Pastureside

Inchfield Road becomes Foul Clough Road and soon a lane on the right leads to Pastureside - location no. 5 on the map of this walk. 

The path leading to Pastureside

Pastureside was associated with the Haigh family for centuries. The first known Haigh in Walsden was Reuben who acquired the lease some time prior to 1709.  He died in 1750 and bequeathed the lease to his son John Haigh of Pastureside. In turn the lease passed to John's son John Haigh the Younger.

One of John the Younger's eight children was Sally, and Sally married Thomas Hiley (Hiley i' th' Vicarage) in 1801.

Already mentioned in this Blog is a story told by John Travis about Thomas and Sally and Sally's father, although he refers to Thomas as John in the story.

The ruins of Pastureside farm

Fireplace inside the farm

Rake Head Barn and Nicklety

The walk follows Ramsden Wood Road down to the main road, turns left towards the centre of Walsden, and then, with the Post Office and Hollins Road on the right, turns left up Inchfield Road.   

About 1km on the left of this steep and winding road is a property called Nicklety. This was the home of Reuben Hiley. Reuben was  the son of Thomas Hiley (Hiley i' th' Vicarage) and a brother of John Hiley (Hiley ' th' Horsepasture) who appeared in the last two posts. Reuben was born in 1805 and married Betty Hudson in 1830. The couple had 5 children – Hannah, Sally, John, James and Mary. The census records show his occupation as a Road Labourer or Quarry Man. Reuben and his family lived at Nicklety for many years.

A story about Reuben, who was known as 'Old Wraggs', appeared in the post of 7th May 2019. This was written by John Travis and was entitled 'Mother Wit'.

Nicklety on Inchfield Road

Just before Nicklety, Rake Head Barn Lane branches off to the left and leads to Rake Head Barn.

This was the home of John and Sally Harrison and their family. John was a Woodcutter and the father of nine children. One of their daughters was Betty who married Charles Hiley in 1844. Charles was a 2 x great grandfather and has been mentioned in several posts already. Click on this link to learn more about Charles.

Charles Hiley

Rake Head Barn

Nicklety and Rake Head Barn are shown as location 4 on the map of this walk.

Ramsden Wood

The walk leaves Vicarage and continues along Foul Clough Road as far as the properties at Thornsgreece and Brown Road. Thomas Barker of Inchfield, a 4 x great grandfather, was living at Thornsgreece when he died in 1821 - see the post of 8th November 2021.

Thornsgreece and Brown Road

The path then heads down to Ragby Bridge and along Ramsden Clough to Ramsden Wood. This is location no. 3 on the map of this walk. 

Ramsden Wood reservoir

In 1841, John Highley, a 3 x great grandfather, was recorded in the Census as living at Ramsden Wood with his wife Mally (nee Unsworth) and children Charles, Thomas, James and Hannah. John worked as a Cotton Mule Spinner. Charles, James and Hannah were Cotton Power Loom Weavers and Thomas was a Cotton Stripper and Grinder. 

There were two mills in Ramsden Wood - Ramsden Wood Mill, known as T' Top Shop and Spring Mill, known as T' Bottom Shop. 

The two mills of Ramsden Wood

In 1844 John's son Charles married Betty Harrison and their first child Grace was born. Grace's baptism record shows the family living at Spring Mill in Walsden. 

In 1851 John and Mally were recorded as living in Spring Mill. John's occupation was shown as a Scutcher of Cotton.

The cottages at Spring Bottom built for workers at Spring Mill
John and Mally lived in one of these

John died in 1854 and Mally in 1860. They were buried in the graveyard at St Peter's Church in Walsden. There is no gravestone to commemorate their names, but the walking stick in the picture below shows where they were buried.

Hiley i' th' Vicarage

The route leaves Horsepasture , going past Middle Ramsden Farm and then bearing left across the moor to the abandoned Ramsden Clough Reservoir, crossing over it along the top of the dam, and reaching Foul Clough Road.

One of the ruined farms along this road is Vicarage, which is at location no. 2 on the map of this walk shown in the first post in this series on 17th August 2023.

The ruins of Vicarage farm

There have already been two posts in this Blog about Hiley i' th' Vicarage:

10th August 2019 - Hiley i' th' Vicarage. This post was a story written by John Travis. He refers to him as John Hiley but his proper name was Thomas Hiley (or Highley).

21st August 2019 - Vicarage Farm and Thomas Hiley's family.

Thomas was the illegitimate son of Mary Highley (1761-1820). Mary was the first child of James Highley and Martha (nee Greenwood), 5 x great grandparents.

Thomas married Sally Haigh, the daughter of John Haigh (the younger) of Pastureside, Walsden. John Haigh became a wealthy man and owned a lot of land and property on the moors above Walsden, including Pastureside, Vicarage, Nicklety and Coolam. Pastureside and Nicklety feature later in this walk. Coolam is situated a little further along Foul Clough Road from Vicarage.

Thomas and Sally were given the tenancy of John's farm at Vicarage. The couple had 11 children including Reuben, featured in the Blog post of 7th May 2019 and the subject of John Travis's story 'Mother Wit', and John, known as Hiley i' th' Horsepasture, who was featured in the last post.

Foul Clough Road

Vicarage is in the far distance, near the middle one of the 3 big trees

Hiley i' th' Horsepasture

The walk leaves Allescholes and heads across the moor, passing Cranberry Dam, to reach Horsepasture. Cranberry Dam was built to provide water for the mill at Spring Bottom - see a later post. Horsepasture is location no. 1 on the map shown in the first post in this series on 17th August 2023.

The ruins of Horsepasture with Cranberry Dam and Walsden beyond

Horsepasture is now known as South Ramsden. The farm here has not been lived in for about 100 years and all that remain are ruins. The farm was close to the historic Lancashire/Yorkshire boundary. The first known mention of Horsepasture is thought to be in 1612. Edmund Taylor and his family are recorded as living here in the mid 1700s.

John Highley was a long-time farmer at Horsepasture and was known as 'Hiley i' th' Horsepasture'. He was the son of Thomas and Sally (nee Haigh). Thomas was known as 'Hiley i' th' Vicarage' and will feature in the next post. John was one of 11 children and was born around 1803. He married Betty Hartley in St Chad's Church in Rochdale in 1834. The couple had two children, John and James.

It is not known when John Highley came to live at Horsepasture but the 1841 Census shows him as a Farmer living there with his family and a shepherd, Robert Holt.

By 1851 the family had moved to the neighbouring township of Blatchinworth and Calderbrook in the chapelry of Littleborough. In the Census of 1851 John is described as a Farmer of 40 acres. Another son Reuben is noted on the Census form. In the 1871 Census John, a widower, is still working as a Farmer, now with 118 acres, along with Reuben, in the township of Butterworth. The 1881 Census shows John as an inmate in the Union Workshouse in Dearnley, Littleborough. He died shortly afterwards, aged 78.

In 1831 John was left a sum of £100 in his grandfather's will. This was John Haigh of Pastureside (John Haigh the Younger), John's mother's father. John Haigh was a wealthy man and £100 would have been a large amount at that time.

The remains of the stone arch of the cellar, built into the hillside. This would have been provided a very cold storage place for milk, eggs and meat.

The ruins of Horsepasture