LIFESTYLE-Magazine-Winter-2016

History comes to life along the Stanhill Heritage Trail review by Sarah Rigg

T

he rich history of a vibrant village and its remarkable residents has been brought to life in a heritage trail. Stanhill Village near Oswaldtwistlewas home tomany inspiring figures –most notably the inventor James Hargreaves of ‘Spinning Jenny’ fame.The carpenter and weaver’s invention is creditedwith sparking the Industrial Revolution, using superior methods for spinning coon. And nowboth Hargreaves and other ground-breaking people fromhistory will be celebrated on the neweducation and tourism trail. Starting and finishing in the picturesque village of Stanhill, the gentlewalkweaves 3.5miles through luscious landscape overlooking theWest Penninemoors. With the help of £32,300 of Heritage Loery Funding and other locally raisedmoney, the project has installed presentation boards along the trail. Each is linked to a custom built websitewhich visitors can access via their smart phones or computers in the comfort of their homes. The story told is not just of James Hargreaves but also of famous local people such as WilliamBuryWestall, theVictorian novelist who lived at Stanhill Hall;William ‘Parsley’ Peel the famous calico print pioneer and sponsor of Hargreaves; the former PoWcamp at Knuzden and the general social and industrial history of the area. The Stanhill heritage trail was the brainchild of Richard Hooper of the local Residents and Fete Commiee. His co-coordinator on the project was fellowmember Andy Barnes. Andy recalls howhe first became involvedwith the project: “One aernoon Richard knocked onmy door and said ‘I’ve got an idea, but I need your help tomake it work.’ We both felt the story of James Hargreaves was verymuch under told – the industrial textile revolution would not have taken placewhen it did, as it did, without this man.” Richard adds: “It was quite a lengthy process going through the loery funding process. Lots of checks along theway to see if your goal is achievable and that you are a sound and robust organisation.” As we set offon the trail at Stanhill Memorial Gardens, passing James Hargreaves’ former coage, we come to a conservation area of the villagewhere Richard points out some prey 18th century weavers’ coages. “We’ve got census data on all of these,” says Richard. “This first coage housed 11 people, two parents and nine children and all the children would all beworking in themill.” A lile further past the grand Hall and the village school we take a gentle climb towards Stanhill Roadwith and stop to reflect on the stunning vista taking in the Leeds and Liverpool canal. “Right nowwe arewalking on a pathwe laid by some volunteers,” says Richard, “It is standing up really well. Some parts were fairly inaccessible and wouldn’t have been suitable for the trail otherwise.” Richard and Andy hope to put Stanhill on themap aracting schools, coach parties and tourists as amust-see heritage site. Andy adds: “There are six key sites to the tour andwewalked around it all quite a few times to develop the trail.We also held a workshop for all the senior people in the village to see if they could add fragments to the story and gained an insight intowhat lifewas like back in the earliest part of the 20th century in the village.” Richard adds: “We’ve recorded interviews which we are going to put on thewebsitewith leers andmemorabilia. So our next ambition is to build up a picture of Stanhill over the two centuries. But particularly over the past 50/60 years – what it was like to live here, what it was like to eat and go to school.

“If you go back to Hargreaves time it was very, very hard. Oatmeal was themain dish with root vegetables and a lile bit of poultry theymight have reared themselves. People actually starved up in Belthorn throughout thewinter months because they couldn’t get food supplies; so it was a very grimand hard environment for themall back then.” Richardwas a lileworried that younger walkersmight find the trail dull, so the interactive information boards and family friendly stories have beenwoven into the tour. “The children we have had on the trail are amazed by the same things like the fact that nine children would have had to share a bed back in those days – with no iPads!That usually elicits a ‘wow’”. At the former PoWcamp at the highest point of Stanhill Road, Andy reflects. “Looking down at theM65 from this vantage point, if you rewind to 1939/1940 look at the commanding view, you will seewhy it is quite significant. DuringWWII it was where the anti-aircrabaeries were set up for the anti-aircraguns to aack.” When thewar came to an end a lot of the prisoners in Stanhill were repatriated. Some stayed towork and redevelop the towns and villages that had been destroyed.They gradually developed relationships with the local community. “When things had seled down and they were free to leave, many didn’t want to go back home. So quite a lot stayed in the UK andmarried and continued their lives here.” This fascinatingwalk is best taken as a guided tour, which can be pre-booked. For thosewanting to do the full three and a half mile trial allow between one to two hours. Many of the six key points can be reached by car for thosewhowish to knowmore about Stanhill and its history. But for me the jewel in the crown is a working replica of the Spinning Jenny, built to the original design by a local resident in 2016; only two hundred yards away fromwhere Hargreaves built the original in 1764.

Stanhill Village near Owaldtwistle was home

to many inspiring figures

MainPicture: Walking the StanhillHeritageTrail. Insets: Leafletcelebrating the trail.Downloadyoursat www.stanhillvillage.co.uk

For more information visit www.stanhillvillage.co.uk

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