Haslingden Old and New...

Haslingden derives from Hazeldean or Valley of the Hazels. It lies 19 miles north of Manchester in the County of Lancashire. A area at one time noted in particular for its Stone, it also played a big part in the Woollen and then later Cotton Industries from the 18th and through the 19th and early to mid 20th Century... It is steeped in Local History and can also boast to have one of the most beautiful Natural Valleys around, where thousands come and visit annually

Thursday, 30 April 2009

BENTLEY HOUSE AND OTHER GRANE ILLICIT WHISKY DISTILLING TALES....

“Where Fairies danced to the Spirits tune”

Plunder the Glen, our dear Fairy Glen,

Where serpents hiss out loud, like,

Watchful guards o’er a bountiful bond!

Keep ever quiet to hear the creaking tales,

Of spirits weaving in and out of shadows,

Whispering their past in drunken mourn.

A worth of skilful touch to bubbling air,

That made the Fairies bent with glee,

And whisked off their feet in giddy spree,

Whilst glowing a faint flickering light,

As they brushed past the stillness of night,

It’s still going on century on and on and on

Poem by Bryan Yorke dated 14th April 2015

(Haworth - the brewer) = (A worth), Bentley (Bent with glee), Whisked (Whiskey)

Bentley House in Ruins (Click over to enlarge)
Photo taken around 2003

Bentley House

Bentley House does have some striking history, especially in regards to "illicit whisky distilling" which took place during the mid , 1800's - Here is a article published in the Blackburn Standard - May 20th 1857:

ILLICIT DISTILLATION OF WHISKY..... On Saturday at the Court-house, Haslingden, Jonathan Haworth, farmer, Bentley House, Haslingden Grane, was charged by Mr. Ellis Heath, supervisor of the Inland Revenue in the Blackburn Division, with being the proprietor of an unlicensed still for the manufacture of illicit whisky. Mr. Clough, who appeared for the Board of Inland Revenue, stated that this was one of the most compact and connected private distilleries which had been brought to light, at any rate in this neighbourhood; and but for the vigilance of the officers of the Board, it might have been carried on for a length of time without detection. At eleven o'clock on the night of 3rd April last, Mr. Ellis Heath, accompanied by the officers, went to the house of the defendant, which is situated at an unfrequented and isolated part of the township of Haslingden. On going into the house, the officers proceeded to a square weaving shop, but observed nothing there by two pairs of looms. On examining the room above that they found it was a much larger room. They descended again to the weaving shop, and tapped the wall, which defendant said was a gable end of the house. They found the mortar soft, but yet it corresponded with the other walls of the chamber. On looking at the flags they found that they had only breen freshly laid. A few were taken up and after taking up a quantity of earth, an arched entrance cut out of the solid rock was discovered with an aperture just sufficient for one person to enter in a creeping position. On the officers entering the chamber by this, the only entrance, they found a new still and every apparatus requisite for the manufacture of illicit spirits, with a number of tubs, a quantity of wash, &c., which were immediately seized and conveyed to a place of safety. The flue of the fireplace in the room had been cut out of the rock and taken below the floor of the weaving shop and house until a junction was formed with the chimney of the house, so that one flue only could be seen to emit smoke. With the stone cut from the flue the partition wall of the weaving shop had been built so that no material had to be brought to the house, --Mr. Ellis Heath and others proved the case and the bench inflicted a mitigated penalty of £50 and costs, in default of payment to be imprisoned during her Majesty's pleasure. -- On the 7th ult., the defendant had been convicted of being on the premises where illicit whisky was found and convicted in £30 and costs, in default to go to prison for three months. The prisoner then sold ten head of cattle and went to prison. The seizure reflects great credit on the vigilance of the officers and will do much to check illicit distillation in this neighbourhood.

Jonathan Haworth's Gravestone (Click over to enlarge)

Jonathan Haworth and his Wife Alice are buried at St. Stephens Church Old Site, near Crowtrees and here is photo of gravestone

Bentley House (Bryan Yorke)

At the side of Bentley House ruins, runs the old road which was the original way to Bolton and also you can see here the marker stone which clearly shows engraved but enhanced here with chalk (TO BOLTON)

Bentley House (Bryan Yorke)

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And more beautiful photos of Bentley House by Angela Neild

Beautiful Bentley House, Grane photos by Angela Neild
Thanks...

"Be aware! amongst the fairies and serpents,

and not far away from this very magical place,

you may well watch, summers rare Redstart,

and winter may turn your head to a downward glance,

to watch the Redpoll (flit amongst the alders)"

also a place were a special Pipit actually hangs out,

in the trees which shade the willow wren (warbler)

which sings his melodious charm.

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And now other Grane "Whisky" tales

"James Morris"

of Far Pike Low farm

Haslingden Grane

Blackburn Standard September 1st 1858

WHISKY DISTILLER AND HYPOCRITE - On Wedensday last, Mr. Heath, supervisor of excise, Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Westall, officers of the Inland Revenue, went to the house of Mr. Jas. Morris, farmer, Haslingden Grane, in search of illicit whisky and utensils for the manufacture of whisky. Judge, however, of the officers surprise, when, on entering Morris's house, they found Morris reading a Bible! They stated the object of their visit, upon which Morris lifted his eyes to the ceiling in utter astonishment at the charge - nay, even the insinuation - and protested - before man and God - that he was as innocent as a child unborn of the offences imputed to him.

The officers, however, were not to be gammoned. They proceeded to search. They dug all about the premises and at last came upon pipes which to them looked very suspicious. They continued their search for nearly three days and then they discovered about ten gallons of whisky and a large quantity of apparatus for the manufacture of spirits. James (the apparent saint) was taken into custody, his "tackle" was seized and on Saturday he was called upon to answer for his offences before D. Thwaites, Esq. (b) James then said he had had great losses - that he had commenced whisky spinning to recompense him for his losses and therefore he hoped that the Lord would put it into the heart of the magistrate to be very lenient with him. The magistrate, however, had only one course, namely to fine James £30. It is said that James will also be subject to other penalties.

(b) Daniel Thwaites, founder of the Blackburn brewery which bears his name.

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Blackburn Standard, September 29th, 1858

THE GREAT WHISKY DISTILLER, James Morris Again! - On Tuesday at the Town Hall, Haslingden, James Morris, Pike Lowe, Haslingden Grane, was charged by Mr. Heath, Supervisor of Excise, Blackburn with having in his possession a "still" on the 27th of last month. Mr. Mitchell, officer of excise, said he went to Pike Lowe on the 27th of August. After entering a subterranean cavern, he found a still which contained 100 gallons also five jars containing whisky, all of which were full; there were eight or ten gallons altogether. There were three tin cans which would hold thirty or forty gallons of whisky and three wood tubs capable of holding ten gallons each. They were sunk into the ground. It was impossible to bring them out and they therefore broke them in the place. There were measures and glasses of all descriptions. Mr. Heath said that he had no doubt but the revenue had been defrauded out of £700 a year. He had communicated with the Board in London and they had ordered him to press for the highest penalty. He had no doubt but that the place had been built on purpose and that illicit manufacture had been carried on for fifty years. He stated that there was a drainer in the place which fitted so tight that not a particle of steam could escape. He had never seen such a place in all his experience. At one place they came to a long flag which they had taken up, expecting that they were going to find the entrance to another passage, but when the stone was taken up mortar was found underneath and all had the appearance of being right. One policemen, more sagacious than the rest, thought there was more in the stone being there than they imagined and put his hand upon the mortar, when he imagined that something moved. The hand was again applied and the flag ran upon a railway on one side and left open a man-hole. The stone was so nicely adjusted that the least push would throw it on one side, and it would immediately return to its place as though nothing had been disturbed. Mr. Heath said he had no doubt in his own mind that the prisoner had gone down by the trap while they were searching the premises and it was then that he cut the two worms into a hundred pieces. While they were searching, the prisoner, after driving out the cows, took down his Bible and in the prescence of the officers read several chapters. The magistrates said they would inflict the highest penalty, namely £200. The hypocrite will have to remain in prison during her Majesty's pleasure.

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"James Barlow"

of Hareclough, Musbury

Blackburn Times July 9th 1881

SEIZURE OF ILLICIT WHISKY STILL - Between one and two o'clock on Tuesday morning, Haslingden Police visited the premises of James Barlow, the occupier of a small farm at Hareclough, Musbury, a bleak country district situate on a hillside about two miles from Haslingden. There they found a whisky still, complete and ready for use, also a quantity of wash, barrels, etc, all of which were seized by the police. Later on in the day a cart was obtained and the still, together with the liquor, barrels etc, was conveyed to the county police offices at Haslingden, pending proceedings being taken by the Inland Revenue, who have been informed of the seizure, which has caused much excitement in Helmshore.

At the court hearing a policeman stated that the still was built into a fireplace and that water was piped from another room. They found a barrel and a tub, each of which contained about 18 gallons of wash. A can in front of the discarge pipe of the condenser was full of whisky. The cellar was six inches deep in refuse from the still. Barlow was fined £10 (c)

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Request for Photos and Sending photos for the Blog

We are constantly struggling to find photos to fill the header on the front page and so your photos would be a absolute delight to receive and as long as they are yours and of historic value, we have no problem showing them on the blog, so many people get so much pleasure from these. The feedback has been quite remarkable. So please send your scans of the photos in so they can be put on the blog and subsequently filed within the blog, and can then be seen by the thousands who are watching on a regular basis. This way hopefully the photos will be preserved for not just us but also for the future generations of Hazeldeners, Haslingdonians, Ex pats and friends. Thank you.....

Also just as important as photos are memories or stories of the past and other snippetts of information which may give pleasure together with any posters, programmes and scans of memorabilia pertaining to Haslingden.

If at all possible can photos being submitted to the blog as jpeg images (or another image type file if preferred), and be sent to me in a "full" or at least "large" resolution size (eg: the original size which they are scanned at) and without any reductions in size, before sending through to me. If I have them in full resolution I can do far more with them especially when it comes to showing enlargements etc eg "click over the image to enlarge" etc.

Don't worry should this be a problem, I can still show them in smaller resolution sizes, because even small photos are better than no photo.

Thank you.

Bryan.

Preserve the past in words and pictures

Over the many years there must be lots of interesting facts and tales what have gone on within our Haslingden and Helmshore, some vintage, some old and some new....

And here in our blog we are trying to re-introduce some of this precious information and where possible also offer photographs...

As they say its probably only the tip of the iceberg, but its got to be worth "Passing it on or sharing it before it gets lost forever" ... Have you something you want to share? If so please let us know.

Description of the Arms of the Borough (shown above) - The Arms and Crest of which the following is a description, were assigned to the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Haslingden, by grant from the Herald's College, dated 25th March, 1892 and are therein described as follows: Quarterly Or and Argent on a fesse wavy Azure between a Lion rampant purpure, holding between the paws a Quatrefoil ermine, in the first quarter; six Eagles displayed three, two and one; Gules in the centre chief point a Rose of the last barbed and seeded proper, in the second; a Cog-wheel Sable, in the third; a Pick-axe in bend surmounting a spade in bend sinister, entwined by a Chain in arch all proper in the fourth; a Shuttle fesswise of the first tipped and furnished with thread pendant of the second and for the Crest, on a wreath of the colours upon a Mount a Rock thereon, a Moorcock holding in the beak a Sprig of Hazel, between two branches of Hazel fructed all proper.

Haslingden in its own right was incorporated as a Municipal Borough in the year 1891 and ran most of its affairs from the Municipal Offices, Bury Road (now Car Park) - see photo below. Sadly in 1974 it lost most of its former Independance by being swallowed up to form part of the (then) new Rossendale Borough Council...

The government of the place in 1825 was thus described: 'The district is formed into six divisions called posts or stations, and the executive consists of a constable and six churchwardens. Each churchwarden is charged with the care of a station and is made responsible for its good order.' The system appears to have been successful at the time. It was not till 1875 that a local board was formed. The district ruled by it was extended in 1883 so as to include parts of Haslingden, Henheads, Higher and Lower Booths in the parish of Whalley, and also Musbury and part of Tottington in Bury. In 1891 a charter of incorporation was granted, the council consisting of a mayor, six aldermen and eighteen councillors, chosen by six wards named Town, Acre, Syke, Helmshore, Holden and Grane. The borough area was consolidated into a single township, called Haslingden, in 1894.

The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company's (later LMS) line from Clifton to Accrington did run northward through the township, having stations at Helmshore and at Haslingden, it was opened in August 1848.

Dr. Aikin, writing in 1795, says:—Haslingden has been greatly improved within the last twenty years, chiefly from the increase of the woollen manufacture, though much of the cotton trade has likewise been introduced within a few years, particularly the branch of making twist for warps, for which purpose alone several factories have been erected in its neighbourhood. . . . The people were (forty years since) chiefly employed by moneyed men at Rochdale; but now the trade is supported by capitals acquired on the spot by the industry and enterprising spirit of the manufacturers, who have erected inns for the entertainment of travellers, shops and handsome houses for their own residence. A square is lately planned here, and some capital houses are already built in it. . . . A number of mills for carding cotton and sheep's wool and spinning them into cotton twist and woollen yarn for the flannels made here, are erected upon the Swinnell. There is also a corn mill on the river, formerly belonging to the Holden family, now extinct.

Haslingden was one of the chapels existing when Whalley was bestowed on the monks of Stanlaw, and in 1296 it was found that its tithes were worth 5 marks and the altarage 4 marks; the chaplain had a stipend of 4 marks, and the chapel had an endowment of 1 oxgang of land. The church, which is now called St. James's, was rebuilt in the time of Henry VIII and again in 1780, after having fallen down. There was no regularly founded chantry, but in 1548 the names of two priests were recorded in the bishop's visitation list, and the same in 1554; later there was only one minister, the curate. His fixed income was £4 a year out of the rectory of Whalley. The Commonwealth Church Survey of 1650 fails to give any account of the income of Haslingden Chapel, but in 1717 it had £17 8s. 7¾d. a year, including £11 10s. out of the rectory, various fees and the Easter roll. There were six chapelwardens. In 1719 George Hargreaves and others gave £200 to augment the endowment, and with later increments the net value is now £368. The vicars of Whalley formerly presented the curates, but about 1848 the Hulme Trustees acquired the patronage. The benefice is styled a vicarage. In the 16th century the north chapel was acquired by the Rawstornes of New Hall in Tottington. The south chapel belonged to the Holdens of Holden. 'In 1857, during alterations, there were found in a cavity under the floor of the church where the altar anciently stood a skull and crossbones with traces of gilding upon them, and therefore believed to be the relics of St. James, the patron saint.' A large 'plague stone,' with two holes in it, was found in the churchyard. The entries in the registers begin about 1620, but are only fragmentary until 1653.
From: 'Townships: Haslingden', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6 (1911), pp. 427-433. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53147

Haslingden On Film

St. Mary's Class of 1951 at a 1991 re-union - kindly sent in by John McGuire.

St. Marys Class of 1951 (1991 Re-Union)

Films kindly given to us by Bernard Rostron - Chairman of the Friends of the Higher Mill Museums - Three films which were filmed by the late Maurice Edmundson:

Green Valley and part of the Walking Day (St. Thomas)

Walking Day (St. Thomas and also Mayor's Sunday

Films kindly sent in by Dave Rothwell (copyright: D. Rothwell)

HGS Staff versus Pupils Hockey Match 3:48

1964 St James Sports Day 3:50

HGS Camp 1965 31secs

HGS Rag Day 12secs

A film by the BFI

Haslingden Peace Celebrations July 19th 1919

Check out DJ Drone on Haslingden Grane (You Tube)

Haslingden Carnival 1950s - Shows Willie Horam and Georgie Berry as the King and Queen.

Click here