INDEX

 The following Index identifies 'posts' within the blog below. Following any opening explanation in a 'post' you will find active links which take you to a pdf to access the full document. Another aid to finding info within the blog, is the list of 'Labels' on the lower right - clicking any of these, takes you to the item in which the subject appears.

'News' is recent published material

Hayfield Walk Mill

Hayfield Harry Moor water supply

Hayfield Corn Mill

Little Hayfield, Mr Sumner's Park Hall, Park Hall Pool

St Matthews Church Hayfield including Memorials in Hayfield Cemetery

Hayfield Civic Trust Display including Reservoir Railway walk, Hayfield Railway and Park Hall pool videos

700 years of Hayfield History

Miscellany of books and publications of interest, mainly relating to Hayfield but also Glossop Paper Mill

Research tools etc

NEWS

 I don't generally post new information on a frequent basis but here's some recent additions - some of these might not be stricktly history related but information which I'm looking to share:

Kinder printworks and the river 

Have you (like me) ever wondered why the River Sett adjacent to the Hayfield campsite is very straight and the banks are very substantial stone walls; the following offers an explanation.

Kinder Printworks and the river

Clearly the River Sett being re-routed is not the only river in the area to me moved, the following link to Furness Vale History Society, relates to the River Goyt being moved at the Bingswood Works.

River Goyt moved

Bank Vale Mill and 'Secrets of the brave' 

The prime purpose of this post is to congratulate the current owners Julie and Simon Isles on creating a home and workplace within the remaining buildings of the mill, having bought it in 2014. They are quite incredible in their commitment to their chosen endeavours as you will see.

Secets of the brave

The  Halls of Hayfield and Ollersett Colleries

This further link to Furness Vale History Society blog speaks for itself.

Halls of Hayfield and Ollersett

Park Hall Sales brochures

The following item recently given to to me by Jean Rangley is the Sale brochures for Park Hall, Hayfield in 1928, which includes some information from a later 1978 prochure, which is incomplete. However, with great assistance by Stephen Chester of Jackson Stops Estate agents, he has tracked down and kindly provided me with a full copy of their 1928 brochure.

These items are an interesting additions to informatiion included below in the post entitled 'Little Hayfield, Mr Sumner's Park Hall, Park Hall pool', Mr Sumner owned Park Hall and a great deal more.

Park Hall 1928 Sales brochure

Park Hall 1978 Sales brochure

The further item from Jean Rangely is a plan of Birch Vale Printworks, which is included in the post below 'Miscellany of books etc'

Birch Vale Printworks

This  next item is history related and speaks for itself - as far as it goes. It also appears in 'Walkers Are Welcome' at the foot of the blog and is related to that post.

Hallam's Lodge and Butch's well

The following is merely a short video of Goldfinches in our garden garden recently (September 2025).

The following screeengrab is a still from the video.

Goldfinches

Hayfield Walk Mill

 This item is about Walk Mill Cottage and the original Walk Mill in Hayfield. It refers to these and associated aspects such as the Villge Hall garden where there was a small mill lodge, all of this land and around was owned at one time by the Calico Printers Association. Other related aspects are Wood Printworks, Hayfield Relief Road, Grotto Mill, St Matthews Church, water supplies from the Phoside Stream and Kinder Printworks and ownership of Walk Mill by amongst others a guy by the name of Kinder.

The following picture from the document, shows Walk Mill Cottage before the building of the Relief Road.

Walk Mill History

Hayfield Harry Moor water supply

 This item is about Hayfield's Harry Moor water supply from inception back in 1901, when Stockport Council were seeking permission to build Kinder reservoir. However, Severn Trent Water terminated the Harry Moor supply in 1997 and Hayfield water now comes from the Ladybower and Derwent reservoirs. Read on - I trust you find this interesting. 

The following illustration from the document, shows the multiple routes of supplies down from Harrymoor to the Reservoir tanks on Kinder Bank.

Hayfield Harry Moor water supply

Hayfield Corn Mill

During 2023 I researched Hayfield Corn Mill - which I believed to have been adjacent to the weir in the centre of the village. This took me on an interesting journey and, with the current owner of a building which purports to be the 'Old Corn Mill', and we came to the conclusion that it is not!

The following picture from the document is an illustration of the Corn Mill, 50 yards down from the Bridge.

Hayfield Corn Mill

Little Hayfield, Mr Sumner's Park Hall , Park Hall Pool etc

 The following current information, from varous sources, relate to the title subject. I may, in due course put together a 'story' of Park Hall to summarise some of the key issues but for the time being here is a treasure trove of separate articles, videos etc - some of which may appear elsewhere on the blog.

 The first item is a publication, which speaks for itself, being a history put together by a number of folk, including Mike Dean who kindly lent me a copy of this to scan. At the time of publication Mike and Di Dean lived at Pool Cottage.

Little Hayfield 2000

In 1932 the owners of Park Hall (Mr & Mrs Hobson) made many alterations to the Hall, built additional bungalows on the estate and the 'renowned' Park Hall Pool which remained in use until 1970. The following article appears here and within the Civic Trust Display post on the blog. It gives some of the history to the pool and mentions the next item, below, which is a video thought to be circa 1966 of folk enjoying the pool.

Park Hall Pool, a brief history

Park Hall Pool video

Water supplies in Hayfield and Little Hayfield is something I have researched quite extensively and the Hayfield Harry Moor water supply in the blog details much of this including aspects associated with Little Hayfield. The following item is part of that story but I thought it useful to show an extract from it here, as it relates to Little Hayfield and Mr Sumner's provision of a supply both for Park Hall and some parts of the village. Following this summary is a video record of some aspects of my research in connection with this. I'm indebted to Mel Cranmer, who lives at 'The Crescent' at Park Hall for his great assistance to me in understanding the complexities of the system.

Mr Sumner's Park Hall water supply

Research video - Mr Sumner's Park Hall water supply

When Francis Sumner of Park Hall Hayfield died, the executors of his will had to sell a large part of his aquired estate. The following is the Sale particulars of 18 farms and gives a great insight to the properties.

18 Farms For Sale 1919

The following items are sales brochures for Park Hall, owned by Francis Sumner, being sold in 1928 and subsequently in 1978. The brochure given to me by Jean Rangely is a combinaion of the 1928 and 1978 brochures but this is incomplete in relation to the 1928 sale. Mr Stephen Chesire of Jackson Stops Estate agents kindly sought out and provided me with a full copy of the 1978 brochure.

Combined 1928 and 1978 Park Hall Sales brochure

1978 Park Hall Sales brochure

 

St Matthews Church Hayfield

During the early part of 2025 I became aware of various information relating to St Matthews Church Hayfield and related topics. It was orginally sited at the confluence of the Rivers Kinder and Sett, in the locality of the well known Pack Horse Bridge. Subsquently a church was built in the centre of the village in 1848, where it is to this day - albeit this building is a rebuild of an an earlier 1405 church. Does the Phoside stream pass under the church? - read on. 

The following plan from the document shows the route of two culverts from the Phoside Stream.

St Matthews Church Hayfield

Here's yet another publication by the renowned local historian Roger Bryant, a significant figure associated with New Mills Local History Society.

Roger Bryant - St Matthews Church Hayfield

Here's yet annother interesting document, a record of Memorials at Hayfield Cemetery perpared by Keith Holford, he did a great deal of research into local history and his archive is available from Furness Vale History Society, David Easton being the prime contact.

Memorials at Hayfield Cemetery

Hayfield Civic Trust Display

 I am a 'Friend' of the Hayfield Civic Trust and the following information relates to a display mounted in the Hayfield Library during October 2024. In order to share the information more widely please see the following content shared, at the time, via email to interested parties. 

Hi Friends - thought you may be interested in the Display in the Library. 

The following link takes you to some of the background info:

 https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10mHHgcX2xK1TYp55QnhTDnOMrrngwCTb?usp=sharing

In addition to the earlier message and information - the following items were available in the Library via a USB Memory stick and a Library PC but thought it useful to share them here for you:

Reservoir railway walk video

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lpqqk0K-jZ9SrMFRgP5I_mLDUhMGgNUM/view?usp=sharing

2.      Hayfield Train video – compilation of ‘Ken Rangely film’ and ‘Rail to Trail’ video

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IYsFwURwiPIp9MQ_ovFveM3DXReGozu8/view?usp=sharing

3.      Rail to Trail walk video.      https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SPRyyxeWyC3pWEYvLZeyWUPYlzp3aCIs/view?usp=sharing

5.      Park Hall Pool video.      https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JobpzsQaD69FH65db6d1w4d9Vs1kHAbA/view?usp=sharing

7.       Charlie Hearsum Relief Road Album

            https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZlahAgsn3ZBla-indC23CZrwVqtfIpoe?usp=sharing

8.      Link to a side-by-side mapping Portal – which enable one to examine a comparison of an 1898 map of the village and the current ‘Google Earth’ style image as follows:

            https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=16.0&lat=53.37891&lon=-1.94565&layers=168&right=ESRIWorld

Library Poster.jpg

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Attachments:

Hayfield Library Poster.pdf	135 KB
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700 years of Hayfield History

The following information is from Furness Vale History blog, compiled by Keith Holford, the information is declared to be essentially from the High Peak Reporter in 1909.

Keith Holford

Miscellany of Books and Publications of Interest

The following are a small sample of books and publications which I have collected over time (some of which I only have in an electronic format) and think they are worth sharing. I take no credit for them and am sure the originators will be pleased for their work to be shared in this way

Brumhead, Land Tenure in the Forest of the Peak     Birch Vale Printworks      Bowden Childhood

Bowden Middlecale    Calico Printing in the Sett Valley

Kinder printworks    Little Hayfield 2000    Glossop Paper Mill 

Hayfield Conservation Area Character Appraisal     Hayfield Civic Trust Archive

Hayfield Parish Council Centenary booklet     Hayfield Parish Council list of maps etc

Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire 1891     Thornsett Colliery   Ollersett Hamlet 1841

Otwell Bank Quarry features     Stockport Girl Makes Good 1787 - 1850

 

 

Research tools - mapping and other useful wbsitese

I find the following mapping websites very useful in relation to researching Local History etc and thought you may find them useful. 

The first is from the National Library of Scotland - there are many types of maps available:

Side by Side mapping

The following is a DCC mapping portal with many options to show various features - from the top right stack. You will Need to enter a post code or street etc that you wish to view

DCC mapping Portal

Finally, OS maps are alos very useful - the following link enables a trial use but actually I have a subscription and find it a very useful addition to have on my phone, in addition to our wonderful hardcopy OS maps when out walking our wonderful countyside and for research purposes.

OS mapping portal

Another useful website is Find My Street - showing amonst other aspects - who is responsible for maintenance of roads and footpaths.

Find My Street

The following are some other interesting local history websites - New Mill Local History Society has, amonst others, an interesting collection of Sam Garside's Hayfield scrapbooks and Steve Lewis also has quite a lot of info related to Hayield. Frank Plezak and Byron Machin's are of wider interest.

Some other interesting websites