Tuefday, but mutton and veal may be had
on other days at the butcher's fhops. It is alfo tolerably fupplied for a
confiderable part of the year with fea-fifh from the Yorkfhire coaft. The fat
cattle and fheep are brought out of Lincolnfhire and the neighbouring
counties, and generally bought at the fortnight fairs of Wakefield, which
fupply much of the weftern part of Yorkfhire and the adjacent parts of
Lancafhire. Butter, eggs, and fowls, are not ufually fold at the market
crofs, but may fometimes be bought in the neighbourhood. A moderate
quantity of corn is brought to the market by the farmers round, and a
larger quantity is brought by water from the more Southern counties,
much of which is carried forwards into Lancafhire.

There are fmall quarterly fairs, at which fome horfes and lean cattle are
expofed to fale; but the principal fair for this purpofe is on May 4.

The progrefs of population in this town will appear from the following
extract from its regifter:

Year. Marr. Chrif Bur. Year. Marr. Chrift Bur.

t. .
1710 30 113 112 1730 48 178 149
1720 33 148 133 1740 41 196 100
1750 39 235 120 1790 113 377 267
1760 65 190 99 1791 140 381 270
1770 100 283 132 1792 119 395 274
1780 115 296 135

The chapelry of Slaughthwaite in this parish, which equally partakes of

the increased population from trade, has afforded the following lift of
births and burials for a fpace of five years

Year. Chrift. Bur.

1784 124 53
1785 135 29
1786 140 49
1787 140 90
1788 153 37

From this and the preceding table a very favourable idea may be deduced
of the healthiness of this diftrict, and the advantages it offers for the
increafe of the human fpecies. Thefe chiefly proceed from the
comparative healthiness of a manufacture carried on in rural fituations
and at the workmen's own houfes; from the plenty of employ and high
price of labour, encouraging to early matrimony; and from the warm
cloathing, good fare, and abundant fuel, enjoyed by the induftrious in this
place.

The trade of Huddersfield comprises a large fhare of the cloathing trade of

Yorkfhire, particularly the finer articles of it. Thefe confift of broad and
narrow cloths; fancy cloths, as elastics, beaverettes, &c. alfo honleys, and
kerfeymeres. The qualities run from 10d. to 8s. per yard, narrows ; and
broads as high as the fuperfines in the weft of England. The finest broads
in Yorkfhire are made at Saddleworth the manufactures of which place are
included in this diftrict, being all fold at Huddersfield market. Thefe goods
are made from all forts of short Englifh wool, from £.6 to £.35 per pack,
and from Spanifh wool. The loweft priced Englifh wool is chiefly short
wool forted from large fleeces of combing wool bought in Lincolnfliire,
Leicefterfhire, Nottinghamfhire, and the neighbouring counties. The fineft
Englifh wool is from fmall fleeces in Herefordfhire, Shropfhire, and other
weftern counties; and alfo from Kent, Suffex, and their neighbourhood.

The markets for thefe goods are almoft wholly Great Britain and Ireland,
and America. They are bought up by the merchants of the cloathing
towns in a ftate ready for cropping, dreffing, and finifhing, and are then
fent to London and the country towns, or exported from Liverpool or Hull.
All the branches of trade here may be confidered as in a thriving ftate,
making allowance for the temporary check of the war, which, however,
has been lefs than might have been fuppofed, as appears from the annual
accounts of cloths stamped and regifered at Pontefract. It is to be
confidered, too, that kerfeymeres and all other goods carried to the
market at Huddersfield which are white and quilled, are not regiftered and
thefe forts are on the increafe.

The new canal planned from Huddersfield to join the Manchefter and
Afhton canal, which is expected to be of great advantage to its trade, has
been mentioned at p. 131.

The principal gentlemens' feats near Huddersfield are, Whitley-hall., the,

feat of Richard Henry Beaumont, Efq. whofe family poffeffed this place in
the reign of Henry II.; Kirklees-hall, belonging to Sir George Armytage,
Bart.; Fixby-hall and park, the feat of Thomas Thornhill, Efq.; and Mills-
bridge to William Radcliffe, Efq. To the weft of Almondfbury is Caftle-hill,
an old fortrefs, fuppofed by fome to be the Roman Cambodunum; but Mr.
Watfon conceives it rather to be a Saxon remain, and that Slack, to the
north of Huddersfield, was Cambodunum.
Chapter Three

Description of Huddersfield in 1834

From, Pigot & Co's National Commercial Directory, 1834

Huddersfield is a populous and flourishing manufacturing and market-

town and township; and by the Reform Bill created a parliamentary
borough, in the parish of its name, in the wapentake of Agbrigg, West
Riding; about 189 miles from London, 40 SW from York, 24 NE from
Manchester, 16 SW from Leeds, 14 S from Bradford, and 7 SSE from
Halifax.

The town, which derives its name from Oder or Hudder, the first Saxon
colonist in the place, is situated on the high road between Manchester
and Leeds, partly on the declivity, and partly on the summit of an
eminence, which is surrounded by others of superior height, while the
river Colne glides through the valley.

The houses are principally built of a light-coloured stone, in a neat style,

and the general appearance of the town, which has of late years
wonderfully increased in magnitude, is of a character calculated to inspire
the traveller with the impression that its inhabitants are wealthy and
respectable.

Sir John Ramsden, Bart., is lord of the manor, and the almost sole
proprietor of property here. This gentleman holds a court-leet once a
year, at Almondbury; a court of requests for the recovery of debts under
40s is held in a neat building in Queen-street, where, also, the
magistrates sit on Tuesdays and Saturdays; and a court is held twice in
the year, at the George Inn, for the liberty of the honour of Pontefract, for
pleas of debt or damages under £5.

Huddersfield, under the provisions of the Reform Bill, sends one member
to parliament. The number of persons, however, entitled to exercise the
elective franchise in the borough, is little more than six hundred, of whom
only four hundred and eighty-nine voted at the last election (January,
1834), when the candidates put in nomination were, -

Blackburn, Esq.,
M.T. Sadler, Esq., and
Capt. Wood.
The first named gentleman was elected by a considerable majority,
having polled 234 votes, Mr Sadler 147, and Capt. Wood 108.

The new Boundary Act (an appendage to the Reform Bill), defines the
limits if the borough to comprise the entire township of Huddersfield; and
the same appoints the town as one of the stations for receiving votes at
the election of members to represent the West Riding.

The manufactures of Huddersfield and neighbourhood are principally

woollens, and consist of broad and narrow cloths, serges, kerseymeres,
cords, etc; fancy goods, to a great extent are also made here, embracing
shawls and waistcoatings1 in great variety, besides articles from silk. The
cotton trade is also carried on, although nothing to be compared in extent
with the other branches already named.

Amongst the principal buildings is the cloth-hall, erected by Sir John

Ramsden, in the years 1765. It is a large circular edifice, two stories high,
divided, on the one side, into separate compartments or shops, and, on
the other, into open stalls, for the accommodation of the country
manufacturers of woollen cloths.

There are also two central avenues of stalls, for the same purpose, and
the number of manufacturers now attending there on the market-day
(Tuesday) is about six hundred. If to this be added, the great number,
(particularly in the fancy line) who have ware-rooms in various parts of
the town2, some estimate may be formed of the immense extent of
business transacted weekly in Huddersfield.

The doors are opened early in the morning of the market-day, and closed
at half-past twelve o'clock at noon, they are again opened at three in the
afternoon, for the removal of cloth, etc.

Above the entrance is placed a cupola, in which is a clock and bell3, used
for the purpose of regulating the time allowed for doing business. The
names of the manufacturers who attend the market at the Hall, may be
obtained of the keeper.

The inland navigation of Huddersfield affords to its trade the most ample
advantages, both to the east and to the west; the Ramsden and
Huddersfield canals communicating with others and their branches, an
intercourse is kept up with all the great commercial and manufacturing
towns.
1
My great-great-great-grandfather, James Bray of Deighton, manufactured fancy waistcoat materials.
2
James Bray had offices in King’s Head Chambers in Cloth Hall Street.
3
The entrance, cupola, and clock now stand in Ravensknowle Park, Dalton, having been removed there when
the old Cloth hall was demolished to make way for the Ritz Cinema, also since demolished.
There are many streams in the neighbourhood, and the rivers Holme and
Colne here unite and fall into the Calder, three miles below the town.
Upon these streams a number of mills are erected, principally employed
in the manufacture of woollens, and fulling and washing the cloth, etc.

The town is chiefly supplied with coal from colleries at Mirfield, Emley
Moor, and Upper Flockton, and is well lighted with gas, the streets well
paved and cleaned, and their general aspect highly creditable to the
inhabitants. The edifices constructed for divine worship and belonging to
the town, are St. Peter's - the parish church, a building of ancient and
stately appearance; it was rebuilt in the reign of Henry the Seventh, and
steps are now being taken for its thorough repair.

The living is a vicarage, in the patronage of Sir John Ramsden, and

incumbency of the Rev. J.C. Franks, whose curate is the Rev. J. Pope.

- Trinity church, is a beautiful Gothic structure, erected at an expense of

£12,000, by B.H. Allen, Esq., of Greenhead, in 1819; the incumbent is the
Rev. H. Withy; the living is in the gift of Mrs. Davies, late the widow of the
founder.

- St. Paul's church, is a recent erection, having been raised in 1831: in the
early English style of architecture, the patronage is in the vicar, and the
present incumbent is the Rev. J. Bywater.

The other places of worship in and near the town are two large chapels
belonging to the methodists, and others for the use of the baptists,
independents, society of friends, and catholics. The chapel of the latter is
a very ornamental edifice, and that of the methodists, in Queen-street,
one of the largest in the kingdom.

The principal charitable institution is an infirmary, lately erected on the

Halifax-road, and which, in addition to the laudable purposes for which it
was established, is a considerable acquisition to the town in point of
ornament.

There is also bible and other societies for the diffusion of religions
knowledge; a mechanics institute, established in 1825; numerous Sunday
schools, and one, upon an excellent principle, for the instruction of
infants.

Naturally this part of the country is barren and unproductive, but its local
advantages for manufacture from its waterfalls, and having coal mines
contiguous, has caused a the assemblage of a great population; and the
soil has gradually yielded to the labours of the agriculturist and
husbandman, until at length it has become valuable, and available to the
wants of those who have established themselves upon it.

The surrounding hills, therefore, are now cultivated to their summits, from
which the views are very extensive, particularly that from Castle Hill, from
whence, on a clear day, may be obtained a glimpse of York cathedral.

There are many handsome residences in the neighbourhood, and about

three quarters of a mile from the town are Lockwood Waters, noticed
more at large in our sketch of that village.

The market-day is Tuesday, which is well supplied with every necessary.

The fairs are March 31st, May 4th, and October 1st, for cattle and horses;
the May fair is the principal one.

By the parliamentary returns for 1811, the whole parish of Huddersfield

contained 18,182 inhabitants, in 1821, 24,220, and in 1831, 31,041, of
which the last number 19,035 were returned for the township, being an
increase in twenty years of upwards of eleven thousand in the township,
and of more than twenty-six thousand in the entire parish.
Chapter Four
HUDDERSFIELD:
STREETS, COURTS, &c.,
IN HUDDERSFIELD IN 1853.
* Albert buildings, 57 New street
* Albion street, 3 High street
* Aspley, Shore foot
* Atkin's yard, 73 Upperhead row
* Back green, Shore head
* Back Queen street, 93 King street
* Bath buildings, Newhouse (Newsome?)
* Batley's buildings, Leeds road
* Batty's yard, 3 Market place
* Bay hall, Newtown (Birkby)
* Beast market, Kirkgate
* Belle vue, Halifax road
* B* Belgrave terrace, New North road
Bentley street, Bridge end (Lockwood)
* Bent's house, Newhouse
* Berry's yard, 17 New street
* Birkby, 1 mile N.W.
* Birkhouse terrace, Manchester road
* Boulder yard, 71 Kirkgate
* Bradford road, Northgate
* Bradley's buildings, 24 Northgate
* Bradley Spout, Swan yard
* Bradley street, King street
* Bridge end, Aspley
* Bridge street, Chapel hill
* Brook street, Northgate (by old market)
* Brookfield place, Leeds road
* Brook's buildings, Market street & Hawk
street
* Brook's yard, Westgate
* Brunswick place, Newhouse
* Bull & Mouth street, 2 Victoria street
* Buxton road, New street
* Castle gate Lowerhead row
* Chadwick's fold, 41 Kirkgate
* Chadwick's yard, 60 Northgate
* Chancery lane, Market place (to Cloth
Hall St)
* Chapel hill, Buxton road
* Charles street, John street
* Cherry tree yard, Upperhead row &
Westgate (Cherry Tree Pub - Cowling's
Corner)
* Clare hill, Oxford road (Cambridge St and
St John's Rd)
* Cloth hall street, New street (to Market
St)
* Clough's yard, Newtown
* Colne road, & street, Aspley
* Commercial square and street, Ramsden
street
* Cooper's court, High street
* Corn market, Kirkgate
* Cowcliffe, Hill house (up the hill from
back of Fartown)
* Cricket ground, Halifax road
* Croft cottage lane, Bradford road
* Crofthead, Market street
* Cropper's row, Northgate
* Crosland moor, Lockwood
* Cross Church street, Kirkgate (through to
King St)
* Cross Grove street, Grove street
* Cuckold's Clough, Bradford road
* Denton lane, Kirkgate
* Dock street, Castle gate
* Downing's yard, 7 New street
* Duke street, Swallow street
* Dundas street, Market street
* Dyke end lane, Halifax road
* East parade, Buxton road
* Eastwood's yard, Manchester street
* Edgerton, Halifax road
* Edward's court, 69 Bradford street, & 36
King street
* Edward's square, Bradford road
* Engine bridge, Chapel hill
* Fartown, Bradford road
* Fenton square, Longroyd (Longroyd
Bridge up side of St Thomas' Church)
* Fieldgate, Lowerhead row
* Fitzwilliam street, Leeds road (to Trinity
St)
* Fleece yard, Kirkgate
* Folly hall, Bridge street
* Fox street, Market street (side of Ritz)
* Fountain street, Northgate
* Freeman's square, Trinity street
* George street, Upperhead row & Spring
street
* George yard, Westgate
* Gibson's yard, High street
* Globe yard, King street
* Grafton place, Commercial street
* Granby street, Manchester street
* Greenhead road, West parade
* Greenside, West parade
* Greenwood's yard, 29 New street
* Grove street, Upperhead row
* Halfmoon street, Westgate
* Halifax road, Temple street
* Hansons yard, 46 New street
* Hawk street, Union street
* Hawksby's court, New street
* Hebble terrace, place, & row, Bradford
road
* Hellawell's yard, Newtown
* Helm's yard, Manchester street
* Hick's buildings, Green Dragon yard
* Highfield, Halifax road
* High street, New street
* Hillhouse, Bradford road
* Horsfall's yard, King street
* Ingham's yard, New street
* Jagger's buildings, Leeds road
* Jagger's yard, Bradford road
* John street, Buxton road
* John-William street, Market place (to
Birkby/Hillhouse)
* Johnson's brigs. Buxton road
* Jowitt's buildings, Castle gate
* Jowitt's court, Upperhead row
* Kilner's yard, Cloth hall street
* King's head yard, Cloth Hall street, &
Market street
* King street, New street
* King's Mill lane, Colne road
* Kirkgate, Market place
* Kirkmoor street, Northgate
* Lad lane, Westgate
* Lancaster's yard & buildings, 14 Cloth
hall street
* Laycock's yard, 42 King St
* Leadbetter's yard, Quay street
* Lee bead, Bay hall
* Leech yard, Engine bridge
* Leeds road, foot of Lowerhead row
* Lime kiln road, Aspley
* Little Bermondsey, Temple street
* Lock street, Northgate
* Lockwood crescent, Buxton road
* Lockwood's yard, 9 New street and
Westgate
* Longroyd bridge, M(anchester). road
* Love's yard, 19 High street
* Lowerhead row, Beast market (bottom
side of Bradford Rd)
* Lucas yard, 7 Newtown
* Ludlam's yard, 35 New street
* Macaulay street, Market street
* Manchester street, & road, High street
* Market place, New street
* Market street, Westgate
* Market walk, Market place
* Marsh, Trinity street
* Marshall's yard, Westgate & Market street
* Mimes row, Castle gate
* Milton square, West parade
* Mold green Wakefield road
* Nelson's brigs. 28 New street
* Nether royd hill, Bradford road
* Netherwood's buildings, 25 King street
* Newhouse, Halifax road
* Newmarket, King street
* New North road, Westgate
* New street, Market place
* Newtown, Northgate
* Northgate, Beast market
* North parade, Halifax New road
* North's yard, Northgate
* Northumberland street, 99 Northgate
* Ontcote (Outcote) bank, Manchester road
* Oxford street, Northgate
* Paddock, 1 mile S.W.
* Pig market; Victoria street (Shambles)
* Plough yard, Westgate
* Post office yard, Castle gate
* Priestroyd, Commercial street
* Princess street, Queen street
* Prospect row, South street
* Quay street, Castle gate
* Queen street, King street
* Radford yard, 30 Bradford road
* Railway street, Westgate
* Ramsden street, New street
* Rashcliffe, (Rashcliffe) Folly hall
* Rawson's court, 52 New street
* Regent street, South street
* Rhodes' yard, 17 King street
* Riley's buildings, Market street
* Robinson's yard, Hebble row
* Roebuck's yard, John street
* Rose hill, Birkby
* Rosemary lane, Kirkgate
* Saddle yard, Westgate
* Savings' Bank buildings, New Street
(Yorkshire Penny Bank)
* St George's square, Railway station
* St Paul street, Ramsden street (Bottom)
* St Peter's street, Northgate (Church St
dissecting, parallel to Northumberland St)
* Schofield's buildings, Fn. street
* Seed hill, Kirkgate
* Sergeantson street, Fox street
* Shambles, King street
* Shear's court, Beast market
* Sheep close, Upperhead row
* Shore foot & lid., King street
* Silk street, Lowerhead row
* Skilbeck's yard, Lowerhead row
* South parade, Buxton road up to market
St, Greenhead Road)
* South street, West parade (to Trinity St)
* Springfield terrace, South street
* Spring place, Upperhead row
* Spring street, Upperhead row
* Springgrove street, South street
* Springwood, Longroyd (footpath to Bow
st)
* Stables street, Engine bridge (Buxton Rd
Folly Hall)
* Station street, Westgate
* Sutcliffe's buildings, Cloth hall street
* Sutcliffe's yard, 34 Manchester street
* Swallow street, Upperhead row
* Swan yard, Kirkgate
* Sykes' yard, 35 Newtown
* Temple street, Westgate
* Thomas street, Northgate
* Thornton's yard, Northgate
* Threadneedle street, Market street
* Towning row, West parade (Trinity St)
* Trinity street, West parade
* Turnbridge, Quay street
* Union row, Leeds road
* Union street, Northgate
* Upperhead row, Temple street
* Vance's buildings, Cloth hall street
* Viaduct street, Oxford street
* Victoria buildings, Victoria street, & 37
New street
* Victoria street, Queen street
* Victoria lane, King street
* Victoria yard, Westgate
* Watkinson's yard, King street
* Walker's fold, Swallow street
* Watergate, Castle gate
* Water lane, Manchester street
* Waterloo mill, Leeds road
* Wells (The), Beast market
* Wentworth street, New North road to
Fitzwilliam St)
* Westfield, Trinity street
* Westfield terrace, New North road
* Westgate, Market place
* West hill, West parade
* West parade, Westgate
* West place, Trinity street
* Wilks' yard, 44 King street
* Willow lane, Hill house
* Windsor street, 41 Castle gate
* Winter's place, Spring street
* Wood street, Bradford road
* Woodland mount, Trinity street
* Wormald's yard, 58 New street (extant)
* York place, Halifax road
* York street, Northgate
* Zetland street, Ramsden street

An index to the streets of Huddersfield from White's Gazetteer and Directory, 1853
Chapter

I Opened My Eyes and Saw …

In my childhood, the air was thick with chimneys belching from coal fires and furnaces from
the teeming houses and from the giant mill chimneys that stood like massive cricket stumps
row on row up to the skylines. When they were rousing their sleeping coal-fired boilers in
the early morning, clouds of thick black smoke poured out of their tops before sweeping
down onto the houses below to hide them from the day’s sun still struggling to rise above the
horizon. The sun had its work cut out for it, and never managed to cope too well. It rained a
bit, and the people grumbled and put up with it.

Hills are everywhere in the West Riding. They are especially noticeable if you want to go
anywhere on foot or on a bicycle, and always manage to get in the way. It is a rare outing
that doesn’t involve climbing at least one steep, long hill. Coming back is no better. There is
always a big hill to go up before coasting down one. Even coming down them makes the
backs of young legs with fixed gear cycles ache like Billy-ho.

Life was hard, very hard. How we got through I’ll never know, and neither will anyone else.
I shouldn’t be a bit surprised if universities all over the world had made studies of how
Yorkshire folk managed to stay alive in such a hilly landscape and in such harsh conditions
that prevailed in my Yorkshire Ladhood.
Chapter

In Whom Can We Trust?

‘a sense of community that became legendary’

When the country folk trooped into the towns during the industrial revolution, they left
behind one kind of poverty for another. While factory work guaranteed economic
independence in a way, it replaced the less certain poverty of agriculture.

Burgeoning towns were ill equipped to cope with the massive influx of workers, but a
solution was to build compact, high-density housing adjacent to the mills that swallowed the
workers, including small children, during the daytime.

The beginning of industrialisation with mass production was undertaken with little thought
for the comfort or health of those attracted to the new workplaces. People were reduced to
being no more than a pair of hands. Factoryisation drove down the cost of goods formerly
manufactured in cottages across the whole country, rendering cottage industry redundant
overnight.

Men resisted inroads into their trades and incomes made by labour-saving inventions,
spawned by the seemingly limitless inventiveness of early Victorians. Luddites from the
vicinity of Huddersfield smashed machines with a great hammer that they christened Enoch.
Enoch was the name of a cropping frame maker, and Luddites shouted their war cry, “Enoch
makes them, and Enoch shall break them.” Some mill owners lost their lives in the
struggles.

In spite of understandable opposition from the noveau pauvre, whose home-based skills were
no longer marketable, they bowed in defeat and trooped passively into factories to learn new
ways in alien surroundings, and harsh, often dangerous, conditions

Mill workers, having left their primitive villages and cottages, were dependent upon
employers providing dwellings. Later generations, which did not remember their deserted
villages, never rose to financial independence, and so the dependence on provided houses
continued. The mill houses, small, squat, stone-floored terraced dwellings, built close to the
mills, were little more than hovels. The single downstairs room served as living room,
kitchen, dining room, and bathroom. The privy middens were at the end of the row, and
several families would have to share. Some middens had more than one accommodation so
that families could sit and talk or hold hands whilst taking care of business. Going to the
bathroom was always referred to as going to do one’s business or going to see a man about a
dog.

There was no plumbing in the houses apart from a cold-water tap over a stone sink at the side
of the cast iron Yorkshire Range. Light was by candles or paraffin lamps, until gas became
more widely available, and then the living room would have a gas light in the centre of its
ceiling, and the bedrooms in later houses had a light on a wall bracket.

The Yorkshire Range had three sections: a central fire basket with a manual closing plate at
the opening to the chimney, usually sporting a rod in a closed fist for its control knob, an
oven to the left of the fire basket, and a water boiler at the right. Heat was directed to the
oven or boiler by a collection of dampers that pulled the heat from the fire around the
selected appliance. Most cooking was done on the hob at the front of the fire, on which cast
iron pans balanced precariously cooked their contents with their long handles sticking out
into the room. The pot-bellied pans summoned the cook, when they began to boil, by hissing
loudly as water spilled out onto the glowing coals.

The first floor was reached by a stone stairway reaching a landing whose floor, like the
bedroom or bedrooms, two at most, had, in common with the downstairs room, a slab stone
floor. The living room floor was paved with two feet by three feet slabs, but the upstairs
floors were monolithic slabs resting across the outside walls of the building. These were
beautifully cool in summer, and chilling cold in winter.

Windows were small sliding casements. To stop people seeing in, a net “mind-your-
business” curtain was fixed across windows, ensuring a level of privacy in a world that
offered little privacy.

In a two-bedroom house, the parents had one room and the children would share the other,
more often than not all piling into one large bed regardless of age or sex. Modesty was
secured according to the inventiveness of those who needed it, but it was never easy.

Bath night, always on a Friday, was problematic. Water, obtained from a nearby well or
spring, before indoor plumbing was common, was heated in the boiler of the Yorkshire
Range, lifted out with a small jug-like vessel known as a ‘piggin,’ and emptied into the zinc-
plated tin bath that hung on a six-inch nail on the outside wall. Due to the small capacity of
the boiler and the length of time required to heat sufficient for six inches of water in the tub,
all the family bathed in the same water, father going first then the rest of the family in order
of descending importance. This was amusingly referred to as The Order of the Bath. Some,
who were not hard to detect, managed without ever taking a bath.

From the conurbations of these impoverished homes grew a sense of community that became
legendary in the North. People looked after each other; bore one another’s burdens, shared
grief, disappointments, joys, and celebrations. Boys married neighbour girls, and developed
strong familial communities.

It was a time of making do, adapting, of doing without, and of having less and less.
However, the less necessities became, the spirit of the people and the place increased.
Strangers did not pass in the street without a familiar salutation. The times and conditions
nurtured a brotherhood of gritty folk with attitudes to life that saw them through all the hard
times.
After the Second World War, England was slow to update manufacturing processes and
under pressure from developing nations, the textile industry was quickly decimated. Textile
giants built in a passion of confidence by Victorian entrepreneurs, who thought they would
stand forever, fell one by one, victims of a changing world for which they were unprepared.

Close on the heels of factory shutdowns came the clearance of dying communities as
bulldozers moved in and people moved out. Neighbourhoods were divided, and then
shattered, the support they had extended was torn away, leaving people lost, dazed, shunted
away from generations of history, roots, and familiar voices. Neighbours whose families had
lived cheek by jowl since Victoria ascended the throne were separated, never to meet again.
Hearts were broken, and some sensitive minds disintegrated in the train of their crumbled
world.

Though their stories are sad, similar ones are repeated generation after generation, as the
institutions in which mankind places its trust turn aside from what they were, either to
become something else, or to vanish. Well might they ask, "In whom can mankind trust?"
Nephi supplies the answer:

O Lord, I have trusted in thee

and I will trust in thee forever.
I will not put my trust in an arm of flesh.

When we trust in the Lord, though all human agencies fail, we find him trustworthy, for he
will not forsake us, but keeps his promises down to the least.

As I pass the places where the Titans stood, and picture the ghostly scene of huddled men
and women shuffling into the silence of the far away, I remember and contrast the
steadfastness of a Heavenly Father who never abandons his children, and who hears them
when they call.
Chapter

Between the Mills and the Stars

‘welcome reminders of the place that was my home, in a time that is gone’

When I was preparing to leave my beloved Yorkshire to live in the desert of Arizona, the
treed ridges of Tennessee, and the fir-clad mountains of Montana, I looked lovingly at the
scenes of my childhood, hoping to press their images deep into my memory, so that in exile I
could conjure them up in graphic detail, and so that when the lamp of my life shall burn low
in the years of my old age, sweeping me along in the rush towards eternity, I can bask in the
fading glory of people, days, and places that once were so real, but which now, phantomlike,
grow dimmer, making me wonder if they were ever real at all.

Most of the giant mills are gone, their machinery silent, their workers gone to their graves or
fast approaching them, and their chimneys felled or truncated. Those that remain are turned
to other uses than making worsted cloth whose quality has been seldom equalled and never
surpassed. My memory rejoices not only by the images of these stone massives, but also
from the recollection of the sound of their rumbling machinery complete with familiar thuds,
and from the smells, whose memories, whilst not pleasant, are vivid and welcome reminders
of the place that was my home, in a time that is gone.

Into these mills on many a dark wet morning went quiet people wrapped up against the cold,
inured to their misery, too familiar with poverty and its attendant ills, but harbouring a secret
cheerfulness that their circumstances should have denied them.

Children went to work in the mill, leaving, if they were lucky, some fifty or sixty years later
with broken and bent bodies, no savings, and no homes of their own. The factories broke
their bodies whilst distorting and impoverishing their spirits, and not a few succumbed to the
combination of cruel toil and deficient health services..

After the steam whistle blew its last signal of the day, these morning mutes spilled
themselves out onto the streets a little more erect than when they entered the confines of their
place of imprisonment and labour in the dark morning hours, and more vocal.

Flowing from the strangely silent mills at hometime gave workers pause to breathe clear air
and leave the din of noisy machinery behind.

Grimy day had no claim on their souls when their hours of bondage ended, and they were
freed until the morning hooter recalled their soulless bodies from warm blankets to a
thraldom whose release came only with death.

Dinner was eaten at teatime, and passed with some sense of relief. Children were warned to
be quiet while father ate, after which some time for them might be stolen from the evening’s
ration before bed called.
The stillness of outside nights was broken by occasionally raised voices from those who
didn’t know how to behave in public. Shouts of intemperate laughter echoed through empty
thoroughfares, ran around courtyards, jiggled down muddy lanes, rattling off the walls of the
tiny back-to-back terraced houses, while shared jokes, and quips giggled outside curtained
closed windows, coming louder then softer as they faded into darkness, and the night closed
in again on hushed and dim gas-lit streets.

No textile worker got rich. Mill owners and merchants drove Rolls-Royces as big as
workers’ houses, and lived in houses as large as their mills. They lived different lives and
spoke a different language, unaware of the things their workers spoke about, for they were of
another world and another culture that denied them insight into the misery of the miserly
world of their employees.

Mill workers did without essentials as well as luxuries, because they could not afford interest
on credit, yet could not afford to live without it, so debt, with all its demands and fears, was
ever present. They lived between the devil and the deep blue sea; tossed between the mills
and the stars, but few turned their eyes and minds outward or upward.

Nevertheless, after work, some listened to the radio, read newspapers, magazines and books,
and broadened their horizons by attending evening classes at a worker’s educational institute.
These few discovered worlds outside of the circumscribed environment that was the lot of
their kind for generations.

In the strange nights that come after long hours of hard labour, while some lost their pain
through drink, these cerebral argonauts and entered realms through imaginations and
longings that refused to accept the limits set upon it by birth and circumstance. Intellectual
rebellion was frowned upon, and frequently condemned. The smallest expression of self-
improvement was denounced as disloyalty to one’s family, community, and class.

Yet, as the minds of those who dared dream of other worlds rose to the stars, wondering what
was beyond the world of their bodily captivity, their souls were liberated by a sense of
freedom that was often no more than an illusion. Yet, it was these almost frivolous reveries
that eventually opened the doors of their minds and made liberation a reality. If not for them,
then for their children and grandchildren.

We owe the opportunities we have enjoyed to those courageous spirits, who in the gut of
dark satanic mills dared to dream when others said they could not and must not, ignoring the
limitations of their world to set their minds free to bathe in the sunlight of other places, other
times, even from the very bellies of the dark mill-tombs.

And it is these I shall miss most. The gritty men and women of the hard land of the North
who, though their lives were moulded by the unyielding landscape and by the iron discipline
imposed by their work and culture, harboured esoteric hopes that blazed avenues of escape
for them and especially for those who would succeed them.
These are my heroes. These, who held fast to their dreams in the face of hostility, who, in
houses made of stone as hard as their own existence, played out their wretched lives and
dared to dream their dreams, somewhere between the mill and the stars.
Chapter

Huddersfield and its History

‘the town that bought itself’

The town of Huddersfield was pleasant to the refined sensibilities of a distinguished German
visitor. Frederick Engels wrote of it in extremely warm terms. He was right to do so because
the town has much that is pleasant, although I believe that in some respects there was more
pleasantness in 1935 than there is now. But it could be that the longing for what has been
may be nothing more than the pathological inclination of old people to remember the past as
Golden and the present as moth eaten. Whether that is so, I haven’t quite figured out, but I
believe that some of the things that have gone were better than some of the things that have
replaced them.

The earliest settlement around Huddersfield’s was at Castle Hill, an ancient place that still
bears evidence of Iron-Age fortifications and a Castle dating back to Norman times. The
Huddersfield of today grew through the seventeen and eighteen hundreds, and was granted
County Borough status in 1868, due to the industry of the Ramsden Family who were Lords
of the Manor.

Huddersfield’s reputation and prosperity was built around the textile industry and its fine
woollen worsteds are still sent to customers all over the world. The boom created by the
textile industry provided a rich legacy of fine Victorian buildings such as the neo-classic
railway station and the ornate town Hall.

In 1920, the Huddersfield Corporation bought the Ramsden Estate including almost all the
town centre. Because of this, Huddersfield is known as ‘the town that bought itself’.

Came the war and on 29 August 1940, bombs fell on Hall Bower. No one is quote sure what
they were targeting, but the first two bombs dropped did slight damage to houses, several
townspeople were blown out of bed, and a Mrs O'Shea's jam tarts were devastated. War can
be Hell!

On the night of 14th and 15th of March, fire parties were called out for the first time to deal
with hundreds of incendiary bombs. Twenty high explosive bombs were dropped on and
around Huddersfield, whose anti-aircraft gun encampments were engaged in almost non-stop
operation through the night.

The last air raid over Huddersfield was on the 12th June 1941.

In Roman Times

Earliest information about Huddersfield is from Roman historians who make mention of
fierce and warlike Brigantes that occupied all the north of England. Of the 40 nations that
inhabited Britain at the time these were the most numerous and powerful. They were
eventually made subjects of Rome by Petilius Cerealis c. AD 75.

Evidence of the Roman settlement of Cambodunum situated at Slack, above Outlane, on the
Roman road between Tadcaster (Calcarice) and Manchester (Mancunium). The name
Cambodunum may have originated from the Celtic word dun, meaning a high place of
strength, and from the name of the British war god Camul.

In 1736, the Rev. Mr Watson discovered a Roman altar at Slack. Other discoveries over the
years, at the same site, suggest that this was the location for a permanent garrison. Finds
have included the foundations of buildings and several hypercausts or heating chambers.
From markings on the bricks at the site it would appear that the soldiers who built the
buildings were Breuch, a people of Celtic origin who settled in Pannonia, now modern
Hungary. When the Romans subjugated a race and took their men into the armed forces they
would post them to outposts far from their home country to limit the number of desertions
and revolts in the ranks. Thus, any Britons captured by the Romans would have been sent to
distant outposts.

After the Romans withdrew from Britain in 418 AD, caused by the attack on the Roman
Empire by the Gauls, the area became the target of the Picts and the Scots raiders.

Despite desperate please to the Romans no help was forthcoming therefore the Britons turned
to the Angles for help.

In due course, the marauders were driven away by the Angles with the help of the Jutes and
Saxons, who then settled in the area. Unfortunately, they also chose to conquer the native
Britons whom they had come to help.

Evidence of Saxon settlement are indicated by place names that had such endings as Ham,
Ley or Ton as well as Burgh, Worth and Stead. Hence, Meltham, Honley, Bradley, Dalton,
Deighton, and Almondbury all indicate Saxon settlement.

After the Saxon settlement, the area was an invasion by the Norsemen who affected
settlements in the area, among the Saxons, by force or by treaty. Birkby, Fixby, Quarmby,
Linthwaite, Slaithwaite, Lingards, Upperthong, Netherthong, (from the Danish 'Thing', a
place of military gathering) Kirkheaton, and Kirkburton all have names of Danish origin.

In the time of the Saxons, Almondbury was a place of some importance.

It was then a royal seat and graced with a church, built by Paulinus, dedicated to St Alban.

In the cruel war between Ceadwall the Briton and Penda the Mercian waged upon Edwin, the
Prince of these territories, the church was burnt down.

Edwin was the first Christian monarch of Northumbria - made king in AD 547.
Paulinus, the Companion of St Augustine, first came into these parts having been consecrated
Bishop of York in July 625.

1066 And Beyond

The earliest mention of the district in which Huddersfield now stands is in the Domesday
Book where Odersfelt is mentioned.

“Huddersfield” probably means "The Field of an Englishman called Huthhere, or of a

Scandinavian called Hather.”

Also, from the Domesday Book the following place names local to Huddersfield can be
gathered.

Bradley (Bradeleia)
Lindley (Lillaia)
Quarmby (Camebi) Cornebi
Golcar (Gudlagsare)
Crosland (Croisland)
Thornhill (Torni)
Almondbury (Almondeberie)
Farnley (Fereleia)
Honley (Haneleia)
Meltham (Meltha)
Hopton (Hoptone)
Lepton (Leptone)
Whitley (Witelai)
Mirfield (Mirefelt)
Dalton (Daltone)
Elland (Elant)

According to the Domesday Book 'in Odersfelt, Godwin had six carucates of land to be
taxed, affording occupation of eight ploughs.

Now the same has it of Ilbert (Ilbert de Laci) but it is waste.'

In the time of King Edward, it was valued at 100 shillings. (A carucate, hide, or plow of land
was about 120 acres. The pound was the value of a pound of silver.)

The barbarity of the Conqueror can be noted by the word 'waste', especially as Huddersfield
was deemed fertile and advanced in civilisation than most of Britain at the time.

It transpires that while William was in Normandy the British subjects rebelled against the
oppressive regime of the Normans.
Whilst under the command of the earls Morcar and Edwin they attacked the city of York,
expelling the garrison, slew the governor and killed many of his retainers. The battle, in
1069, resulted in 3,000 Norman dead.

William, in his fury, exacted terrible revenge on York and levelled it to the ground.

Still dissatisfied he sent his followers over the whole country of Yorkshire with orders to kill,
burn, and destroy. True to his word 100,000 men, women and children were killed and all
their chattels destroyed.

William then bestowed the Barony of Pontefract on Ilbert de Lacy who became founder of
one of the most powerful families of the north (AD 1092).

The de Lacy's founded the religious houses of Nostell, Pontefract, and Kirkstall. They also
obtained the Earldom of Lincoln, the extensive lordship of Blackburnshire in the county of
Lancaster: they had no less than 25 towns in the Wapentake of Morley and the greater part of
150 manors in the West Riding, one of the families is believed to be the founders of the
Parish Church of Huddersfield.

At the time of the Domesday Book the feudal system consisted of the following hierarchy (in
descending order):

Kings

Tenants-in-Chief
(e.g. Ilbert de Lacy)

Sub-Tenants
(e.g. Godwin of Huddersfield - see above)

Dwellers of the Manor

(i.e. Freemen, Socmen, Villeins, Cottars and Bordars

Services, kind, or both, as we understand it, paid for rent. The Tenants-in-Chief gave
personal service to the kings in times of war and paid the recognised feudal dues; the villein,
on the other hand, worked on the lord's (e.g. Ilbert de Lacy) land (the lord's demesne) so
many days a week and also did extra work at such times as harvest (boon work); they could
not leave the manors where they were born, could not marry their daughter's without the
lord's consent, and had to grind their corn at the kings mill.

(One of the earliest mills of this type could be found on Kings Mill Lane at Aspley close to
the confluence of the Colne and Holme rivers and, although the mill has been demolished for
many years, following an unfortunate fire, one can still see the damming of the River Colne
that diverted the water towards the mill wheel.)
The restrictions on the villeins seem to be harsh at first sight and villeins are considered as
slaves. But this was wrong. If they were unable to leave their manor it was no great
hardship in those days, for all manors were more or less all the same, and feudal tenure was
universal, while travelling was difficult and dangerous. The villein had possibly as much
economic freedom as the average workman of the twentieth century, for he had his own
holding and was free to cultivate it when he was not working for his lord in lieu of rent

About 1130, King Stephen built a castle at Almondbury (on Castle Hill) which was
surrounded by a triple fortification; this castle was afterwards, somewhere around 1137,
granted and confirmed to Henri de Laci.

In 1272 Edward I granted to his successor Henry de Laci, the privilege of holding a market at
Almondbury every Monday.

Mention of the town’s market was made in 1294.

There was also a court held there around this time, but bribery and corruption were rife
leading to very little justice being dispensed.

In the reign of Edward II the deterioration of the West Riding had reached its demise with
pestilence and famine aggravated by the miseries of feudal oppression and the calamities of
war.

In the first year of Edward II a certain foreigner (not named) was murdered in the castle at
Almondbury and then thrown out for the animals to feast upon his body. This is but one of
the many deeds of darkness which were committed here.

In 1307, a jury strictly examined the castle and it is probable that after this examination the
castle was demolished.

In the "ABBREVIATIO ROTULORUM ORIGINALIUM" of this reign, occurs the following

entry, relating to Kings Mill at Huddersfield.

"Edward II
Extracte claus 8c
DE MOLENDINIS R de Huddersfield 8c de Leodes repond 8c
Ebor R 24"

This is the sole information contained in the entry and it is thought that it refers to taxes or
rights connected with the Kings Mill.

About this time parts of the rents of the King’s mill on the River Colne in Huddersfield was
given to the Monks of Whalley and about AD 1200, Roger de Laci presented to William
Bellomonte, ancestor of the Beaumonts of Whitely, 24 bovates of land in Huddersfield, half
meadow and half wood and four marks rent on the mill in the same place.
The same Roger de Laci also granted 24 bovates of land in Huddersfield, and all his lordship
(dominium) there to Colin de Damville.

In the 10th year of Edward II AD 1317, a charter was granted by the king, at the request of
John de Warren, Earl of Warren and Surrey, to John de Eland (afterwards Sir John) to hold a
free market on Tuesdays on his manor of Elland, and also two fairs there.

Another deed of this century introduces the name of one John de Gledholt as one of the
witnesses.

In the 9th Edward II, (1315) Thomas, Earl of Lancaster was Lord of Huddersfield; but soon
after his execution it must have been granted out, for, by deed dated Huddersfield, 1333, Sir
Richard de Birton, Knt., gave to his son, John de Birton, all his manor of Hodresfield.

How long it continued in the Birton family is not known, but by indenture bearing the date
June, 1537, John Byram Esq., sold the manor of Huddersfield to Sir Gilbert Gerrard.

When the Ramsden family became seized of the manor has not been documented, though Sir
John Ramsden, Knt. purchased the manor of Almondbury, in AD 1627.

In the reign of Richard II, free warren of Huddersfield was granted to the prior and canons of
Nostell Priory.

During the civil wars between the houses of York and Lancaster, the whole of the district
became the scene of rapine and bloodshed although little or no mention is made of
Huddersfield and its localities in the records of battles.

In a 1584 survey of Almondbury in the reign of Elizabeth I the following people are
mentioned: -

John Kaye of Woodsome

Wm Beaumont
John Cudworth
Nicholas Fenay
John Hirste
John Appleyard
John Beaumont of Wellhead
Wm. Kaye
John Kay of Thorpe
John North
Humphrey Beaumont
John Beaumont of Netherthwonge
John Armitage of the Armitage
Edward Cowper
John Kay of the Cross
Richard Blackburn younger
Thos. Brook
John Lockwood
John Armitage.

The report also mentions Edgerton, Huddersfield, Honley, Meltham, South Crosland,
Slaithwaite and Quick, and Warmcliffe.

During the period of the French revolutionary war, a most decided anti-gallican spirit was
found in the area and 3000 volunteers, under the command of Sir George Armytage, joined
Huddersfield and Upper Agbrigg corps.

Unfortunately, they never had the opportunity to display their prowess against the French.

The most important period of the modern history of Huddersfield was during the Luddite
insurrection, in 1811-12.

Although this rebellion, against the introduction of machinery for finishing cloth, started in
Nottinghamshire, it soon spread to Yorkshire, and Huddersfield was one of the towns most
deeply involved in it.

A great number of croppers formed themselves into a confederacy with the determined
intention of preventing the machinery’s introduction.

They swore oaths and searched for firearms. The centre of Luddism in the area was Wood's
Cropping Shop in Longroyd Bridge where several of the ringleaders (including those
mentioned below) worked.

On Tuesday, April 21st, 1813 four men, George Mellor, William Thorpe, Thomas Smith and
Benjamin Walker (commonly called Ben o' Bucks) decided to take the rebellion one step
further than just attacking mills and breaking the machinery. They decided to murder Mr
Horsfall, a cloth manufacturer of Marsden.

In the afternoon they made their way to Mr Horsfalls' plantation and lay in wait. At
approximately 5.30 pm Mr Horsfall was seen riding up the road and, when he reached the
plantation where they were hiding, Mellor and Thorpe fired their pistols (which were each
loaded with two bullets and some slugs).

They inflicted several wounds on Mr Horsfall, the surgeon Mr Rowland Houghton of

Huddersfield noting "two wounds in the upper part of the left thigh, another on the lower part
of the belly, another on the lower part of the scrotum, two more on the right thigh," besides
smaller ones.

Horsfall died about 38 hours later in the nearby Warren House Inn that still stands on
Manchester Road by its junction with the road down to Milnsbridge.
Despite the hiding of the guns and the forced swearing of oaths of silence, the murderers
were brought to justice by the talented magistrate Sir Joseph Ramsden.

Walker turned Kings evidence, thus saving his life, while the other three were condemned to
death and subsequently executed on January 8th 1813.

An eye-witness of many of the doings of these troublesome times stated that Mr Horsfall was
not the only, or principal, intended victim of the Luddites.

The man they most wanted to kill was Mr Enoch Taylor, the senior partner of E + J Taylor,
Mechanics and Ironfounders, of Marsden.

Mr Taylor was a great theorist and practical mechanic and was the chief improver, and for
the most part the inventor of the improved shear-frame.

The hatred of Mr Taylor and his brother were so great that the Luddites name their machine-
breaking mallet "Enoch" after him. It is told that the Luddites watchword for frame breaking
was,

Enoch makes them;

And Enoch shall break them!
Chapter Nine

LUDDITES
“I am, at heart, a Luddite”

The Luddite Movement has had a bad press. The name is still applied to those seen to
oppose progress by the introduction of labour saving devices into the work place. In the 19th
century, when working men and women were pauperised, Luddites were shot at and
executed.

Some historians with no grasp of the human cost of progress have labelled Luddites as
backward and irrelevant. Even the revolutionary left, who salute their heroism, has criticised
them for attacking the machines and not the capitalist system, as if they were able to choose
one over the other. Many details of the Luddite movement have yet to emerge.

The depth of their plight, after being thrown out of work by uncaring manufactures, is darkly
hinted in their letter to the manufacturer of cropping frames explaining that there were,

2,782 sworn heroes

bound in a bond of necessity
either to redress their grievances
or gloriously perish in the attempt
in the army of Huddersfield

The response was often to send companies of armed troops sent to quell the rebellion and
force the starving demonstrators back to their outcast families with nothing in their hands.
The loss of a job meant that a man’s family was condemned into poverty, for which there
was little provision, and little sympathy except from other workers.

Luddites cannot with any sense of justice be labelled as backward looking-for their claim that
craftsmen made idle by the introduction of machines should be redressed, and that
technology should not reduce the quality of work or be an excuse to cut wages.

Half a million weavers were casualties of the manufacturers' appetite for higher profits and
lower wages during the Industrial Revolution, saw their wages fall from twenty shillings to
five shillings in 30 years, a reduction of 84%!

There was a change of the philosophy of labour in that workers came to be seen as mere cogs
in the industrial machinery, subject to tight control, no longer able to fix their own working
hours as had been the case of home based craftsmen in pre-factory days. The factory system
ensured that the bosses were very much in charge, and the workers were slaves to their
whims. Workers who washed their hands, ate, or even sang or whistled during the boss’s
time were beaten and fined. Even pregnant women and children at their machines were not
immune from intimidation and brute force to make they remain at their machines when sick
or tired.
Hell was visited on the souls of factory workers, and for this cause, if for no other, I am at
heart a Luddite. Against such conditions, and against all the indignities and threats to their
lives, the Luddites take their place as heroes, and not, as has been suggested as a bunch of
zealots wielding a sledgehammer to assuage their bruised feelings. They may have been
clumsy, at times inept, but this was not what their lives had prepared them for, but now they
were desperate, acting out of dire need.

They broke machinery, burned down mills, some of their enemies were murdered, some of
their number were taken and hanged, others were shot in the terror, but they enjoyed the
support of their communities, even when they swarmed with troops and spies. They were
more than heroes, threatening were, as they did, the birth of industrial capitalism at its
economic and philosophical heart. Whether they drew any revolutionary conclusions, we
cannot say, but they deserve a better memorial than to be remembered only as a pejorative
byword.
Chapter

Excursus
In Which a Slightly Different and less Reliable View Surfaces
“It’s my word against theirs!”
Ronnie Bray

When I was a boy, the term ‘boy’ was used only to describe a child that
had just been born and was male. Thereafter it was a ‘lad.’ There was
something special about being a lad because it identified you as part of
the tribe of Yorkshire folk who were, it was commonly known, a special
breed, blessed by God to possess the broad acres and placed in God’s
scheme of things somewhat ahead of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

I was born in Huddersfield in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Riding is an old

term derived from thriding or third. One thing was very plain; we spoke a
language of a different order than other mortals. Broad Yorkshire, a true
dialect, was derived from Old Scandinavian. Yorkshire folk were different
from the rest of the British islanders having come ashore in order to
perpetrate a reign of terror among the inhabitants. We managed that all
right, and then settled down to plough the fields and scatter the good
seed on the land, and also to tend sheep and cattle, and prettify the place
in general. Some became very jealous of us, especially those dwelling to
the west of us. They even tried to copy our dialect, but couldn’t manage
to flatten their vowels into true Yorkshire vowels. To this day, the
Yorkshire vowels are the shibboleths that prevent Lancastrian passing
themselves off as their betters.

Yorkshire has had a lot of history, most of it is too well known to require a
second telling here. It involves cricket, a game doubtless invented by
Yorkshiremen since no one else plays it quite as well. The sad fact is that
for several years now the Yorkshire cricket team have had to go soft to let
someone else have a chance at winning summat. I know that some will
have a hard time believing that, in spite of the reputation that Yorkshire
folk have for generosity and fair play and even self-sacrifice, should the
cause demand that.

William the Conqueror didn’t like Yorkshire people. He considered them

to be rough and independent. We’d not argue with that. After all, we had
managed without a king for a very long time and things were going well
enough for us without him sticking his oar in. But, he had this unification
bee in his war bonnet and wanted to combine the British kingdoms into
one big one and call it England. All we wanted was to be left alone. But
would he? He would not! He sent his armies up here and we gave them a
fight. He took this hard and went on to decimate our homeland. After
slaughtering almost all the Yorkshire folk, he planted sheep on our hills
and moors, and went back down south. To this day, Yorkshire folk don’t
trust anyone from London, and that is plainly the fault of William of
Orange otherwise known as William the Conqueror, Duc de Normandie.
Not all historians agree that Orange and Normandie were the same
people but I am sure that is what they taught me at Spring Grove School.

What William Who-ever-he-was didn’t know was that we were making a

comeback. When he thought of Yorkshire, he thought of sheep. But,
whilst his sheep were foraging among the scrubby grasslands we were
quietly breeding and raising new generations to think for themselves, to
be independent, suspicious, resolute, stubborn to the point of pig-
headedness, dour and taciturn – unless we had something to say.
Yorkshire folk are well known for being blunt, and they are especially
helpful if you want to know your shortcomings.

The Yorkshire Ridings, or thridings, were more or less determined by

geographical considerations. Lots of things about Yorkshire have to be
understood against a background of more or less. It is a common
occurrence. In spite of someone writing a book about it, there is no South
Riding. Had Sheffield ever been considered as rising to the prominence it
did, there would almost certainly have been a place made for a fourth
riding, even though the arithmetic would not have worked as well, but it
would more or less have worked.

To the West Riding, whose western boundary was the lower western
slopes of the Pennine Chain overlooking Lancashire: a permanent
reminder to its denizens that they had overseers of a superior kind, was
granted the honour of becoming the finest worsted weavers in the world,
overtaking those who had plied their craft in East Anglia in earlier times.

The chemical industry reached its maturity there also, as many a

crumbling building that fell foul of their foul fumes will attest. Net
curtains lasted an average of six months in houses within a five miles
radius of Huddersfield’s chemical factories. Heavy engineering, made
necessary by burgeoning textile and chemical industries, and possible by
the strength of the backs and arms of Yorkshiremen, and fuelled the
development of growing urban townscapes.

The West Riding is synonymous with work. Its towns and village spread
where there was little room for their sprawl, and so they stood shoulder-
to-shoulder back-to-back and even on top of each other to fit themselves
into too little landscape for too many people and too many mills and
works.
The air was thick with chimney smoke from the teeming houses and from
the giant mill chimneys that stood up like massive cricket stumps on
every skyline. When they were waking their sleeping boilers in the early
morning, clouds of thick black smoke would belch out of their tops before
sweeping down onto the houses below and hide them from the sun that
was still struggling to rise above the horizon. The sun always had its work
cut out for it, and never managed to cope too well. It rained a bit, and the
people grumbled and put up with it.

The hills were everywhere. They were especially noticeable if you wanted
to go anywhere and always managed to get in the way. It was a rare
outing that didn’t involve climbing at least one steep, long hill. Coming
back was no better. There was always a big hill to go up before you could
coast down one. Even coming down them made the backs of your legs
ache like billy-ho.

And life was hard: very hard. How we got through I’ll never know, and
neither will anyone else. I shouldn’t be a bit surprised if universities all
over the world had made studies of how Yorkshire folk managed to stay
alive in such a hilly landscape and in such harsh conditions that prevailed
in my Yorkshire Ladhood.

We were made of stern stuff and just as well because the blows came
thick, fast, and hard. Although it is painful to me to have to admit it, in
the interests of truth and blunt speaking, I have to confess to having
foreign blood in me. My maternal grandparents were from Derbyshire
and Staffordshire, and my paternal grandmother came from the east
coast of Yorkshire, somewhere around Scarborough, but my paternal
grandfather came from Deighton, and so did several generations of
patriarchs before him.

I was born in Huddersfield of a – possibly – Huddersfield born father and a

Staffordshire born mother. It’s not a good start in life, and it got worse
after that.4

4
Just to let you know that there will be no footnotes in this volume. Everything you need to know – and lots
you don’t – will be included in the body of the text. RB
Chapter

Some Important Influences

Being born in Huddersfield imposed certain cultural obligations. Being
born at the beginning of 1935 dumped a particular load of cultural
baggage on my tender and impressionable mind. Being born into my
family inflicted peculiar dimensions to my development, culture, and
understanding of what the world was really like.

It has been said that at birth I was so ugly and fat that I couldn’t get my
eyes open and that my mother cried for two whole days at what fate had
dropped in her lap, so to speak. Although I was there, I don’t remember
anything about it and so I must be treated as an unreliable witness.
When I raised the issue with my mother, she couldn’t remember it either,
so she has to be an unreliable witness too. I can’t even remember who
told me and so I can’t determine whether they are reliable, so, gentle
reader, you have to guess if it is true. But why would anyone invent
something like that if it had no truth in it? However, I still think it is worth
the telling because it may account for my natural distrust of people.

Nineteen-thirty-five was a year marked off for greatness. It was the year
that Adolph Hitler seized control of German by burning down the
Reichstag and blaming it on a poor boy who didn’t know what day it was.
The acceptance of his action by the surrounding nations, and by those
flung further from the focus of greatness, is astounding. Despots are still
getting away with murder while the civilised nations fling words at them.

The country remembered the Crimean War, the Boer War, and the Great
War. It was not the First World War yet, but Hitler was taking care of that
and others watched him do it. They had not learned that Hitler’s respond
to a good slap on the back of the hand. Children of my age grew up
hearing tales of these conflicts and became familiar with many strange
sounding names, even though I never knew where they were. For all I
knew, Bloemfontein could be next door but one to Ypres.

Greenhead Park boasted a statue of a soldier from the Boer War, but the
Crimean seems to have gone unremarked except for a public house on
Cross Lane, Newsome that bears the name The Crimea. The Great War
had fared much better with the erection of a huge and impressive
memorial structure atop a specially landscaped and terraced hill top in
the park. To save the expense of erecting another memorial, this was
later inscribed with the details of World War Two. Very sensible.
Thus was war and talk of war part of my indoctrination into the human
race. I do not recall any talk of war before Germany marched on Poland
in nineteen-thirty-nine, but then, I was not quite five.

What is remarkably strange was that I never met anyone who had
actually fought in the Crimean, Boer, or Great Wars. Where were they all?
It didn’t seem strange at the time, but now it does. Perhaps old soldiers
don’t talk to young lads. That must be it. They are too sensitive to regale
the lug oyls of sensitive lads with bloodcurdling tales. I do know that
many of them never spoke of what they saw and did to anyone.

These were the broken ones whose lives changed forever. Common
laughter seemed to these an offence added to the pain and alienation
they felt in their hearts. Small wonder that they fell silent.
Chapter

Some Important Facts

The house in the which I was born, 121 Fitzwilliam Street, was a lodging house owned and
operated by my grandma, Margaret Ann Myers (who became a Bennett by marriage) known
as Nanny - or Attila! She was a Staffordshire Terrier. Oh, yes!

STAFFORDSHIRE
"A county of England, bounded by, Shropshire Cheshire, Derbyshire, Warwickshire, and
Worcestershire. It is in length about 54 miles, and varies in breadth from 18 to 36. It is
divided into 5 hundreds, which contain 1 city, 21 towns, 181 parishes, and 670 villages. The
principal rivers are the Trent, Dove, Sow, Churnet, Stour, Penk, and Manifold. The air is
reckoned pleasant, mild, and wholesome. The middle and southern parts are level and plain,
and the soil is good and rich; the north is hilly, and full of heaths and moors. Staffordshire is
famous for its potteries, its inland navigations, and its founderies, blast furnaces, slitting
mills, and various other branches of the iron trade. The mines of coals, copper, lead, and
iron ore are rich and extensive; and there are also numerous quarries of stone, alabaster,
and limestone. Stafford is the county town. Population, 510,504. It sends 17 members to
parliament."
[From: Barclays Complete & Universal English Dictionary, 1842-1852]

Arnold Enoch Bennett was an English novelist, playwright, and essayist who was born in on 27th May
1867, at Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Hanley was the real-life model for one of the "Five
Towns" of his novels. Bennett was educated at the University of London and for a time was editor of
Woman magazine. After 1900 he devoted himself entirely to writing; dramatic criticism was one of his
foremost interests. Bennett is best known, however, for his novels, several of which were written
during his residence in France. Bennett died in 1931.

"In front, on a little hill in the vast valley, was spread out the Indian-red architecture of Bursley - tall
chimneys and rounded ovens, schools, the new scarlet market, the high spire of the evangelical
church……the crimson chapels, and rows of little red houses with amber chimney pots, and the gold
angel of the Town Hall topping the whole. The sedate reddish browns and reds of the composition all
netted in flowing scarves of smoke, harmonised exquisitely with the chill blues of the chequered sky.
Beauty was achieved, and none saw it".

(From Bennett’s ‘Clayhanger’ - 1910)

Bennett referred to Longton as Longshaw in his Five Town Novels. It is the least mentioned of the
Pottery towns in his Five Town novels. Bennett compared the conurbation as being akin to Hell.
Pictures of the area during its industrial growth defy belief with smoke pouring from a multitude of
chimneys in amongst bottle ovens of various shapes and sizes. The great concentration of these
ovens and the situation of Longton being in a slight hollow, made it the most polluted of all the pottery
towns.
Bennett's infancy was spent in genteel poverty, which gave way to prosperity as his father succeeded
as a solicitor. From this provincial background he became a novelist. His enduring fame is as a
Chronicler of the Potteries towns, the setting, and inspiration of some of his most famous and
enduring literary work and the place where he grew up.

Many of the locations in Clayhanger and other Bennett novels are based in "The five towns" and
correspond to actual locations in and around the Potteries district of North Staffordshire.

In March, 1865. Longton (Long Town) and Lane End were incorporated as the Borough of Longton
('long village').
Maggie’s husband, Harold Bennett, was a Derbyshire Ram.

Derby is the only city in England to be given its name by the Danes. If it
weren't for the Vikings invading in AD874 the name would have been
Northworthy . Northworthy was captured by the Vikings to become part of
Danelaw and renamed Deoraby (Deer by), or place of the deer to signify
the great deer-herds that roamed the Derwent valley. This is why the
Derby crest is a buck-in-the-park, This crest can be seen all over the
buildings of Derby.

The Saxons recaptured Deoraby in AD917 but the Danish name remained.
No one knows for sure when or why the name changed to Derby
(Pronounced 'Dar-bee').

Liversage Almshouses London Road Derby - built in 1863

Harold’s brother Archibald “Archie” lived in London Road in the 1950s
 Re-enactment of the Arrival of
Charles Edward Stuart – Bonnie Prince Charlie
in Derby

Derby is the UK's most central city benefiting from the best of both worlds
- a great cultural base situated on the edge of the Peak District National
park.
 Two Views of Peak District National Park

Derby is famous for setting in motion Britain's Industrial Revolution with

some of the countrys first factories and spinning mills. It is equally famous
for later factories of Rolls Royce, Royal Crown Derby and Railway
engineering.

Ladybower Reservoir Derbyshire Where A Village Was ‘Drowned’

Friar Gate Derby – home of Cattle Market since Medieval Times
 Thomas Cotchett’s Mill on the River Derwent - 1702

On the 4 December 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Jacobite army
arrived in Derby, where an important decision in British history was
made. On the previous day, the prince had been advised by his
generals to withdraw and return to Scotland. They were not happy
being so far into enemy territory without the expected support of the
English Jacobites, and doubtful that the planned French invasion to
support the venture would take place.
An advanced force had secured Swarkestone Bridge and the decision to
withdraw was made against the Prince’s wishes, who wanted to press
on towards London. If this course of action had been followed the
course of British history could well have been changed. Many historians
now think the Jacobites may have met with little opposition had they
continued their march, and succeeded in recapturing the throne for the
Stuarts. London itself was in panic with many people fleeing the capital
and King George II had already made his own plans to escape.

For over a century, the Old Silk Mill was the town’s largest employer
with a workforce of 300 people. Second in line was the Crown Derby
China Works. Established in a small way on the Nottingham Road in
1756, it grew rapidly and long before the end of the century it had
established a national reputation. Today, the factory is sited on
Osmaston Road and its products are exported all over the world. The
Royal Crown Derby Visitor Centre is open to the public daily and factory
tours are available during the week.

On the 30 May 1839, the first railway train steamed into Derby. The
excited crowds watching the train’s arrival, little realised how this event
would change the face of Derby. Initially, three railway companies
operated from Derby, until 1844, when they amalgamated to form the
Midland Railway. This hectic activity attracted swarms of workers from
all over the country and in 1851 records showed that 43% of the adults
in the town had been born outside the county.

Most had jobs in the railway works, but others were employed by
companies that sprang up because of the railway’s arrival and the
Midland’s expansion from a provincial company into the third largest in
Britain, before the amalgamation into the LMS in 1923.

Derby’s reputation as an industrial town was boosted even further with

the arrival of Rolls-Royce at the beginning of the 20th century.

Early Rolls-Royce ‘Tourer’

Motor cars were manufactured from a new purpose built factory in

Nightingale Road, where production continued until 1946, when
motorcar manufacture was transferred to Crewe. This left the company
able to concentrate all its efforts on designing and building aero
engines, work that had started just before the outbreak of the First
 World War. Despite going bankrupt in 1971, Rolls-Royce 1971 Limited
emerged, and the company remains pre-eminent in the city.

My mother, Louie Bennett, was born in Uttoxeter Stafforsshire on 20 th May

1915. She moved to Huddersfield with her parents and sister Nora when
she was a small child, probably a babe in arms.

High Street Uttoxeter in 1955 Talbot Inn Uttoxeter Staffordshire

UTTOXETER
A town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district, in Staffordshire. The town
stands on the U[nion] canal, at a forking of railways, near the river Dove,
13 miles NE of Stafford; was known to the Saxons as Uttocceaster; was
given, at the Norman conquest to H. de Ferrers; passed to John of Gaunt
and to the Talbots; was the scene of some military operations in the civil
wars of Charles I.; suffered severely from fire in 1672; had, for natives,
the antiquary Sir S. Degge, the famous seaman Admiral Lord Gardner,
and the mathematician Allen; is a seat of petty-sessions and a polling
place; publishes a weekly newspaper; carries on brewing, cork-cutting,
glue and leather manufacture; comprises several good streets, with a
central market place; and has a post-office‡ under Stoke-on-Trent, a r.
station with telegraph, two banking offices, a town hall of 1855, built at a
cost of about £4,000, an ancient six-arched bridge, a modern church, with
ancient tower and spire, four dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic
chapel, a grammar-school, national and infant schools, a workhouse, alms
houses, considerable charities, a weekly market on Wednesday, four
annual cheese fairs, and five other annual fairs. Pop. in 1861, 3,645.
Houses, 796.-

The parish includes also three hamlets, and is divided into five
constablewicks. Acres, 8,973. Real property, £18,699. Pop., 4,847.
Houses, 1,047. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value,
£300.* Patrons, the Dean and Canons of Windsor. The p. curacy of
Stramshall is a separate benefice.--The sub-district contains 7 parishes.
Acres, 24,807. Pop., 8,008. Houses, 1,683. - The district includes also
Abbots-Bromley and Sudbury sub-districts, and comprises 62,890 acres.

Poor rates in 1863, £6,453. Pop. in 1851, 15,140; in 1861, 14,787.

Houses, 3,102. Marriages in 1863, 97; births, 412 -of which 36 were
illegitimate; deaths, 307,-of which 94 were at ages under 5 years, and 12
at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 910; births, 3,992;
deaths, 3,028.

The places of worship, in 1851, were 19 of the Church of England, with

6,747 sittings; 3 of Independents, with 630 s.; 1 of Baptists, with 70 s.; 1
of Quakers, with 110 s.; 9 of Wesleyans, with 1,311 s.; 11 of Primitive
Methodists, with 1,184 s.; 2 of Roman Catholics, with 135 s.; and 1 of
Latter Day Saints, with 65 s.

The schools were 26 public day-schools, with 1,410 scholars; 34 private

day-schools, with 750 s.; 31 Sunday schools, with 1,668 s.; and 1 evening
school for adults, with 5 s.
(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described

Uttoxeter like this:

"Uttoxeter, market town and par., Staffordshire, 13 miles NE. of Stafford

and 135 miles NW. of London by rail, 8973 ac., pop. 4981; P.O., T.O., 2
Banks, 2 news-papers. Market-day, Wednesday. Uttoxeter, known to the
Saxons as Uttocceaster, is an ancient but clean and well-built town,
situated on a gentle eminence above the vale of the Dove. It contains
several good streets, with a central market-place, town hall, free
grammar school, and church with ancient tower and spire. The industries
comprise iron-founding and nail and implement making, tanning and
rope-spinning, and malting and brewing."
Years of disinterest in its Local history saw Uttoxeter lose some ancient
and highly important sites such as the Celtic Maidens Well and artefacts
ranging from the town's Market Charter, to a bronze age Palstave axe lost
to the museums of neighbouring towns who now claim them as their own.

HW Furbank Garage Market Street Uttoxeter Staffordshire

Early attempts at motorising

the railways met with
varying degrees of success.
Built by Beyer & Peacock,
The Knotty Rail Motor
combined a locomotive and
carriage in one unit.

The North Staffordshire

Railway operated three of
these vehicles from 1905
until 1927, mainly on the
Potteries Loop Line.

By this time electric trams

had also disappeared as
buses took over as the major
conveyer of passenger
traffic in the Potteries. Only
third class was available,
and only hand luggage was
allowed.

Pictured in 1912
Mother in May 2002

Mother in May 2002

 Mother in May 2002
87 Longridge Road Dalton Huddersfield

Cherry Blossom Outside Mother’s Old Folks’ Bungalow

May 2002
Deighton – pronounced Dee-tn") is a district of Huddersfield, West
Yorkshire, England. It is situated 2 miles (3 km) north west of the town
centre and lies off the A62 Leeds Road. Deighton was formally known as
East Bradley, the present day Bradley was called West Bradley, the
decision to change the name to Deighton was when the Deighton family
bought the area stretching from Screamer Woods (near the Deighton
Fields) to Sheepridge and Brackenhall.

Deighton has its own rail station on the Huddersfield Line for services to
Huddersfield, Leeds and Wakefield. The typical journey time to
Huddersfield is usually 7 minutes, Wakefield Westgate 31 minutes and to
Leeds 34 minutes.

The HAMLETS, &c, in Huddersfield Township and Borough, with their

distance from the town, are as follows: - Bradley, 3 miles N on the Leeds
road; - Deighton and Sheepridge, two villages on the declivities of an
eminence, 2 and 2½ miles N, - Fartown, 1 mile N but including within its
constablewick, Hillhouse, Cowcliff, Cuckolds Clough, Woodhouse, and
Birkby, extending close to the town.

Saddleworth

Saddleworth lies in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It covers over 18,000

acres much of which is open land with breathtaking views from hills over
looking scenic valleys. Most of the population resides in beautiful villages,
each with their own distinct character.

The area is rich in history with many myths and legends. It is also famous
for a few some what darker moments. One being the Bill-O-Jacks murders
in 1832 at the Moorcock Inn, when the Landlord and his son were
bludgeoned to death. The case has never been solved.

The Inn has long since been demolished, but the site where it stood can
easily be picked out from the A635 Holmfirth road looking down towards
Greenfield reservoir. A gravestone at Saddleworth Parish Church is a grim
reminder of the event that shocked the community.
 Saddleworth Museum, Uppermill

Millgate Delph

Delph village, which takes its name from the old English name for quarry
has an antique shop, a craft shop, a post office (that has on sale a good
range of old photographs of the area) and a couple of the best pubs in the
area. The Millgate theatre is home to the Saddleworth Players who make
several first class productions every year and the Saddleworth Film
Society who show cultural films.

Gay and I visited Delph In 2000 and bought a cruet set next door to the
friendly little café where we had lunch.
Denshaw sits at the junction of three turnpike roads, now the A640, A672
and A6052. The Junction Inn Coaching House placed at the centre served
travelers of the past with refreshments. It's still a welcome site for people
today who need reviving after a long walk or cycle ride.

Dovestone Reservoir Greenfield

Greenfield village nestles below Dovestone Reservoir.

Views of Saddleworth where the Deighton Brays had textile business

dealings and where several generations found their wives.
Saddleworth is an old Yorkshire parish with its own distinct identity- made
up of the villages of Delph, Diggle, Dobcross, Denshaw, Greenfield and
Uppermill

Saddleworth Museum is full of intriguing objects from the past and tells
the story of the people who have created Saddleworth’s landscape and
character:

• The prehistoric summer visitors who hunted on the hill tops

• The soldiers who shivered on duty at Castleshaw Roman Fort
• The farmers who scraped a living from the hills by weaving cloth in
their homes
• The merchants and businessmen who brought prosperity to
Victorian Saddleworth
• The men, women and children who endured long hours in the
woollen mills
• The men who tunnelled through the Pennines to take the canal and
railway eastward
• The brass bands who fill the Saddleworth air with music
• The Morris Men carrying on the old tradition of rush cart building

Although entirely on the western side of the Pennine watershed,

Saddleworth’s links with the County of York can be traced back in history
to Norman times. Saddleworth or Quick as it was alternatively known,
was throughout the Middle Ages a Township in the West Riding of
Yorkshire, and had from the twelfth century been part of the Honour of
Pontefract, the Yorkshire fiefdom of the de Lacy family, granted to them
by William the Conqueror.

By the beginning of the twentieth century the greater part of the ancient
Township of Saddleworth had administratively become an Urban District
within the West Riding of Yorkshire, as also had Springhead, with the
responsibility for highways, education, health and policing being
controlled by the West Riding County Council.

Saddleworth Hill in Winter

Chapter

Huddersfield And About

Many of the lodgers in Nanny’s lodging house were long-term inhabitants. From these I
learned the rudiments of Broad Yorkshire. Later, when I went to school, my dialect would
be refined to the point where it would become unintelligible by those not from the favoured
shire. I always said ‘aye’ instead of ‘yes’ and often still do although my speech is more
refayned than when ah wor a lad.

Broad Yorkshire changed significantly every five or so miles. Today, except among the very
aged isolates, it is almost a dead language. Efforts of a few intellectual to maintain it are to
be appreciated, even as we are forced to smile at the thought of those who would rather die
than speak with any kind of northern accent keeping alive the gruff dialect of uneducated
working people. The irony is rather sweet and not a little touching.

The town of Huddersfield was pleasant to the refined sensibilities of one German visitor.
Frederick Engels wrote of it in extremely warm terms. He was right to do so because the
town has much that is pleasant, although I believe that in some respects there was more
pleasantness in 1935 than there is now. That longing for what has been may be no more than
the pathological propensities of old people to remember the past as Golden. I haven’t quite
figured it out but I know that some of the things that have gone were much better than some
of the things that filled the vacuum, and vice versa.

In those fond far-off days, the town centre was better served with businesses of seemingly
endless variety. There was little that could not be bought from the shops that crowded the
street in the centre and around its edges. Over the years, particularly after the Second World
War the many have given way to the few.

Smaller shopkeepers celebrated their diminutiveness with wonderful personal service, but
they could not afford the high rents of the ugly new developments and went out of business,
yielding to the inevitable force of big retail chain stores that moved in behind them. The
character that was once unique, was dunned down to a standard of mediocrity as the same old
same old became the norm in thousands of cities and towns throughout the land:
Huddersfield was no different.

Product knowledge was important and almost always available. In any of the many chemist
shops, chemicals could be bought for experimentation or for producing an explosion or
similar disaster. At times, these were difficult to separate, as some experimentation seemed
to lead inevitably to explosion, and explosions always seemed to occur at inconvenient times.

Chemist shops sold chemicals and all the apparatus to stock a reasonably sized laboratory.
Information on destructive and interesting compounds, especially those that would ignite,
went the rounds at school. Some of the Chinese Whispers that concerned chemistry had
much to answer for. Today, a network of anarchists and other terrorists who infect the World
Wide Web caters for would-be dynamiters. Yet in those halcyon days of free access to
poisons and chemicals, I almost made a name for myself in the obituary column. But that’s
another story!
 Did I know Which Way Was Up?
In my innocence and ignorance I believed that Huddersfield was the omphalos of the
universe. I was surprised and, I have to admit, disappointed to learn in later life that some of
the well known Huddersfield shops were part of small groups of shops and that places such
as Halifax and Bradford also had branches of them.. I felt robbed, as if something unique and
precious had been stolen. This, however, was but one in a series of betrayals that forced me
to view the world from a different perspective.

Take the layout of Huddersfield, for instance. The town centre was built on a decent incline
that went from the bottom of the town to the top of the town. The main road through this
incline started at Bradford Road in what was called Southgate and travelled up through
Kirkgate, past St Peter’s Parish Church that has stood there in one incarnation or another
since the fourteenth century, through Westgate, and up through Trinity Street in the general
direction of Rochdale.

Westgate should have given me a clue, but I was thrown off course by Southgate. They must
have moved Southgate from the Shore Foot and Aspley end of town to a point immediately
below Kirkgate at some time. What time that was may be irretrievable, as are any gates that
guarded the town against brigands and robbers.

Westgate, although in my feeble estimation running northwards, actually runs to the west.
New North Road, built to take the increasing volume of traffic away from the old Halifax
Road, did not help my confusion. It didn’t run northwards either, so why it was any North
Road new or old escapes me..

Two roads left Huddersfield and travelled more or less northwards, dividing the distance
from true north roughly between them: Bradford Road and Leeds Road. However, these
always seemed to me to travel sideways out of town, as indeed they did allowing Westgate to
be up, and, therefore, north. It was all very confusing, and I am still not sure what points
where in Huddersfield.

During my childhood, Northgate, the beginning part of Bradford Road, was fairly well run
down. It could have been this diminution in status that required me not to take its
geographical description seriously. Had I thought about it, this clue, taken with others,
would have capped the matter beyond dispute.

What all the above shows is the ease with which I was disoriented. It was deucedly simple.
It is, perhaps, unfortunate that this distraction from reaching satisfactory conclusions from
fairly cogent clues attached itself to other, far more important matters. My judgement was
damaged, or perhaps, I never had any. How should I know?

Back to the impressive town of my birth.

 Snickets Ginnels and Alleys
If it took a long time to get to one place from another, it is because the two had no connecting
snicket, ginnel, or alley. These are the standard shortcuts and any civilised place has more
than a smattering of them. They made the difference between catching a bus and missing
one. The simple rule of them was that the running person had right of way.

Snickets were different that ginnels, and alleys were wider than both. A ginnel would have a
wall or hedge on either side, but a snicket could have low fences or a garden hedge on one
side. An alley was a place between buildings that had room for something to be there, but
nothing was. It could also be paved like a roadway, whereas, snickets and ginnels could be
paved for foot traffic, but more often than not they weren’t paved at all. To really understand
the difference, you had to be there. If you mistook one for the other, the locals would not
embarrass you. They would just smile and nod gently as if to say, Furriner!

It was hard to kid people that you were from round here if you weren’t. The nuances of
language and familiarity with nicknames would expose you as a comer-in, and set you apart
from the tribal niceties of the locals until you had gained widespread acceptance. This could
take fifty years, but often took longer.

End of Excursus
Chapter

Final Thoughts on My Birthplace

Probably … Probably ‘final,’ not probably my incunabula

It has been several months since my last visit to Huddersfield, the town of my birth and
upbringing. Although I do not want to live there again, being more than satisfied with
Arizona, I will always entertain an unrealistic fondness for the place. It is more than the
stone and mortar that built the town or the inventions in textiles and engineering that brought
it to its knees and raised it again. It is more than its variety of people from every corner of
the globe.

It is a quiet undefined spirit that lingers over the place that has its roots in England after the
Norman Conquest that built slowly between two rivers from where the earliest sources of
power were drawn to ease the loads on the backs of working people and, in many cases,
relieve them of their livelihoods.

It was a place not without its pains and sufferings, for struggling to keep in the world has
always been a hardship for the poor, and Huddersfield has its share of those. It has been a
place of power without sympathy, and sympathy without power, and the hardships of its
people have been more often noted than relieved.

Yet for all the dark forces that have pressed down its inhabitants over the centuries, it own a
marked cheerfulness that is born of the spirit of the oppressed who are determined to hold on
to what they have at any cost.

My great-great-grandfather, James Bray of Deighton, was a manufacturer of hand-woven

fancy cloths, mostly made on the looms of his own home by his wife and children. He held
an office at King’s head Chambers up Cloth Hall Street, and a stall in the old Cloth hall that
once stood at its head.

Johnston describes the handloom weavers as "the most class conscious" of all workers in the
Industrial Revolution.” In those days, the manufacturers were the workers. But in the 1750s,
at the height of James Bray’s weaving business, the changes were already gathering pace,
and would soon sweep aside those who stuck to the old methods of production because they
could afford nothing other. They were the tragedies, the casualties of an inevitable tide of
progress that has not ceased to roll throughout the world, and shows no signs of weakening.

Ernest Jones determined to promote and advance Chartism even when it appeared to be lost.
His funeral marked the last great Chartist demonstration. Five of the six demands of the
‘People's Charter’ are now realities, leaving unfulfilled the annual Parliament, which has
been described in modern times as ‘a doubtful asset.’
“Democracy is but Christianity applied to the politics of our worldly life" (Ernest Jones,
Lecture on Democracy, York 1868).

Men counted him a dreamer; - dreams

Are but the light of cleared skies
Too dazzling for our mortal eyes;
And when we catch their flashing beams,
We turn aside and call them dreams !
Oh! trust me ! - every truth that yet
In greatness or in sorrow set,
That time to ripening glory burst,
Was called an idle dream at first.

Edmund Frow of Ernest Jones