Denby Dale Village Trail
The settlement of Denby Dale as we know it today is a typical product of the Industrial Revolution. Until well into the first quarter of the nineteenth century the village was a small and comparatively isolated place known as Denby Dike. Only when the building of two Turnpike roads in 1825 connected Denby Dale to the outside world did it begin to grow. Industrial development and new prosperity arrived when the railway came through the district a quarter of a century later. The new textile mills needed a readily available source of raw materials, coal for power, a good water supply, transport to move materials and products to and from the markets and a good local workforce. Denby Dale was well placed to provide all of these and so the population of the village greatly increased.
Denby Dale is famous for its giant pies which have usually been made to celebrate major events in the nations history. The first Denby Dale Pie was made in 1788 and was said to celebrate the recovery of King George III from a bout of 'madness`. The second in 1815 celebrated the end of the war with France and the defeat of Napoleon 1 and the third on August 19th 1846 celebrated the end of the Corn Laws. The next two pies occurred in the same year. On August 27th 1887 a pie was baked to celebrate the Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Unfortunately the pie, having stood for some days in hot weather was quite inedible and had to be buried in a pit of quick lime. A second pie known as the `Resurrection Pie ` was baked on September 3rd.
The next pie on August 1st 1896 celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Repeal of the Corn Laws and in 1928 on August 26th a pie was baked as a belated Victory pie and to raise money for the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. On September 5th 1964 the eighth pie celebrated four Royal births and the last pie on September 3rd 1988 celebrated the bi-centenary of the first pie. The Pie Hall holds a large collection of Pie memorabilia and two of the pie dishes remain in the village, one serving as a giant planter outside the hall and the other holding an entire butterfly garden in the grounds of the village first school!
Starting point: Memorial car park.
The memorial commemorates the 56 men from the Denby and Cumberworth area who lost their lives in the two World Wars. Turn right out of the car park towards the viaduct. About 50m before the viaduct fork left towards Z. Hinchliffe's Mill and walk under the viaduct. At the mill gate turn left along the fence and then turn right along the back of the mill and up to the main road. Messrs Z Hinchliffe and Sons was founded in 1850 and specialise in the spinning of fine woollen and worsted yarns. Turn right along the main road keeping to the right hand side of the road. As you walk along look over the wall and notice the mill dam belonging to Hartcliffe mill and the aqueduct that carries the water from Munchcliffe Beck over the River Dearne. About 90m before the road junction cross the road and take the track on the left up to Toby Wood Farm.
Wood Farm like many farms in the area developed with a dual purpose, both a farmstead and a place for textile working. In the early 19th century there were lines of tenter posts in a field next to the farm for drying and stretching of cloth. The term `on tenter hooks` is a reference to the practice of stretching the cloth taut to dry, thus ensuring that the cloth maker kept the full width and length of the cloth and avoided loss by shrinkage.
At the farm the track bends left. Continue for about 150m and then at the bend continue straight ahead down to a stile. Follow the wall past the holly bushes and up the other side crossing a track to another stone stile.
Just before the stone stile there is a large pile of manure. This is the site 'where the Denby Dale Pie from 1887 was buried when it was found to be inedible. The pie was ceremoniously interred in quick-lime on August 28th 1887 with much rejoicing! Another smaller pie, the Resurrection Pie, was baked on September 3rd to replace it and was enjoyed by all.
Continue straight over the stone stile and follow the field margin to the next stile which takes you onto Denby Delf.
Denby Delf is owned by the Meadowlands Trust which aims to conserve and restore species rich grasslands across the UK. The Delf is a 12.5 hectare nature reserve which is home to a wide variety of plants, birds and insects. The site is undergoing an extensive programme of restoration including drystone wall building, hedge planting, scrub management and meadow creation and will be managed as a mosaic of meadow, scrub and heathland by traditional organic farming methods.
Follow the path up the hillside to the top of Denby Delf and over the stile. Turn immediately left then over another stile and follow the field margins over another three stiles and over a final stile. Then turn right along a track. At the T junction turn left onto Bank Lane and follow it down to a junction of 5 paths. Follow the bridleway which is a continuation of Bank Lane, down the edge of Hagg Wood.
Bank Lane was a main green lane from Denby Dale to Upper Denby and beyond, with many sections of the lane paved to improve the surface and reduce erosion caused by the passage of many feet and hooves.
Look out for a stile on the right by a holly bush just after the steep paved section and cross over a field and under the railway line. Continue down to the main Barnsley road. Turn left and then cross the road. After about 20m take the path on the right across the field to the Church.
While you are in the field take sometime to look at the viaduct. The first viaduct began in 1846 and was opened on July first 1850. Built of timber, the complete viaduct was 112 feet high and 400 yards long with 40 perpendiculars. When the timber structure was in use a porter kept a line of haIf filled water buckets along its length to use in case of fire. The buckets were only ever half full because the vibration of passing trains always shook half of the water out! The present stone viaduct was started in October 1877 and was built by Messrs. Naylor Brothers with a tender of £27,650. The new viaduct was opened on Whit Sunday, May 16th 1880 and has 21 arches. Of particular note is the `skew' arch across the Barnsley Road which is a remarkable engineering achievement.
Continue down to Bank Lane and turn right towards Springfield Mill. Springfield Mills was formerly the works of John Brownhill & Co. Ltd and over the years has produced many different fabrics including Cotton Brocades, Damasks and Taffetas. During the last war the mill made Parachute silk and Khaki shirting. The mill now has a number of different shops and also has a cafe if a break is needed.
Short cut. At the mill turn up Norman Road back to the main Wakefield road and the Memorial Car Park.
Otherwise, continue along Dearnside Road to the T junction and turn right up Miller Hill. As you walk up the hill the first house on the left is where the local women took their washing to be wrung out on the village mangle for one penny a load. The two storey part of the house was also a Dame School. A Dame School was run by elderly women and provided limited education for working class children until they reached an age where they were economically useful to their parents.
After about 150m fork left down Cuckstool Road and after about 100m where the road bends carry straight on along Hollin Edge. Where the road dips (Heywood Bottom) look to the right and notice the bucket trough in the wall. This was used by local people for their water before there was a mains supply. As you walk along Hollin Edge notice the number of holly trees which give this road its name. In the Middle Ages before root crops were available holly was harvested as a fodder crop to feed cattle through the winter months. Without such a winter food supply livestock often had to be killed at Martinmass.
Continue along Hollin Edge and just over the brow of the hill turn left down the public footpath onto White Cross Lane. Cross the River Dearne at the footbridge and bear left back to Cuckstool Lane. Now turn right alongside the cricket pitch back to the main Wakefield Road. As you cross the bridge notice on your left Pogson or Pogstone House which was also a Dame school up until the 1920s. On the right is Cuckstool Farm where the 1846 pie to celebrate the Repeal of the Corn Laws was baked. A Cuckstool was an ancient form of summary punishment in the form of a 'ducking stool'. The Cuckstool was often used as a punishment for a nagging wife.
Cross the main road onto Leak Hall Lane. On the right of Leak Hall Lane notice the three storey building 'Field House'.
In the 18th and 19th centuries this was a cloth manufacturers and dye house. It was here that a Mr Wood started the Methodist movement in Denby Dale in old outbuildings at the back of the house.
Walk to the top of Leak Hall Lane and turn right at Leak Hall Barn. Leak Hall unfortunately no longer exists but at one time was the centre of a considerable estate which covered much of Denby Dale and Cumberworth. In 1597 John Firth was born here. Firth was a major instigator of the Quaker movement in the area and eventually established the meeting house at the Quaker settlement at High Flatts.
Enter Wither Wood at the wooden squeeze stile and feel free to wander throughout the wood or follow the waymarkers to the North West corner.
The history of Wither Wood has been traced back to the 14th Century with a reference to 'a tenement called Leyke and all land, woods and meadows'. Leyke refers to the nearby farm of Leekall which became Leak Hall. In its long history Wither Wood, which is also known to many locals as Withey Wood, has been an important economic resource providing timber, fire wood, grazing and in more recent times, fire clay. In Hanoverian times the wood was referred to as 'Springwood', a reference to the practice of coppicing or pollarding. Wither Wood is now owned by the Woodland Trust, a national conservation charity and is managed by Denby Dale Conservation Group as a community woodland.
Leave the wood by the stone stile and turn left. On reaching a wooden stile in the hedge turn right along the field edge to a stone squeeze stile. Turn left along Dark Lane and go past the farm. Turn right through a gate into the fields then continue through another gate to Cumberworth Lane. On reaching Cumberworth Lane turn left down the hill and then right immediately after the Methodist Chapel down Wesley Terrace back to the car
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