Greenfield, Greater Manchester
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Greenfield is a village in the Saddleworth parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It is thirteen miles (20 km) east-northeast of the City of Manchester and four miles (6.4 km) east of Oldham. It lies in an area of outstanding natural beauty and borders the Peak District National Park.
Lying within the ancient county boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Greenfield is mainly situated on and around two roads in the Chew Valley in the Pennines. One of these roads is the main A635 road from Ashton-under-Lyne to Holmfirth.
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[edit] History
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A roman road passes along the Saddleworth hills, from the fort of Ardotalia in Glossop to one called Rigodunum at Castleshaw. The route of the roman road passes through Greenfield and crosses the Chew Brook at Packhorse Bridge.
The old stone houses of Saddleworth date from the 17th century and were home to farmers and hand-loom weavers in the woolen trade. The first industrial looms were also designed and built in Saddleworth. Englands highest church 'The Heights' and canal tunnel 'Standedge Tunnel' are also here, the latter dating from the end of the 18th century and being a Thomas Telford project.
As a matter of interest, the world's first rock climbers' sit harness was invented in Saddleworth in the 1970s, variations of it now forming the basis of almost all the world's climbing sit harnesses.
The poem Jone o Grinfilt was written about a fictional inhabitant of the village with the aim of ridiculing coutryside dwellers. The poem was written in the Oldham dialect of English, and was very popular in the 19th century.
[edit] Governance
Administration under the West Riding County Council led to problems, as Greenfield came under the administration of Holmfirth for such things as the fire service, despite Holmfirth being significantly further away than Oldham. This was particularly problematic in the winter months, as the roads into the village often become blocked or dangerous due to snow and ice coupled with the village's exposed position on the Pennine moorland.
[edit] Geography
Greenfield also contains four reservoirs, three of which are linked to one another: Greenfield, Yeoman Hey, and Dovestones. The fourth is Chew Reservoir at the head of Chew Valley, which is the highest man-made reservoir in England.[1] There is a yachting club on Dovestone Reservoir, the largest of these, and a set of walking paths round the first three. A steep walking path also connects Dovestones to Chew Reservoir. Much of the area covered by the reservoirs lies within the boundary of the Peak District National Park.
Saddleworth Moor rises above Greenfield and leads over impressively barren and disorientating moorlands to Holmfirth. The area includes some of the sites used by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, known as the 'Moors Murderers', to bury their child victims in the early 1960s. The sinister nature of the crimes was the subject of some songs by The Smiths in the early 1980s.
Greenfield is also the home of an amateur rugby league side, Saddleworth Rangers, as well as Greenfield and Saddleworth cricket clubs. There are two junior and infant schools, and three churches (one Methodist and two Anglican).
[edit] Landmarks
Pots and Pans is a locally well known hill ovelooking the village: The monument on top is a war memorial constructed in 1923 and is sighted so that it is visible from all the seven villages that comprise Saddleworth. It is situated approx 1200 feet above sea level[citation needed] and every year on Remembrance Sunday a service is held there.
[edit] Transport
Greenfield is only place in Saddleworth which has a train station (Diggle station was the other until it closed in the 1960s). Greenfield railway station lies along the Huddersfield Line with services running towards Huddersfield via Marsden and Slaithwaite and towards Manchester Victoria via Mossley, Stalybridge and Ashton-under-Lyne.
The main bus services in Greenfield are the 180 and 350, which are both run by First Manchester. The 180's terminus is in Greenfield at the Clarence Hotel and runs a half-hourly Monday-Saturday daytime service and hourly evening and Sunday service to Manchester Piccadilly via Oldham. The 180 links up at Greenfield railway station with the 184, which would have started its journey from Huddersfield, Diggle or Uppermill to provide a 10 minute Monday-Saturday daytime service and a half-hourly evening and Sunday service.
The 350 runs through Greenfield to Oldham and Ashton-under-Lyne, via Delph, Uppermill and Mossley. The 350 has the same service frequency as the 180 for its full route although it does provide a half-hourly Sunday daytime service to Ashton.
The other bus service in Greenfield is the 354, which runs a two-hourly service from Denshaw (Monday-Saturday daytime only), Diggle (evenings only) or Uppermill to Ashton, via Mossley and Stalybridge. The Monday-Saturday daytime service is run by Speedwellbus while evening and Sunday journeys are run by First.
[edit] Culture
Greenfield is one of the towns and villages which holds an annual Whit Friday brass band contest.
Hervey Rhodes, Baron Rhodes, Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire (from 1968 to 1971) and Deputy-Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester in 1974, was from Greenfield.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Geograph.org.uk - Chew Reservoir
- ^ Daly, J.D (N.D.). Oldham From the XX Legion to the 20th Century, 97. ISBN 5-00-091284-5.
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