Thurgoland

Thurgoland (, THUR-gə-lənd) is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England, on the A629 road. The village is less than 6 miles from Barnsley, the nearest major town. Nearby Crane Moor and Huthwaite are also part of the Thurgoland C.P. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,801, increasing to 1,969 at the 2011 Census.

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Thurgoland railway station

Thurgoland railway station was a small railway station built by the Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway to serve the village of Thurgoland, South Yorkshire, England and opened on 5 December 1845. Due to cost-cutting measures involving staff and infrastructure the station was closed, along with Dukinfield Dog Lane, Hazelhead and Oxspring on 1 November 1847, making this one of the shortest-lived stations anywhere, with a life span of just one year and 11 months.

Thurgoland Tunnel

Thurgoland Tunnel is a double-bore abandoned railway tunnel between Penistone and Wortley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. Its total length is 924 feet (282 m). The original tunnel, a single bore carrying two tracks, was opened in 1845 on the Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway between Manchester Store Street and Sheffield. It is characterised by a curve of 60 chains (4,000 ft; 1,200 m) radius on a falling gradient of 1 in 131. Due to the difficulties in laying the original tunnel out, it consists of a series of straight sections in a series of erratic curves varying in radius from 100 to 20 chains (6,600 to 1,300 ft; 2,010 to 400 m). Maximum clearance was only obtained by reducing the normal six-foot spacing between the tracks. Because of the clearance problems the original construction caused for the planned LNER electrification, and because opening-out was deemed too expensive, in 1948 a second single-line tunnel was built for the up line and the old tunnel was converted to carry only the down line. As this project was begun in 1947 just before railway nationalisation (British Railways), each of the up tunnel portals host twin dates, with "LNER 1947" inscribed in the central parapet panel at the top of the portals and "BR 1948" below in the keystone. Due to the anticipated interim period of steam working before the new electric Woodhead 3 tunnel was completed, a cast-iron smokeplate lined the roof of the tunnel to protect the concrete lining. Electric working commenced in 1954 and ceased in 1981. The tunnels ceased to carry trains in 1983 when the local Sheffield–Huddersfield train service was diverted via Barnsley. The up tunnel, being much newer, has been re-utilised for a walking trail, whilst the down bore has been blocked off.

Wortley Top Forge

Wortley Top Forge is an historic former finery forge and ironworks originally dating back to the seventeenth century, although evidence suggests iron working took place in the vicinity as early as the fourteenth century. It is situated in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley, in South Yorkshire, England, on a loop of the River Don near both the villages of Thurgoland and Wortley. The Top Forge was always closely related to Wortley Low Forge, a short distance downstream. One of the forges was probably built about 1639 (possibly both of them) and certainly existed by 1641, from which time the ironmasters at Wortley were Thomas Cotton, and his son William Cotton (1627–1674); the latter being the father of Thomas Cotton. Cannonballs are said to have been made here during the English Civil War. After that the finery forges usually belonged to a network of ironmasters led by members of the Spencer family of Cannon Hall, Cawthorne, but not between 1676 and 1690, when they were rented by other ironmasters. The two forges were always leased together with a blast furnace, Nether Bank Furnace, until the latter's closure probably about 1780, all of them being rented from the Wortley family. In 1744, the forge was let to John Cockshutt (died 1774), who ran it with a partner. He also had a 'tinmill'. He was followed by his son, another John, who was succeeded by his brother James about 1800. James had worked at Merthyr Tydfil as a partner of William Crawshay in the Cyfarthfa Ironworks and when he returned to Wortley in 1791 after the dissolution of their partnership, he introduced puddling to Wortley, the tinmill probably being altered to roll blooms into bars of iron. After James' death in 1820, the works passed to relatives and then through various hands, coming into the hands of Thomas Andrews in 1849. On his death in 1871 he was followed by his son another Thomas Andrews, who died in 1907. One of the buildings at Top Forge includes a date stone for 1713. However, the current layout of the building dates from the 1850s when the forge was turned over to the production of shafts and axles mainly for use on railway wagons. Some of the earliest metallurgical experiments in the world were conducted at the site by the engineer and metallurgist Thomas Andrews. Railway axles of the highest quality were manufactured at the site in the nineteenth century and exported all over the world. Production ceased around 1912, but parts of the site remained in use until 1929. One of the Top Forge hammers was run as a demonstration in 1933 or 1934. In 1955, the dream of C. R. Andrews (the son of the second Thomas) was fulfilled, the forge being reopened as an industrial museum by Sheffield Trades Historical Society (now South Yorkshire Industrial History Society). From the mid-1960s the Honorary Curator of the forge for over 40 years was Ken Hawley, who was the driving force behind a team of volunteer workers who preserved and restored the forge into its present condition – work that was recognised when he was appointed MBE in 1998. Of particular interest is that the site only ever used waterwheels to power the machinery. All three waterwheels have been restored to working order. Its buildings are used to house a variety of industrial machinery, including a Marshall twin-cylinder steam engine.

Green Moor

Green Moor is a village near Wortley in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, in the parish of Hunshelf and close to Penistone and Oxspring. Green Moor used to be a stone quarry in the last century but has since become a predominantly commuter and retirement village. Green Moor is also the site of activity centre used by the Sheffield and District Boys' Brigade Battalion.