Greenfield

For today's photo we open the world of Ashton a little wider with a visit to nearby Greenfield in Saddleworth.

If you take a train eastwards from Ashton, towards Huddersfield, the third stop (after Stalybridge and Mossley) is Greenfield. The railway here is winding along the side of the valley as it clims into the Pennines, so it is not surprising that this view, from just across the road from Greenfield Station, is looking down over the village of Greenfield itself.

The photo is looking along Chew Valley Road, running towards the distant steeple of St Mary's Church, with the steep hills surrounding Dovestones Reservoir in the background.

To the right, the modern building facing this way is The House That Isn't, featured on this blog three years ago..

See Bird's Eye View of this location.

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"Greenfield" is my contribution to this week's "My World" feature. Please check out the other blogs participating in this week's My World.

Weekend Reflections: Mill Race

This delightful scene with its watery reflection is in the village of Delph, in Saddleworth, around 7 miles from Ashton.

The tranquillity of the scene belies its industrial origins. The waterway on the left is an artificial mill race or leat, created to provide power for a woollen mill a little further downstream.

The water comes from the River Tame, which runs unseen below the bank on the right of the photo. A couple of hundred yards upstream, just below Delph Bridge, a weir across the river helps to divert some of the water into the mill race. By the time the channel reached the mill, its height above the river meant that it was able to drive a water wheel that could power machinery.

Waterside mills were very common in the hilly area to the east of Ashton before coal-powered steam engines were able to power a greater number of machines, giving rise to the large multi-storey mills built in Ashton and other towns throughout the Victorian era.

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See Google Aerial View of this location.

For more Weekend Reflections from around the world, visit Newtown Area Photo.

Footpath to the Hills

"F" is for "Footpath to the Hills" and today's photo shows a group of walkers heading up into the hills at Dobcross in Saddleworth. They are on a walk that will follow old packhorse tracks and early turnpike roads to Bleak Hey Nook and over the moors at Standedge to the village of Marsden.

Those with an interest in slightly newer forms of transport may notice, running across the middle of the photo, the Huddersfield Narrow canal as it climbs Diggle Locks and the Manchester to Huddersfield railway line, just behind the canal.

On the skyline above the walkers, you can just see (on the larger version of the image) the obelisk at Pots and Pans, on the edge of Saddleworth Moor.

This splendid Pennine countryside is just 7 miles from Ashton and provides an excellent excuse to go out and get a bit of exercise.

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See Birds Eye View of this location.

"Footpath to the Hills" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "F" posts from around the world please follow this link.
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Sky Watch: Bailey Mill

Bailey Mill makes an interesting outline against the sky, with its assortmentof shapes and its gables and chimney leading the eye upwards.

This former woollen mill is in the village of Delph, in Saddleworth, about 7 miles from Ashton. In contrast with the red-brick cotton mills of Ashton, the woollen mills of Saddleworth are nearly all constructed of stone.

The collection of buildings were added to over the years but the mill finally closed in in the 1990s. No future for the building has been decided but Delph is now a popular residential village so it is possible that the mill could be converted into apartments.

The mill was conveniently situated alongside the railway sidings close to Delph Station, at the end of the so-called "Delph Donkey" branch line.

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See Google Street View of this location.
See Bird's Eye View of this location.

Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!

Whit Friday in Saddleworth

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Today is Whit Friday and the day of the traditional Whit Walks and Band Contests in Mossley and Saddleworth.

Processions from the various churches in Saddleworth converge on Uppermill for a service of witness followed by a united walk through the village.

This photo shows the contingent from Holy Trinity Church, Dobcross, led by Dobcross Band.

In the evening brass band competitions take place in many of the Saddleworth villages, as well as in Mossley, Stalybridge, Ashton and other places.

See Google Street View of this location.
See Birds Eye View of this location.

Sunday in Saddleworth: Saddleworth Viaduct

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We take another visit to Saddleworth today, after a period of unintentionally ignoring it!

This is the view looking along the Huddersfield Narrow Canal southwards from Brownhill Bridge, Dobcross. The canal enters Lime Kiln Lock, where it drops ten feet to the next level, which passes beneath the giant central skew arch of Saddleworth Viaduct. This carries the Manchester to Huddersfield Railway.

What you can't see is that immediately before the lock, the canal passes over an aqueduct across the River Tame. The building on the left is Brownhill Countryside Centre.

See Google Street View of this location.

Dusting of Snow over Greenfield

The area around Ashton woke up to a light dusting of snow on Friday, which quickly started to disappear at lower levels, so I took a walk over Quick Edge, near Mossley, to survey the surrounding landscape.

This view looks eastwards, over one of the many dry stone walls in the area, across the Tame Valley towards Greenfield and the Pennine moors beyond.

The snow wasn't deep enough to hide the grass completely. In spite of the winter sunshine there was a penetrating cold wind blowing! The forecasters are suggesting that we may see some more snow over the weekend.

See Birds Eye View of this location.

Sunday Stroll: Delph Donkey

The Delph Donkey was the nickname of the branch railway that ran from Uppermill to Delph. The line was closed in 1963 and the track has since been made into a cycle track and walkway. It can be accessed from Uppermill or from Brownhill Visitor Centre around 7 miles from Ashton and, once the short climb to the track has been made, provides a level walk right through to the old Delph Station.

The walk is particularly suitable on a weekend like this, when there has been a lot of rain recently, as the track does not become as muddy as many field paths do. Yet there are views of the fields and hills between the trees that line the track.

Trains ran from Delph to Greenfield, then through Lees to Oldham. One of the stations on the line, not far from the location of the photograph, was called Measurements Halt, named after the factory it was built to serve.

Some have suggested that the line was so-named because the carriage was originally pulled by a horse. However, this was not the case, as this would not have been allowed because the track joins on to the busy main line.

The photo shows the bridge where Wall Hill Road crosses the track. This bridge was built on a skew, with interesting angled stonework forming the arch.

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Saturday in Saddleworth - Diggle Hotel

The Diggle Hotel is off the main road through Diggle - up Sam Lane and across the railway. It is close to the original settlement of Diglea or Diggle Lee, which is older than Diggle itself and appeared on this blog in May.

The pub stands close to the entrance of the Standedge railway tunnels and the site of the former Diggle railway station.

The pub is also at the foot of Boat Lane, which was used by the boat horses on their way over the moors between Diggle and Marsden while the boat they normally towed was being legged through Standedge Canal Tunnel, the longest canal tunnel in Britain.

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Saturday in Saddleworth - Saddleworth Church

We take a trip back to Saddleworth today, as we haven't been for a few weeks. Today's photo is another look at Saddleworth Church, high on the hillside above Uppermill. In front of the church is the appropriately-named Church Inn.

The church was there long before the village of Uppermill was, and was built to serve the widespread parish of small weaving hamlets that were dotted around the area. The church was built right alongside the ancient pre-Roman trackway that skirted the sides of the Tame Valley and led up over Standedge.

The turnpike road, canal and railway were all built along the valley bottom, and Uppermill grew up around them, leaving the church in the same rural setiing that it has been in for centuries.

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Saturday in Saddleworth - Delph Village

This photo shows the road that winds through the middle of Delph village as it crosses the River Tame.

Fortunately the main A62 road between Oldham and Huddersfield bypasses the village, although the original turnpike road did in fact come through the village and over this bridge.

Since the photo was taken the road has been deliberately narrowed so that only one vehicle can cross the bridge at a time.

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Saturday in Saddleworth - Delph Station

Delph Station was the terminus of the "Delph Donkey" branch that left the main Huddersfield to Manchester line between Moorfield Halt and Saddleworth Viaduct.

The station building, close to Delph Cross Roads, is still there and is now a private house. The platform is now seeing service as a patio! A new housing development now occupies the former goods yard and siding just beyond the station.

The "Delph Donkey" line had two stations at Dobcross and at Measurements, a halt added for workers travelling to and from the Hirst Brothers' Measurements factory, which made watches and clocks. Trains from Delph called at Greenfield on the main line and then continued on another branch through a tunnel to Grotton, Lees and Oldham Clegg Street.

The last passenger trains to Delph were in 1955 and the last goods trains in 1963. The track bed is now a walking and cycling route.

It is claimed that the line was so named because carriages were originally pulled by a donkey or horse but this is thought to be very unlikely and it may just have been a derogatory name for the little line.

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Saturday in Saddleworth - Whit Friday Band Contests

Eight days ago was Whit Friday, and last Saturday's photo showed the Saddleworth Whit Walks in Uppermill.

In the evening of Whit Friday, the Whit Friday Band Contests take place at many of the villages in the area. The contests developed because a number of brass bands were in the area for the walks in the morning.

There are contests in the Saddleworth villages of Uppermill, Greenfield, Dobcross, Delph, Denshaw, Diggle, Greenfield, Friezland, Lydgate, Grotton and Scouthead, as well as in Lees, Greenacres, Mossley, Ashton-under-Lyne, Hurst Cross, Stalybridge, Stalybridge Celtic, Heyrod, Carrbrook, Audenshaw, Droylsden and Dukinfield. The Whit Friday band contests are unique to this area.

The contests each have two parts - a marching (deportment) competition, where each band marches along the road towards the event venue, followed by a concert piece, where each band plays one from a range of set pieces, with the adjudicator hidden in an upstairs room or a caravan so that he does not know which band is playing.

More info here. Plenty of videos on here on YouTube.

130 bands were involved in last year's contests. The biggest event is at Delph, which attracted 78 bands last year!

Last Friday, after a lovely sunny morning, it started to rain just as the band contests got under way! So the photograph above was actually taken at last year's contest and shows the Dobcross Youth Band marching down the street in Delph.

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Saturday in Saddleworth - Whit Walks

Yesterday was Whit Friday and in Saddleworth that means Whit Walks and Band contests!

Whit Walks, in one form or another, were fairly common in many areas but have now died out in some places and in other places are much smaller affairs than they once were. In Saddleworth and Mossley, however, not only are the Whit Walks still a big thing, but they still take place on Whit Friday.

Traditionally schools and factories in the area close for the day. Some high school pupils still have to go in to take GCSE exams, though!

Saddleworth is an area made up of a number of individual villages and the churchgoers walk in procession from their own church down into the centre of Uppermill for a joint service of witness in the park. They then all process through the centre of Uppermill before continuing back to their own villages. The main A670 road through Uppermill is closed for several hours while all this is going on.

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Saturday in Saddleworth - Diggle

The old part of the village of Diggle, historically known as Diggle Lee, is separated by the railway and canal from the more modern, built-up part of the village along the main road. The stone-mullioned windows are typical of the style of building of cottages in the Saddleworth area.

As the lane is a dead end, this is one of the lesser-known corners of the Saddleworth area. It is surprising to remember that this location is only eight miles from the brick terraces of Ashton.

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Saturday in Saddleworth - Dobcross Square

This is the centre of picturesque Dobcross village, part way up the side of the steep valley of the River Tame in Saddleworth.

The memorial which stands in the square has a lantern on its top. Double decker buses go up and down the narrow street behind it.

Dobcross Square was one of the main locations for the film "Yanks".

See Google Aerial View of this location.
See LiveSearch Birds Eye View of this location.

Saturday in Saddleworth - Saddleworth Church

This is the first of a series of visits to nearby Saddleworth.

Saddleworth is an area that is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and now forms part of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It is deep in the Pennine hills, around the headwaters of the River Tame, with stone being the main building material.

Although only around 4 to 8 miles from the centre of Ashton, parts of Saddleworth look as if they could be 50 miles away in the Yorkshire Dales!

The first photo shows Saddleworth parish church of St Chad's. The church dates from around 1200, although probably none of the building is original - the tower was rebuilt in 1746 and most of the rest in 1832! Although Saddleworth is made up of a number of villages, the church stands in near isolation high up on the hillside above Uppermill, although it does have the Church Inn to keep it company.

The church is the focus of the annual rush cart festival which takes place in August.

See Google Aerial View of this location.

If you were hoping to see a photo in the Stalybridge Saturday series, there will be one next week!