dry stone walling trail A short walk to learn about dry stone walls in the Colne Valley

Transcription

1 The Upper Colne Valley dry stone walling trail A short walk to learn about dry stone walls in the Colne Valley

2 The Upper Colne Valley dry stone walling trail Marsden Start Location: Marsden Railway Station, Marsden Start at Marsden Railway Station facing The Railway Pub. Leave the station in the direction of the head of the valley, turning right, to cross the railway by the road bridge. Turn right towards Dirker, away from Tunnel End. Just after the bungalow on the left hand side, follow the footpath uphill to pass by the side of a double open fronted garage. Pass through a metal gate and up the stone setts between the buildings. Walk along the top side of the cottage on the right (Dirker) until you reach the small metal radio mast. Turn left at this point up the green lane to the house above (Huck Hill). 1 1

3 The walking is difficult here. This is the longest and roughest uphill section of the route - the top section can be wet! An alternative is to bear right along this track past Dirker Bank until you get to the top of Plains Lane. Take the walled track which leads diagonally upwards around one of the old Dirker Quarries to rejoin the main walk at Huck Hill. The walls here are built of locally quarried 2 sandstone and are gradually sinking due to settlement of the foundations [see pics 1 & 2]. This leaning is due to uneven settling often where the ground beneath one side of the wall is wet. Bulges in the walls here are caused by pressure from creeping soil which builds up behind them. If you look back over the valley from here you will see Deer Hill slightly to the left, which was enclosed almost to the top in the 19th Century for the grazing of sheep. The range house by the rifle range can be seen on the skyline just above the ribbon of cultivated fields which runs uphill past the disused Chain Ganister Quarries. The lane you are walking up is similar to unimproved moorland. Bilberries, which love the acid soil, have established themselves here on the drier areas. To the right is Binn Moor with Upper Acre Head just below the skyline. All the flat land suitable for ploughing and improving forms a tongue of fields up to the farm. Turn left at Huck Hill (noticeable metal shed here) and follow the lane in the direction of Tunnel End (heading west). The wall on the left has been finished with a type of Topping called Buck and Doe or Cock and Hen [3]. It is castellated. This was sometimes added for decoration or to add additional height to the wall. It can also make it difficult for animals to climb over as well. About halfway along looking south west across Marsden the mouth of 2 3

4 the Wessenden valley can be seen with the prominent tiered banking of the lowest reservoir (Butterley). There are differing heights to the wall along the two sides of this track. The uphill wall is high. Some of this is due to the level of soil behind it, as extra height is needed to stop sheep running downhill from jumping or clambering over. The reverse is true on the downhill wall. Watch out for an old lunky hole in the left-hand wall [4]. 4 This was a way through the wall for sheep and was closed with slabs or boulders. This one is of unusual construction using a large upright stone to form one side. The next 20 yards of lane are wet, as water crosses the lane from the field above. There is an old stone stoop [5] which has been built over, with remains of leaded-in gate hooks still visible at the corner. If this was once part of a gate then its partner has long since gone. The water goes under a set of stone slabs which cross the lane here. These cover the stream which starts high up above Stone Folds Quarries and comes under the wall 5 through a well-built Waterpen [6] and provides water for the farms lower down the slope. Turn downhill here following the stream which cuts under the wall on the right, again via a 6 Waterpen [7] until you reach the right turn at the bottom. We cross the stream again here where it flows under the 7 lane in a culvert and then in an open culvert on down towards the bottom of the valley. 3

5 Do not turn down here. We now follow the lane on the flat along to a wide gateway. The left-hand stoop [8] has the leaded-in hangers and the right is typical of some shutting stone posts [9], being shorter than its partner. The top bar of the original wooden gate often rested on top and in some cases the gate would then open both ways. As you walk along this stretch of lane 8 the quality of finish to the walls on the right hand side suddenly changes. There is a full vertical joint in the wall to the right where another wall, coming down the hill, meets it [10]. Before this point, the quality was typical of solid unpretentious field walling but from this point the work has a finer finish to it. It may be that two different gangs worked on this stretch. If you 9 look uphill into the area called Stone Folds, the quality here is high and there are a number of structures of unknown function in the corners of the fields. Even the lane up to the right has been beautifully walled. 10 You have reached the area of Little Fall Farm and Hey Fold. Be warned there is sometimes a loose dog here. The lane continues down into a small valley. The wall tops change constantly from level mason cut stone, through Buck and Doe and sometimes rough rubble tops. On the right, the top of one wall is being pushed over by a Hawthorn Bush [11]. Trees planted too close to a wall cause a lot of damage over time, both by pressing against the wall and by loosening foundations. 11 4

6 The stone type here changes into a softer sandstone which flakes easily [12] and the double retaining wall [13] that has been built on the bend shows this well. The stone on this has weathered and softened far more than the sandstone in the previous walls. At the small group of houses bear right. Hey Cottage has expensive mason cut toppings [14] to its front walls. We continue right, past a double cottage joined with an atrium. Listen for the stream and in the vegetation you can see full round tops to the wall where the stream comes through 13 another good waterpen [15]. At the next gate look up to the skyline on the right. There is an old lunky hole which allowed sheep to pass through a section of wall with tall Buck and Doe tops. This was part of a ring wall which we meet again later. The right-hand wall has some of the tallest Buck and Doe toppings in the area [16, 17 & 18]. Unusually, they are built well down into the wall, an interesting way of using these thin long stones. We have reached Berry Greave with two expensive stone gateposts in the wall opposite. This is the furthest point of the short walk (turn left to return to Marsden and follow the directions on page 8)

7 For the longer walk, turn up the track through the gate just after passing between the two water troughs. Go through the three gates and up the track which once served a lodge, possibly used by shooting parties (only foundations remain) well up on the edge of the moor. When you reach the first cross wall (largely demolished) [19], this is the end of the wall with the lunky seen from the group of cottages earlier, bear left for a 10 yard detour. There is a surprisingly large retaining wall constructed here [20 & 21], some of the stone has weathered badly, this enables the stream running through Purl Clough to be bridged by the cart track. Return and cross the clough by the track and bear left along the old wall cutting through the first gap. Aim for the road that can be seen over the edge of the hill just above the line of trees [22]. Cross the next wall beside the leaning stone stoop [23]

8 22 23 The typical internal structure of a dry stone wall can be seen here with throughstone and coverband much in evidence [24]. Turn slightly downhill staying close to the edge until you come level with a dry stone wall below you and electricity poles. Turn back down the hill to this wall following it to the corner and along towards a house with sheds. The hill on the 24 left was quarried for stone which went into the buildings and walls in this area. Some of the rejected large pieces of stone was used to support what once was an important pathway [25]. At the house go through the gap into a path which has been walled on both sides [26]. The walls on the two sides are of totally different construction. To the left there is a rough boulder wall more typical of Scottish conditions [27] and to the right there is a neatly built low wall with triangular tops faced to the path. When level with the house, look back and to the left of a gateway where there is a good example of how a 25 7

9 wallhead/cheekend should be built [28]. You pass a step stile on your left where projecting stones are used as the steps [29] and then carry on down the track and on to the tarmac between houses. If you look over the wall to the right 20yds before the junction, you can see an arch marking the end of a dry stone culvert that carries the stream which you crossed high up Purl Clough [30]. Turn left at the next T-junction. Continue along this road enjoying the view across to Standedge and Pule Hill until you reach Berry Greave (you have finished the longer section of the walk at this point). Directions to back to Marsden common to short and long walks 28 Continue on almost to Hey Cottage but turn right down into what seems a dead end. Look at the two gate posts on the next page - they would be expensive to produce today [31]. Go through the gate in front and to the left of you and proceed through the yard and out through the gate into the field. Follow this path through several gates in the direction of the back of Tunnel End Inn

10 There are the remains of a set of stone steps to the left of the small gate. There must have been a well used pathway here in the past. [32, 33] You come out at the side of the Tunnel End Inn and cross Waters Road following the lane down to Tunnel End. Cross the canal by the bridge. Follow the towpath under the railway and immediately turn right up the steps into the picnic area. This contains a demonstration wall with explanation boards and a pinfold which is tucked back in the trees. This demonstration wall was built by the Dry Stone Walling Association, West Yorkshire Branch in Spring This wall includes a sighting hole for shooting, a small smoot to allow small animals to pass through it, a step-through stile and a 9

11 lunky hole [34, 35, 36, & 37]. All these features are often seen in field walls around the area. Straying sheep were confined in similar pinfold structures and held until their owners paid a fine. [38] To return to the start, follow the gravel path or the towpath back to the railway station in Marsden. The parts of a dry stone wall Copestones Building stones, second and upper lift Throughstones Building stones, first lift Hearting/packing Cross section Foundation, in this view with scarcement Wallhead or cheekend 10

12 Glossary of terms used castellated having battlement-shaped topping cheekend most free-standing walls end in a wallhead built to end walls at gateways or to provide gaps for access. Large stones are usually used coverband wide, flat stones used to level off a wall in sandstone areas where these small flat flags are readily available lunky hole larger openings built into the lower part of the wall to allow the passage of sheep/lambs. Smaller lunky holes are used to allow the passage of lambs but stop ewes passing through this allows lamp access to fresh, young grass setts - blocks of flat natural stone, hewn from a quarry, in a range of sizes and rock types smoot a small rectangular opening in the base of a wall to allow the passage of rabbit and hares through or the passage of water throughstone a large stone placed across the width of a wall to tie the sides together wallhead a specially constructed pillar that acts like a huge bookend to strengthen the wall faces and to protect the centre, that would otherwise weather away and collapse waterpen where a wall crosses a watercourse, a smoot (see above) is constructed to allow the passage of water 38 11

13 Upper Colne Valley dry stone walling project This trail was developed as part of the Upper Colne Valley Dry Stone Walling Project, a two-year initiative by Kirklees Council, the Dry Stone Walling Association (West Yorkshire Branch) and Huddersfield Geology Group. This project has been made possible by generous grant aid from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The project aims to raise awareness of the dry stone heritage of the area and to actively involve people in its conservation. The varied activities in addition to this trail include: Production of Dry Stone Walling the Essential Guide training DVD for distribution nationally and internationally; Guided walks to help people find out more about the geology and dry stone heritage of the Upper Colne Valley; Construction of a dry stone walling exhibition at Marsden Tunnel End Picnic Site; Sheep in Marsden project by local artist Cate Clark with Marsden school children; A survey of dry stone walls in the area, to enable more effective targeting of funds and grant aid. 12

14 Rocks of the Marsden area There are two types of rocks in the Marsden area. The most noticeable are the sandstones, which provide building stones and walls. You can see from the cross section diagram (below), which is a slice cut through Marsden, that there are a number of different sandstones piled on top of each other, like a sandwich, which dip gently towards Huddersfield. The sandstone type can be easily recognised when viewed through a microscope and so each has a different name. The Rough Rock from Shooter's Nab is mostly made of the very hard mineral, quartz. The angular quartz grains interlock, so that the rock has a gritty texture, which was ideal for making millstones to grind corn. Sandstone beds are broken up into convenient blocks by fractures. Sometimes the horizontal bedding planes and the vertical joints are very regular, so that the rocks break easily into good-sized blocks for building. Flags have their bedding places close together, and are, therefore, useful for making flagstones for pavements and roofing slates for houses. The shale beds in between each sandstone are much less resistant and are made of clay particles, which can be easily weathered away. Each sandstone protects the shale below, so the landscape around Marsden has alternating steep slopes made of shale, between flatter benches made of a sandstone layer. As sandstone is a much stronger foundation rock for buildings, many of our old hamlets and farms are built on the sandstone layers. N.W. Cupwith Hill Netherwood Heys Marsden S.E. Shooter s Nab Beacon Hill Flags Shale Pule Hill Grit Kinderscout Grit Rough Rock Huddersfield White Rocks 13

15 Lower Great Owlers Great Edge T D Berry Greave Furth Hey Green Hotel Waters Road River Colne A62 Manchester Road Ainsley Lane Tunne Inter Railway Station Marsden Key

16 e Upper Colne Valley ry stone walling trail Scout Top st point of short walk Huck Hill Dirker Bank Alternative route Stone Folds Lane Mount Pleasant Tunnel End Reddisher Road Stone Folds Railway Station Dirker R a i l w a y End picnic site & retation Boards Standedge Trail Canal River Colne Start/Finish Canal Station R d Marsden A62 Manchester Road Marsden Information Point Brougham Road Peel Street Main route Alternative route

17 Dry Stone Walling - The Essential Guide Dry Stone Walling - The Essential Guide is a 90 minute, professionally made, dry stone walling training DVD filmed on location in the Colne Valley and costs It is available from Marsden Information Point or by mail order from the Dry Stone Walling Association Office, Westmorland County Showground, Lane Farm, Crooklands, Milnthorpe, Cumbria LA7 7NH, Tel: Secretary/Office Administrator: information@dswa.org.uk Web:

18 Front cover photograph coutesy of Chris North Photography" For further information about walks and other countryside activities pick up a copy of Wild About Countryside in Kirklees (WAC) from council outlets or contact the Countryside Access Officer on or john.gleadow@kirklees.gov.uk All inside page photographs by John Gleadow