On The Road In Furness Vale

Part 6 - The Thornsett Turnpike

A number of roads in and around New Mills were constructed and maintained by the Thornsett Turnpike Trust. These incuded Union Road - Spring Bank - Bridge Street; Albion Road - Church Road - Hayfield Road and Marsh Lane - Station Road, Furness Vale; a total of eight miles. There were six toll bars in New Mills; one in Furness Vale and another at BirchVale. The Thornsett Trust was established by an act of 1831 for "making and maintaining a Road from Thornset in the County of Derby to Furnace Colliery within Disley in the County of Chester, and for making and maintaining several Additions thereto." 

Income from tolls amounted to £474 by 1850  but in 1838, the trust had a total debt of £11093.

The turnpike was a considerable improvement on previous roads. In Furness Vale, Station Road, now crossed the canal by a bridge and took the present alignment replacing Old Road as the main route to New Mills. There were toll bars at Marsh Lane Head at at Joule Bridge over the River Goyt. It was from this bridge, where in 1851,  William Southern, son of the tollkeeper, fell to his death whilst playing on the parapet.

In 1843 a court found that the funds of the Turnpike Trust were "wholly insufficient for the repairs of the turnpike roads comprised therein, part whereof lay in the hamlet of Beard".  The income received from the tolls did not cover the expenses of repair or the interest on the mortgage that financed the building of the roads. The justices heard  that it was the practice of the inhabitants of the parish to repair the highways. The court directed that the parish surveyor make a payment of £88 from the rate levied under the general highway act to the trustees of the turnpike road. 

 

 The website of the Derbyshire Record Office gives a fascinating account of the exploits of one Matthew Goodden and his association with the Thornsett Turnpike. He had been a toll keeper in at least 17 different locations around the country and his name often appeared in news reports of his frequent court appearances accused of disputes with travellers. He was born the son of a tollkeeper inYeovil in Somerset. Married in 1846, he held the leases to many different West Country tolls. He re-married in 1862 after the death of his first wife and began to move to other parts of the country. The 1860s was him first living in London, then Dudley and Huddersfield before moving to Abergavenny in 1874. It was whilst living in South Wales that he invoiced the Thornsett Turnpike Trust for the supply of gas to one of its cottages.  His name frequently appeared in newspapers in connection with various railway journeys. He was on several occasions summoned to court for travelling without a ticket. In 1870, his home was searched after an inspector was suspicious of a ticket that Goodden presented. Printing equipment was discovered together with more than a thousand forged tickets. Despite serving two years imprisonment for the offence, he was again jailed for 12 months in 1890 for forging a ticket.  The full story may be read here: https://recordoffice.wordpress.com/tag/turnpike/

 The Record Office website also tells the story of John Kenyon Winterbottom who caused the Turnpike Trust much concern in the 1840s. It was recorded in 1844 that there was "a hiatus" in the books of the preceeding four years, a period when Winterbottom served as clerk. A Stockport solicitor, he was employed in the roleby a number of local turnpikes. He was a local magistrate and clerk to Stockport Council as well as a founder and partner of a Stockport bank. 

 Financial difficulties placed him under threat of bankrupcy and he absconded. He was rumoured to have been seen on the quayside at Liverpool but also rumoured to have gone to France. It was found that he had forged signatures to obtain a payout of £5000 from a client's life insurance. On his return to Liverpool, four years later, he was arrested, convicted of forgery and sentenced to transportation for life. He served his time in Tasmania and his exemplary behaviour resulted in 1855 being granted a ticket of leave. He was appointed Town Clerk of Hobart but in 1867 when Winterbottom was 78, it was discovered that he had sold Council debentures and kept the £400 received. He was imprisoned for two years and evntually diedd aged 82.

https://recordoffice.wordpress.com/2017/11/15/john-kenyon-winterbottom-turnpike-trust-clerk-not-wholly-trustworthy/

November 1st 1886 saw the abolition of the turnpikes in New Mills and this was celebrated by a great procession which started in Newtown, proceeded along Albion Road, Church Road and Marsh Lane. At Furness Vale, it turned right and returned to Newtown where a tea was served to children and bandsmen with a dinner at the Queen's Arms for teamsters. A huge bonfire was lit at Eller Bank and at 8pm a cannon was fired. At midnight, events got out of hand and a large crowd proceeded to destroy the toll houses, six of which were left in ruins.

 http://www.stevelewis.me.uk/page31.php

Part 5 - Ringstones Clough

There has long been a track from Ringstones, down through the Clough to Bridgemont.  For many years while the Ringstones Colliery was in operation, this was the main access route to the pit and the means by which  coal could be transported down to the canal. There was even an aerial ropeway from the mine to carry the tubs of coal downhill. The route may still be followed as a footpath which starts by the entrance to the caravan park goes downhill through the wooded clough, past the former Blandola Works and under the railway line, finishing by the Bridgemont recreation ground.

Studying the Ringstones Farm map of 1845  shows that the track even had a name which appears to be "Falls Lane"

The start of the track, now just a footpath from the caravan park

Part 4 - The Manchester to Derby Road

This map is an extract from  Ogilby's Strip Maps of 1675. The route at this time followed the old Roman Road between Disley and Whaley Bridge. Furness Vale didn't exist as a village and the only reference on this map is "Erdley Hall", presumably Yeardsley Hall although confusingly "Mr Jodrels" is also marked.  Note that on this map, north is at the bottom of the page so it is viewed from an unfamiliar direction. Numbers on the map represent the distances from Manchester in miles.

Part 3 - The Roman Road

The route of the old Roman Road between Manchester and Buxton can be clearly traced today by its characteristic straightness, especially between Ardwick and the Rising Sun. The modern day A6 makes a few diversions, especially through Disley where the old route is followed by Jackson's Edge Road. South of Disley the A6, when it became a turnpike road, followed a more easily graded line by following the contours of the valley.  

The map below shows the route of the Roman Road between Disley and Buxton.  The line is uncertain through Whaley Bridge although it does appear to run behind the old golf club. The road then approximately followed the line of the Toddbrook Dam before heading towards Elnor Lane. Once again it becomes relatively easy to follow aalong present day track past the Whitehall Centre.

Chris Wilman has commented on this post, as follows: 

 

That conjecture - from Stoneheads to Elnor lane - was what the early OS mapmakers hypothesised in the mid 19th C. They almost certainly never visited locations, and mostly tried to join up gaps between known roads, with a straight line (as in this case) without knowing the actual topography of the land.
I've been assessing this section of Roman road for years. It's entirely feasible the road followed the route from the top of Stoneheads (ancient route) as it does now... right down what's now Whaley Lane down to the river crossing (county boundary line for hundreds of years) and onto Old Road no1. From there it joined Old Road no2 at the top of Shallcross (trade route cross roads), went through the site of White Hall (site of a Roman villa), and onto the main road that we now call the A5004.

Part 2 - Shippon Street

Shippon Street

 Opposite the former post office and adjacent to Longhurst Farm is Shippon Street or Shippon Lane. This name does not appear on any maps nor is it signposted, it appears to be a local rather than official title.  The route can be traced on an 1831 map, to the old farmhouse at the top of Broadhey Hill following a similar line to the present day footpath.

Shippon Street and Old Road which is almost opposite may also have been part of an old pack horse route. A paragraph in our archives reads as follows: An old pack horse road started halway along Longside Road. People from Kettlehulme (via Stark Road) came down past Brownhough to Yeardley Hall. Thence down the old road where Burnside now stands, across Diglee Road, down the gulley above Matlock House, across the Brickyard (a metalled road was found when digging the foundations for one of the brickworks chimneys - 1901), up the foot of the field known as Longhurst, to the gateway at the top of the meadow. Then down Shippon Street across Buxton Road, down the Old Road and out at the large gate down Station Road. Then over the river as far as Gowhole Farm, round the hairpin bend, up the Ladypit Road, straight up the fields, and through the plantation on to the road known as the Roman Road, leading from Chinley to Birch Vale. 

"Stark Road" probably refers to Start Lane, the original road between Kettleshulme and Whaley Bridge before construction of the turnpike (Macclesfield Road)
The map below has been marked to show the section of this route between Longside and Station Road.

Part 1 - Old Road

Old Road

 Now a short cul-de-sac,  Old Road had once been part of the only route from Furness Vale to New Mills.  The map below, an extract from the 19th century Cheshire Tithe Map shows the route of Old Road before construction of the railway. The road passed under the canal,sharing the aqueduct with Furness Brook.  When the railway was built, the road was crossed by a bridge which it shared with the colliery tramway.
The re-building of Station Road and Marsh Lane as a turnpike, left Old Road largely redundant as a through route.

There was some contoversy in 1909 when Mr Knowles, owner of the brickyard wanted to carry out some work under the railway bridge.

The Old Road At Furness Vale

From the High Peak Reporter July 3rd 1909

 A Furness Vale Grievence

At a meeting of the Disley Rural District Council a plan submitted by Mr. Knowles, for dealing with the old underbridge at Furness Vale, was discussed. A councillor said that it seemed in keeping with alterations to which the council had agreed,another remarked that it was a long standing issue about the old tramway under the road at Furness Vale. Mr. Longden, member for Furness Vale, said they should be careful lest they parted with a public right. The road had been a public one for hundreds of years and it joined the old road from Manchester to Buxton which ran by Longside. When Halls had the coalpit etc. for over 50 years they operated without stopping the road. There was alot of feeling about it in Furness Vale, and the Council should see to it that they did not come to any agreement which vitually closed an old public road. The clerk said it was too narrow for a public road. Mr Longden said it was not too narrow for a carriage to go up, and he had seen loads of hay go up through the tunnel. Often carriages went that way when the gates were closed to the road across the railway, for sometimes the gates were closed for a quarter of an hour. Suppose there was an accident there, and the line was blocked, if the old road was closed people would have to go all the way round to New Mills to get to the other side of the road. Mr. Rodgers remarked it was a dangerous place, and the Council would be responsible if anyone got killed. Mr. Whitehouse moved that the clerk looked into the matter and saw the Act of Parliament authorising the construction of the railway, to ascertain how the Council stood. Mr. Longden said there was a lot of grumbling. He had brought the matter before the Council for the last five months, and he should have no more to do with it, and leave the Council to it if they did nothing.  Mr. Whitehouse - "Oh don't say that Mr. Longden", "but I do. I am getting tired of it". Mr. Rodgers sai there ought to be some agreement with Mr.Knowles about the sewer. "It is our footroad" continued Mr.Rodgers, and we shall not pay anything for permission to go that way. He only has the right to go on the top of the road, and not to the soil under. The clerk said "that is so", and in reply to a remark of Mr.Longden's said "I can do just what the Council wnat me to do. It willl be alright for me if you spend several hundreds of pounds in Parliamentary expenses".
Finally it was resolved that the Clerk consult the Act of Parliament authorising the making of the railway, and that Mr.Knowles be written instructing him not to proceed with concreting the road until he had seen Mr.Brady, the engineer to the Joint Sewage Board.

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The route of Old Road can still be followed through the railway bridge but only on foot.  Look over the parapet of the aqueduct and a short section of roadway may still be seen alongside the brook.