Keighley Corporation
Omnibus Services
The Official
Handbook (Date: Unknown)
Supplied &
Scanned By: Dr
John Laycock. - Date Added: 14th Dec 08
From Oakworth,
by way of
Pickles Hill and
Oldfield, it is
possible to walk
over the
Lancashire Moor
to Wycollar Dene,
and to return to
Keighley on the
Haworth bus.
Or an
alternative
completion of
the trip with
much to commend
it, is to take
the road which
passes close to
Newsholme Dene
(admirable place
this for
picnics), a
place with the
curious name of
Goose Eye, the
Turkey Paper
Mills, and the
village of
Laycock, and
returning to the
Fell Lane bus
terminus, whence
a few minutes.'
run leads you
into Keighley
again. |
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THE COLNE AND
SUTTON BUS
ROUTES. |
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To the north
there are two
services, the
one to Sutton
village and the
other, which
runs over the
same route with
the exception of
the last half
mile, but goes
forward from
Cross Hills to
Colne. The
latter route is
run jointly by
Keighley
Corporation, the
Colne
Corporation, and
Messrs. E.
Laycock and
Sons, of
Cowling. The
tickets are
inter-changeable,
and the return
journey may be
made by any of
the vehicles on
the route. The
Colne route
opens up a
district of East
Lancashire which
has been
somewhat
difficult of
access until the
development of
the motor bus
services between
the two places.
The railway
journey between
Colne and
Keighley was a
tedious one, and
there was little
traffic, but the
route by road
not only links
up the two
towns, but
provides a very
useful means of
bringing the
residents of the
villages between
into the towns,
and providing
the shopping and
other facilities
of the larger
centres. The
section of the
route between
Cowling and
Kildwick Station
was the earliest
motor-bus route
in the North of
England, and was
opened by Mr.
Laycock away
back in the days
when he spent
the greater part
of a week in
London looking
for a
petrol-driven
motor omnibus.
The journey of
the bus from
London when the
first one was
purchased, was
remarkable, and
at times it was
impossible to
make progress,
so curious were
people to see
what proved to
be a pioneer in
passenger
transport. |
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Keighley people
may now spend a
pleasant half
day in Colne by
taking one of
the cheap return
tickets between
Keighley and
Colne. " Bonny
Colne "
Lancashire folk
give as a name
to this busy
centre. The town
is recognised as
having been a
Roman station,
and on a map
dated 1610, it
appears as one
of the fifteen
largest towns in
Lancashire.
About 120 years
ago it was the
largest town in
the North-Lastern
portion of
Lancashire, but
for some reason
or other it has
not grown as
rapidly as some
of its
neighbours.
Colne Parish
Church is well
worthy of a
visit. There are
many interesting
monuments to
local families
in the church.
At the East end
of the
churchyard
stands the old
Grammar School,
a curious old
building now
used as a Parish
Room. A curious
relic in the
church yard is
the stocks in
which old-time
malefactors were
placed for
punishment
before the
residents who
attended church.
The stocks are
unique as they
are made to be
wheeled about
the town to
enable the
victim to be
shown to the
populace better
than if he were
kept in one
place. The
churchyard
contains a
gravestone to
the memory of
two young men
named Boys,
which bears the
following verse
:-
Farewell, vain
world, I've had
enough of thee,
I care not what
thou can'st do
to me ;
My debts are
paid, My
thoughts are
free,
Prepare yourself
to follow me.
Aged 24 and 28
years,
respectively,
the brothers
were hanged at
Lancaster for
counterfeiting,
and their mother
begged their
bodies and
brought them
back to Colne,
so runs the
story.
Industrially
Colne is now
almost wholly
confined to the
making of
cottons, and it
has a Cloth
Hall, or Piece
Hall which dates
back to 1775.
One of the
prettiest spots
in the district
surrounding
Colne is
Wycollar Dene.
Perhaps the most
convenient way
to reach
Wycollar from
Keighley is to
leave the Colne
buses at
Laneshaw Bridge
and walk across
the fields.
Wycollar is one
of the few
unspoilt bits of
rural scenery
where the hand
of the modern
appears to have
passed over
without
spoiling. The
stream comes
tumbling down
from the moors,
twisting and
turning. |
|
with the hill
sides coining
down to the
water, and a
road, in most
places little
more than a
path, crossing
and recrossing
the stream, in
some places
simply by
stepping stones,
and in others by
miniature
bridges of all
types from the
single stone
slab thrown
across from bank
to bank to the
double-arched
packhorse
bridge, almost
in the centre of
the village. The
village of
Wycollar is
merely a
collection of
solidly-built
houses clustered
round a now
ruined hall.
Wycollar Hall,
now rootless,
will be
recog¬nised as
the Ferndean
Manor of Jane
Eyre, where the
poor blind
Rochester, a
pitiful figure
who found peace
here after a
troubled life at
" Thorn field,"
which was burnt
down according
to the story
told so
graphically by
Charlotte
Bronte. Wycollar
is but twenty
minutes' walk
from the
motor-bus route,
yet it is
old-world and
remote. The
valley is well
wooded, and the
many bridges
present pretty
pictures. The
old open
fireplace of the
Hall takes us
back to the
times when the
lord and his
servants lived
together as one
big family.
Thirteen men
could sit round
the back of the
fire in the
ingle, and one
can picture the
glowing lire of
logs flashing
and lighting up
the faces as the
evening was
spent in song
and story. This
is the old home
of the Cunliffe
family, whose
name is
associated with
great doings in
past centuries.
There is a most
attractive
afternoon walk
from Wycollar to
Oak-worth or
Haworth, passing
Watersheddles
Reservoir and
Moor Lodge, the
Shooting Lodge
of Sir Amos
Nelson, of
Gledstone Hall,
near Skipton. If
we desire to
return via
Haworth, the
turn to the
right just
beyond Moor
Lodge should be
taken, past
Ponden Reservoir
and Stanbury
Village, the
former of which
is referred to
in connection
with the Haworth
Route. For
Oakworth we pass
along via Filter
Beds and Pickles
Hill. Some of
the Corporation
buses go as far
as Pickles Hill,
some distance
beyond Oakworth,
but unless the
time table has
been consulted,
it is best to
depend upon
getting a lift
from Oakworth.
From Oakworth
either a
Corporation or a
West Yorkshire
bus can be
taken, as the
two concerns
provide a joint
service. |
The route
between Cross
Hills and Colne
on the Keighley-Colne
route is full of
interest. This
is the great
traffic highway
between the West
Riding and the
industrial towns
of North-East
Lancashire.
Years ago it was
traversed by
heavy horse vans
from the
Bradford dye
works, with
loads of cotton
goods which had
been brought
from Lancashire
to be dyed. It
was an all-night
journey, and it
used to be said
the horses
became so
accustomed to
the road that
they required no
attention from
the driver. In
those days the
public houses on
the route were
busy places at
the times when
the waggoners
stopped to "
bait " their
horses. Cowling
is the principal
village on the
hill which forms
the boundary of
Yorkshire and
Lancashire. Here
Mr. Philip
Snowden, the
first Labour
Chancellor of
the Exchequer,
spent his
youthful days.
He was born at
Preston, but his
father and
mother were
Cowling people
and he came to
live here in
early life.
Cowling has a
right to its
claim that it
has sent more
men to
Parliament from
among its sons
than any other
village of its
size. Another
local man who
has risen to
fame is Mr. J.
Keighley
Snowden, the
novelist and
London
journalist, who
has written
several sketches
and stories of
the characters
and places in
this locality.
While Cowling is
a typical upland
village,
Glusburn, only a
short distance
away, is a
village of the
valley. It has a
modern
appearance, and
is really one of
the earliest
model industrial
villages, being
centred round
the Hayfield
Mills of J. C.
Horsfall, Ltd.
The late Sir
John C. Horsfall,
Bart., who
played an
important part
in the work of
the West Riding
County Council,
was the founder
of the business,
and he gave to
the village the
fine institute,
which is not
only an
architectural
asset to the
main street, but
fills a very
useful purpose
as a meeting
place, and a
social and
recreational
centre for the
district. The
present head of
the business is
the second
baronet, Sir
John Donald
Horsfall, who
resides at
Hayfield, the
lodges for which
are near the
mill. At Cross
Hills, the
adjoining
village, the
Sutton route of
motor-buses
joins up with
the Colne route
and runs along
the valley to
Keighley. |
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Keighley
Corporation
Omnibus Services
Map |
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