Morley's 'Volcano' !?

[jonleeds]

I remember when I was a lad in the mid 80s that at the top of Churwell hill to the left hand side as you approach Morley there was a hill which unusually rose directly out of the surrounding flat fields, this hill was known as Pit Hill and as nippers we believed it to be a volcano as there was always smoke rising from the top and if you were brave enough to climb the hill you'd be rewarded by melting your trainers on the scorched earth, I'd even witnessed naked flames revealed by tearing back pieces of desiccated turf. Unbeknownest to us this Pit Hill was simply the slag heap which remained from what had been a colliery years before and the hill had been slowly smouldering underground for years. If I'd understood how dangerous the hill was as a lad I would never have ventured onto it. However there was nothing to deter intrepid youngsters from clambering its smoking sides. Pit Hill was levelled several years ago and I imagine they must have got the subterrenean inferno under control.