The Toddbrook Reservoir Incident

 It's nearly two and a half years now since we had our own lockdown in FurnessVale and Whaley Bridge.  For a week, we were under movement restrictions until the reservoir was secured. The emergency had been declared on 1st August 2019.

Here are a few images showing  the police presence in the centre of the village. Emergency vehicles included Mountain Rescue.

The A6 through Furness Vale has never been so deserted.

Meanwhile, in Whaley Bridge:

A BBC outside broadcast van and emergency supplies

Hidden Beneath Eccles Pike !

 

The Royal Observer Corps constructed more than 1500 monitoring posts between 1955 and 1968. They were manned by a crew of four volunteers whose role was to monitor and pinpoint by triangulation, any nuclear explosions during the cold war period. Built to a standard design, they included a toilet/store and a monitoring room. Access was through a hatch and down a 14 foot deep shaft. Half were closed in 1968, the remainder surviving until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The post on Eccles Pike was north of Eccles Road. on a flat area a little to the east of the high point where there is a disturbed depression with some metal sticking out of the ground.

Chinley R O C opened in 1960 and closed in 1968.

Steaming through Whaley Bridge

 Mark Lomas has kindly sent some photographs from his collection, of railway scenes around Whaley Bridge. Many of these pictures are from the early part of the 20th century when the railway was operated by the London, North Western Railway Company. 

Engine, crew and platelayers. 0-6-2 Locomotive 1590 was built in 1898 to the design of F Webb. It was withdrawn from service in June 1928

An arrival from Manchester. The unidentified engine is a "Precursor" class 4-4-2 locomotive built by the LNWR between 1906 and 1909. The last of this class was withdrawn in 1940.

 A Manchester bound train approaches. The full length women's dresses suggest that this photograph is from the first decade of the 20th century. 

The water tower was at the northern end of the station spanning a siding. The Locomotive a Webb designed "Coal Tank" was built in December 1881. It remained in service until 1955.

Water supply for the tank came from a small reservoir higher up the hillside. Not the brazier to prevent the water from freezing in frosty weather.

The water tower and, on the left, the small goods shed. Most goods traffic at WhaleyBridge was handled at the Shallcross Yard at Horwich End.

The station staff pose for the cameraman. 

 Whaley Bridge Station in the 1950s. The view from the signal box.

The view from the footbridge as a Buxton bound train arrives.
 

Posing by the weighbridge
 

A mixed goods and passenger train heads towards Buxton. The engine is either class G or G1 0-8-0 built at Crewe betweeen  1912 and 1918.

An early version of containerisation.

 A goods train heads south in 1959.

Manchester bound in 1959

The Longside Firing Range

The recent book by Elizabeth Mcormick, "Chapel en le Frith Takes Aim" makes several references to our local firing range on Whaley Moor.  This was sited in the field below the Dipping Stone and was used by the Whaley Bridge branch of rifle volunteers until at least 1905. The range was regularly used for firing practice and for rifle competitions. Longside was one of hundreds of such ranges throughout the country that were in use during the 19th century. They were mostly closed in the late 1900s for safety reasons. As can be seen on the map below, the range was marked out at 500 and 600 yards from the target, near which was located a magazine.

Our member, Hugh Wheeler recently braved the winter weather to explore Whaley Moor and despite the range having been out of use for more than 100 years, he was able to photograph the remains of the stone built structures. The line of the range can still be traced and Hugh was able to pinpoint the firing marks.

There had been other firing ranges in our neighbourhood, particularly at Taxal and Eccles Pike.

Copies of "Chapel en le Frith Takes Aim" are on sale at Reading Matters Booksho in Chapel and fron the History Society.

Reddish Farm

 Reddish Farm was in Whaley Bridge on the southern bank of Toddbrook Reservoir. The buildings have recently been converted into housing.

 These notes from our archive date from  September 10th 1968 when Mr. A. Slack was interviewed by George Tomlinson.

An historic photograph of Reddish Farm. Comparison with more recent photographs shows considerable alterations to the building on the left.

Mr and Mrs Slack came in 1924, he was at Combs for a year before, came as a tenant on the Jodrell Estate. The farm was sold by the estate in 1947 when Mr A Slack bought it. The house is very old; wash house built in 1896, Major Toller had the porch built. Shippon built from an old cottage about 1930. An old shippon has a dry stone wall with a date on the stone which looks like 1625. An old cheese press is built into the wall, inside one building. The wall is plasteered and appears to have been lived in. The barn has been altered many times.  Whaley Bridge Memorial Park has been taken off Reddish land just after the 1914 - 18 war. Hedges were planted. The acreage is now 53, inthe 1923 sale catalogue it was 35. Land behind Yarkers belonged to Dowery.
"Lomas Knob" name given to by Slacks to hay field on the left hand side of Linglongs. This belonged to the Royal Oak. Cotrell and G Hill of Crowhill had field below the Lodge Field with Botany Works belonging to Butcher who used it for grazing (called Morton?).
Reddish increased in acreage about 1930.

An Overnight Stay

 

                                           The "Round House" or "Honey Pot" at Curbar 

In 1863, John Warren wrote in his diary: "William WELCH of Whaley Bridge was put in the Buxton Lockups for being Drunk and Disordley the cost was all together £4.2s.6d."
The fine was the equivalent of £450 today, a hefty penalty for being drunk.
The location of the Buxton Lock-up is unknown. It had opened in 1829 and was in use until about 1899. The inspector of prisons described it in his 1850 report. It was a detached building with two cells, but no accommodation for a keeper. The building is very ill adapted for its purposes. It had been built at the cost of the township and was intended chiefly for vagrants in want of a nights lodging, and that was its main use. Only one cell was used, the other used to store coal and other articles. This cell is about 9 feet long, 6 feet wide and 6 feet high. It is dry, with an open fire. It had unglazed window, through which people outside might be hand anything in. There were two poles fixed on each side of the cell for seats, and there was some loose straw for bedding. The constable said that there were formerly proper benches, but that they had been pulled to pieces and burnt.' Many towns and villages had their own lock-ups, established mostly in the 19th century as local police forces were established although some were of a much earlier period.

Crowning The Whaley Bridge Rose Queen

Every year a lucky young lady was voted as Rose Queen for the year and as always she was crowned on the front lawn of Taxal Rectory by a notable personality.

This would be usually a local councillor or some equally obscure nobody. But things changed in 1950 when Miss Clarke won the award. And who was announced to crown her? Well when the door opened the Minister welcomed in Mr. Albert Pierrpoint the infamous hangman.

Until then a hangman kept his job secret, even from his wife.

But Pierrepoint had become famous after executing many German war criminals. After the ceremony he spent the rest of the afternoon in the Royal Oak in Taxal.

He was also seen on occasions in the Board Inn and The Shepherd's Arms.

Tony Beswick

Albert Pierrepoint was himself a publican, first at Hollinwood and later at Much Hoole near Preston. In 1950 he hanged James Corbitt at Strangeways, one of his own customers.

	Albert Pierrepoint

A Wayward Italian

 

May 1908 saw the appearance of an Italian named Soberti Diego before Stockport Police Court.  He was charged with being on enclosed premises for unlawful purposes and with assaulting a police officer in Whaley Bridge on April 27th.  Diego had been seen climbing from a wagon up into the rafters of the goods warehouse at the station. The prisoner had refused to descend and when the police constable arrived he jumped onto a van and threw a stone at the officer, which hit him in the chest.  Diego jumped over the wagons and tried to escape but the pursuing policeman fell over him and a desperate struggle ensued.  The prisoner had a razor with which he attacked the officer, cutting his hand.  It was only when support arrived that the Italian was overpowered.  Speaking through an interpreter, Diego explained that he had arrived in England seven months previously and finding himself in Whaley Bridge without food or money, decided to head to London.  He thought he would be safe hiding in the rafters until a train should arrive.  He had only used the razor to prevent the police officer from choking him.   Soberti Diego was sentenced to 28 days in prison and advised to leave the country as soon as he was released.

Death by Poisoning

A young lady (name not known) was in service at Brookfield House, on Reservoir Road, Whaley Bridge in 1930. Brookfield House was, in those days, the servants’ quarters for Whaley Hall.

Brookfield House, Reservoir Road

She was somehow ‘involved’ with a local police officer, Police Constable Gage from Bridgemont. She told other servants that she and Gage used to meet on Reservoir Road and go to the hen house for a drink.

One Saturday night she got off the Buxton train at Whaley Bridge and started to walk up Reservoir Road to Brookfield House where she was ‘in service’. She was followed by PC Gage from Bridgemont as witnessed by Frank Collier who was employed at Botany Bleach Works. PC Gage did not see Frank Collier.

It was rumoured locally that the girl was pregnant but if it was true it never came out officially.
The next day the young lady was found dead in William Eyre’s hen run and, not intended as a pun, foul play was immediately suspected. The hen run was in the field opposite Brookfield House. The field is now owned by Grant Ford and the hen house is still there after all these years.
A post mortem revealed that the girl had been poisoned with a very rare poison. The police made enquiries at all the local chemists and the only person who had acquired this type of poison was Police Constable Gage. Gage was suspected of murdering the girl and was summoned as a witness/suspect to the inquest held at the Mechanics Institute on Market Street in Whaley Bridge.

The number of people who wanted to attend the inquest was far too many than the building could cater for so seats were fixed on the pavement outside and loudspeakers were erected so that those people could at least hear the proceedings. Gage was very evasive with his answers to the Coroner. When asked why he had bought the very same poison that killed the girl he said he knew nothing about it and he had simply bought the poison to end his dog’s life as it was suffering from a medical condition. The Coroner asked Gage where he had buried the dog so that checks could be made on its body. Gage said he had thrown it in the fire-box at Blandola Riddle Works in Bridgemont close to where he lived. Asked where he had kept the remains of the poison so that could be also checked he said he had also thrown that in the fire-box.

The jury was ordered to return an open verdict and Gage was free to go. He was transferred the next day to take up duties in Northwich and nobody was ever charged with the poor girl’s murder.

Below is a photo of Grant Ford’s field before his house was built and the hen house is in the corner. You can see the Masonic Hall in the background at the entrance to the Park.

Tony Beswick

A Dangerous Road

William Wood

The murder of William Wood in July 1823 is well recorded. He was killed at a lonely spot on Buxton Old Road at Longside on Whaley Moor. This is the old roman road between Disley and Whaley Bridge and at that time was in Cheshire. The spot is marked by a commemorative "Murder Stone".  

Wood, a cotton weaver from Eyam, was returning home from Manchester where he had sold his cloth and had received about £100 in payment. He travelled on foot and at Disley, called at a pub for refreshment. He got into conversation with three men and later continued on his way. After about ten minutes, the three left the pub and followed in Wood's direction catching up with him after a mile or two. Wood was beaten to death with stones and left at the roadside where his partly concealed body was later discovered. Wood's body was taken to the Cock Inn in Whaley Bridge where the coroners inquest was held a few days later.

Mevril Bleach Works

Another picture from Mevril Bleach Works.  This group photograph is from the 1950s. Does anybody know what the occasion was or who these people are? The works, at Horwich End, closed in the early 1960s.
photograph courtesy of Bernard Rogers
 

Peace Day

Although hostilites ended in 1918 and November 11th is each year marked by the Festival of Remembrance, the First World War did not officially come to an end until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28th June 1919. The event was celebrated on 19th July when Peace Day saw processions throughout Britain. In Whaley Bridge, a float is photographed outside Mevril Bleach Works at Horwich End. 
photograph courtesy of Tony Beswick

 

Beware the Ides of March

Is the black dog to be feared or is it a good omen?  This apparition has frequently been reported throughout Britain and according to legend has huge red eyes like glowing coals that can see right into ones soul. Other stories tell of black dogs that help farmers to round up sheep.

The dog at Cockyard appears from nowhere at dusk and follows one down the hill towards Combs where it vanishes just as mysteriously.
On the opposite hillside above Tunstead, along Eccles Road, The Black Dog of Ollerenshaw makes his appearance at the Ides of March. Not far away, at Barmoor Clough a black dog has been seen emerging from a culvert. In the long tradition of ghostly apparitions, this one carries his head tucked under his arm.  Whilst here we must mention the curious "ebbing and flowing" well. This natural spring would flow and then cease without any regular pattern but has dried up since work was carried out on the railway tunnel. Near Horwich End is Hob Croft, a name centuries old which refers to the presence of a hob or hobgoblin. These are benevolent yet supernatural creatures which usually make their appearance when the household is asleep. In return for a little food they will tidy up, do the dusting and sweeping and sometimes even the ironing. Take care not to upset a hob for then it will take great delight in mischief and practical jokes. They resemble small hairy men and are notoriously difficult to get rid of.

  High Peak News

10 December 1910
strange stories of a “ghost”
seen by several persons

Whaley Bridge and the district is excited over the strange stories which are circulating about a ghost having been seen by several people at Elnor Lane, a lonely road which leads to Buxton. The story goes that the “ghost” is in the shape of a large dog of the greyhound type, and that the dog walks on in front or sometimes by the side of the person, but when anyone has stooped down to stroke it, it has vanished into thin air ! Those who have witnessed this peculiar phenomenon declare that it causes a most creepy sensation.

Only recently two men were going from Fernilee, when they espied a large dog in front of them, which was described as having a luminous appearance. One of the men was so startled that he commenced to run to Fernilee, but the other stayed behind and tried to stroke the animal, but it vanished. It is stated that the “dog ghost” has been seen frequently in the neighbourhood of Elnor House, which is situated in this lonely locality.

Three Spinsters and a Fortune in Coal

Stonehouse Farm, Hayfield

Stonehouse Farm on Edale Road in Hayfield, was in the eighteenth century, the home of the Hall family. There are records of this family in Hayfield from at least the 1600s.  Joseph, born on 14^th December 1777, was their second son. He would not inherit  the property nor did he have any interest in the family sheep farm. On reaching adulthood, he rented a home in Birch Vale and found employment in the small coal pits then being worked on Ollerset Moor. The building of the Peak Forest Canal and the Peak Forest Tramway, saw the establishment at Bugsworth of a number of lime kilns. Here was a ready market for the locally mined coal, despite its poor quality. Much of Ollerset Moor was owned by the Duchy of Lancaster and Joseph was able to obtain his own leases from them and other landowners, to mine coal in his own right. He married Hannah Lowe and they moved into Moor Lodge, high on Ollerset Moor and close to the coalfield.  Joseph Hall died there on 8^th August 1843 after falling ill with hepatitis.

An Artful Trick

The other day, as one of the coaches which plies between Buxton and Manchester was ascending the hill near Taxal, the coachman was accosted by an Irish woman with a child in her arms, requesting him to "give her a ride". He replied, "that the proprietors employed him to receive fares, not to give rides." upon which she, pretending to find her pocket among the folds of her ragged dress said, "Sure and have you change for a sovereign?". The coachman, elated with the prospect of receiving his short fare, ordered her to get on and he would furnish the change at Buxton. On arrival at the destination, the woman alighted and was proceeding apace without producing the coloured material, when the coachman, in a stentorian voice exclaimed, "Hallo, you have not paid your fare."  "Fare do you mean, sir, sure and I have only a penny in my pocket." "Then why did you ask me for change?" replied the coachman. "Sure and it was the change that I wanted; the devil of a sovereign had I." The coachman, much chagrined at the loss of his anticipated fare, at the request of a passenger, allowed the woman for her craft, to proceed on her journey.

The Blackburn Standard 3rd December 1845

The Sale of a Wife at Wirksworth Market

In 1837 an unconventional method was followed to dispose of a wife.
The wife of John Allen of Turnditch eloped with J Taylor of Shottle.  The injured husband heard that the couple were in lodgings at Whaley Bridge and resolved to settle the matter.  Finding them he demanded 3s for her clothes. Taylor said that he would pay this provided Allen would accompany them to Wirksworth next market day and deliver her according to the law. Arriving at Wirksworth, Allen purchased a halter, placed it around his wife and gave the end of the rope to Taylor saying "I, John  Allen, was bereaved of my wife by James Taylor of Shottle on 11th July last; I have brought her here to sell her for 3s 6d; will you buy her James?" Taylor answered "I will, here is the money, and you are witness Thomas Riley" calling to a potman who was appointed for the purpose.  The ring was delivered to Allen with three sovereigns and 3s 6d, when he shook hands with his wife and her paramour wishing them all the good luck in the world. She had been married to Allen at Kniveton about ten years ago and had lived together until then.

Flat Pack Churches

“You can buy anything from Harrod’s", so it was once said. You could certainly buy a church, or at least a Tin Tabernacle as these prefabricated, corrugated iron buildings came to be called. The parish church at Maesbury in Shropshire, illustrated here by Maggie Humphrys, was one such structure. Supplied by the Knightsbridge store in 1906, for just £120, it was delivered on the back of a lorry and assembled by two men.

Harrod’s catalogue offered a range of "flat-pack" buildings,; they were just one of a number of companies to supply them.

The technique of producing corrugated iron and galvanising with zinc to prevent corrosion was developed in the mid 19^th century. A range of buildings was available including churches, sports pavilions, village halls, railway structures, warehouses and even a diminutive shepherd’s hut. The town of Oban, in Scotland had a Roman Catholic cathedral built of corrugated tin until it was replaced in 1932 with a stone building designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

A Whole Lot Of Gas

In 1877 the Manchester Times reported on a gale during which, the Whaley Bridge Gasworks was struck by lightining. "About ten o'clock there was a very vivid flash of lighting which alighted at the Gasworks, causing considerable damage. The massive ironwork which supported the gasholder was struck by the elctric fluid, and the greater portion of it completely destroyed. Two of the supporting pillars were smashed, and nearly the whole of the framework fell with a loud crash. One of the iron girders alighting upon the holder pierced it, and the gas escaped. The consequence was, the whole of the district was put in darkness". 

A lengthy contoversy began in summer of 1925 when the Gas Company proposed building a new gasworks at Horwich End. The company had purchased land which had been reserved as open space and faced considerable opposition. The company supplied gas to  Whaley Bridge, Chapel en le Frith, Chinley, Bugsworth and Furness Vale. They operated two gasworks, one at Whaley Bridge and the other at Bradshaw Edge, Chapel-en-le-Frith and proposed replacing both with the new works.

In June 1926, the Guardian reported: "There was considerable opposition to the scheme by the Fernilee and Taxal Parish Councils, the Manchester and District Town Planning Advisory Committee, and other authorities on the ground that the new works would mar the entrance to the famous Goyt Valley. At the public enquiry into the matter, the opposition described the proposed works as "a rusty lock on the gate of the Goyt".

Fernilee Parish Council offered to pay as much for the land as the Gas Company and would turn it into a recreation ground. Cost of the new gasworks was estimated at £45,000

Despite the many protests, the planning application was eventually approved and the gasworks built. 

One of the Horwich End gasholders. Photo courtesy of Tony Beswick.

Writing about the gasholders, Tony Beswick observed:  "On the gas holders you will notice the metal walls externally are not straight. They appear to have troughs running down the sides and if you look closely these are hinged at the bottom so that they go up or down depending whether gas is going into or out of the holders. These troughs were tight to the side of the metal panels and were full of water and they were always full and as they went up and down you could see from above if any of the panels had any gas escapes by looking for gas bubbles in the water. Simple but ingenious."

Gasholders were usually of one, of two designs, rigid or water sealed. Those at Horwich end are of the latter type. Theseare described extensively in a Wikipedia article:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_holder
The priciple is that the lower structure is a water tank in which the gas tank floats. The gas tank is open-bottomed and will rise or sink according to the quantity of gas which it holds; the water keeps the gas at a constant pressure. 

Tony Beswick wrote a further description of the gasworks: 

"One of the gas holders is smaller than the other one but I never realised this when I walked past them thousands of times when I lived in Horwich End.

Before these massive structures were built there were two smaller gas holders: one that served Whaley Bridge and one that served Horwich End.

The one that served Horwich End was within the Botany Land. I've got old maps that show that one.

The one that served WB was situated in the old Council yard and I'm fairly sure I have maps showing this one as well. To reach the yard you would drive down Bridge Street past Whiteley's leather and milling works on the right and drive round the back. I imagine you can still walk around even today. It was a public footpath up to the Bings. Half way up was a metal kissing gate; as I can't get out just yet I don't know if it is still there.

Also in the Council yard was a mortuary and bodies were stored in there. There was always a window at high level left slightly ajar and as kids we would go round and take a look inside. Thankfully I saw no bodies".

The discovery of North Sea Gas in the mid 1960s led to the end of so called "town gas" and the Horwich End works were demolished in the mid 1970s. 

 

 The retort house tower, just before demolition. photo courtesy of Tony Beswick

Whaley Bridge In Colour

Wartime Evacuees in Furness Vale

  On 2nd June 1940 a train arrived at Whaley Bridge from Southend on Sea in Essex. On board were 240 children evacuated due to the war.  They were accompanied by 12 teachers and 11 voluntary helpers.
   Met at Whaley Bridge, the children were first of all given tea, then medically examined and then allocated to their billets. The operation took a considerable time and caused a few tears.  Some billetors refused boys, others would not take girls. Some, confronted with brother and sister wanted to take one but not the other. Some children, boys in particular were hawked around several billets until kindly souls at last gave them shelter.
   Schoolrooms were established at the Mechanics Institute, at Whaley Bridge Church Hall and one classroom was made available at Furness Vale School.

  Wendy Brown is trying to find information about her mother's evacuation to Furness Vale.  Her name was Jean Hill (Rosenberg) and she was just six years old at the time.  She stayed with the Palmers who lived in Park Crescent.

  Val Stenson has added the following information:
"The Palmers were Percy Holmes Palmer (born in Bredbury but had lived in Chapel) & Lillian Gertrude Palmer nee Hodgkinson (from Lancashire) the couple married in Stockport in 1925 & lived at Woodlea off Yeardsley Lane which came under Whaley Bridge UDC in the 1939 National Registration. The couple had no children of their own, Percy worked as a Railway Signalman Heavy Works & Lillian stayed at home. Percy died in 1949 & by then the couple had moved to Melton Mowbury."

  The only "Woodlea" in Furness Vale is currently 236 Buxton Road and some distance from Park Crescent.

  If anybody remembers or knows of the Palmers, or Jean, then Wendy Brown would be delighted to hear from you.

Wendy Brown's niece chatted to here gran about her experiences for a school project and wrote down the conversation|:  

My Nana being Evacuated in World War II

During the War, my Nana was 6 ½ years old.  She had to be evacuated at the start of 1940.  She used to live on the South Coast at a place called Westcliff on Sea.

She was brought up on a steam train.  On this journey she remembers having no food or little and having some water, but the problem was the water tasted of soot because of the steam from the train.  The steam train dropped a lot of children off at Chinley.  When they got there, people either went to a home which made them clean or they went to homes where they were used as cheap labour, specially on farms or if they were lucky, they went to a nice family.  My Nana was lucky, she went to a Mr and Mrs Palmer.

My Nana was never short on food because they grew their own vegetables and kept hens.  The one food she disliked were runner beans because they salted them and kept them for winter.  She disliked them because they had them every day.

She can remember getting to their home in Furness Vale and them giving her a bath.  They kept scrubbing at her.  She remembers them saying “what have they sent us?”  They were saying this because she was very brown (because of a hot summer) and her accent.

When the war was over her mother came up to Furness Vale and Nana went to live with her.  Nana’s mum married a man called Sam Kitchen.  They lived together but my Nana never forgot Mr and Mrs Palmer.

 
  The photographs show the evacuee children  at Furness Vale School