Ravensthorpe Railway Station

Ravensthorpe Railway Station is a small suburban stop on the Huddersfield Line between Mirfield and Dewsbury. West Yorkshire. A little used station with only 35342 passengers using it in 2018 - 19, approx. 680 people per week, you can't help but think it would be a much busier with station if platforms were added to the lines towards Wakefield which branch off just before arriving at Ravensthorpe. 

Opened in 1890 this was the 2nd station to serve the area with the first station opening in 1869 on the Ravensthorpe branch of the Spen Valley Line. This station was closed in 1962. This station was built with a good shed to attract freight traffic, some 42 years after the line was opened and quite grand station buildings which were listed prior to a fire which led to them being demolished and replaced by basic shelters. The station has a unique character which is hard to explain, it's location in an industrial suburb of Dewsbury means it should have the feel of a busy commuter but when your stood on the platforms you get the feel of rural countryside stop.

The station has basic facilities with limited shelters on both platforms, no toilets or ticket purchase machines. There are information boards and timetables, the station is unstaffed. Access to platform 2 is via the bridge and steps.

The pictures below were taken on December 30 2019, there are a total of which can also be seen on my ClickASnap account where they are full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

The lines to the left of the picture, there has never been a station serving
those line at this location, this may change as there are plans to demolish
and re-site the station just beyond the bridge in the picture, as part of plans to
put 4 tracks along this route.

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From Hull, Hell & Halifax, Good Lord Deliver Us. The Halifax Gibbet

The Halifax Gibbet was a guillotine used for public execution, first used locally in the 13th century, some 500 years before it became more popularly associated with the French Revolution. The first man executed on the gibbet was John of Dalton in 1286, with the last thought to have been John Wilkinson and Anthony Mitchell of Sowerby who met their fate on the 30th April 1650. Between them dates their were 52 confirmed executions although it is widely believed that over 100 took place. 

The gibbet was built centrally upon a platform 4ft high and 13ft square. The gibbet stood approx. 15ft high with the blade fastened to a block of wood between 2 lengths of wood. The blade was fixed in to place by a pin which was withdrawn by a cord at the moment of executions. The blade was approx. 10 inch x 8 inch in size and was not sharp, relying on speed and weight part the criminals body with head. The criminals were charged under Gibbet Law.

The Gibbet law required that any thief who was caught stealing or who confessed to stealing cloth, goods, or animals within the boundaries of Sowerbyshire or the Forest of Hardwick, of which Halifax was part to the value of 13 1/2d, with the value assed by 4 constables, would be arrested. The criminal would then be tried by a jury and if convicted, they would then be places in the town stocks for 6 days and then executed on the 7th day on the gibbet. Gibbet Law made no allowances for man or women and it is known that at least 5 women were executed by this method. They were as follows,

July 13th 1588 Wife of Thomas Roberts, Halifax

February 22nd 1603 Wife of Peter Harrison, Bradford

November 23rd 1623 George Fairbank & his illegitimate daughter Anna

July 5th 1627 Wife of John Wilson, Northowram

December 8th 1627 Sarah Lum, Halifax

The Gibbet Law allowed for an accused to escape the blade, it said that if the accused was able to with draw his head after the pin was released, and escape across the Hebble Brook, the then boundary approx. 500 yards from the gibbet, then they would be free. 2 men are said to have escaped the blades justice, a Mr Dinnis, and more well known John Lacey also known as the Running Man. In 1617 he escaped the gibbet by running beyond the boundary defined as the Forest of Hardwick or Sowerbyshire after the blades release. Unfortunately for him whilst Gibbet Law allowed for you to escape the punishment, provided you never returned to the boundaries prescribed in the law. He returned to Halifax a few years later, was captured and executed on the 29th January 1623.

The gibbet was outlawed by Oliver Cromwell in 1650, the last 2 victims of it's harsh justice,  Mr Anthony Mitchell who was convicted of stealing 16 yards of cloth, valued at 9 shillings, and a Mr Abraham Wilkinson who was convicted of stealing 2 horses, one valued at 9 shillings and the other 48 shillings. They were executed on the same day April 30th 1650.

The site was lost to time, hidden beneath rubbish and soil until a Mr Bates bought the land in 1839 to build a warehouse. In June that year workmen discovered the bodies and heads of 2 people, thought to be Mitchell and Wilkinson and further excavation revealed the gibbet platform. This was eventually restored and in August 1974 a 15ft high replica of the gibbet was constructed upon the platform to highlight it's grisly past. The original gibbet blade is still in existence, having thought to have been lost it was discovered in 1970 at a solicitor's office in Wakefield, it can now be seen at the Bankfield Museum, Halifax.

The pictures shown here today were taken on the 23rd August 2014 using a Polaroid is2132 bridge camera, they can be seen here and on Clickasnap.

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Crow Wood Park, Sowerby Bridge

Crow Wood Park, Sowerby Bridge is a public park built on the site of the former Crow Wood Mansion. Situated at Upper Bolton Brow the park is approx. 5.49 hectares in size and features a skate board area in the former bandstand, bowling green, gardens, tennis courts and children's play area. The park was renamed on the 4th August 2014 to Crow Wood Centenary Park to mark 100 years since the start of the first World War.

The park was originally the site of Crow Wood Mansion and during the World War 1, it was used as a hospital which was closed on the 5th March 1920. In May 1919 the then Sowerby Bridge Council recommended the purchase of the house and estate for use as a public park, maternity home and child welfare centre. The house stood near what are the modern day tennis courts and gardens and was demolished prior to the opening of Crow Wood Park in April 1923. The Memorial gate was unveiled at the park on the 10th November 1929 to remember those who died during the Great War, and now commemorates all the dead of both world wars who served from the Sowerby Bridge area. The park had a bandstand added in 1930 which gives a good view across all the surrounding park land, this is now a skate board area, not being used for bands as long as I can remember. There was also a paddling pool at the park for some years but this has been removed and is now a car park near the garden area.

The pictures were taken on New Years Day 2020 with a Nikon d3300, clicking any image will open a link in another window to the un-watermarked, higher resolution image on Clickasnap.

The Memorial gate which was unveiled on the 10th November 1929. The towns annual remembrance day parade congregates here.

The parks former band stand now part of a skate park. The bandstand was opened on the 4th May 1930, despite living in the area for over 45 years, I don't recall the bandstand being used regularly or having a roof covering the whole octagon.

The cobbled walkway leads down from the park in the direction of Pye Nest Road.

Thanks for looking, please take a moment to follow and share on social media. Clicking any image should open a link in another window to a higher resolution, un-watermarked version of the image on Clickasnap.

All the images remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Green Park Tube Station

Green Park Tube Station is just 2 quick pictures I took whilst leaving the Jubilee Line stop in May 2019. It was my first experience on the tube despite having visited London many times, I had always avoided it as people I spoke to in London never seemingly had a good word to say about it. On this day I had my arm twisted by my daughter and gave it a go, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the frequency, service and the people using the service. Definitely a thumbs up from me.

Green Park Tube Station is a stop on the Jubilee, Piccadilly and Victoria Lines in London, the pictures are of the Jubilee Line stop. The Jubilee Line was opened in stages with stage 1 opened by Prince Charles officially opening the line with a journey from Green Park to Charing Cross on the 30th April 1979. The full line finally completed in 1999 from Stanmore, North-West London to Stratford, East London.

The station sits in the City of Westminster local authority and is in fare zone 1. It is a Grade II listed building with the status granted on the 30th May 1972. In 2017 over 39.24million passengers used the station at an average of approx. 756000 per week, or 108000 per day.

There are 2 pictures which can be seen here and on Clickasnap, the ones there are full resolution, size and un-watermarked.

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Low Moor Railway Station, Bradford

Low Moor Railway Station is a new station on the Caldervale line between Bradford and Halifax, West Yorkshire. Opened in April 2017 at a cost of £10.8 million pounds the station serves the villages of Low Moor and Oakenshaw and it's location close to the M62 and M606 motorways see's it promoted as a park and ride station.

The station has limited facilities with a small shelters of both platforms, there are card only ticket machines that mean tickets must be purchased prior to travel. The station is unmanned and has no refreshments, toilets or cash machines available. Access to the platforms is via steps or lift. The station was used by 133600 passengers in 2017 - 18 or approx. 2570 per week, and this figure will only continue to grow as recent timetable changes mean more stops at the station. 

The first station at Low Moor was opened at the same location in July 1848, and it's early years saw the station very busy as it was the terminus for both the line from Halifax and the Spen Valley line which ran through Heckmondwike, Liversedge and Cleckheaton. The line through to Bradford not complete until 1850. The station remained busy until the 1960's when it was marked for closure along with the Spen Valley route by the infamous Dr Beeching, with closure arriving on the 14th June 1965 to passengers with goods traffic withdrawn 2 years later.

The set of pictures were taken on the December 30th 2019 using a Nikon d3300 SLR camera. They can be seen here and on Flickr with selected ones also available to view on Clickasnap.

Clicking any image should open a link in another window to the higher resolution un-watermarked version on Clickasnap.

Here's a video slideshow I put together for YouTube.

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All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Sowerby Bridge, New Years Day

Sowerby Bridge is a market town in the Calder Valley, West Yorkshire. The town originally was a crossing point for travellers to pass over the River Calder whilst journeying between Yorkshire and Lancashire. The town takes it's name from the nearby hill settlement of Sowerby and the bridge that crossers the River Calder near the town centre. The town grew during the industrial revolution as textiles and engineering industry was created using the Rivers Calder and Ryburn to power the mills. The town suffered as these industries declined and it has now become more of a tourism destination popular with canal boaters.

The town is the confluence of the River Calder & Ryburn, the Junction for the Calder & Hebble Navigation & Rochdale Canal's.  The canal was blocked in Sowerby Bridge from the 1960's until the 1990's, the reopening of this section through Tuel Lane tunnel and the building of the deepest inland canal lock in the UK allowing boats to travel through Yorkshire to Manchester for the first time in over a quarter of a century.

The town was also a railway junction for over 70 years when the Rishworth Branch line headed away from the station up the Ryburn Valley until closure in the 1950's. Originally planned as a shorter alternative route to Littleborough the line was only completed to Rishworth. The station was a much larger one because of it's junction status until the closure of the branch and the main station building being destroyed by fire in 1978 and demolished shortly after.

The town is often heavily congested with traffic, so knowing this would not be the case early on New Years Day I took an opportunity to picture the main streets whilst traffic was minimal. The walk I took was along the main street from Pye Nest to the east of the town through to the West End area of Sowerby Bridge, picturing some places of interest away from the main route.

Garden area on Bolton Brow. This used to be covered by housing.

Wharf Street.

The former Sowerby Bridge Police Station, the building was featured in seasons 1 and 2 of Happy Valley.

Lock 2 on the Rochdale Canal from the top of Tuel lane Tunnel.

Tower Hill.

County Bridge towards the Town Hall building.

River Ryburn.

Donaldson's Vets at the end of Wakefield Road used to be a pub known as the Prospect Inn.

Locks 1 and 2 on the Rochdale Canal.

Main Road underneath Sowerby Bridge Viaduct.

River Calder from County Bridge.

The Jubilee Refreshment rooms are housed in the former ticket office for Sowerby Bridge Railway Station. The building is all that remains of the station building damaged by fire and demolished 1978-81.

Ryburn Buildings at West End.

Looking down Bolton Brow, Gratrix Lane to the right.

Train passing over Sowerby Bridge Viaduct, taken from County Bridge.

J.D. Wetherspoons Commercial Inn at the bottom of Tuel Lane. The canal originally exited a bridge near the traffic lights, this was infilled in the 1950's. Their was a tunnel built underneath this junction in 1996 to reopen the Rochdale Canal, which comes out behind the Commercial Inn.

Christ Church.

Wharf Street, the building with the to let sign was once a branch of the Halifax Bank.

Victoria Bridge and the River Ryburn.

The River Calder.

Sowerby Bridge Railway Station.

Warehouse 2 and the Salt Warehouse at Sowerby Bridge Canal Basin.

Carlton Mill.

River Calder.

Soweerby Bridge Viaduct.

River Calder.

It should be pointed out that the building often referred to as the town hall was never actually Sowerby Bridge Town Hall. It was built in the hope that Sowerby Bridge Council would purchase the hall from the developers but this never happened. The clock is owned by the people of Sowerby Bridge and the building until recently was a branch of Lloyds Bank.

Clicking any image should open a link in another window to the un-watermarked higher resolution version on Clickasnap.

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All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.