Rugged and resilient: Silsden Moor where farming has been a way of life for centuries

Fresh bedding for fat lambs raised at Cowburn Beck Farm, one of the long-established family enterprises on Silsden Moor where making a living from the land is known to go back 300 years. There was even a unique moorland dialect spoken here for centuries, which was recorded by a Leeds University professor in 1912 - but sadly both the dialect and the recording canisters have long since disappeared.

The Breares run Cowburn Beck Farm (above), where the family has farmed for more than 150 years. They are among an elite group of local families - Throups, Forts and Breares - who have been farming on Silsden Moor for generations. Flax grown along the beck's marshy banks was used in Silsden's noted linen trade of the 17th and 18th centuries.

High Bracken Hill Farm, in Green Lane, is owned by a branch of the famed Fort family. The house, initialled and dated WMW 1691, has double-chamfered mullioned windows. Like several of its Silsden Moor neighbours, High Bracken Hill Farm is Grade 2 listed. The 1841 Census recorded 39 Throups, 26 Forts and 18 Breares. (There were also 63 Jacksons, whose descendants farm at Woodside in Silsden. Jacksons and Throups have been in Silsden since the 1600s.)

The picture above shows on the skyline the highest of the Silsden Moor farms, Snow Hill. It is run by members of the Throup farming dynasty. In the left foreground is Haygill Farm.

Farms and their barns that are no longer working have become desirable residences,  set amidst stunning moorland scenery. One such is Middlebrough House, named after one of the earliest occupants of this remote settlement.

Schoolmaster Place Farm takes its name from John Wade, whose family farmed on Silsden Moor for generations. For over half of the 19th century John Wade was schoolmaster to Silsden's children. Starting at the end of the 1700s, he gave lessons at home to children from neighbouring farms until 1820 when he was appointed by the parish church as headmaster at the newly opened National School in the village.

This photograph, taken in 2008, shows High Edge and Low Edge, which like all the Silsden farms were owned by the Skipton Castle Estate until being sold in the early 1950s. High Edge Farm included a room for the use of game-shooting parties. The sale particulars reserved a right for the landlord to lunch in the house on shooting days.

Woofa Bank, in Cringles Lane, is run by another branch of the Throup family and is among local farms investing heavily in the future of the business. 

A recent development at Woofa Bank is this building in Jowett's Lane to house the dairy herd. Jowett's Lane is named after the family that farmed at Woofa Bank in the 1800s. John Jowett was a local preacher and the farmhouse was used for weekly Primitive Methodist services around 1840, before Silsden Moor Methodist Chapel was built.

   Distinctively-designed moorland shed.

A happy pig with the sun on its back.

The former Horne House Farm has long been an attractive residence. 

Another farm where development and expansion have taken place recently is the Heights.

Far Cringles Farm is undergoing extensive development with new accommodation and outbuildings.

After standing empty and derelict for many years, Walton Hole has been transformed into a working farm again. The date stone is 1719.

Wet welcome for new arrivals

These are the first lambs I have seen this year and as far as I can recall January arrivals are not common locally. Atrocious conditions and greater unpredictability in recent years have made it more difficult for farmers to settle on optimum lambing times. These lambs are pictured at a farm near Throup's Bridge.   

Barratt about a quarter of the way through  Belton Road development of 230 homes

Developer Barratt Homes appears to have opted for an odd mix of street names for its Saxon Dene development off Belton Road. Perhaps opportunity could have been taken to honour local people who have played a notable part in the community over the years. Lampkin Chase stands out.

The builder is about a quarter of the way through its development of 230 homes on what was previously farmland. Buyers so far are mainly first-timers or down-sizers and largely come from Silsden and nearby villages.

The development comprises two-, three- and four-bedroom properties with prices between £189,995 and £324,995. Still to be developed over the next two or three years are fields to the east and south of the present estate.

New book spotlights eminent Silsden artists of the past

A book about seven eminent Silsden artists of the past is being sold to raise money for Silsden Town Hall. Published by Silsden Local History Group, the 32-page book has been written by Colin Neville, pictured above, who runs the Not Just Hockney website, which features artists past and present from the Bradford district. Colin,a retired university lecturer who is an arts-related bookseller, has focused on Silsden's leading artists for the book, which, costing £5, will be launched at the history group's Remembrance weekend coffee morning at the Town Hall on Saturday, November 9th. Colin will attend to sign copies. He is pictured here in front of a watercolour of Bolton Abbey painted by Joseph West, one of the Silsden artists in the book. The others are Doris Schrecker, Augustus Spencer, who from a humble Silsden background became principal of the Royal College of Art, Hildred Harpin, of Swartha, who taught at Keighley School of Art and at Keighley Boys Grammar School, Stan Boardman, Dorothy Wade and Jack Clarkson.

Signal for an unwanted catch in the canal

Silsden angler David Cooper netted this American signal crayfish while enjoying a tranquil afternoon in the early autumn sun on the canal at Low Holden on September 19th. American crayfish have become invasive and have decimated the native white-clawed crayfish population.   

How's that for an unexpected opening in Kirkgate?

A new retail boundary has been set in Kirkgate with the opening of the Viking Cricket shop at No. 26, where managing director Jeff Wilson is pictured above. Jeff, who lives in Silsden, is a cricket coach and former player with Saltaire in the Bradford League.

The bats, which all have Viking names, are made in Huddersfield, using willow grown in Suffolk. The company expects to manufacture 300 bats this year. Viking started three years ago and shot to prominence after winning two accolades in The Cricketer magazine's good gear guide: best bat from a boutique manufacturer and second overall in the class for all makers. Viking's brand ambassadors include three members of the England women's cricket team.

                 

Christine's Kitchen adds to Kirkgate's colourful café culture

Christine Davenport, who comes from generations of Cobbydalers, has returned to Silsden after more than 40 years to open Christine's Kitchen in Kirkgate. Her new venture started in June. She previously ran a café in Haslingden, Lancashire.

Christine, who is pictured above with her granddaughters Samantha Lawton (left) and Bethany Kerr, is planning to open on Christmas Day, serving a traditional three-course meal (£15) for people who are on their own or who are elderly.