Spenborough Coat of Arms
Spenborough was a local government district of the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1915 to 1974. It was created as an urban district in 1915 by the merger of Cleckheaton, Gomersal and Liversedge urban districts, in an attempt to resist plans by the County Borough of Bradford to annex the area. Cleckheaton UDC proposed the name "Spenborough" after the River Spen which flows through the area. In 1937 the district was expanded by encompassing the abolished Hunsworth and Birkenshaw urban districts and by absorbing the Clifton and Hartshead areas of Halifax Rural District. Heckmondwike, also in the Spen valley, was never part of Spenborough.
Spenborough was abolished in 1974, becoming part of the new Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees. Together with Heckmondwike, Kirklees Council now recognise the old Spenborough area as the Spen Valley Locality.
The old Spenborough Coat of Arms is commemorated in a stained glass window in Cleckheaton Town Hall.
Savoy Square
This occupies the site of the Savoy Cinema, 1923 - 1990 on the corner of Bradford Road and Albion Street in Cleckheaton, the cornerstone from which remains on the site. After the cinema's demolition the land lay derelict for some time until Spen Valley Civic Society were allowed to landscape it in 2003. When the indoor market was being renovated a few years later, the Society asked if the wall adjacent to the Square could be designed in Art Deco style. Then the Civic Society organised the creation of original film posters to decorate the wall. These are unique in that they each highlight an aspect of Spen Valley's history. The first one celebrated local children's author, Roger Hargreaves, creator of the "Mr. Men" series, but in the style of the film "Saturday Night Fever". Another poster celebrates Phelan & Moore, a Cleckheaton motorcycle company. Each poster is sponsored and the sponsor's name appears somewhere on the poster. They are the sequel to a set of artworks on a reel of film which were painted onto temporary hoardings, masking the fire damaged market hall. A model of an early movie camera completes the theme.
Marsh Mill Tragedy
On Wednesday 24th February 1892, at 8 minutes to 5 o’clock, a tragedy occurred at Marsh Mills on Dewsbury Road when the150 foot, 500 ton mill chimney collapsed, crashing through the roof of the mill, killing 15 people and injuring many more. The mill manufactured woollen flannel. A young lad named Orlando Holroyd who was working at the gas works opposite, witnessed the chimney swaying and breaking in two, the top part toppling forward at an angle and penetrating all four storeys of the building, resolving into a pile of broken rubble at its base. Mr Nixon, an engineer at the gas works immediately organised men and ladders to try and rescue the mill workers, mainly girls, trapped inside, some buried in the debris. The ladders were hastily lashed together with ropes but even so none could reach the building’s upper storey. Men ascended the ladders to reach the girls gathered at the windows, escorting them back to safety. Then the injured were rescued and brought out, followed by the dead. The operation continued into the night and bonfires were lit to light the scene for the rescuers who scrambled amongst broken bricks and under collapsed timbers to complete their mission. The bodies, some mangled beyond recognition, were taken to the workshops of Messrs Thornton nearby. The mill itself was in ruins. The walls were still standing except at one corner where the chimney had crashed down, but the roof and some of the floors had collapsed taking workers and looms with them, and some of the metal shafting had been twisted and turned into fantastic shapes. The rescuers, including the fire service by now, had put themselves into tremendous danger carrying out the rescue. Clearing up operations continued on the following day, attracting a crowd of spectators.
The workforce seem to have been all too well aware of the poor condition of the chimney before the incident, recalling that the base was cracked all around. The owners, Messrs Thornton, said that they had recently called in building contractors Messrs Moulson of Bradford to inspect the chimney who gave it the all clear, but nevertheless Messrs Thornton had begun repairs, which were in progress when the collapse occurred. A Mr. Abraham Whiteley, master plasterer and father of one of the victims, Victoria Whiteley, recalled that a lad had been sent to his place on the afternoon of the incident with a wheelbarrow for a hundredweight of cement intended to repair the chimney, but on learning of this Whiteley refused to provide it as unsuitable for the purpose. The lad was returning to the mill with an empty wheelbarrow when the chimney fell.
The initial inquest was held at the Marsh Hotel, Cleckheaton, almost opposite the
mill, before Coroner Mr. P.P. Maitland and just served to identify the victims so their bodies could be released to their families. They were aged between 20 and 46 and all but one were women. Their funerals were for the most part held a few days after the accident, on Saturday 27th February, many being interred at Cleckheaton cemetery. A few weeks later at their meeting in the new Town Hall, the local board resolved to ask certain other mills in Cleckheaton to reduce the height or inspect their chimneys before something similar happened to endanger more lives. They also resolved to buy a fire escape to give to the local fire service as the ladders used at the Marsh Mill rescue had not been adequate. A relief fund for the victims and their families was also set up.
Roger Hargreaves
Roger Hargreaves, famous as the author and illustrator of the "Mister Men" books, was born in a private hospital at 201 Bath Road, Cleckheaton on 9th May 1935 to Alfred Reginald and Ethel Mary Hargreaves, nee Pickles. He spent his childhood at 'High Lees', 703 Halifax Road, Hartshead Moor. The family later moved to Sowerby
Bridge and Roger was a pupil at Grammar School there. Although he had always longed to become a cartoonist, after leaving school he worked at first in his father's laundrette and dry cleaning business. His father, Alfred, known as 'Reg', at various times owned several such businesses with his partner Lou Orton. This included the "Snow White" laundry at Todmorden and "Harton Cleaners", Hipperholme. Later Roger went into advertising, at first as a humble copy writer, but progressing to become artistic director of a London advertising company. This involved him living within commuting distance of London.
Roger married Margaret Christine Heard, who came from Dorset, in 1960 and sons Adam and Giles were born in 1964 and 1966 followed by twin girls, Amelia and Sophia in 1970. One day in 1971 Adam, then aged 6, asked his father what a tickle
looked like. Roger went away and drew what became "Mr Tickle" for him, the start of the "Mr Men" series of picture books. This changed Roger's life and his career. It was not easy finding a publisher at first, but when he did the series was enormously successful selling 1 million copies within 3 years. By 1976 Roger had quit his day job to concentrate on creating children's books. The "Little Miss" series followed in 1981. The 15th in the series, "Little Miss Twins", was inspired by Roger's twin daughters. Animated versions of both series were televised, the "Mr Men" series narrated by Arthur Lowe and "Little Miss" by John Alderton and Pauline Collins. Roger eventually wrote and illustrated 66 "Mr Men" and 33 "Little Miss" books.
He died in 1988 of a stroke, aged only 53, at Royal Tunbridge Wells, having lived in Guernsey for some years and then in Sussex. Roger had written other series too, such as "Timbuctoo" and "John Mouse" but these are not quite as well known. His son, Adam, continued to write new "Mr Men" and "Little Miss" stories after his father's death. However in 2004 Roger's widow, Christine, sold the rights to the "Mr Men" characters to a UK entertainment group, Chorion, for £28 million!
In 2017, however, Adam began to publish a new series of Doctor Who adventures told in the Mr Men format and true to his father's original style. They appeal to children, of course, but also to adults who grew up with and loved the Doctor Who and Mr Men series. He is also producing more Mr Men and Little Miss adventures.
Roger's brother, Robert, although lesser known, was one of the key journalists involved in the launch of ITN's 'News at Ten' in 1967 and was foreign editor for the programme. Born on 12th January 1933, the eldest of four children, he was educated at Eastbourne College, Sussex, soon afterwards completing his national service in the RAF. He then joined the Halifax Courier as a cub reporter and developed his career in journalism with spells at the Manchester Guardian and at Reuters, which gave him his first experience of covering foreign news stories. He joined ITN in 1962 and oversaw the opening of its Washington news bureau in the late 1960s, becoming resident Washington correspondent. He was forced to return home, though, after he developed MS in 1972. He continued a career in journalism, however, and wrote two books, "Superpower" about the U.S.A. in 1973 and "The First Freedom" in 2002 about free speech. He died on 27th February 2010 at the age of 77.
The "Pride of Pyenot"
This unusual title refers to the stone figure of a lion which once bedecked the entrance archway to Pyenot Hall, which formerly stood on Pyenot Hall Lane in Cleckheaton. Alas the hall no longer exists - it was demolished in the 1990s - but the lion was repaired and resurrected in 2008 with the help of Barratts the builders and now stands outside one of their new homes in Bridon Way, Cleckheaton, which was built on land once occupied by the hall and its gardens.
Pyenot Hall dates from 1785 and was home to a well to do local family at first (see below)but went on to become part of Pyenot Hall Card Works and then was eventually used as offices for the Bridon Wire Company. The lion was thought to be the lucky mascot of the works - if anything happened to it something bad would happen to the works
too - and sure enough when the lion disappeared the Bridon works failed soon afterwards. However, the lion was not lost completely, just hidden in undergrowth, and once recovered was handed to Spen Valley Civic Society for safe keeping.
Pyenot Hall
The Hall itself has had some interesting occupants. Henry Birkby, a pioneer in the cardmaking trade is said to have built it and he lived there for a time. He owned Rawfolds Mill in Liversedge but went bankrupt in 1811. William Cartwright then leased the mill from him and it was Cartwright who occupied it when the Luddites famously attacked on the night of 11th April 1812. Later the Goldthorp family lived at the Hall for several generations. Christopher Goldthorp was born in Hartshead in January 1796 the son of Robert Goldthorp and his wife Lydia nee Heward. His father died when he was just 8 and he was brought up by an uncle in Clifton, but returned to Hartshead as a an adult, married Sarah Naylor in 1822, and went into business as a cardmaker, making cards for use in the wool processing industry. Then his uncle Robert Heward, an established cardmaker in the Cleckheaton area, gave up his business to Christopher and his younger brother Robert. Christopher moved into Pyenot Hall and the works grew and multiplied all around him, becoming a large
industrial complex. Here he lived the life of a gentleman, employing servants and involving himself in local affairs including helping establish a cemetery at Cleckheaton, serving as a Poor Law Guardian and helping to fund a new chapel and Sunday School there. He retired in 1857 and died 10 years later, but his family lived on at Pyenot, continuing the family firm of Messrs. R and C Goldthorp. His youngest son, Robert Heward Goldthorp, a partner in the firm, died in April 1872 aged only 42, whilst in July 1891 his oldest son, Guy, mysteriously disappeared. He was traced to Liverpool where he wrote a letter home telling his family he was leaving the country for good before embarking on a vessel there. His liabilities in the company amounted to £40,000 whist his assets amounted to only £20,000 prompting an emergency meeting of his creditors! He and Harry Goldthorp had been managing the business.
The business then halted causing many skilled workers to become unemployed and some to leave the district. By November 1891 the extensive estate comprising Hall, cardworks, factory, warehouses, engines, land, cottages, stables, gardens and greenhouses was up for sale by auction and was bought in February 1892 by another local cardmaker, Enos Smith. The Smith family came from Halifax and Enos was also in business with his brother. The business evolved into a wire drawing company and the works were again extended. A hydro carbon gas works had been set up adjacent to the Hall in 1887 during the Goldthorp's regime, and this new fuel was used for lighting in both Hall and works. Enos was still at Pynot Hall in 1910, eventually retiring to Torquay where his death was reported in January 1933. He had been the chairman of Liversedge District Council, a West Riding County Councillor and a leading light in Cleckheaton's Chamber of Commerce. The Hall may then have been let. The death of Jane Little, wife of Dr. Andrew Little, ophthalmic surgeon late of Bradford was reported there in 1927 and the doctor's own in January 1929. In November 1929 the Hall was being advertised to let as a "desirable residence". Enos Smith's daughter, Mary, and husband Oliver Pearce, whom she had married in 1898, were living at the Hall in 1931 when their own daughter married. In June 1941, however, a Mr and Mrs Holroyd were living there when their only son's funeral was held. He had died on active service with the R.A.F. and was buried with military honours.
Meanwhile the works had been taken over by the firm of Samuel Haley, cardmakers and steel wire manufacturers. Samuel Haley, a Cleckheaton cardmaker who had established works at High Street Mills, had been killed in a train crash in June 1870 whilst a passenger on an excursion train from Cleckheaton to Blackpool. The train crashed in Lancashire en route. Mr Jonas Haley of Gladstone House, Cleckheaton, now headed the firm, but he himself died in November 1914. His successor was probably Mr Thomas Haley, again a steel wire manufacturer of Pyenot Hall works, but by 1939 he had retired to Morecambe and died there in June. Mr Jonas Percy Haley then managed the firm, but again had died by October 1946 when it was reported he had left £150,600 in his will. As we know, the Bridon Wire Company eventually took over the manufactory.
Several interesting incidents associated with the Hall occurred over the years. In June 1872 it was reported that a delivery cart belonging to the Goldthorp company had been involved in a serious accident near Liversedge when the cart overturned and was broken up, but the horse immediately bolted back to its Pyenot Hall stables. Then in January 1873 Thomas Stillingfleet, a coachman to Mrs Goldthorp of Pyenot Hall, was imprisoned for 2 months with hard labour for whipping his 9 year old son, causing 45 injuries to his legs and body. Worst of all, a "Huddersfield Sensation" occurred in October 1895 when Mrs Annie Robinson, 38, who had been employed by Mrs Smith as a servant at the Hall and went from there to her marriage to 66 year old Rowland Robinson of Huddersfield, was put on trial for his murder. She was accused of poisoning him after getting him to make a will leaving everything to her!
See also Cleckheaton page 2