What hidden secrets did we find. Railways & WW II

It’s a sewage filter bed, the metal upright is the bit that spins around spreading the water over the filter bed, through long metal arms

Live and worked nearby. During WW2, the grandmother of a friend of mine lived further down the railway line, near to its junction with the Leeds/Manchester line. She told of the Bomb Train. During the night, a long train loaded with many tons of munitions would slowly go down the line, on its way to Liverpool Docks. Her dad said that if the train was ever bombed by the Luftwaffe, it would take out the whole of the town! She couldn’t sleep until it went past her house and faded away into the distance.

Interesting the railway engine was called the Tam O' Shanther ... a famous poem by Rabbie Burns about witches and warlocks. A Tam o' Shanter is also a Scottish hat with a bobble in the middle! Another fascinating video, thanks guys.

"You wouldn't think you were just outside Rochdale... because the place is beautiful" :-) Enjoyed this very much, the history and the scenery. Thank you

The circular pit (shown at 23:50) was where the flags were placed, in the centre was a post which supported a horizontal beam. attached to the underside of the beam were heavy stones, the beam was rotated and the stones on the beam rubbed the flags smooth. Water and sand was added to assist in the smoothing process.

A fulling mill didn’t remove lanolin, or at least that’s not the only or major reason for fulling. Scouring removed excess grease and was done before weaving….you couldn’t weave using greasy woolen thread cos it would gum up the works of the looms. Scoured wool tho would work in the machine looms, however freshly woven cloth wasn’t really cloth until it was fulled. Fulling took a new made fabric and “knit” together the warp and weft to make a solid cloth, instead of just a lot of interlaced threads….fulling, “filled” or fulled out the cloth. It did this using hot water, and lots of it, and hammers that pounded the wet textile. The combined wet heat and agitation on a woolen fabric slightly felted the cloth. Hand weavers do the same process today by washing their cloth using the same principles. The fabric once “fulled” was stretched out to dry using hooks, known as “tenterhooks” so it would dry flat and true.

Martin how do you and your team always stay on top of your game. You get so much information in your videos -- with a bit of humor -- and make them so enjoyable to watch. The Manchester city leaders should be happy that there are people like you and your team that are keeping local and regional history alive........ So much history so little time. mike

Nice video! Some stuff I know of the Dell… I heard that the small locomotive that brought stone down from the quarry lost its load (either that or the whole thing) across from Studd Brow and smashed into a train, killing people who were on board. There used to be two bridges, one got washed away in 2015 leaving the weaker of the two on its own. Slightly further up stream from the bridges there used to be a small pavilion like building where the shale hill is by the footpath. I believe there was an aqueduct a bit further down from the tunnel beyond the viaduct, you can still see a column /support for it on the opposite side of the river. My guess is that it sent water around to the mills where the ammunition works were.

Well guys, thanks for turning out in this 'orrible midwinter weather to give us another video. Healey Dell had all sorts of surprises and you were all so energetic and keen too, in spite of the weather. It was hard to imagine a mill dating back to the Great Fire of London and the plague! The primary function of fulling is really to shrink the fibres of the fabric to make it a tighter weave, a bit like felting it, but you're right that the process did remove oils from the fabric too. (I only know this because we have a historic fulling mill near to where I live, which is open to visitors). James, you were being a bit daring. I felt nervous for you. And Fairies Chapel is a beautiful spot. Pity the actual chapel is gone. But I see there are lot of legends about it. And today's 'brew' was practically a tea party! Which story to believe about that railway bridge? Life being what it is, it's probably that it was built in the wrong place! 😆Great video, well worth waiting for! 👍

Love the enthusiasm and the exploration. Good fun watch :-) I've just been to Gibson Mill outside Hebden Bridge, and I had my Martin Zero goggles on trying to find the clues of the industrial past along the water!! 🔎

Your country has so many abandoned historical sights. Very cool. Thanks for sharing them with us.

That was fascinating. Thank you. YT suggested this channel for some unknown reason. I'm so glad it did!

Another fantastic video Martin. I feel the need to go out and do a historical video about the Wirral way near to where i live. It's another abandoned railway line that's been repurposed as a multi use path. It includes a restored railway station

I live literally a couple of hundred yard from the bridge. When I was a kid there were two of those stone arches, and we would climb to the middle and jump up and down - the spans would actually move and “bounce” - alarming. The other span was washed away in a storm a few years ago.

Excellent video again Martin. Very local to me , and you still taught me something new. Didn’t know about the munitions factory down there.

Nice that you guys can maintain the energy and pleasant demeanor on such a crapper of a day .

Action packed lead in. Action packed through out Martin on caffeine and new stringy boots. I really need to catch up with the videos. Excellent

Rochdale is a strange place. It has some terrible places, and some stunning places. You can walk down some indistinct terrace street with some indudtrial units at the end, turn up a path and find something like this.

Fascinating video packed with historical interest - and such a picturesque location. The old photo's were amazing, especially of the abandoned mill. Thank you.

Would love to hear your take on Kirklees Printworks and Tottington Mill at some point Martin - keep up the good work!