Memories of Bridgemont

 

 Our latest publication tells of recollections from our neighbouring village.

Bridgemont is a small village midway between Whaley Bridge and Furness Vale in Derbyshire.  Sheila Harling born in 1931 and Les Jones born in 1944 relate their memories of growing up and living in the village. Their stories are supplimented with many photographs and other information from the archives of Furness Vale History Society.  The 44 pages include many illustrations.

Copies are available from the History Society, the Community shop and from our online shop:  https://etsy.me/3ztcplz

An ebook version is now on sale from Amazon Kindle:  https://amzn.to/3yz1hm8

 

 

Bridgemont

A postcard from Tony Beswick featuring Bridgemont

The picture is undated and there is not a vehicle in sight. The street is lit by gas lamps which continued in use until 1955. The Dog and Partridge has a car park sign so they are already catering for motor trade. In the distance is the phone box in front of the Bridgemont Mission. It is the K1 style introduced in 1921 and made from cast concrete. Opposite the pub is the Post Office with a sign advertising Star Cigarettes.

Industrial Tracks

Some people still remember the tramway that ran from Furness Colliery down to the canal and railway siding. It passed under Buxton Road and beneath the building that is now the (closed) Fish and Chip shop. It was recorded by John Farey in his 1817 books about the agriculture and minerals of Derbyshire. The railway was still in use until the early 1960s.
Less known is the railway, also mentioned by Farey, that linked Furness Vale Quarry with the canal. It ran through the tunnel, which of course still exists, to the two canal wharves owned by the quarry company. Building stone was shipped to Manchester and Stockport. It does not appear on any maps. The quarry was in operation until at least the 1960s but the railway must have been removed long ago.

Ringstones Colliery which closed in 1896 was linked to the canal at Bridgemont.  Rather than a railway or tramway, the mine employed an overhead ropeway which carried coal in suspended tubs. One stone tower remains in Ringstones Clough, all other remnants have long disappeared. Again, this was never mapped.

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 Walk Along The Towpath

We will start our walk along the towpath at Bank End Bridge. We're in New Mills here but it is an appropriate place to begin.

A track leads down from the A6, crosses the railway and then the canal bridge No 29.  This was an old pack horse route from Higher Disley to Goytside and Low Leighton. On the Newtown sidee of the Bridge, opposite the towpath was Bank End Wharf. This served the quarries which were on the other side of Buxton Road. If the footpath is followed downhill, it reaches the River Goyt and Goytside footbridge. This has long since been been a crossing point.  Just through the gate on the left is the outlet from a sough. This tunnel drained water from the Bank End Colliery workings which were mostly located around the area of the quarry. Until a few years ago, there was no protective grille and the tunnel was often used to access the mine.


Follow the towpath towards Furness Vale and after about 300 metres we reach the site of Bank End Colliery Engine House on the opposite bank. There was an 80ft deep shaft here a little distance from the canal. Tubs of coal would be raised from the workings and taken on a short track to a canal side tippler where narrowboats were loaded. The colliery closed in 1921.  Maps of the local colliery working show a lengthy tunnel from the field opposite Yeardsley Hall Barns to Bank End Engine house. This is marked on some maps as a roadway but is more likely to have been a drainage sough and probably continued down to the River Goyt.

Bridgemont

Re - The Bungalow, Bridgemont

Used for some time as Bridgemont Mission before the church was built. Once upon a time used for boat building and painting. A good landing stage existed along the canal side. There was also a smithy.  This could have been below the land opposite the Dog and Partridge. The building became unsafe and was demolished).

We think my great grandfather, John Johnson of Carr View, Buxton Road, Whaley Bridge bought this in an auction along with other houses nos 27, 25, 19, 17, 15 and the vacant plot opposite the Dog and Partridge.

In the early 1950's, two sisters lived in the Bungalow. Ms Billy Brotherton cared for her sister who was an invalid and she could be wheeled out of the double doors to enjoy the fresh air. After her sister died, Billy (who had been a music hall artiste) married Mr Grosvenor and they lived there for several years.

Later tenants were Daisy and Bill Fidler and Mr and Mrs Woodward.

A compulsory purchase order was put on the building when the by-pass was built.

Nos 27 and 25
These houses had iron grates with hobs in some of the bedrooms so that people could cook there. No 25 also had a pot sink on the landing. The front room windows were fitted inside with folding wooden shutters which could be closed for warmth. These two houses could have had rooms to let to bargees or workers from the canal.

Frances Footitt.
16.10.2012

The photographs below are of the building to which Frances refers. The people are said to be the founders of the mission. The boatbuilder was Mr Fox who later moved to Furness Vale

 

Ringstones

Ringstones Colliery closed in 1896 although some workings had been abandoned in 1878.

There were three pits; the "top pit" is shown on the 1875 OS map at the head of the clough. The "bottom pit" at Ringstones, is still very evident and the capped shaft is surrounded by caravans.  Further down the clough was a third shaft near the masonry which still straddles the brook.

The mine was connected to the canal wharf at Bridgemont by a tramway and until recently a raised embankment was to be seen running down the middle of the field below the caravan site. 

In 1875 the works at the foot of the clough was a tannery. The site was occupied later by the Blandola Seaweed works.