Ramble No. 4

The October storms and rain have interfered with our rambles, and these, if continued, will necessarily have to be much shorter than those already furnished to your readers, and, as winter approaches, I fear I will have to be discontinued till the approach of spring and longer days. Having, however, a few notes in store, pencilled in my note book, they might, perchance, become soon obliterated, therefore I transmit them, to be more permanently fixed, to your publication.

October 29th (1870) was one of those dull, wet, October days which the autumn of England is sometimes prolific of, and this year much welcomed, from the scarcity of rain under which most parts have greatly suffered during one of the driest summers on record. In the afternoon the weather somewhat cleared up and tempted us to start; though the time for our ramble was very short, we were wishful to finish the district we had previously chalked out.

We arrived first at Millbridge, better known as Miln Brig, an ancient hamlet of Liversedge, and through which the beck passes to the valley below, crossed by a county bridge. The aspect of the village has greatly altered during the past forty years and it is now a busy scene of industry, the extensive carpet works of Messrs. Cooke, Son & Law, the blanket manufactory of Messrs. Swallow % Son, formerly a cloth mill of the Messrs. Starkey of Huddersfield and the iron foundry of Messrs. Thornton Bros., the corn mill (of ancient date) and other works, giving employment to large numbers of industrious artizans.

New houses are being constantly erected, and it now forms one of the most populous portions of Liversedge. Here is also a large co-operative store, a branch from Heckmondwike. In the old coaching days the place was well-known, the Globe or Humbles being the inn at which they stopped. These have become things of the past, but will be resuscitated when tramways become more common and the time may not be far distant when the mode of locomotion with coachmen and guards may be an established fact in this populous and important valley.

Taking the Huddersfield Road towards Roberttown, at the Yew Tree, we branched off, passing up the old road used previously, to the new one constructed in 1836, and arrived at Smithy Hill, where there is a cluster of old cottages dated 1667, and crossing the fields towards Hightown we inspected another of the old homesteads known as Pogmires or Pog Farm, emblematical of a watery place and the property of Sir Joseph Radcliffe, a considerable owner of land in the township. According to an inscription over a doorway, it was erected in 1673. The figures are placed upon a small shield surmounted by the letter B. The house is of a considerable size, having a south aspect and constructed of grey ashlar stone, the lower windows being mullioned and separated from the upper by a stone string course or cornice, running the whole length of the building.

There is very little ornamental work on other parts of the exterior, except the stone terminals which top, not only the house, but the barn and other outbuildings. In the interior we found nothing of interest, though a few years ago some ornamental plaster work existed, with a date upon it, probably the same as that on the exterior. As is not uncommon at old farm houses we found an old kist, and upon it some curiously carved scroll-work of a very nice pattern, carrying us back at least to the time of Charles II, at which period the house was built, and portions of an ancient bedstead, similarly carved, both now utilised for farm purposes, the kist for meal and the bedstead to divide the cattle stands. So passes the glory of old kists and bedsteads. The fields bear significant names such as Sundoor Field, the Ing, Hanging Close, Cross Lands, Brig Close, Upper and Lower West Fields, Fairy Field, in which there is the Fairy Well, Back Wood Close. Adjoining is Pog Wood, near to which a quantity of ironstone was got, from Bell Pits, when the Liversedge Iron Company were at work. The farm is upwards of forty acres in extent and in the tenancy of Mr. John Sheard. The land here is preserved, the game being principally rabbits and partridges with a few hares.

Passing up the lane to the village of Roberttown, we found the aspect of the place greatly altered, its general appearance showing that it is a much more thriving village than formerly. The church, built in 1845/6, parsonage and schools form a pleasing object standing as they do on a nice elevation and conspicuous to view over a great extent of country. The incumbant is the Rev. J. H. Walton. On the opposite side of the road to the church is a school, with the following inscription over the doorway: “This school was built by subscription in the Hall Domain. AD 1817.” It is a brick building and was enlarged a few years since. It is a general day school and on Sundays is occupied by the Wesleyans as a Sunday school.

We took a short stroll round the village and examined what is termed the common, a portion of ground left for recreation, when the adjoining waste was enclosed. It is well adapted for many games, and with a little draining and levelling form a nice place of resort for the youths of Roberttown and its adjoining neighbourhood. The progress of brick and mortar too often sweeps away the means of enjoyment, but I trust the inhabitants of the district will never suffer the appropriation of this ground to any other purpose, and the improvement I have suggested would render it fit for many popular pastimes, too many of which have become forsaken, to the disadvantage of all classes. In the reign of James the First, the popular pastimes were thus enumerated:

“Man, dare I challenge thee to throw the sledge,
To jump or leap over ditch or hedge,
To wrestle, to play at stooleball or to runne,
To pitche the barre or shoote off a gunne,
To play at loggets, nine holes or tenpinnes,
To try it out at football by the shinnes,
At tickstaffe, Irish noddie, maw and ruffe,
At hot cockles, leap frog or blindman buffe,
To drink half pots or deale at the whole can,
To play at here, or pen and ink horn, Sir Jan,
To dance the morris, play at barley breake,
At all exploytes a man can think or speake,
At shove-grote, venter-poynte or cross and pyle,
At beshrew him that’s last at yonder style,
At leaping o’er a midsummer bonfire,
Or at the drawing dun out of the mire,
At any of these or all these presently,
Wagge but your finger, I am for you I!”

Such is a goodly collection of sports, many of which it is impossible to restore, were we so inclined; some may be picked out and adapted to the recreation ground of Roberttown. Some say the best way to make this a moral world is to make it a merry world. John Wesley added greatly to the popularity of Methodism by adapting his hymns to favourite airs. He said that he would not have the devil have all the good tunes. One cannot see any reason why Satan should continue his monopoly of anything that is good, more especially good humour, which is every day becoming a rarer, and therefore a more precious commodity. As a mere matter of taste, we prefer the variety of the dance to the monotony of the tread-mill, and should rather visit a musical academy then a penitentiary. When the people of Roberttown, toiling as many of them do in the bowels of the earth, or pent up in our mills and manufactures, have leisure time, let them moderately indulge in our old English sports; it will be better for their health, morals and happiness.

Leaving the Common, we rapidly passed homewards through the village, in which is a Wesleyan Chapel, built in 1839, the centenary of Methodism, and a branch co-operative store, from Heckmondwike, just opened. The old Cotton Row is being pulled down, and in place of it many well-built cottages. The Cotton Row was formerly filled by hand-looms for the weavers of cotton. Card-setting by hand once was very general employment here, but is now a thing of the past, as well as the pottery of the late Mr. Child. Large chemical works still exist and Balm Mill in the occupancy of Mr. Arthur Sheard, for the manufacture of cotton warps, used principally in the Batley and Bradford trade, find work for many hands. The Messrs. Bowells and Brookes, blanket merchants, have long since ceased operations, but the village, as a whole, wears a far better aspect of prosperity than formerly, the inhabitants finding full employment in it and the localities on its borders.

Resuming our ramble on the 5th of November, we again passed through Millbridge, taking as our route the valley intermediate betwixt Roberttown and Hightown. We noticed at the corner where Halifax and Huddersfield roads unite, the old troughs and remains of the stone pump of the Spaw Well, the water of which is lost from the sinking of other wells for manufacturing purposes. The water had a slight sulphurous odour, and possessed some medicinal virtues. We followed the course of the samll rivulet named “Lands Beck,” which empties itself into the river Spen, near the bridge, passing Strawberry Mill, where there is a water wheel and steam engine, It is a small structure, though it has been previously used for other purposes, the manufacture of stuff goods, such as Orleans, etc., is now produced there.

Walking up the valley on the banks of the winding rivulet, the gentle murmuring of the water delighted our ears, jenny wrens twittering in the hedgerows, and that household bird, the robin, in his scarlet stomacher, trilling forth his plaintive ditties, rendered our walk on this November day pleasing and agreeable. To us the floral world had not lost all its charms, for we gathered the flowers of the creeping crowfoot, the pansy, field violet, the red campion, the common chickweed, narrow leaved mouse ear chickweed, common bramble, common mouse ear hawkweed, dandelion, black knapweed, groundsell, ox-eye daisy, cow parsnip and last, though not least in our estimation, the modest field daisy. The late rains had imparted a freshness to the meadows, and the mosses upon the walls had their accustomed beautiful verdure. The valley has small patches of wood, and to the naturalist, will at other seasons afford much to delight and instruct.

At Tanhouse is the extensive mill and chemical works of Mr. J. Birkby, whose modern mansion, Woodfield House, on the upland near thereto, forms a striking contrast to the old mansions already described. Leaving the valley we advanced up a gentle slope and found in the hedgerows quantities of hips and haws, the winter food of our native songsters, and soon we arrived at the farmstead of Mr. Samuel Hirst, by whom we were kindly received, he giving us every facility to examine this somewhat out-of-the-way nook of Liversedge. It is commonly known by the name of “Bully Trees.” The true name, I have little doubt, is Bullace Trees – trees of this nature, bearing a wild, sour fruit, most probably have grown about here.

 There is no date on the exterior, but from the style of the building it must have been erected in the early part of the seventeenth century, in Charles the First’s reign, but the stonework is perishing fast, and without a thorough repair it will soon present a very ruinous appearance. The windows are mullioned and corniced in front, but on the side labelled. What is termed the hall body has diamond shaped flags and a fireplace upwards of six feet across, arched with stone, incased in wood panels, as well as the other portions of the room, painted over by some former tenants. The parlour has fine oak panelling on all sides, finished by moulding at the top. This was formerly also painted over, but Mr. Hirst, with more taste than his predecessors, had it thoroughly removed, and thus revealed the best specimen of this method of internal domestic architecture I have seen for a very long time, and it is hoped that no future vandal will have the bad taste to destroy its original beauty. The window seat forms a kind of small kist, very suitable for storing.

In the pantry is one of those ancient, but very useful and splendidly carved kists, which could be utilised for a variety of purposes; in fact if you were over-crowded, it might at a pinch be converted into a sleeping apartment. The staircase has oak bannisters and steps, lighted by a two-lighted mullioned window with diamond shaped leaded panes, some so small that they are only an inch in diameter. Thanks to the repeal of the window duty, we need not be afraid of an inch or two of glass, and light in our dwellings is almost as essential to our health as pure air. For an old house the bedrooms are good, but presented nothing worthy of record. The outbuildings are very extensive, Mr. Hirst having a large number of milch cows. The farm is about seventy acres in extent, and the names of the fields speak of their characters. They are the Little and Great Rye Royd, Peas Field, Mean Close, Quarry Field, West Field, Tom Croft, Threenook Croft, Long Field, The Ings, etc. Sir Joseph Radcliffe is the owner.

Leaving this old spot, the shades of evening warned us to hasten homeward, which we did by way of Hightown, anciently known as Long Liversedge. The musical bells of Christ Church rang out a merry peal, and the whole district about was lit up with large bonfires, like beacons on the hills, and (what a mercy to old Guy were they done away with) grouped about them old and young, and lads and lasses, indulging in the sports peculiar to this season of chumps, coals, crackers, squibs, rockets, etc. It reminded me of a little ditty composed by my earliest schoolmaster, the late Mr. Thomas Dobson, of the Town’s Schools, Heckmondwike, in which the following verse occurs:

“The fifth of November, my boys will remember,
Because on that notable day,
The parkin so sweet, with pleasure they’ll eat,
And run round the bonfire and play.”

The fifth, at least in this neighbourhood, seems as it would remain an established institution for a long time yet, without the Education Bill recently passed, possesses sufficient power to extinguish the fires, firing the imagination and intellect without them. Whether this happens or not, the youngsters will not forget their parkin.

Fatigued with our ramble, though not as much to discourage us from taking others, when time and opportunity offer, we at length reached our homes, partook of the cheering cup of tea and were soon sufficiently recovered to undertake other duties which might devolve upon us.