Memorial and Rain, Brearley

The following pictures were taken whilst walking the route 66 cycleway through Brearley, West Yorkshire. I'd set off to walk a loop from my home in Sowerby Bridge, down the valley from Sowerby through Boulderclough, and in to Mytholmroyd before returning along route 66 and the Rochdale Canal towpath.

Along the route, as you pass through Brearley, you pass the murder stone just north of the railway bridge. The stone is a memorial to William Deighton, a tax inspector who was killed in Halifax while investigating "King" David Hartley and his coiner gang. I have previously posted more on the memorial.

The path is part of the Route 66 cycleway (bridleway), with the railway bridge seen at the top of the picture and the green metal wall.

Underneath the skeletal artwork reads the following:A full and true account of a barborous, bloody, and inhuman murder. There is further artwork below this writing.

Carrying on my walk past the former chapel, now apartments, and through the centre of Brearley, the rain came, and trying to avoid soaking, I sheltered underneath Wheatley Royd Farm Bridge. This didn't work out as planned after nearly 30 minutes of waiting for my weather app to update to tell me it was going to be at least another hour, so I carried on with the walk and the soaking. The following two pictures were taken underneath the shelter of the bridge.

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St James the Great Church, Hebden Bridge

 About to celebrate it's 190th Anniversary in October, St James the Great, or Hebden Bridge Parish Church or Mytholm Church is a Grade II listed Anglican place of worship in the Mytholm area of Hebden Bridge. Built under the Million Pound Act, a government scheme to develop churches in growing areas the church cost £2700 and was consecrated on the 5th October 1833.

The church was originally a chapelry in the Parish of Heptonstall until the Parish of Hebden Bridge was created in 1844, the church was enlarged in the 1876 with a chancel added, and various additional alterations before the 20th century commenced. The last alterations were to the tower in the early 1980's. The stained glass windows all date from the 1870's.

The stone cross war memorial found in the grounds is dedicated to the local men killed in the First World War, there is an additional memorial inside the church.

I took these pictures with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet on the 16th November 2013.

Built using Yorkshire Stone and rising 14ft high, this memorial is dedicated to the men killed from the local area in World War 1.

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William Deighton Stone, Brearley, a Barbarous, Bloody and Inhuman Murder.

 

Passing through Brearley, a small village between Luddendenfoot and Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire on the Route 66 of the national cycle network you come to memorial stone inscribed with A Full and True Account of a Barbarous, Bloody and Inhuman Murder. The memorial was constructed to remind people of the sad death of William Deighton who was the Supervisor of Taxes and Excise for the Halifax area.

William Deighton was born in the south of England in 1717, he arrived in Halifax in April 1759 and in his duties as the supervisor of taxes he had a responsibility for collected taxes on cloth and beer. He became aware of the notorious Cragg Vale Coiners, who had become well known for clipping and debasing coinage.

By November 1769 several members of the Coiners Gang had been arrested and the remaining members led by "King" David Hartley came up with a plan to murder William Deighton.

On the 9th November 1769 William Deighton was conducting business at an inn near to his home in Swires Road, Halifax, after concluding his talks with local attorney Thomas Sayer, he left for home and somewhere along the route was shot, trampled and robbed by Mathew Normington and Robert Thomas with Thomas Clayton involved as a lookout. He was buried with his Daughter Penelope on the 11th November 1769 at Halifax Parish Church. The grave records his name as William Dighton.

Thomas Clayton always claimed to accompanied Normington and Thomas to William Deighton's murder and his evidence saw the other 2 eventually convicted of Highway Robbery after being acquitted of the murder of William. Clayton was arrested for a few offences linked to the coiners activities over the next few and then disappeared to history. Normington and Thomas were eventually tried for the robbery of William Deighton and found guilty. Robert Thomas was executed on the 6th August 1774 at Tyburn, York his body was displayed at Beacon Hill, Halifax. Matthew Normington suffered the same fate on the 15th April 1775. Both bodies were displayed with an arm pointing in the direction of the scene of the murder.

I have passed the stone many times and often wondered what it referred to, so eventually took the time to try and find out. I have been unable to find when and who put the stone there and why it was located at Brearley, as the murder took place in Halifax and the coiners had links to Cragg Vale.

The 2 pictures below were taken with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet in November 2013.

The following picture was taken with a Nikon d3300 in 2017.

I took the picture below in 2014 with a Polaroid is2132.

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Statue of Edward Akroyd

 The statue of Edward Akroyd was a set of pictures I took using a Samsung Galaxy Tablet on the 15th February 2014. There are a total of 6 pictures which can be seen below or on Clickasnap where they are full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

Edward Akroyd was an textile manufacturer born in Ovenden, a district of Halifax in 1810. He inherited his fathers business in 1847, and concerned about the terrible social conditions of Victorian Halifax built up model villages around his mills at Boothtown (Akroyden) and Copley. These were built for the workers he employed with the intention of showing how housing conditions could be improved. These villages still stand today as a reminder of his intent. Other social improvements he was responsible for included, the first working mens college outside London, a local allotment society, a school for child labourers, workers pension scheme, and he contributed to a number of Anglican churches being built around the Halifax area including All Souls Church which his statue stands outside of.

He helped found the the Yorkshire Penny Bank, and Halifax Building Society, bring the railway to Halifax, became Lieutenant Colonel of the 4th Yorkshire West Riding Rifle Volunteers in 1861 and served as member of Parliament for Huddersfield (1857-59), and Halifax (1865, 1868-74). Due to failing health, Edward Akroyd left Halifax to live in St Leonards-on-sea and died there in 1887. His funeral held at All Saints Church was attended by over 15000 mourners.

The statue of Edward Akroyd was unveiled on the 29th July 1876 at nearby North Bridge before a crowd of 10000. It has a 9ft bronze statue set atop a 10ft high plinth. Bronze Panels sit on each side of the plinth to commemorate events from Colonel Akroyd's life. It cost £2000 and was sculptured by Ceccardo Egidio Fucigna and John Birnie Philip. It was moved to its current location on the 28th October 1901 so that North Bridge could be developed for trams. Grade II listed status was given to the statue on the 3rd November 1954.

The pictures below feature on the plinth and commemorate a scene from the life of Edward Akroyd.

This panel which can be seen on the plinth is to commemorate the
statue being completed by the townspeople of Halifax.

Colonel Akroyd is represented on horseback giving orders out to the 4th
West Yorkshire Rifle Volunteers, at his feet are Major Ingram, Major Holdsworth
and Captain Holroyde. Men from the regiment are visible behind
his horse.

This panel shows the laying of the corner stone at the nearby All
Souls Church on 25th April 1856. Some of the other men shown in the picture are
Mayor Joshua Appleyard, Bishop Longley of Ripon, Reverend Canon
Fawcett, Archdeacon Musgrave, Richard Carter Mayor of Barnsley and
Gilbert Scott architect of All Souls Church.

The picture on this panel shows the cutting of the first sod of the
Leeds, Bradford and Halifax Railway of which Edward Akroyd was
chairman. The picture is to show a scene from 1846 when the railway was
known as the West Riding Union Railway. In addition to Colonel Akroyd
some of the other men featured in the picture are Jonathan Akroyd, Lord Morpeth,
Charles Wood (Lord Halifax), Colonel Joshua pollard and the lines engineer
Sir John Hawkshaw.

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Borders Sunrise and the Statue of J.B Priestley, Bradford.

Borders sunrise was a picture I took whilst at waiting at a farm near Kelso in October 2018. The sky was coloured with purples and reds and the farm featured a small lake that the sky reflected off. Sadly all I had with me was my LG phone but I think he picture turned out OK. It was taken on the 24 October 2018.

The next picture was taken in November 2013 using a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. It shows that statue of J.B. Priestley which stands outside the National Media Museum, Bradford. John Boynton Priestley was born on the 13 September 1894 in the Manningham district of Bradford. He was a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator, who's Yorkshire background was reflected in much of his work. He served with the Duke of Wellington's Regiment during Word War 1, being badly injured in June 1916. Despite writing before the war his first major success cam at the end of the 1920's with the novel The Good Companions. Priestley died of pneumonia on the 14 August 1984, his ashes being buried at Hubberholme Churchyard, Wharfedale. The exact location of his ashes have never been made public, only a very small number of people attending their burial. A Plaque at the church says they are buried nearby.

The statue made of Bronze, shows Priestley with his coat flapping in a Bradford Breeze. It was unveiled by his third wife Jacquette Hawkes on the 31 October 1986. The sculptor was Ian Judd.

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Funeral of an Unknown Warrior.

As well as enjoying taking my own photographs, I also enjoy collecting old postcards, pictures, negatives and slides. I thought it might be of interest to start showing them on here alongside my own.

I thought I would start with these 2 postcards which were taken on the 11th November 1920 during the funeral of the unknown warrior.

The unknown warrior was selected by Brigadier L.J. Wyatt who was given a choice of soldiers whose remains had been exhumed from various battlefields and brought to a chapel at Saint Pol sur Ternoise, France on the night of November 7th 1920. Brigadier Wyatt was accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel E.A.S. Gell and neither man knew which battlefield each soldiers remains had been exhumed from. The remains had been placed in individual coffins covered by Union Flags, Brigadier Wyatt closed his eyes and rested his hand on one of the coffins which was then selected. The other soldiers remains were then taken away for reburial overseen by the Reverend George Kendall OBE.

The coffin of the unknown warrior then remained in the chapel overnight, and was transferred the following day with a guard and escort, as well as troops lining the route to the castle library, within the ancient citadel at Boulogne where it was guarded overnight by a company of soldiers from the French 8th Infantry Regiment.

On the 9th November 1920 the coffin was places within a casket made from oak timbers of trees within the grounds of Hampton Court Place. The casket was then affixed with a sword chosen personally by King George V from the Royal Collection and banded with iron. The shield that was fixed upon the top of the sword and casket bared the inscription "A British Warrior who fell in the Great War 1914-1918 for King and Country". The coffin was then drawn by six black horses on a French military wagon for the mile long journey to the harbour, The wagon being escorted by local schoolchildren and a division of French troops. The French infantry playing Aux Champs as the coffin left Boulogne.

The casket was met at the harbour by the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Verdun, and was piped aboard with the admirals call, whilst Marshal Foch the commander of the French Armies during the Great War saluted the casket before it was carried up the gangway. The ship left around noon and was joined by an escort of 6 battleships for it's journey across the channel. As the flotilla approached Dover it was greeted by a 19 gun Field Marshals salute.

The casket was landed on the 10th November and travelled from Dover Marine Railway Station to Victoria Station, London where it was to arrive at Platform 8 at 8.32 pm and remain overnight.

Placed on a gun carriage and drawn by 6 horses the casket began it's final journey on the morning of 11 November 1920 passing through large, silent and respectful crowds. Upon departure from Victoria, there was another Field Marshals salute fired in Hype Park. The cortege route passed Hyde Park Corner, The Mall and Whitehall where King George V unveiled the Cenotaph. It was then followed by the King, the Royal Family and ministers of state to Westminster Abbey where it was interred in the far western end of the nave, in soil brought from each of the main Great War battlefields. The grave is capped with a black Belgian marble stone and is the only tomb within Westminster Abbey that people are forbidden to walk. The ceremony included a guard of honour by 100 recipients of the Victoria Cross. The guest of honour at the service were a group of about 100 women who had lost their husbands and all their sons in the war. After internment the armed forces stood guard as tens of thousands of mourners filed past to pay their respects.

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West View Park, Highroad Well, Halifax February 2019

West View Park is a public park opened in 1896 and covering approx. 14 acres in the Highroad Well area of Halifax. Built on the site of a former quarry on land donated by Lord Saville, the park was the idea of Mr Henry Charles McCrea and Mr Enoch Robinson who paid for the parks development provided the local council took over responsibility for the future upkeep of the park. The park features formal gardens, play areas and a terrace. The park was named West View at the insistence of McCrea, reflecting the views over the Norland Hillside, Pennines and Calder Valley to the west of Halifax. 

In 1904 a war memorial was added to the terrace area to commemorate the 2 soldiers who died in the Afghan Wars (1839-42 / 1878-81) and the 73 who lost their lives in the South African War (1899-1902). The statue stands at 76ft (23mts) and was blown over in 1937. When unveiled the it was surrounded by 3 fields guns but theses were removed also in 1937. The statue was given Grade II listed status on the 23rd November 1973.

This set of pictures was taken in February 2019 using a Nikon d3300 SLR camera. They can be seen below or on Clickasnap full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

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Whispers of Winged Giants: Croydon Airport's Echo in an Industrial Landscape

Croydon Airport, a name that once resonated with the glamour and pioneering spirit of aviation's golden age, now lies nestled within the hum of a bustling industrial estate in South London. To the casual observer, the sprawling warehouses and delivery trucks might seem worlds away from the sleek biplanes and record-breaking flights that once graced this very ground. But beneath the surface, the echoes of a bygone era linger, a testament to the airport's pivotal role in shaping London's aviation history.

In the roaring twenties and thirties, Croydon was more than just an airport; it was the gateway to the world. Known as "London Airport," it was the epicentre of British aviation, a hub of innovation and adventure. Imagine the scene: pioneering pilots, like Amy Johnson and Alan Cobham, taking off on daring long-distance flights, the roar of their engines mingling with the excited chatter of passengers embarking on their first aerial journeys. This was the era of leather flying helmets, open cockpits, and a sense of boundless possibility.

Croydon's significance extended beyond mere passenger travel. It was a crucial link in the Empire's communication network, facilitating mail delivery and connecting far-flung corners of the globe. The airport's control tower, a beacon of technological advancement, oversaw the intricate ballet of arrivals and departures, guiding pilots through the often-treacherous skies.

However, the very success of Croydon's operations ultimately contributed to its demise. As London's suburbs expanded, encroaching upon the airport's boundaries, the limitations of its size became increasingly apparent. The need for longer runways and greater capacity became critical, and Croydon, hemmed in by urban development, could not meet the growing demands of modern aviation. Consequently, the torch was passed to Heathrow and Gatwick, and Croydon's role as London's primary airport gradually faded.

Today, the site has transformed into a bustling industrial estate, a stark contrast to its former glory. Yet, remnants of its aviation past remain, whispering tales of a time when the sky was the limit. The most striking of these remnants is the former terminal building, now known as Airport House. This elegant structure, a testament to the Art Deco architectural style of the era, stands as a silent guardian of Croydon's aviation heritage.

Perhaps the most captivating feature of Airport House is the de Havilland Heron, suspended on struts at the entrance. This iconic aircraft, a symbol of post-war British aviation, serves as a poignant reminder of the airport's legacy. It's a tangible link to the days when Croydon was a hive of activity, a place where dreams took flight.

Walking through the industrial estate, one can almost hear the ghostly hum of radial engines and the excited announcements echoing across the tarmac. The control tower, though no longer guiding aircraft, still stands tall, a silent sentinel watching over the comings and goings of a different kind. The spirit of Croydon Airport, though transformed, persists, woven into the fabric of the landscape.

Croydon Airport's story is a reminder of the ephemeral nature of progress and the enduring power of history. It's a tale of ambition, innovation, and the inevitable march of time. As the industrial estate hums with activity, the echoes of winged giants continue to resonate, a testament to the airport's indelible mark on London's aviation legacy. It invites us to pause, to look beyond the present, and to remember the days when Croydon was the gateway to the world, a place where the dreams of flight took shape and soared

These pictures were taken on the 26th June 2015 with a Polaroid is2132 bridge camera. Clicking any of the images should open a link in another window to my Colin Green Photography store on Zazzle.

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