1800-1849
1819 Foundation of Mount Pleasant Chapel
1821 Formation of Primitive Methodist society in New Longley
1834 Prize Fight for a purse of 10 shillings on Norland Moor between a
Mr Riley from Leeds and a Manchester man (who died shortly
afterwards
Meeting of striking mill workers on Norland Moor who decided to
return to work
1840 January: about 300 people attend a meeting in the Mount Pleasant
Chapel school room to campaign for the abolition of the Corn Laws
1841 James Ratcliffe dies after being hit over the head with a poker at The
Blue Ball Inn
1848 July 15th: a Chartists' meeting is held at Ladstone Rock, with
delegates first convening at the Blue Ball. The notable local radical
campaigner, Benjamin Rushton , who lived at Ovenden, was among
the speakers.
1850-1899
1851 Official census lists 1,706 residents in Norland Township
1864 Opening of Primitive Methodist Chapel at New Longley
1865 Opening of Bethel Baptist Chapel, Spark House Lane
1866 Opening of St Luke's Church
1871 August: opening of St Luke's School, initially only as a Sunday School
1872 Jan 8th: St Luke's School opens as a day school
1876 Nov 2nd: 15 men convicted at Halifax for gambling on Norland
Moor
1877 Opening of shop in Bethel Terrace, Spark House Lane
1878 Aug 5th: opening of railway line from Sowerby Bridge to Ripponden
(and to Rishworth in 1881)
1879 Norland Band formed
1883 The Vicarage (now Grange Manor) was built on Sowerby Croft Lane
Sept: Norland Working Men's Club opens in cottage at Moor End
1894 Oct 29th: laying of foundation stone for extension to St Luke's
School
1895 Date stone on Co-op shop in Harper Royd Lane
1896 June 15th: Co-op shop opens (Sowerby Bridge Industrial Society)
1900-1949
1900 Two reservoirs constructed at Well Head Springs on eastern edge of
Norland Moor, one to serve Norland, the other to serve Upper
Greetland.
1903 First Post Office in Norland at Thorny Bank with Jabez Whitaker as
postmaster.
1904 Opening of Milner Royd Fever Hospital on London Road.
1905 Nearly 1,000 people attend a garden party at Pickwood House to
raise funds for Norland Band.
New band room opens in the small quarry below Clough Head .
followed by a sit down tea and dancing for 240 people at St Luke's
School.
1907 October 15th: Mr Frank Marsden of Sparkhouse Lane dies in the
Halifax Infirmary two hours after the tram in which he was
travelling went out of control between Pye Nest and Bolton Brow.
Four other men died.
1908 June 2nd: Lower Harper Royd struck by lightning, extensive damage.
1910 May 14th: Ryburn Golf Club opens.
1911 June 22nd: Festivities jointly organised by Parish Council and
Ryburn Golf Club to celebrate the Coronation of King George V
include golf, athletics, tug-of-war, fireworks and a bonfire (see
Miscellany section).
1912 April: Norland Hall on London Road struck by lightning.
1913 October: Plasterwork from Binn Royd presented to Halifax
Corporation and the house totally rebuilt. The plasterwork can be
seen in Bankfield Museum.
1915 Miss Florence "Connie" Wadsworth takes up teaching post at St
Luke's School.
1916 July 27th: First Norland war casualty with the death of John Alfred
Redick, Royal Army Medical Corps, killed when the ambulance he
was working in was hit by a shell.
1917 March 16th: Gunner Thomas Berry killed in action in France.
1920 July 17th: Unveiling ceremony of the Norland War memorial
1920 Norland Cricket Club not accepted into Halifax League "due to
theirs being the most difficult ground to get to". (see photo of 1919
team)
1922 Working Men's Club moves to Ivy Cottage, Stormer Hill Lane
1923 May 5th: official opening of Holiday Home at Longley Farm,
purchased by Halifax Children's Welfare League (with £700
mortgage, paid off within 18 months); intended for "free holidays
and health-giving surroundings for the palefaced poor children of
the borough".
1924 July 5th: Installation of a donated wireless at the Children's Holiday
Home, Longley Farm, possibly one of the first radio sets in Norland
(the BBC had only been transmitting for approx 18 months).
1925 March 21st: Unveiling of the stone tablet recording the names of
the men who died in WWI.
1929 July 8th: Sowerby Bridge to Rishworth railway line closes to
passengers.
1932 After the death of Lord Savile large parts of the Savile estate,
including Norland Moor, are put for sale by auction to pay death
duties.
Sept 6th: Cllr Francis Longbottom of Pickwood House buys
Norland Moor for £250 plus auction expenses
Oct: Norland Parish Council organises public subscription to buy
Norland Moor. Nearly £400 raised within a matter of days, and the
moor passes into the ownership of the Parish Council.
1935 Sept. 12th: £3,000 appeal fund opened by the Mayor of Halifax,
Cllr Miriam Lightowler, JP, for purpose-built new Halifax Children's
Holiday Home on land purchased below Ladstone Rock.
1937 May 12th: Coronation of George VI is celebrated in Norland with
games in the school, a torchlight procession, fireworks and a bonfire
(See Miscellany section).
1937 June 26th: The new Halifax Children's Holiday Home
opens on Butterworth End Lane.
The Vicarage is sold off, renamed The Gables and later used as
Tea Rooms.
1939 The Forester's Arms on Kitson Lane closes.
Sept: Children's Holiday Home requisitioned for evacuees.
Sept 9th: 33 children and 9 adult evacuees arrive from Bradford.
1940 January: Norland and some othe local villages cut off for several
days by a severe snowstorm; bread in short supply; "Anxiety over
Plight of Marooned Villages" headline in Evening Courier.
1940 April: The Forester's Arms and 3 adjoining cottages sold at auction at
The Blue Ball Inn for £210.
1944 April 15th: 2 die in heavy storm in Norland.
1946 King George VI donates money to fund holidays for 2 groups of 24
children at the Holiday Home. The groups were called the "King's
Parties".
1947 Repeated heavy snowfall leaves Norland cut off by road for the first
two weeks of February. (See Extreme Weather section)
1948 War Office reveals plans to use Norland Moor for training.
1949 The Gables (ex vicarage) becomes a residential and care home
1950-1999
1951 Miss Florence "Connie" Wadsworth retires from her teaching post at
Norland School after 36 years service.
1953 May 6th: Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is celebrated in Norland
with a Gilbert & Sullivan Concert in the school (see Miscellany section).
1953 Sowerby Bridge to Rishworth railway line closes for freight
1958 Sept 1st: Sowerby Bridge to Rishworth railway line closes
completely
Dec 29th: last service at Bethel Baptist Chapel
1967 May 1st: Mount Pleasant Chapel sold at auction at the Blue Ball to
become a private house (bought by Jack & Babs Ingham who lived
there for nearly 50 years)
1972 First Norland Horse Show held at Moor End
1975 West Bottom Tavern on Hob Lane renamed The Hobbit
1979 The Halifax Children's Holiday Home closes and is sold.
1982 June 5th: A flash flood severely damages the row of seven cottages
at Clough Head, Harper Royd Lane
1984 Bronze axe head dated between 2000 and 1450 BCE found in the
grounds of the old Children's Holiday Home by Mr Phillip Whittaker
1998 Closure of the Post Office at 5 Westfield
2000-now
2000 June: Burying of a time capsule and unveiling of the Millennium
Sundial in the Memorial Park.
Sept: First Norland Scarecrows Festival. (See
www.norlandscarecrowfestival.com)
2005 The Gables (ex vicarage) converted into apartments and renamed
Grange Manor.
2008 Oct: Flagstones stolen from St Luke's Church.
2009 Dec: The Blue Ball closes.
2011 The Hobbit closes.
2013 Vaccary walling behind Blue Ball Cottages is given Grade II listing.
The Hobbit reopens as The New Hobbit.
2015 A branch of the Women's Institute (WI) opens in Norland for the first
time.
2019 The Hub Cafe opens in St Luke's Church.
2021 Nov: power lines on Norland Moor brought down by Storm Arwen.
Most of Norland without electricity for several hours, some
properties for several days. Generators brought in to restore power
supply.
2022 Centenary of the Norland Working Men's Club at Ivy Cottage.