Norland on Postcards

The Ladstone near the trig point on Norland Moor has always been a popular place to visit and has featured on many postcards. It even got a mention in one episode of "Last Tango in Halifax". It is alleged that it was used by the druids as a sacrificial stone, the word "ladd" meaning kill in Old English.

The Donkey Bridge over Maple Dean Clough (Norland Stream) . This was on a pack horse route between Norland and Copley. In the 19th century many Norland folk who worked in Akroyd's mill at Copley or in the quarries in North Dean Woods would have walked to and from work over this bridge, often in the dark.

Norland Stream, also called Maple Dean Clough, is the eastern boundary of the parish. It rises on Norland Moor, runs under Clough Moor Bridge and drops steeply down towards the valley, skirting Pickwood Scar and Binn Royd. It reaches the Calder just east of the railway viaduct. Always a popular place for outings, it was perhaps the most widely used Norland theme for postcard manufacturers.

The centre of the village in the early 1900s. St Luke's School has already been extended (1894). Heath Hall is the group of cottages to the right and Thorny Bank can be seen behind the church to the left. In the distance Wainhouse Tower, built 1871-75 and supposedly the tallest folly in the world at 84m (275 feet), is just visible.

The pinfold for stray animals in the centre looks to have lost its walls. It was rebuilt in the early 1920s in the new memorial park.

This view looking west shows the settlement of Sowerby Croft on the left. The mills of Sowerby Bridge can be seen in the valley bottom on the right.