The Piece Hall, Halifax, December 2013.

The Piece Hall in Halifax is the last remaining cloth hall in the United Kingdom, built as a place for trading pieces of cloth the hall has seen many changes during it's long history, including a recent multi million pound refurbishment to turn the hall in to a modern multi purpose leisure and shopping destination. And to think in 1972 people on the local authority wanted to demolish the building. Below are a number of pictures i took with my Samsung Galaxy Tablet on December 1 2013. This was prior to the Piece Hall's transformation.

The North Gate, this and the South Gate were the original entrances
to the Hall, the West Gate being added in 1785 and the east Gate during the
hall's recent refurbishment.

The former cobbled courtyard, with the spire of Square Church visible.
The hall has offered a number of concerts since re-opening, the stage in it's 
pre refurbishment history offered token entertainment.

The Piece Hall was opened on the 1st January 1779 as a place for people to trade cloth they had produced. As the cloth industry became larger and more industrialised the hall saw a decline in traders and was purchased by the Halifax Corporation in 1868 with conversion to a wholesale market following soon after. This is how the remained until 1971 when the wholesale market was dispersed and demolition of the hall was considered. Over the following years the hall underwent a refurbishment and was reopened as a tourist destination on the 3rd July 1976 including shops, museum and an art gallery. There was also an open air market added during this era before once again declining visitor numbers had the now Calderdale Council considering the best way forward for the building. A plan was put together with funding from various sources to refurbish the hall and it closed to the public on the 16th January 2014 to undergo a 3 year long refurb. The hall was reopened on the 1st August 2017 (Yorkshire Day) and provides restaurants, bars, shops and live entertainment including music concerts and has been the starting point for the Tour de Yorkshire.

Granted Grade I listed status on the 3rd November 1954, the reasons given for this were as follows

Historic interest
Rarity. It is the only remaining cloth hall in Yorkshire
Architectural interest
Architectural layout.

The hall is overlooked by Beacon Hill and the Square Church spire, which is all that remains of the church damaged by fire and partially demolished in the 1970's. The spire now forms part of the recently opened Halifax Central Library.

The hall also has a couple of supernatural stories linked with it, don't all old buildings. One of the units in the south west corner of the hall is said to be haunted by the ghost of a young girl known as Amy. The TV show Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns also broadcast from the hall in March 2006. In a segment of the show broadcast from the cellars at the hall, he claimed to have made contact with spirits known as Mary and another one known as Joseph. Another story from the hall is of the Hand Prints. Many local legends spring from these, at the westgate entrance to the hall are a pair of hand prints on the wall, sadly although still visible not as much as they once were. A couple of the more popular theories are that a local with was responsible for the prints, or the more well known story is that they were put there by a murderer as he was making his escape.

I took the above from my previous post about the hall dated October 19 2019, below are more pictured from December 2013.

The halls balcony areas featured a number of shops in 2013, today
there are still a number shops, eateries and bars surrounding the
courtyard. This was the western area of the hall.

Looking across the then cobbled courtyard towards the south
western corner.

The west gate entrance to the hall, this was added in 1785.

The south eastern corner of the hall, the South Gate seen in the
middle of the picture, this is often used as the halls main access
point, the bridge raises up to allow larger vehicle entry.

The balcony area that surrounds the courtyard, this was taken from the
south eastern corner looking west. 

Artwork in one of the halls corner stairwells.

The north western corner of the Piece Hall.

Looking north east across the cobbled courtyard. The north gate
was once considered the halls main entrance, this was changed
in 1785 when the west gate opened.

The halls north gate seen across the courtyard.

The Piece Hall's South Gate, the hall and area around the gate was
recently filmed as part of a Marvel's Secret Invasion production, doubling as an
Eastern European Country

One of the halls corner stairwells.

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All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Hebden Bridge, Water and Bridges November 2013

Hebden Bridge is a township in the Calder Valley made up of the townships of Erringden, Heptonstall, Stansfield and Wadsworth. The town is where the River Calder is joined by the Colden and Hebden waters, these waters helping to grow the town with the emergence of the cotton spinning industries. Originally the town was a fording point across Hebden Water, This was replaced by a packhorse bridge in 1510 and is how the town got its name. The Rochdale Canal arrived in the 1790's and the town was included in the new railway which opened in 1841.

Hebden Bridge's cotton spinning industries declined during the 1950's and 60's and the town became known as a hippy town during the 1970's when an influx of artists, writers, photographers, musicians, green, new age types moved in to the area converting many of the unused buildings in to squats. The town has in recent years become a popular tourist destination and become popular with people living there but commuting to work in the nearby cities of Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield.

The pictures below were taken on the 16 November 2013 using a Samsung Galaxy Tablet, they can also be seen on Clickasnap higher resolution and un-watermarked by clicking any image, link should open in another window.

West End Bridge.
Built in 1772 along with the new turnpike as a replacement for the old
packhorse bridge further north. The bridge was widened
in 1835.

Weir on Hebden Water.
The weir will have been used to power the nearby
Cotton Spinning mills.

Hebden Water.
Taken looking south towards West End Bridge from the top of the
Old Packhorse Bridge.

Nutclough Mills.
Built alongside Hebden Water in 1791.

The Old Packhorse Bridge.
Pictured from St George's Bridge along Hebden Water.
The fording point used to be along this stretch that the bridge was built
to replace. This bridge opened in 1510 replaced an earlier timber bridge.
That bridge was somewhere between where I was stood and the 
old Packhorse Bridge.

The Old Packhorse Bridge and White Swan,
The bridge was built in 1510, it is still accessible to pedestrians.
The White Swan opened in the 1770's and was originally known as
Bridge End.

St George's Bridge and Bridge Mill.
Bridge Mill also known as St George's Square was built as a corn mill
in the 14th Century, it is ones of Hebden Bridge's oldest buildings.
Discussions were had in the 1970's about demolishing the mill but
thankfully this came to nothing, it is now home to a number of shops and cafe's.

St George's Bridge and the Shoulder of Mutton.
St George's Bridge opened in 1893 at a cost of £1350, it is
of cast-iron construction, Grade II listed and has been modified
in 1911 and 1961.

The weir at Nutclough.
The weir was most probably built to power Nutclough Mills which
overlook Hebden Water here.

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Above the Pyrenees

 Above the Pyrenees is a set of 5 pictures taken in July 2014 whilst on a flight. The Pyrenees are a mountain range that straddle the border between France and Spain, the Principality of Andorra also exist within the mountain range. The area I was over when taking the pictures is known as the Natural Park of Posets-Maladeta which is in the Huesca, Aragon region of Northern Spain.

The pictures were taken on Thursday 17th July 2014 using a Polaroid is2132 bridge camera. They can be seen below and on ClickASnap where they are full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

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Clicking any image should open a link in another window to the version displayed on Clickasnap.

All pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Famous Scot's Cigarette Cards (1933) Part 1

 Famous Scot's part 1 is a video slideshow I made for YouTube featuring a collection of cigarette trading cards released in 1933 by Mitchells Cigarettes. Mitchells was a brand of Imperial Tobacco having merged with them in 1901. The set was to celebrate many of Scotlands most famous sons and daughters.

The following images are included in part 1 of this video, they include

Allan Ramsey born in Leadhills, Lanarkshire was a poet, playwright,
publisher librarian and impresario of enlightenment Edinburgh.
15 October 1686 - 7 January 1758 aged 71

Annabella Drummond was born in Stobhall Nr Perth, she
 was Queen Consort of Scotland, Marrying Robert the III
in 1367. She died at Scone Abbey, Perthshire, Scotland.
c1350 - October 1401 aged 51

David Hume, born in Edinburgh was a enlightenment philosopher, historian,
economist, librarian and essayist. He died in
Edinburgh, Scotland.
7 May 1711 - 25 August 1776 aged 65

David Leslie, 1st Lord Newark was a Cavalry Officer who fought
for Sweden in the 30 years War, he was to return to Scotland as the
Bishops War was ending, he also took up arms in the English and
Scottish Civil Wars.
c1600 - c1682 aged 81 -82

Admiral Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan born in Dundee was
a British admiral who defeated the Dutch Fleet off the coast of Camperdown,
Holland on the 11October 1797. He died at Cornhill-on-Tweed,
Northumberland, England.
1 July 1731 - 4 August 1804 aged 73

Field Marshall Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig was born in Edinburgh. He
was a senior British Army officer who commanded the British Expeditionary
Force on the Western Front in World War I from 1915 until the wars end.
He died at 21 Prince's Gate, London, England.
19 June 1861 - 29 January 1928 aged 66

George Buchanan, born in Killearn, Stirlingshire was a historian and
humanist scholar. He died in Edinburgh.
February 1506 - 28 September 1582 aged 76

John Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount Dundee, born in Glen Ogilvie,
Angus was a soldier, nobleman, tory and episcopalian. He died at Killiecrankie,
Perthshire, Scotland.
21 July 1648 - 27 July 1689 aged 41

James 1st was born in Dunfermline Abbey. He was King of Scotland from
4 April 1406 until he was assassinated at Blackfriars, Perth in a failed coup
by his uncle Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl.
25 July 1394 - 21 February 1437 aged 42

James Thomson was a poet and playwright, who wrote the lyrics to
"Rule, Britannia!" He died in Richmond upon Thames, England.
11 September 1700 - 27 August 1748 aged 47

Jane Gordon nee Maxwell, Duchess of Gordon was born at Myrton Castle, Wigtown.
She was a Tory hostess who with her husband Alexander and sonGeorge founded
the Gordon Highlanders Infantry Regiment. She died at
Piccadilly, London.
c1748 - 14 April 1812 aged 53 - 54

Anne Macintosh was the first female to hold the rank of Colonel
in Scotland and also a military leader during the Jacobite rising of 1745.
She died in Leith, Scotland.
c1723 - c1784 aged 60-61

Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine was born in Edinburgh and became
a lawyer and politician. He was Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain between 
1806 - 1807. He died in Almondell, Scotland.
10 January 1750 - 17 November 1823 aged 73

George Augustus Eliot, 1st Baron Heathfield born at Stobs Castle,
Roxburghshire. He was a British Army Officer who was most notable for
commanding the Gibraltar garrison during the siege of
Gibraltar 1779 - 1783. He died in Aachen, Germany.
25 December 1717 - 6 July 1790 aged 72

James Graham, 1st Marquis of Montrose was a nobleman, soldier, poet,
lord lieutenant, viceroy and general captain of Scotland. He
died by hanging at Mercat Cross, Edinburgh, Scotland.
25 October 1612 - 21 May 1650 aged 37

Mary Stuart, Mary Queen of Scots was born at Linlithgow Palace, she
was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until she was forced
to abdicate on the 24 July 1567. She Died in Fotheringhay Castle,
Northamptonshire, England.
8 December 1542 - 8 February 1587 aged 44

Robert Burns also known as Rabbie Burns was born in Alloway,
Ayrshire. He was a poet and lyricist and is considered Scotlands Greatest
Scot. Burns Night is celebrated annually on his birthday. he died
in Dumfires, Scotland.
25 January 1759 - 21 July 1796 aged 37

Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh. He was known as a 
novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer, some of his most famous
include Treasure Island, Kidnapped and strange case of Dr Jekyll
Mr Hyde. He died at Vailima, Samoa.
13 November 1850 - 3 December 1894 aged 44

Robert 1 of Scotland, Robert the Bruce was born in Turnberry Castle,
Ayrshire. He was King of the Scots from 25 March 1306 until 7 June 1329.
He is a national hero who led the Scots in the First War of Scottish
Independence against England. He died at the Manor of
Cardross, Dunbartonshire, Scotland.
11 July 1274 - 7 June 1329 aged 54

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet was born in Kirriemuir. He
was a novelist and playwright famous for the work of Peter Pan.
He died in London, England.
9 May 1860 - 19 June 1937 aged 77

Sir John Moore born in Glasgow was also known as Moore of Corunna, he
was best known for his military training reforms and death at the Battle of
Corunna, Galicia, Spain.
13 November 1761 - 16 January 1809 aged 47

Sir Ralph Abercromby was born in Menstrie. He was a soldier and
politician who served at MP for Clackmannanshire, Commander in Chief,
Ireland and Governor of Trinidad. He died at Alexandria, Egypt.
7 October 1734 - 28 March 1801 aged 66

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a noted novelist, poet, playwright and
historian who was born in Edinburgh. He died at Abbotsford, Scotland.
15 August 1771 - 21 September 1832 aged 61

Sir William Wallace was born in the village of Elderslie, Renfrewshire, he was a
Knight who along with Andrew Moray lead the Scottish Army in
defeating the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, during the First
war of Scottish Independence. He was hung, drawn and quartered for
high treason by the English. He Died in London, England.
c1270 - 23 August 1305 aged 34-35

Tobias George Smollett was born in Dalquhurn, part of modern day Renton.
He was a poet and author famous for the novels, The Adventures of Roderick
Random,  The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle and The Expedition
of Humphry Clinker. He died in Leghorn, Tuscany.
19 March 1721 - 17 September 1771 aged 50

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Starfish Bunker Remains, Sowerby

 During the Blitz, British cities were taking a heavy bombardment and November 1940 Coventry was almost completely destroyed which led to the involvement of engineer and retired Air Ministry officer Colonel John Turner. He was tasked with expanding his "K" and "Q" sites which had been developed to resemble factories airfields to "SF" sites to resemble nearby major cities. The "SF" was for special fire but a site near Bristol was given the name Starfish and this stuck for all sites from then. One of these sites was developed on the moors above Sowerby as a decoy for the cities of Leeds and Manchester as well as the nearby railway goods yards at Greetland and major railway junctions at Todmorden, Halifax and Rochdale.

The sites were built so that during the day the resembled farm buildings. The surrounding area was then covered with metal troughs hidden by vegetation which were linked to tanks filled with oil and water. The troughs were also filled with creosote and coal and when in operation this see the water released in to the hot pans approx. 15 mins after lighting to create a large burst of flame and explosion to confuse enemy bombers.

The bunker was a 2 room control area entered by a short passage protected by a blast wall. The bunker and blast wall remain in good condition despite being over 70 years old when these pictures were taken. There is nothing else nearby to give a clue to the history of the site.

The pictures were taken on 16 June 2015 using a Polaroid IS2132 bridge camera. There are a total of 7 which can be seen below and on ClickASnap where they are full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

Inside the right side control room.

The left side control room.

Taken stood atop the bunker looking in the direction of Lancashire.
The blast wall was in excellent condition.

The only entrance / exit to the bunker. I imagine it could have
got quite claustrophobic inside.

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All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.