All the same, all different, part one

The rivers of the south Pennine divide share similar characteristics, they begin in high, rain soaked moorland, places as remote as anywhere in England, before quickly taking on an industrial aspect in the valleys. The River Holme is no exception. These spate rivers have been controlled since the earliest days of the industrial revolution, first as a source of power, then as a supply of drinking water to reservoirs for the burgeoning towns and cities of the north. This is a walk where the upland river meets human occupation.

For sale, one mill

Overgrown path, Hinchliffe Mill

House backs by river, Hincliffe Mill

Snicket steps, or is it a ginnel?

The river bank is full of sluices and culverts from former industrial uses

Last time I walked this way the mill was still in use. All's quiet now

This mill seems to have been extended and modernised in boom times. It's put to artisan use now

The river holds a small and fragile brown trout population, which will become even smaller and more fragile with such fishing tactics

Bridge to cricket club, locked

Art Deco mill by River Holme, sold

Prime building land

Camp site and caravan park, Thongsbridge

New industrial unit

Brownfield meets greenfield. Most of it is houses in waiting.

Demand

As the river has never been navigable, my guess is this was a lavatory

Millstone grit outcrop at Brockholes, with mill backing on to river

Saddleworth Pounds

Some things are lost forever. Others go to sleep and are only awoken with much effort. The Huddersfield Narrow Canal slumbered from the 1920s and was officially closed by the LMS railway in 1944. LTC Rolt, canal and rail enthusiast and sometime ghost story writer piloted, but often dragged a boat through in 1948, and a coal merchant was reputed to use a short section into the 1950's but by then it was broken down, dried out and largely filled in until re-opening for business - the leisure business that is - with the new millennium. Look it up, it's interesting stuff. We're heading westwards, towards the Standedge canal tunnel.

This is the new marina that backs onto Tesco at Greenfield, accessed by a lifting bridge from the canal. The fenced off area has "Deep Water" warnings, presumably from a former mill pond behind it, but it looks dry and ripe for development. Note strategically placed tree looking forlorn against the thriving feral saplings to the rear. "Pots and Pans" war memorial in the distance.


The Saddleworth villages are commuting hotspots to Manchester with prices to match, and Uppermill is no exception. The red plastic installation may be a bank repair or a textile artwork.


Railway, canal, river - the usual Pennine Valley business. Less common that each are intact.


Poo bin and Victorian industrial monumentalism. A moment's silence for all the viaducts that didn't survive Beeching's mischief and institutional myopia, please.


Disused mill seen through a line of chancer saplings. The Arthur Rackham tree on the left looks suitably disapproving of the upstarts. Canal bank to front.


Past trades arts feature under new bridge. Shame it's not an exhibition space, I bet lots of artists would like to work with those reflections.


W.H. Shaw, Diggle. A pallet works for 37 years, closed now. Ruritanian clock tower and hillside. Previously Dobcross Looms, now to be a school.


Pallets, extinct.


If these weren't railway sheds, they should have been.


Warth Mills (1919), now home to a variety of businesses including skip hire, a perennial of the post industrial landscape.


Also a café in there somewhere.


The ducks are standing on the entrance to the Standedge canal tunnel. The train enters a little further on.


Reverse view.