Stanbury

Stanbury is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Haworth and Stanbury, in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 453. The name Stanbury translates as Stone Fort from Old English.

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Lower Laithe Reservoir

Lower Laithe Reservoir is a man-made upland reservoir that lies 1.2 miles (2 km) west of Haworth, West Yorkshire, England. The reservoir was initially approved under the Keighley Waterworks and Improvement Act of 1869 but work did not begin on its construction until 1911 and even then was delayed because of the First World War. The reservoir was officially opened in August 1925 in front of a crowd of over 8,000 people. Its final tally on cost was £500,000. The reservoir lies in the Sladen Valley and was often referred to as Sladen Valley Reservoir. The reservoir, alongside other nearby man-made bodies of water, was proposed to afford a better water supply to the town of Keighley and its environs. The reservoir dams Sladen Beck watercourse and takes water directly from the surrounding moorland including the stream that flows over the Bronte Waterfall. The catchment area is 1,200 acres (500 ha) and the Sladen Valley and Beck are part of the larger catchment of the River Worth and ultimately the River Aire. The reservoir has an embankment as the dam head which is straight and extends to a length of 1,010 feet (310 m), a height of 84.5 feet (25.8 m) and which also supports a road between Oxenhope and Stanbury village. The road (since known as Waterhead Lane) used to cut across Sladen valley taking a north west route from Intake Farm and going through the small hamlet of Smith Bank. The hamlet and its mill (which featured in Halliwell Sutcliffe's novel A Man of the Moors) were flooded when the reservoir was completed with the road being diverted northwards onto the dam head. The dam head is concrete with a clay puddle core. There is a spillway at the northern end which drops down to the adjoining waterworks facility. Stone for the reservoir was sourced from the nearby Dimples Quarry (now abandoned and in the Penistone Hill Country Park) which was 0.31 miles (0.5 km) south east of the reservoir. A narrow gauge railway was used to transfer the quarried product to the dam head which was operated by a rope worked incline. Clay for the central core was worked from a quarry 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Stanbury and necessitated laying a steam worked railway to bring the clay to the dam head. The spillway and embankment were modernized and improved as part of a £60 million programme of investment by Yorkshire Water. Lower Laithe specifically was found to not have been up to standards as laid down by an act of parliament in 1978. The water classification is listed as moderate in terms of ecology and good in terms of chemical quality as of 2015. Whilst the surrounding moorland is noted for its bird life, few birds live on the reservoir itself although some like the shelduck are frequent visitors. Sladen Beck joins the River Worth 0.62 miles (1 km) further east near to the hamlet of Lumb Foot. The grassed east facing slope of the dam head was used as a backdrop for a banner promoting the Tour de Yorkshire. The banner was unveiled in January 2014 as part of a wider 'Yorkshire Festival' by the owners of the reservoir and one of the sponsors of the festival, Yorkshire Water.

Lumbfoot

Lumbfoot or Lumb Foot is a hamlet in the Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury civil parish, and the City of Bradford metropolitan district, England. It is situated approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) from Haworth and less than half a mile north-east from Stanbury. The hamlet is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Lumbfoot overlooks a number of fields and a small brook, and contains 15 households and a farm. There is no public road; access is by a private road for vehicles, and a public footpath.

Oldfield, West Yorkshire

Oldfield is a small hamlet within the county of West Yorkshire, England, situated north of Stanbury and near to Oakworth. It is approximately 6 miles (9.2 km) west of the town of Keighley. It mainly consists of farmland and has panoramic views across the Worth Valley towards Brontë Country. Top Withens, the house featured in the novel Wuthering Heights, is clearly visible. There are no shops in Oldfield; however there is a successful primary school for children aged 3 to 11. It is the district's smallest primary school. It is part of the Brontë Academy Trust (Comprising Haworth, Oakworth, Lees and Oldfield Primaries). Oldfield has a population of over 100. The local public house is The Grouse Inn, although there is The Friendly, Wuthering Heights and The Old Silent in Stanbury, a short walk across the valley. Margaret Wintringham (née Longbottom); 4 August 1879 – 10 March 1955, who was a British Liberal Party politician, was born at Oldfield, where her father was the local schoolteacher. She was the second woman, and the first British-born woman, to take her seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. As Member of Parliament for Louth, Lincolnshire, she was in office from 22 September 1921 until 28 October 1924. A blue plaque was unveiled to honour her on the side on the school building in April 2021.

Penistone Hill Country Park

Penistone Hill Country Park is an open space of moorland that is located to 0.31 miles (0.5 km) west of Haworth and 0.62 miles (1 km) north-west of Oxenhope in West Yorkshire, England. The park's highest point is detailed with a trig point which is 1,030 feet (310 m) above sea level. Since 1994, the park has been notified as being an SSSI as part of the South Pennine Moors. Whilst Pen is an old word (notably Welsh for hill) and Penistone (South Yorkshire) means 'Farm on the Hill', it is believed that Penistone Hill derives its name from the gambling game Gamepenny Stone. It is known that men would gather on Penistone Hill to gamble over this game as the quarries afforded the opportunity to gather together easily. Partaking in the game often involved being brought in front of the local magistrates for playing on the local highway or even for playing on a Sunday.