The Rochdale Canal In The South Pennines - Mytholmroyd, UK - UK Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The board was erected as part of a regeneration project to improve parts of the tow path and to install a series of sculptures and notice boards like this one.

This board has historical information about the canal, the town of Mytholmroyd and also information about a nearby sculpture inspired by a local poet and installed as part of the regeneration.

This board has historical information about the canal, the town of Mytholmroyd and also information about a nearby sculpture installed as part of the regeneration.

The board has a combination of text, photographs, illustrations and a map.

The information on the board is as follows.

The                          | Rochdale                          | Canal                          | in the South Pennines                          |  Mytholmroyd Made in Mytholmroyd If you had been here in December 1804, the first boat would be about to travel the 32 miles from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester. In a tremendous feat of engineering, the first canal had just been cut across the Pennines. The area's manufacturing industries were expanding rapidly and raw materials were needed in large quantities. Boats would soon be bringing sizeable cargos of cotton, wool, timber, coal amd iron more quickly than was possible on the turnpike road. HAWKSCLOUGH MIll WOOL Documents from 1825 show that hand loom weavers wove fustian dimity jean and jeanette that year. Skilled spinners and weavers had produced woollen cloth since at least the 19th century working in their homes. As production became increasingly mechanised manufacturing moved to mills. CLOGS TRAVELLER's TALE In 1906 Holme End Saw Mill was making 10,000 clog soles per week, in addition to bobbins and spindles. It later became Maudes Clog Soles and Walkley's Clogs. A roadster with a wood leg was passing Holme End when the leg collapsed. The man was taken into the saw mill and while he waited a new wood leg was made for him, and he went on his way. WESTFIELD MILL FUSTIAN The Mill was built in 1836. Four Day Work Mill was its original name. At different times it was used for spinning cotton and wool. The densely woven cotton cloth was a form of corduroy and used for making work clothes. After being woven the cloth was intricately cut by hand along the weft with a long thin, sharp knife.   COTTON   The production of cotton cloth began in the middle of the 18th Century when raw cotton was transported from the Middle East and America. Liverpool and Manchester were the main trading centres and the canal made it far easier to reach them. DEATH TRAP AT FALLING ROYD   The sign on the lamppost (in a picture on the board) says Death Trap. The dangerous bend on this road was later straightened and a tunnel built for the canal.

TED HUGHES 1930 - 1998 Ted Hughes, who was made Poet Laureate in 1984 was born at 1 Aspinall Steet Mytholmroyd. He used to fish in the nearby canal as a boy and remained a keen fisherman all his life. His early experience of exploring the local canal, moors and woodland informed much of his later poetry. THE HAWK A sculpture for the canal by Kenny Hunter. The Hawk is inspired by the name of the nearby hamlet of Hawksclough and the Ted Hughes poem Hawk Roosting. Hawk Roosting recalls the memory of a hawk with a small bird in its claws. Hughes and his childhood friend Donald Crossley saw the hawk while playing in Redacre Wood. www.theelmetrust.co.uk The sculpture is made from cast iron, a material with local associations. Ted Hughes mentions the "Five hundred glass skylights" of Broadbents Foundry in his poem Under The World's Wild Rims. THE FOUNDRY The Foundry started life as Mytholmroyd Mill, built in around 1794. It was initialy used for spinning wool and later for cotton. In about 1870 it was rebuilt and called Grange Mill. This would become Pickles Foundry and later Broadbents Foundry. demolished in 2002.

At the bottom of the board underneath all the information is an underground style map showing towns along the length of the canal, and indicates which have a train station or Metrolink tram stop.

It also indicates the time to reach the nearest towns along the canal whether walking, cycling or travelling by boat.

Type of Historic Marker: Information board at the side of the towpath Historical Marker Issuing Authority: Canal and River Trust Give your Rating: Age/Event Date: Not listed Related Website: Not listed

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