Dates For Your Diary

Saturday 22nd November 1997. The Briercliffe Society Christmas Social.
Venue: The Community Centre, Jubilee Stree, Harle Syke at 7.00pm
This year we have a programme of popular music (with audience participation) led by 'Ages Apart', an excellent 'group'. There will also be our famous 'Beetle Drive', this time organised by Joyce Haworth and Susan Meeks. Tickets are on sale at £3.00 with a good supper included.

Monday 8th December 1997. The Briercliffe Society Carol Service.
Venue: The Community Centre, Jubilee Stree, 7.30pm
Canon Peter Hallam will take the service. A collection for Primrose Hill Special School, Burnley, will be made on the evening. Mince pies and coffee will be served.
(Please remember that the Carol Service is not exclusively for Members of the Society. Your family, friends and children will all be welcome.)

Christmas Parcels

At a recent Committee Meeting the Society resolved to contribute the sum of £50 to the Briercliffe Parish Council's Christmas Parcels Funds. Parcels (boxes of chocolates, biscuits etc.) are made up by the Parish Councillors and distributed to citizens who have reached the of approx. 83 years old. The figure is determined by the fact that we are restricted to 50 parcels. If you know someone who might qualify please contact the Clerk to the Parish Council.

Society Archives

The Committee of the Society has decided to set up a Briercliffe Archive. It will consist of the Society and Frost Post Card Collections, an extensive collection of photograph and photographic negatives, plus numerous documents, pamphlets and books.

Roger Frost estimates that there is well in excess of 1000 items, so sorting them all out is going to be a massive job. The Collection is growing all the time. Recently, a large number of local photographs was purchased on behalf of the Society. Many of these are completely new additions to the Archive. It is hoped that a full catalogue will be published and kept up to date.

The Musical Evening

About 100 people attended the Musical Evening on October 26th. The venue was the Haggate School Hall and the entertainment was provided by the 'Linden Singers', conducted by Frank Smith.

A varied programme was drawn up but partcularly memorable was the monologue 'Noah' which reminded one of the best of Stanley Holloway's renditions. With regard to the music, there was something for everyone to enjoy from 'Greensleeves' to lighter Church music.

The Briercliffe Society Musical Evenings have been a very considerable success since they started. The Committee wants to ensure that members get a chance to hear the music that they want to hear. If you have got any ideas, please speak to a Committee member.

The Flower Show

The Briercliffe Flower Show is getting bigger by the year and the 1997 Show was no exception. In fact our show is becoming increasingly well known, so much so that other local shows are beginning to consult Briercliffe gardening experts about the provision of judges etc.

The small group of people who have organised the Show are to be thanked for their efforts yet again. It is nice to see that some youngsters are helping 'on the day'. Incidentally, Ken Duerden informed us that we made a small profit again this year.

The Red Rose Awards

Many members will recall that, several years ago, the Society set up its 'Red Rose' Scheme. Two types of Award were made - plaques for improvements to buildings and environmental improvements, and scrolls for other achievements.

The Society has had difficulty in obtaining plaques but this problem is now resolved - we think. So, if you have any ideas for Awards, please let a member of the Committee have the details. We hope to be in a position to make some Awards in the Spring of 1998.

The Nelson Bus

The Briercliffe Society was quick to see that if the bus route to Nelson was removed it would be sorely missed by Briercliffe people. A petition was drawn up and sent off immediately to the County Council, and this, together with other petitions, has resulted in the route being saved. Stagecoach, which took control of Burnley and Pendle a year or so ago, has decided that it no longer wants to continue the service, but thankfully, Border Buses of Burnley, has stepped in.

The new timetable, which includes a change in the route, has just been published. It is available from the Post Office in Harle Syke and Messrs. Hindles, the newsagents in Queen Street.

Parish Map: Help Requested

The Parish Map, which the Briercliffe Society helped to finance, has been such a success that many other communities have sought our help when they have decided to produce a Parish Map of their own.

Carol and Roger have already addressed the CPRE and now Soroptomists International of Wigan, who are leading an ambitious group, 'Parish Map: Project for the Millennium' have asked for our help. They plan to make a Parish Map for each of the 15 districts which, together, make up Wigan. At the moment we are not sure how we can respond and we are awaiting further information. It could be that the interest in our Map is because not only is it a beautiful work of Art, but it is rare among such projects because it has made a profit.

The Briercliffe Parish Map, which was called 'Around Briercliffe', has been out of print for some time. The Parish Council, at its October meeting, decided to support the reprinting of the Map. The Briercliffe Society has made a decision to do the same. It is hoped that a second edition will be available before Christmas. The price is likely to be between £4 & £5.

'Memories of Briercliffe Folk'

This is the name of an event to be held at Briercliffe Library, Jubilee Street, Harle Syke, on Monday 24th November 1997 between 2.30pm and 4.30pm. The event is subtitled 'Fun with Photos' and you are invited to share in 'memories galore' by bringing your old photographs. "Who do you recognise?" "What year did this happen?" - these are the type of questions likely to be asked. Tea/coffee and scones will be served. The cost is £1.00 per person - and it should be money well spent.

Towneley High School Brass Band

Members of the Society will doubtless remember the Musical Evening, arranged by the Society, in which the 'stars' were the youngsters of Towneley High School Brass Band. They gave us a remarkable performance and everyone had an excellent evening.

The Committee has been approached, by the School, informing us that the 'Friends of Towneley High School Brass Band' has been formed. Its aims are to 'assist as many pupils as possible to participate in the Band'. For a minimum of £10 you can become a 'Friend' and, in return, you will receive a termly Newsletter telling you all about the Band plus an invitation to attend an annual Friend's concert. Forms can be obtained from Roger Frost.

It seems an excellent scheme. Musical instruments are often beyond the pockets of those interested in joining the Band, and unfortunately these days expenditure of this kind is beyond School budgets also. Your support would be much appreciated.

Shopping in the 1870's

Our last look at shopping in Briercliffe was merely a glance at what was happening in the 1860's. This was because records are few for this period, but it was also a challenging time. The traditional industry, that of hand loom weaving, was in terminal decline and agriculture was having to compete with cheaper areas such as the Fylde of Lancashire. It must be remembered that the railways were capable of bringing in produce from further afield.

At the same time the 'Cotton Famine' caused several Briercliffe manufacturing concerns great difficulties. The Harle Syke Mill only just avoided bankruptcy, the Smith's mill in Lane Bottom was regularly on short time and Extwistle Mill, though it continued to the 1880's, never really recovered from the trauma of the 1860'd.

The population of both Briercliffe and Extwistle, was also in decline and, in conditions such a these, the retail trade suffered considerably.

The year 1871 saw the publication of another Census and this, together with other published material such as Trade Directories, gives us a good starting point.

Some observations should be made. Harle Syke still did not exist, as a village, at this time. The mill had been built and so had South View. This latter is the row of houses on Burnley Road (the 'odd' side so far as house numbers are concerned) and directly opposite what is now Jubilee Street. When built South View must have had a lovely view across fields to Jackwell and beyond to the river and Extwistle Hill.

One of our shop-keepers lived in South View. We have met her before, Mary Altham, the mother of Abraham Altham, who, at this time, was just starting out on the career that was to bring him fame and fortune. It is likely that Mary's shop remained at the cross-roads in Haggate and that she lived in the new house at South View.

She is described as a 'grocer' and she was joined by other grocers at Haggate, namely Mary Edmondson (who was 87 and still in business), Jams Halstead and John Edmondson (who was described as 'retired grocer' so perhaps we should not include him).

Also in Haggate, which, remember, remained the centre of population in Briercliffe, were two butchers. These were Thomas Holden, who was a lodger at the Hare and Hounds, and Robert Thornton, but I'm not sure where he lived. It is known, though, that there was at least one slaughter house in Haggate and it is likely that the site was the rear of the last house in Halifax Road (even side) just before the Chapel gates. Another site is in Chapel Row, the cottages opposite.

Haggate, by this time, also had a tailor, one Robert Banks. At one time the Banks family lived at the now demolished Folly Row which used to make up the northerly boundary of the former village green at Haggate. Unfortunately, the green was built on, in the last century, one of the buildings being the Reading Rooms. I am not sure which house was occupied by Robert Banks.

Most of the other businesses in Briercliffe were in Lane Bottom. They were Grace Leaver (grocer, possibly at Higher Buildings), Ann Heap (grocer), Robert Thornton (grocer), William Kippax (grocer) and John W Sellars (who was described as a 'grocer and weaver'). At Holt Hill John Catlow kept another grocer's shop.

Lane Bottom also had a 'bread baker', William Hartley, who was possibly supplied with barm by 'yeast dealer', John Preston, who was a lodger in South View. I am surprised that there appears to be only one baker. It is possible that Mary Altham was also a baker as well as a grocer as it is known that she combined the two at one time.

Only one baker, for what was still a fairly large population, begs another question or two; where was the bakery? what did he make? how was it made?

I was in Grindleton a few weeks ago and I came across a large house with the name 'The Bakery'. It was clear that this building had been a shop of some kind and even if it didn't have a name plate I could have worked out that it was a bakery, but where was the bakery in Lane Bottom? There do not appear to be any clues 'on the ground' and those that exist in the Census are not convincing.

What was made is no easier to answer but I suspect it wasn't just bread. Surely, William Hartley would have made oat cakes which were still quite popular at this time. There appear to have been at least two kinds. The first many of you will remember as 'hard' of the 'stew and hard' type. We don't seem to see much 'hard' around these days but I used to love it with or without 'stew' (a kind of potted beef, lovely and meaty in a rich jelly).

The other kind of oat cake was something like a soft 'oven bottom' (or 'barm cake' to some). This was realy oat bread which was usually mixed with wheat flour. It made a very tasty mouthful, especially when fresh out of the oven.

I'm sure that he must have made these together with pies and cakes perhaps, but how were they made? We can be pretty sure that William Hartley used a coal-fired range. This had replaced the wood-fired clay oven some years before and not to everybody's taste. Bread made with wood tastes very different to bread made with coal (or coke) just as this tastes very different from bread made in a gas or electric oven. I write with some authority on this because I'm sure I recall Driver's of Queen street replacing their coal-fired ovens and people saying that the bread tasted different.

Back to our shops. John Banks is described as a 'tailor' living at South View. James Greenwood, of Extwistle Cottage, was described as a 'shop-keeper' (more than likely a grocer) and there was another 'shop-keeper' at Pasture Gap, one of the alternative names for what we call Robin Cottages. I suppose that Henry Nuttall, who lived there, was another grocer who will have also supplied the many walkers who made their way to Catlow Bottoms. Lastly we have the following entry, Halstead Halstead, 'grocer's porter', who lived at Haggate. It is likely that he delivered orders.

Next time we will look at the retail businesses of the period 1875-1900. Harle Syke was under construction in the 1880's and this changed considerably.

(*If any of you possess old recipes for such things as stew and hard, oat cakes, oat bread and even local recipes for bread and cakes I'd be pleased to hear from you. What about having a Briercliffe Food Evening? It could be a reet good do!)
Roger