Cookridge/Horsforth History Walk

Didn’t intend to walk this far today. It was cold, breezy and very, very muddy. Mike and Tetley talked me into it. So as a little compromise, I drove to Cookridge cricket club and started the walk from there.

The bridleway down as far as the railway bridge is easy going if a little pot holed.

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This is Moseley Farm, a grade 2 listed building, reputed to have been built as a house for the owner of the bleach works (demolished), remains of which are on the hill slope to south and east of the house.

Early C19, altered C20. Coursed squared gritstone, low-pitched stone slate roof with stone copings and kneelers. On site of or reusing parts of a C17 house. 2 storeys, 3 windows. Quoins. Garden front faces SW and has central door with tie-stone jambs, flanking large square windows with plain surrounds and C20 wooden frames; gutter brackets, end stacks. Rear, uphill side: entrance to right of centre with tie-stone jambs, recessed chamfered window surrounds to left and 2 to 1st floor, a tall central stair window with blocked opening below, centre.

The mud started on the railway bridge and continues ad infinitum!

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Here starts the Bramhope tunnel. After the railway bridge we carried on up the hill, passing what I took to be part of the old bleach works factory.

Nethersprings was one of  north Horsforths many flax bleaching mills which was used for linen. The Flax seed would have been used for oil and the unbleached fibres of the plant for twine and rope. Ropeworks were many in Horsforth as well in the Woodside area and over the boundary at Clayton.

The Inghams owned Dean Grange Farm and still do. It has been owned by the Ingham family since the 1700’s. One of the sons Robert opened a pub called the Bay Horse for the navvies building the Bramhope Tunnel. In it he organised prize fights for his customers! You can imagine some quite riotous times here.

The above houses are where the beer house would have been.

  Samuel Inghams will of 1825 shows that he also had an interest in Crag Farm, Cookridge, where his son William was sub-tenant.  Rosanne Clelland (nee Ingham) also tells us that Samuel held the lease for Moseley farm as well as Crag and Dean Grange farms. Moseley and Crag farms are in Cookridge, whilst Dean Grange is across the stream in Horsforth.

  After Samuel’s death, William took over Crag farm, Robert took over Moseley.

I have trawled through the family history of the Inghams and they were obviously an important family within the areas of Horsforth, Cookridge, Arthington and Otley.

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It is a big farm but looks like its seen better days. The final photo was a cold store. All these buildings including the cold store are listed grade 2.

And so after all the history we walked on up to meet Scotland Lane. All this area is actually known as Scotland. Horsforth has had two royal visitors. The first was William the Conqueror, who crossed the Aire at Newlay on his way to confront rebellious Danes at York and took possession of land in north Horsforth from the Anglo Danish Earl Gamal. The land was later granted to one, Robert de Bruys, whose Scottish decendant ‘Robert the Bruce’ laid claim to the Scottish throne. He passed this way on one of his raids into Yorkshire after his victory at Bannockburn, reportedly spending the night at Dean Head Grange on the Horsforth Estate. That outlying area of Horsforth has been known as ‘Scotland’ ever since.

After the history lesson, back to the walk. We turned left, crossed over the road and a short while took the path over the field toward the airport runway. O my goodness was it boggy! We reached a fenced area around the perimeter of the runway and I proceeded to have to walk whilst doing the splits, in order to stay out of the deep mud and water streaming down a gully that was a path. We slid down ankle deep into it numerous times, which was funny to start with but soon lost its fun element. After a while we legged it over a lower bit of fence onto Horsforth golf course, that someone else had obviously done before us and made our way over to the road – Bayton Lane. We were quite glad to walk on the road but it wasn’t very pleasant; you would not think for a minute that we were in “lockdown” with all the traffic! We eventually turned off left after the golf course following a path back over field to Scotland Lane. We crossed the road and went down a lane that led to Owlet Grange circa 17th.

Another listed building. In 1200AD, Horsforth became part of the domain of the Abbots of Kirkstall who exploited its resources by quarrying and farming as well as using the water-power of the beck, to drive their famous forge. Monastic farm houses, often manned by lat brothers, were known as  granges. We have Newlay Grange and two granges on the de Bruys land, Dean Head Grange and Owlet Grange.

And this one….

Some absolutely gorgeous dwellings around this area.

And then came the baptism in mud. We walked through a farmyard and entered a field that had had a great deal of tractor activity. We again snack up to our ankles in bog like mud, having to haul our feet out against the suction! I tried walking in the tractor track but it was so deep I could hardly get out!

We eventually made it back to Dean head Farm and our way home. FUN! And learnt so much history afterwards.