Railway in New Farnley

Railways, trams, buses, etc.
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Steevo
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon 16 Jan, 2012 3:35 pm

Post by Steevo »

couldnt upload the pics sorry people steevo

Marto1971
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri 28 Dec, 2012 6:49 pm

Re: Railway in New Farnley

Post by Marto1971 »

Just passed where the junction was from the leeds - manchester line (by Makro) and they are clearing it of trees and rubbish. does anyone know what they are building?

scrabblerz
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed 11 Dec, 2013 2:33 pm

Re: Railway in New Farnley

Post by scrabblerz »

My brother asked me about this earlier this year saw plans for a housing development covering the whole Farnley Sheds site and part of the Dunlop & Ranken siding , still keeping the old footpath past the Coaling tower and on to Gelderd Road by the Drum place .

volnanto
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat 01 Oct, 2016 1:03 am

Re:

Post by volnanto »

Curlew wrote:Chris W wrote: Does anybody have any information of a railway branch that ran into New Farnley, Leeds?If you search for New Farnley in Google Earth and look to the left of the result, you can see a curved earthwork marked in the fields heading towards the housing estate.I remember as a kid playing on the embankment and what remained of a track bed behind the housing estate. I also saw a picture in an old local history book that showed a loco passing over Lawns Lane at the other end of the housing estate.Could the railway have been associated with Farnley Fireclay? I have attached a pic from Google Earth to show where I mean. I recognise that I enter the debate on this question somewhat late. However, as someone who spent his childhood and youth in New Farnley in the 1940's and 50's, you may find my contribution of some use.The remains to which you refer are those of a mineral railway track that carried the raw materials, (coal, iron-ore and clay) to the Farnley Iron Company and Fireclay Works during the Industrial Revolution. The Company was founded in 1844 by the four Armitage brothers, sons of Edward Armitage of Farnley Hall.From your siting near to Well Holme Farm, the track curved in a S.W. direction past the brick structures which were air-shafts for underground workings and through the field to the west of Low Moor Side Lane and the site of the now demolished Long Row (originally miners' terraced cottages) to Sowden Pit. This pit was situated to the west of Low Moor Side Lane, close to the junction with Walsh Lane. From Sowden, the railway continued in a S.S.E. direction, crossing Low Moor Side Lane and through the field to the S.W. of Walsh Lane to meet and cross Whitehall Road at a point between what is now the Jewish Cemetery and the adjacent semi-detached houses, (the gateways still remain) Here, the railway headed in a S.E. direction down what is still called the 'wagon line' to a point just before it met the footpath from Wentworth Farm across the fields to Gildersome. Here it forked, with one element heading S. to Farnley Briggs Pit, (A large pit owned by Farnley Iron Co. In 1896, 125 colliers worked here extracting ironstone and manufacturing quality coal). The other section of track continued S.E. to the pits located close to Gelderd Road at St. Bernard's Mills. These were Farnley Simpson Pit, ( another large Farnley Iron Co.-owned pit, employing 96 men in 1896 on the extraction of manufacturing grade coal and ironstone), and Farnley Wood Lift Pit (coal and ironstone). Nearby was Raffles Pit at Beeston Royds and across Gelderd Road, situated close to Rooms Lane was Philadelphia Pit (In 1896 owned by W.Woodhead and Son, Farnley, Leeds, employing 55 men, it produced both household and manufacturing coal).Other pits in the area were:Cud Hill, Moortop, owned by the Farnley Iron Co., employing 87 workers in 1896 and producing manufacturing coal and coking coal.Dixon, Farnley, owned by the Farnley Iron Co. employing 47 in1896 and mining both household coal and manufacturing coal.Ashfield Dayhole,* Farnley, owned by Farnley Iron Co. employed 10 men underground in 1896. Minerals worked: manufacturing coal and fireclay.White's Dayhole,* Farnley, owned by Farnley Iron Co. and employing 113 workers (96 underground) extracting fireclay.*( A dayhole, known colloquially as 't'dayoil' was an adit mine with a horizontal entrance - built into a hillside)Other pits in the area were:Tenter Croft, WortleyWortley Busk.Wortley RoydsAll owned by The Leeds Fireclay Co.Wortley Manor, owned by W. Ingham and Sons, Wortley.Grave Colliery (near Harper Farm, Farnley), owned by W.G. Woodhead and Son, Farnley.Spring Gardens, Drighlington, owned by Fearnley Garforth, Drig.Gildersome Pit, Bradford, owned by W. and J.Towler.Two further pits owned by The Leeds Fireclay Co were in Halifax:Breakneck, Shibden Hall, Halifax.Well Royd, Shibden Hall, Halifax.Returning to your siting close to Well Holme Farm, the railroad tracked N.E. to Barker's Well, where it crossed Lawns Lane and headed due E. before turning S.E. into the Farnley Iron Co. and Fireclay Co. site to a point below Lodge Hill. From here, there appear to have been a complex series of points-systems enabling rail access to almost all the buildings in the yard and even taking trucks within the buildings. In addition there was a link via the Whitehall Road Bridge to main line.As far as I know, none of the mineral railway's road-crossings at Lawns Lane, Low Moor Side Lane or even Whitehall Road were provided with gates to stop road traffic. This sounds highly dangerous by today's standards, but it is important to remember that before 1911, the large majority of vehicles using the roads around New Farnley would be horse-drawn (the maiden run of the first 29-seater Rail-less Electric Car in Britain, travelling from Aire Street in Leeds to Farnley Moor Top did not occur until 1911, continuing to service the route until 1928 when motorbuses were introduced.)At its peak, the Farnley Iron Company and Fireclay Works employed in the region of 2000 workers (miners, ironworkers and furnacemen, brickmakers, glazers and kilnfirers, timber sawyers, blacksmiths, engine drivers etc.)As a village, New Farnley owes its existence to the exploitation of the minerals running beneath it. The hurriedly-built terraced houses of Long Row, Playground, Furnace Row, Forge Row and West End were purpose built (using bricks manufactured at the Fireclay Works) between about 1850-55 to house the Company's workers and their families, many of whom had migrated from the area around the Low Moor Iron Co. at Low Moor, Bradford.In addition to the exploitation of the mineral wealth of the area, we should not forget that it was only through the exploitation of the combined labour of hundreds of New Farnley workers that the Armitage family were able to enjoy their opulent lifestyle.                                                 **I am currently researching the lives and works of two New Farnley coalminers, both of whom lived in Long Row and worked for the Farnley Iron Company. They are Joseph Wade, (1843-1904), miner, ironworker and orchestral violinmaker, who lived at 1 Long Row, New Farnley.Rufus Hanson (1846-!900) miner, portrait artist and pioneer commercial photographer, whose home and studio were at 44 and 45 Long Row, New Farnley.If anyone has connections to, information on, or work produced by either of these 'Victorian Sons' of New Farnley, ( eg a violin made by Joseph Wade, or a painting or photographs by Rufus Hanson), I would be very pleased to hear from you.    
Hi I have a Joseph Wade violin and I am researching this maker as well. Please call me at 07926614279 if you can, I am really really interested in this violin maker.
Regards,
Bairong Han

DERICA
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue 02 May, 2017 7:45 pm

Re: Railway in New Farnley

Post by DERICA »

Hi just joined the site and seen a post from Oct 2016 from VOLNANTO asking for information on Rufus Hanson photographer of New Farnley

I have some photos taken by Rufus in a family album from the 1800's . They may be of some interest unfortunately there are no names on the photo's although we believe some of them are of the " Best " family of New Farnley

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