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Sandbeds
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Charlestown begins at the bridge over Jumble Hole Clough (361 feet above sea level). The bridge over the main road was known as Mutterhole Bridge and was built in 1768. In the 1880s it was known as Sand Bed Bridge. It was widened in 1830 and the present bridge was rebuilt in the 1900s when the river was diverted because of the building of the sewage works.
shows the original route of the river
shows the new route of the river prior to the building of the sewage works SANDBEDS (THE SEWAGE WORKS) The sewage works was set up by Todmorden Council on the site of St. James cricket field (also called Mutterhole Plain or Mutterhole Holme). Callis dam and the land at Sandbed was bought for £9,254 with the total costs of £28,955 for completing the works . On 26th June 1901 the Mayor of Todmorden (Ald Wm. Ormerod) cut the first sod for the new sewage works, in the presence of the Town Council and the Borough officials and a large gathering of the good and the great. The spade presented to the mayor bore the following inscription:- Presented to the Mayor of Todmorden, Ald Wm Ormerod, Esq., J.P. of Scaitcliffe Hall by the contractors on the occasion of the cutting of the first sod by His Worship in connection with the river diversion for the sewage disposal works at Sandbed. June 26th 1901. Wm Jones & Co., contractors. The re routing of the River Calder - straightening out the meanders has resulted in the continued flooding of Callis to this day. .  the present route running parallel to the road  The photograph above is from about 1901. It shows the new route of the river before completion with the old river still in operation.
 constructed in 1906 (still in use) On 17th Oct 1908, the formal opening of the Sewage Disposal Works was carried out by Mayor Ald Abraham Crossley, followed by a Mayoral Banquet at the White Hart Hotel.
The works took seven years to build and cost £100,000 . In the early days of the sewage works, it has been said that local inhabitants stayed clear of the river on a Friday, because all the effluent was let out in one go. However, this seems unlikely as there has never been enough storage tanks to make this practice possible. The sewage works were refurbished in 1926 with the removal of the detritus tanks (which separated grit from the rest of the incoming sewage) and the addition of circular filter beds.
This was removed in 2003 when the river walls were rebuilt.
The large house on this site which has recently been an old people's home was built in the 1930s by Minnie Lumb who owned the electrical shop on Market Street. She left because of the smell from the sewage works.
SANDBED Sandbed Bridge which takes Jumble Hole Clough under the main road used to be a hump backed bridge and was the site of many motor bike accidents until it was evened out. Opposite Beverley is a red brick building with a flat roof which used to be called Sandbed House. This was built in about 1890 by Tommy Jackson who had a theory that flat roofs were more practical than pitched roofs. Tommy and his father John were engineers and operated in an attached machine works called the smithy. John went around Yorkshire (in a top hat and morning suit) repairing the newly introduced farm machinery, while Thomas maintained machinery in local mills. Tommy Jackson retired by 1916 to look after his ageing father. He cycled every week to Eastwood Co-op wearing an old jacket and ancient cycling hat. Sandbed House was left to Betty Cockroft in 1935 and she rented it to Richard Houghton for a few years before it was sold. It was later used as a garage run by Maurice Marney. Maurice was famous for his large collection of budgerigars which were kept in cages out the back. Just after the Second World War it was taken over
by CVS - an Upper valley institution. CVS which stands for Calder Valley
Salvage was started by three disabled
servicemen (George Crowther and Jim Weeble). They bought a rag bag of items from Ministry sales, so you
never knew what to expect. If you wanted something, but couldn't think who
would sell it, CVS was always a first port of call. |
