A gallery of images for SE1422 (Brighouse)
| Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:39 Humf |
A gallery of images for SE1422 (Brighouse) Click on the grid square link in the title. This leads to the grid square page with a 1:50,000 map. Click on this map for the 1:25,000 map. These are grouped into geographical categories, one category per post. It is experimental, and I am building it up gradually. I have not included all of the images, as there is some duplication. The categories start with linear features, and then progress to buildings of various types, ending with the little details that add interest when exploring a place. The north part of the square is in Brighouse, mostly the town centre, and the south part Rastrick. The boundary between the two is the River Calder. Brighouse started out as a small settlement by a bridge over the River Calder (now called Rastrick Bridge) that carried an important medieval highway. It grew in the 19C due to good communications and a large area of flat land which could be developed for industry and commerce. Rastrick is an ancient township that was recorded as a vill in the Domesday Book, when it was an outlying part of the Manor of Wakefield. They joined together in 1893 to form the Borough of Brighouse. |
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| Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:45 Humf |
1. The River This is the River Calder, travelling downstream from the western side of the square.   Looking upstream from Rastrick Bridge (A643). Here the river flows over the weir that supplied water to the former Sugden's flour mill.  Looking downstream from Rastrick Bridge; note the steep hillside on the right. Looking upstream from Brighouse Bridge (A641).    Looking downstream from Brighouse Bridge; here is another weir, which fed Brighouse Low Mill.  Looking up from the junction with the canal, with the weir in the distance.  Looking down from the junction with the canal; the river, here navigable, flows placidly out of the square. |
| Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:50 Humf |
2. Streams Clifton Beck flows, partly culverted, through an industrial area, and discharges into the river at the eastern edge of the square. It forms the boundary between Brighouse and Clifton. There is also a stream through Rastrick, but it is entirely culverted as it passes through this square.  Upstream of Clifton Road (A643). In spate, downstream of Wakefield Road (A644). Here the beck enters a culvert under a modern industrial building. |
| Sat, 25 Jul 2009 23:00 Humf |
3. The Canal The canal is part of the Calder and Hebble Navigation, and is here called the North Cut. It was constructed to bypass two weirs on the river, although eventually it was extended all the way up to the Hebble Brook in Halifax. This sequence starts at the western side of the square.  A rural scene close to the town centre. The canal passes through an industrial area. Looking west from Anchor Bridge (Briggate A643). Anchor Bridge from the west and 'The Bridge' public house. Anchor Bridge from the east, with pipes in a metal box alongside. Looking east from Anchor Bridge, with the market hall on the left and a landscaped area and disused grain silos on the right. Looking west from the Huddersfield Road bridge, with the disused grain silos on the left. Looking west towards the Huddersfield Road bridge, with Sainsbury's on the right and the Mill Royd Mill apartment block on the left.  Top Basin Bridge, a roving bridge at the end of Wharf Street. See Richard Kay's image description by opening up the first of these two images.   Brighouse Top Basin, full of narrow boats.  Brighouse Upper Lock, between the Top Basin and the Low Basin.  Brighouse Lower Basin and Lower Lock. The New Lock House, by the Lower Lock. The Old Lock House, by the Lower Lock. This is where the canal leaves the River Calder. The towpath crossed the river by the Ha'penny Toll Bridge (see description for the first of these images. The old toll house for the Ha'penny Bridge. |
| Sun, 26 Jul 2009 19:16 Humf |
4. The Railway The railway through Rastrick was constructed by the Lancashire and Yorkshire company c. 1840. It exploited the relatively easy valley route via Todmorden, but was superseded by the shorter route to Manchester via Huddersfield and the Standedge tunnel. The trains from Lancashire via Todmorden were later routed to Leeds via Halifax and Bradford and passenger services eventually ceased on the part of the line past Brighouse. Fortunately the line was still used for freight, so that it has been possible to re-open it, initially for local trains but now for through trains from Halifax to London.   The Rastrick viaduct includes a double bridge over Bridge End (A643) and a narrow minor road, Cliffe Road.  The next bridge is for Gooder Lane. The view westwards from it looks amazingly rural. I think that all the trees and bushes are on the embankments in railway land.  The view eastwards includes Brighouse Station. The old station buildings have been demolished and the station is now un-manned, with shelters on the platforms. The Huddersfield Road bridge is at the far end. The railway east of Huddersfield Road has somehow escaped being photographed as yet, but I suspect that this concrete tank is railway infrastructure. It would certainly deliver water at high pressure to the railway sidings far below. |
