Skelmanthorpe, Clayton West & District: A Denby & District Archive Photograph Album

By Chris Heath

Utilising the very best archive photographs that have survived the ravages of time, Ye Olde Townships is a unique record of the changing face of the district. This book provides an historical window into the landscape and lives of the people who created the villages we know today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jun 15, 2007
• ISBN: 9781783408566

Chris Heath

Chris Heath has been a contributing editor at GQ since 2003. He was previously contributing editor at Details Magazine and Rolling Stone. He has won the 2013 National Magazine Award for Reporting for the story '18 Tigers, 17 Lions, 8 Bears, 3 Cougars, 2 Wolves, 1 Baboon, 1 Macaque, and 1 Man Dead in Ohio'. His books include Pet Shop Boys, Literally and the 2004 number one UK bestseller Feel, about Robbie Williams. In recent years he has written about the aftermaths of the 2011 Japanese tsunami and of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans; Iraqi refugees in Syria; and a Colorado man traveling on repeated solo missions to kill Osama Bin Laden, among many other subjects. Currently based in London and New York, Chris grew up south of Birmingham.

Book preview

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The author, with his dog, Charis, at Mosley Roughs, Denby Common, looking out across the valley down into Denby Dale in 2006.

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By the same author:

Denebi – Farmstead of the Danes

(Richard Netherwood 1997)

A History of the Denby Dale Pies

(J R Nicholls 1998)

Denby & District – From Prehistory to the Present

(Wharncliffe Books 2001)

Denby & District II – From Landed Lords to Inspired Industrialists

(Wharncliffe Books 2004)

Denby & District III – From Medieval Manuscripts to Modern Memories

(Wharncliffe Books 2006)

‘Ye Old Townships’ – Denby Dale, Scissett, Ingbirchworth, and District

A Denby and District Archive Photograph Album

(Wharncliffe Books 2007)

First Published in Great Britain in 2007 by

Pen & Sword Wharncliffe Books

an imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

47 Church Street

Barnsley

South Yorkshire

S70 2AS

Copyright © Chris Heath 2007

9781783408566

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

The right of Chris Heath to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Typeset in 9.5/12pt Palatino by Concept, Huddersfield.

Printed and bound in England by

CPI UK

Pen and Sword Books Ltd incorporates the Imprints of Pen &

Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Maritime,

Pen & Sword Military, Wharncliffe Books,

Pen & Sword Select, Pen and Sword Military Classics

and Leo Cooper.

For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact

PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED

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South Yorkshire

S70 2AS

England

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Table of Contents

Title Page

By the same author:

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Leslie Robinson & Stanley Sheead

Biltcliffe – Photographers

The Townships

Skelmanthorpe

Clayton West

High Hoyland

Supplementary Chronology

Dedication

To my close family, without whose encouragement and support I would not have the time to embark upon projects such as these. Thanks to them for making sure that other areas of my life keep going.

Also to Shaun and Zara for their unfailing support every time ‘Chris’ writes another one! Love to you both.

Oh, and thanks to my wife for the title!

. . . by the way, Dave – surely this time!

Acknowledgements

I have been honoured and privileged to work with two giants of local history. I now know that Christmas comes more than once a year – indeed, every time I meet up with them, another ‘Pandora’s Box’ is opened. Between them they have over a hundred years experience in the field of local history research and make my twenty-five seem paltry. They have both been unstintingly generous, kind and friendly, whether it was in Stanley’s shed or Leslie’s attic, and I can only hope that the trust they have placed in me will be in some way acknowledged by the publication of these books. My grateful thanks to you both.

Stanley Sheead and Leslie Robinson.

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Leslie Robinson & Stanley Sheead

Leslie Robinson

Leslie Robinson is the owner of a small textile museum in Skelmanthorpe. This was brought together in order to portray something of the centuries old textile industry, which had, until recent years, flourished in the village – as indeed, it had done in the greater part of the West Riding – but which has now sadly almost disappeared without trace. Emphasis at the museum is centred on the craft of handloom weaving which, almost unbelievably, lingered on in Skelmanthorpe until the 1930’s, half a century after it had been discarded in industry. He attributes much of his interest in this subject to his weekly childhood visits to his Grandparents, who lived in Jebson’s Fold, Savile Street, Skelmanthorpe, where six hand-looms were regularly at work, two plied by his Uncles. He also has a fine collection of old photographs, which cover many aspects of local village life and events, illustrating graphically the way we once lived, some of which have been used in this publication. All the aforesaid items, along with many others are readily available by the interested on request to him.

The downstairs interior of the Queen Street Museum, Skelmanthorpe.

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The upstairs interior of the Queen Street textile museum, showing an original handloom.

Stanley Sheead

Born in Skelmanthorpe in 1927, Stanley was introduced to the values and importance of local history by his Grandfather, Fred Dalton. The interest was encouraged further by the father of his stepmother, the well-known antiquarian and historian, Fred Lawton. Also, the late Tom Wainwright, with whom, for 35 years, they did much research into the history of the village. They formed the Skelmanthorpe Local History Society in 1987, passing on their interest to others. Stanley was also the Chairman of the Huddersfield Society for many years. Stanley spent all his working life in the textile industry and is particularly knowledgeable regarding the history of his former employers, the Field family, one of the main driving forces behind the development of Skelmanthorpe. He helps his good friend, Leslie Robinson, in the Skelmanthorpe textile museum, explaining and demonstrating the mechanics of cloth production with the handloom there.

I must also thank, Gordon Knowles, for his contribution to this work. Gordon is a lifelong farmer of Ingbirchworth and belongs to a family that have resided here since at least 1851, when Charles Knowles can be found in the census returns working as a farmer of 14 acres, having moved to the village from Throapham. Married to Cynthia, Gordon has a fantastic knowledge of his district and, being a farmer, of the land itself and the families that lived upon it. He has collected items of local history for many years and contributed to the book, ‘The Penistone Scene’ published