Location | |
---|---|
Location | Pateley Bridge |
County | North Yorkshire |
Country | England |
Coordinates | 54°05′41″N1°45′22″W / 54.09472°N 1.75611°W |
Production | |
Products | Building stone, flags |
History | |
Opened | By 1351 |
Closed | 1915 |
Scotgate Ash Quarry or Scot Gate Ash Quarry, [note 1] was the collective name for extensive quarry workings that were on the northern edge of Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire, England. When the quarry was last in use, the area was in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and was described as being the largest quarry in West Yorkshire. [note 2] [1]
After 1872, building stone from Scotgate Ash was exported from the quarry site firstly by incline into the town of Pateley Bridge and thence by train on the Nidd Valley Railway (NVR). Because of its durability and hard-wearing nature, Scotgate Ash stone was used in building the platforms at many mainline railway stations in the United Kingdom, as well as being in demand as a building stone, not only in the locality, [2] but also at a national level with many significant buildings in London using Scotgate Ash stone.
Between the early 14th century and 1915, Scotgate Ash Quarry above the northern edge of Pateley Bridge, supplied Dimension stone (which was known commercially as Delph Stone) [3] that was used in many buildings in Yorkshire and London. [4] The stone was particularly prized as an edging stone for railway platforms and was used at York, Scarborough, Holyhead, London Victoria and London Paddington railway stations. [5] [6]
The Metcalfe family, who were landholders in the locality, had a major stake in Scot Gate Ash Quarry and by 1880, because of their influence, the quarry was the largest in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The Metcalfe's installed a standard gauge inclined tramway in 1872 to transport the stone down the hill to the goods sidings west of Pateley Bridge railway station. [7] The incline lowered the stone over a height of 600 feet (180 m) and over a distance of 3,900 feet (1,200 m). [8] The incline had many escape routes and, like many inclines in Britain, the loaded wagons moving downhill forced empty wagons to ascend the incline on the other line. [9] The incline bottom connected directly into the NVR sidings with an additional spur onto the Nidd Valley Light Railway. The incline crossed Corporation Road in the town before joining the branchline sidings at Millfield Street. [10] The opening of the incline allowed stone to be transported into Pateley Bridge in a matter of minutes instead of several hours by horse and cart. [11]
The quarry produced flags and stone, which were from the Libishaw Sandstone bed. This stone was also used in the building of Scar House Reservoir further up the valley. [12] Libishaw Sandstone is described as "fine to medium-grained, micaeous, feldspathic, thin bedded sandstone of variable colour (buff, brown, pale yellow, and grey) was quarried widely in the C19 on the north side of Pateley Bridge". [13] Blocks and flags could be as large as 16 square feet (1.5 m2) and 16 inches (410 mm) deep. [14] Some of the stone was won by mining rather than surface quarrying and whilst spoil heaps are still in evidence, any mining shafts have been filled in. [15] By 1889, seven distinct working areas were spread out across the hill above Pateley Bridge, all operating as Scotgate Ash Quarry. [16]
The arrival of the railway in Pateley Bridge in 1862, afforded the quarry owners the ability to export the stone from the dale for the first time. Scotgate Ash stone was used in building the National Gallery, the National Safe Deposit Bank and Kensington Museum in London and the government works at Aldershot, Enfield, Plymouth, Portsmouth and York. It was also used extensively for many buildings in Harrogate, the Station Hotel in York, [17] [18] and for post offices in Newcastle, Sunderland and Durham. [19] Other uses included steps for public buildings and edging stones for dockyards and harbours [20] because of its high resistance to crushing. [16]
At the height of the quarrying operations in the 1890s, the quarry workings stretched out along the northern flank of Pateley Bridge for over 0.62 miles (1 km). Five steam cranes were in operation and the workings employed over 500 men and boys. [21] In October 1892, the valley suffered from extreme rainfall which caused huge rockfalls in the quarry area and the resultant flooding destroyed the incline. [22]
English Heritage have described the site remains as "striking". The incline survives (and is shown on mapping) along with various buildings (the manager's office, drum house for the incline, etc.) and a reservoir at the eastern edge of the site. [23] [24] Access to the site is easily available as it, and the former incline course, are both on public footpaths. [25]
Darley is a linear village in Nidderdale in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. The population as at the 2011 Census is 1,332 and is included in the civil parish of Darley and Menwith. The village extends for 1 mile east from a junction with the B6451 road. The western end of the village is known as Darley Head and the eastern end as The Holme. Darley has won many local and national 'Britain in Bloom' awards.
Skipton and Ripon is a constituency in North Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Julian Smith, a Conservative.
Pateley Bridge is a market town in Nidderdale in the county and district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies on the River Nidd. It is in the Yorkshire Dales and just outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Greenhow is a village in North Yorkshire, England, often referred to as Greenhow Hill. The term how derives from the Old Norse word haugr meaning a hill and a mound, so Greenhow literally means 'Green's hill or mound'.
Nidderdale, historically also known as Netherdale, is one of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It is the upper valley of the River Nidd, which flows south underground and then along the dale, forming several reservoirs including the Gouthwaite Reservoir, before turning east and eventually joining the River Ouse.
Birstwith is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Nidderdale, and is situated on the River Nidd. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 756 and increased to 868 based on the 2011 Census.
The River Nidd is a tributary of the River Ouse in the English county of North Yorkshire. In its first few miles it is dammed three times to create Angram Reservoir, Scar House Reservoir and Gouthwaite Reservoir, which attract a total of around 150,000 visitors a year. The Nidd can overflow the reservoirs, flooding the caves in the valley. In such cases the river overflows into the normally dry river bed past Lofthouse through to Gouthwaite Reservoir. The Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust YDRT has a remit to conserve the ecological condition of the River Nidd from its headwaters to the Humber estuary.
Killinghall is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. The civil parish population taken at the 2011 census was 4,132.
Glasshouses is a small village in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, England. It lies 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of Pateley Bridge on the east side of Nidderdale and has a recently rebuilt river bridge across the River Nidd. In 2019 it had an estimated population of 536.
Nidd Gorge makes up a section of the River Nidd in North Yorkshire, England, in which the river enters a deep ravine with sheer tree-covered valley sides. The river as a whole flows from its source near Great Whernside in Nidderdale, to its confluence with the River Ouse near Nun Monkton. Nidd Gorge makes up approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) of the entire length of the river, and stretches from the now defunct Nidd viaduct at Bilton in Harrogate to Grimbald Bridge, just south of Knaresborough.
Bouthwaite is a hamlet in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated in Nidderdale, to the north of Pateley Bridge, close to the village of Ramsgill. The Nidderdale Way and Six Dales Trail both pass through the hamlet.
Nidd Valley Light Railway was a light railway in upper Nidderdale in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was owned by Bradford Corporation Waterworks Department and the corporation also operated its public passenger services. Power & Traction Ltd of London obtained a Light Railway Order for the 6.5-mile (10.5 km) railway from Pateley Bridge to Lofthouse in 1900, but these powers were taken over by Bradford Corporation. A contract to build Angram Reservoir was awarded to John Best & Son in 1903, and he also won the contract to build the public railway and a 6.5-mile (10.5 km) private extension to the reservoir site. This was initially built to 3 ft gauge but was converted to standard gauge by 1907, when the public railway opened. Best had his own locomotives, and Bradford Corporation equipped the public railway with second hand locomotives and carriages from the Metropolitan Railway.
The Nidd Valley Railway was a 11.5-mile (18.5 km) long single-track branch railway line that ran along the valley of the River Nidd in North Yorkshire, England. Built by the North Eastern Railway, it ran from Ripley Junction, on the Harrogate to Ripon Line, to Pateley Bridge via five intermediate stations, Ripley Valley, Hampsthwaite, Birstwith, Darley, and Dacre.
The Nidderdale Greenway is a 4-mile (6.4 km) path that runs between Harrogate and Ripley in North Yorkshire, England. It uses a former railway line that ran between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge as its course. The route connects to other cycle paths including the Way of the Roses.
The River Burn is a river that flows wholly within North Yorkshire, England. The river starts as several small streams on Masham Moor and drains Colsterdale flowing eastwards before emptying into the River Ure just south of Masham. Conservation work on removing a weir, and introducing fish to the river in 2016, has meant that salmon have been recorded spawning in the river for the first time in over 100 years.
Knaresborough Viaduct is a viaduct in the North Yorkshire town of Knaresborough, England. The viaduct carries the Harrogate line over the River Nidd in the town. The viaduct was supposed to have opened in 1848, but the first construction collapsed into the river very near to completion, which necessitated a new viaduct and delayed the opening of the line through Knaresborough by three years.
Wath-in-Nidderdale railway station, was one of two intermediate stations on the Nidd Valley Light Railway, in Wath-in-Nidderdale, Yorkshire, England. The station was opened in September 1907, and closed to passengers in January 1930, however the line remained open until 1936 to transport freight to and from the reservoirs in the Upper Nidd Valley.
Lofthouse-in-Nidderdale railway station was the northernmost regular passenger terminus on the Nidd Valley Light Railway (NVLR), in Lofthouse, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire and now in North Yorkshire, England. The station was built as part of Bradford Corporation's programme of reservoir building in the Upper Nidd Valley. The station opened in 1904 and was closed to passengers in 1930. The station was renamed Lofthouse-in-Nidderdale railway station in 1907 to avoid confusion with Lofthouse and Outwood railway station, also in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Pateley Bridge railway station (NVLR) was a railway station serving the southern terminus of the Nidd Valley Light Railway, in Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire, England. The railway was built to enable the construction of reservoirs in the Upper Nidd Valley by the Bradford Corporation. The station opened to passengers in September 1907, and closed in January 1930, however, the adjacent line remained open for the transfer of goods traffic until 1937.
High and Low Bishopside is a civil parish in Nidderdale in the Harrogate district, in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It includes the town of Pateley Bridge and the villages of Glasshouses and Wilsill, the southern part of Wath and the hamlets of Blazefield, and Fellbeck. The parish touches Bewerley, Dacre, Eavestone, Fountains Earth, Hartwith cum Winsley, Laverton, Sawley, Stonebeck Down and Warsill. In 2011 the parish had a population of 2,210. There are 39 listed buildings in High and Low Bishopside. The parish's council is called "Pateley Bridge Town Council".