Milnsbridge is a district of

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England, situated west of the town centre, and in the

Colne Valley The Colne Valley is a steep sided valley on the east flank of the Pennine Hills in the English county of West Yorkshire. It takes its name from the River Colne which rises above the town of Marsden and flows eastward towards Huddersfield. ...

. The name is said to have derived from the water-powered mill and the bridge that stood alongside it in the 13th century. The

Huddersfield Narrow Canal The Huddersfield Narrow Canal is an inland waterway in northern England. It runs just under from Lock 1E at the rear of the University of Huddersfield campus, near Aspley Basin in Huddersfield, to the junction with the Ashton Canal at White ...

runs through Milnsbridge close to the River Colne. A viaduct carries the trans-Pennine

Huddersfield Line The Huddersfield line is the main railway line between the English cities of Leeds and Manchester, via Huddersfield. It is one of the busiest MetroTrain lines. The route travels south-south-west from Leeds through Dewsbury. After a short west ...

railway that runs through Milnsbridge, and links

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

via Huddersfield. The Huddersfield to Manchester road route A62 passes Milnsbridge along the south side of the valley.

History

Until recent times Milnsbridge was mostly centred on the

woollen Woolen (American English) or woollen (Commonwealth English) is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast t ...

and

worsted Worsted ( or ) is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of Norfolk. That village, together with North Walsham and Aylsham, for ...

yarn textile industry, with mills situated along the riverside. These formerly relied on the river and the canal. In the late 19th century Joseph Crowther and two of his sons moved from

Marsden, West Yorkshire Marsden is a large village in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. It is in the South Pennines close to the Peak District which lies to the south. The village is west of Huddersfield at the confluence of the River C ...

down the Colne Valley to Milnsbridge after purchasing two mills, where they began the successful production of woollen cloth.

Union Mills Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, formerly home to John Crowther and Sons, is a mid-19th-century Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Part of the mill, christened Crowther Village, was converted into 38 residential flats and was completed in 1997. The Scar Lane drill hall was completed in 1911.

Milnsbridge today

Today, there is less evidence of the cloth industry than there was, as most of the mill chimneys were removed when the mills were demolished or converted into housing. However, there are still many streets of 19th century terraced houses in the area; these were originally built as mill workers' houses. Jack Ramsay in his book ''"Made in Huddersfield"'' describes Milnsbridge in 1989:

...for my own beliefs about the devastation and subsequent run-down feel of Milnsbridge are rooted in the very substance of the town's visual character, which is seen as being especially gloomy in the eyes of many local residents because the place is situated in the belly of the
olne Olne (; wa, Ône) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Olne had a total population of 3,793. The total area is 15.99 km² which gives a population density of 237 inhabitants per km² ...
valley and which has the psychological effect of making it appear somewhere rather morbid and inaccessible like a steelworks crowding the bottom of a hillside city.

Arthur Quarmby & Son, at Britannia Mills, manufactures pub-related items such as beer mats, mirrors and clocks. Trojan Plastics, at Britannia Mills, manufactures acrylic baths. Milnsbridge spreads from

Cowlersley Cowlersley is a district west of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It is situated between Milnsbridge and Linthwaite and south of the A62 and the River Colne. The name Cowlersley means 'a charcoal burner's wood' and was first recorded in ...

- on the other side of the A62 Manchester Road - to

Golcar Golcar (pronounced 'Go Car' or 'Golker') is a village on a hillside crest above the Colne Valley in West Yorkshire, England, west of Huddersfield, and just north of the River Colne and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. The 2021 population censu ...

, Longwood and

Paddock A paddock is a small enclosure for horses. In the United Kingdom, this term also applies to a field for a general automobile racing competition, particularly Formula 1. Description In Canada and the United States of America, a paddock is a small ...

. Since the demolition of the school on New Street (with its swimming pool) the main primary school in Milnsbridge has been Crow Lane School, with 11-18s either attending

Royds Hall Academy Royds Hall Academy is a mixed secondary school for pupils aged 11 – 16. It is located in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, and on the north side of the Colne Valley towards Milnsbridge. History Royds Hall was a large farmhouse in the P ...

, Salendine Nook High, All Saints Catholic High or Colne Valley High in

Linthwaite Linthwaite (known as ''Linfit'' in the local community) is a village in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated west of Huddersfield, on the A62 in the Colne Valley. The village to ...

. At the centre of Milnsbridge is the Baptist Chapel, a Grade II listed building founded in 1843, but rebuilt in 2004.

Notable people

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, Labour politician and twice

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

, born and brought up in Milnsbridge.

Publications

* Ramsay, Jack (1989) ''Made in Huddersfield''

Notes

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External links