Woodhall Lane Mystery Stone.

Unusual markings, logos and symbols around the city
Uno Hoo
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Joined: Fri 20 Jun, 2008 2:04 pm

Post by Uno Hoo »

Steve Jones wrote: having looked at the pictures,this looks very like an old well.The revolution well on Stonegate road has a simliar beehive shape. the inset is typical of how many wells were set back off a main highway.it should therefore be marked as a well on any old maps of the area.I would think the mystery stone is actualy the top of the stone protecting the well and the small circular bit if dug down, would actually be the basin for catching water in. Any pipes in the field behind the wall?     Very plausible sounding theory, Steve.Si,Had a quick butcher's while driving past today. Congratulations on your sketch!!! My dad doesn't know anything, but he'll be seeing Calverley's renowned historian during next week, so I might be able to shed some light, altho' I like Steve's hypothesis. By coincidence, we're entertaining friends Saturday evening, one of whose mothers worked as a cleaner in the Blue Lagoon bungalow, so hope to learn more. Will keep you posted.U.H.
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, moves on; nor all thy Piety nor all thy Wit can call it back to cancel half a Line, nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.

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Steve Jones
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Post by Steve Jones »

I just looked at the OS map. A well is marked near the Golf Club at the side of the road and opposite a small wood. if this is the same place it explains the stone as a wellhead as I said earlier in this thread.
Steve JonesI don't know everything, I just like to give that impression!

Si
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Joined: Wed 10 Oct, 2007 7:22 am
Location: Otley

Post by Si »

Steve Jones wrote: I just looked at the OS map. A well is marked near the Golf Club at the side of the road and opposite a small wood. if this is the same place it explains the stone as a wellhead as I said earlier in this thread. Good theory, Steve. Opposite the mystery stone, and further down the lane, but before the "DP" stone, there is a "drain" set in the wall. It is a large lintel just above pavement height with a void below it, filled with dead leaves and rubbish. I assumed this was to allow rain water to drain from the field behind it. Could it have something to do with the "well?"

Si
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Joined: Wed 10 Oct, 2007 7:22 am
Location: Otley

Post by Si »

Uno Hoo wrote: Steve Jones wrote: having looked at the pictures,this looks very like an old well.The revolution well on Stonegate road has a simliar beehive shape. the inset is typical of how many wells were set back off a main highway.it should therefore be marked as a well on any old maps of the area.I would think the mystery stone is actualy the top of the stone protecting the well and the small circular bit if dug down, would actually be the basin for catching water in. Any pipes in the field behind the wall?     Very plausible sounding theory, Steve.Si,Had a quick butcher's while driving past today. Congratulations on your sketch!!! My dad doesn't know anything, but he'll be seeing Calverley's renowned historian during next week, so I might be able to shed some light, altho' I like Steve's hypothesis. By coincidence, we're entertaining friends Saturday evening, one of whose mothers worked as a cleaner in the Blue Lagoon bungalow, so hope to learn more. Will keep you posted.U.H. Thanks, Uno!I also think Steve could be right, but I don't have an OS map of this area, and so can't pinpoint the exact spot marked "well." I didn't see anything in the field like pipes, either.I would be very interested in any info your friend can give about the "bungalow." I can remember when it was still standing, though derelict. I think it was built of wood, but had a brick chimney, and a concrete coal-bunker round the back. We used to play in the ruins when I was a kid. There was a driveway which ran in an arc from gates on Woodhall Lane, past the house, and over a bridge which spanned the inflow for the lake, and led in the direction of the field where I found the Victorian tiled floor. A D-shaped gravel track branched off this drive and led to the front door and verandah of the bungalow, in the middle of which was an overgrown lawn and rose-bed. The place was set alight in the mid 70s, at a guess, and now there is very little evidence of it's existence, though the D-shaped drive can still be seen on Google Earth. I'd love to see pictures of it in it's prime.

Si
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Location: Otley

Post by Si »

Steve Jones wrote: I just looked at the OS map. A well is marked near the Golf Club at the side of the road and opposite a small wood. if this is the same place it explains the stone as a wellhead as I said earlier in this thread. Yes, there is a small wood opposite. I had a look on Google Earth, but the stone itself is hidden beneath a tree. However, in the field behind and to the left, is a small area of grass that hasn't been cut by the farmer. Perhaps this is a boggy patch, suggestive of a well or spring?The wall with the "DP" stone can be seen further down the lane.

Uno Hoo
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Post by Uno Hoo »

Blue LagoonThe colonial-style bungalow by the lake was owned latterly by Bradford Corporation. My friend expressed some surprise at hearing the term 'blue lagoon', but couldn't recall any proper name for it. Neither did he know its earlier history.His mother cleaned for tenants named Robinson, who rented from the Corporation. The Robinsons were 'well-to-do', probably wool merchants, but were tolerant of their cleaner's children, providing rides on a donkey and other pastimes normally outside the orbit of working-class kids of the time. My friend 'blotted his copybook' by reporting to Mrs Robinson that the donkey had 'trumped' - actually quite a polite way to put it, and he suspects it was his mother who was embarrassed rather than the lady of the house being in any way offended.Mystery StoneAlthough I quite like the well theory, I have no recollection of a small wood in the vicinity of the mystery stone, and I speak as someone who did weekend work on a farm which then worked all the land which is now Calverley Golf Club on the Bradford side of Woodhall Lane. There is a sizeable wood between Woodhall Hamlet and Woodhall Hills Golf Club, and a spinney almost opposite Calverley Golf Club car park, but nothing nearer the site of the stone. I'm hoping my father will get something from Ted Garnett this week. Ted is a respected authority on the history of Calverley, and his own memory stretches back eighty years - a bit more than mine.Interesting to read all the stuff about Daniel Peckover. As well as Peckover St in Little Germany, the housing development on the left hand side of Leeds & Bradford Rd going towards Bradford between Thornbury Barracks and the Farmers' Inn, is known as Peckover.
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, moves on; nor all thy Piety nor all thy Wit can call it back to cancel half a Line, nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.

Si
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Location: Otley

Post by Si »

Thanks for the info, Uno.It's always been called the Blue Lagoon for as long as I can remember. I think it's official name is Woodhall Lake. I liked the 'trump' story....there always was a funny smell in there... We once pulled an abandoned Lambretta out of the mud. About six of us fee-wheeled it down Woodhall Park Grove when we were stopped by a traffic Police Range Rover! Oops!Opposite the mystery/well stone is a small clump of trees - not really a wood. You can see it on Google Earth. I know the wood further up - it backs onto the old quarry, alongside the old part of Woodhall Road, which leads down to the famed Blue Pig.I know the Peckover estate. I used to push my trials bike through there to get to the track beyond the level-crossing. From there I could get all the way to Black Carr Woods and Fulneck via the Gib without travelling on a proper road (no license at that time!) In the other direction, I could get to Calverley Woods or Swaine (Swaney) Woods at Rodley. It's a long time since motorbikes were allowed in these places.Good luck with Mr Garnett this week. I'm sure he'll know something about the stone.    

Si
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Location: Otley

Post by Si »

Any luck with Ted Garnett, Uno?

Uno Hoo
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Post by Uno Hoo »

My father forgot to mention it to Ted! Old men forget, as Henry V said just before Agincourt.............He's actually made a note this time. He may have spoken to Ted at the Remembrance Day Parade yesterday, so watch this space.I bloody well hope Ted knows something after all this!!!!UH
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, moves on; nor all thy Piety nor all thy Wit can call it back to cancel half a Line, nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.

Uno Hoo
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Joined: Fri 20 Jun, 2008 2:04 pm

Post by Uno Hoo »

Hey, SiHow do you manage to be 2 hours ahead of me?UH
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, moves on; nor all thy Piety nor all thy Wit can call it back to cancel half a Line, nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.

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