# Lower Whitley farm, Crow Edge, West Yorks, October 2019



## HughieD (Oct 7, 2019)

*1. The History*
The ruins of Lower Whitley farm sit on the moors near Penistone. Best described as a small farmhouse with a series of barns attached to it, the largest of which is set centrally behind an arched doorway. Can’t find too much history on this but the farm was in the news recently (2013) when it was used as the set for external shots of “Jamaica Inn” in a recent BBC adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s famous 19th century novel. Apparently the production team made a few changes such as removing the wall around the yard, clearing rubble and building a few extra bits of set.

*2. The Explore*
Seen this place up on the hill a few times while I’ve been driving over to assorted mills in the Huddersfield area. After a nearby fail and a bit of time on our hands thought we’d park up and have a hike up the track to this place. Didn’t expect to get enough decent pictures to merit a report but the light was so nice and managed to get some decent pictures. Could imagine in the depths of winter this place gets a bit bleak. It’s pretty far gone and you‘d need to spend a lot on this place. Then there’s the issue of getting gas and electricity up here, not to mention having to sort the road up to it out. Probably explains why it stands as a romantic ruin.

*3. The Pictures*

Up the track we go:


Lower Whitley Farm 01 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Here’s the secca:


Lower Whitley Farm 02 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Bugger – they’ve spotted us:


img3493 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3471 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Small barn first:


Lower Whitley Farm 03 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3470 by HughieDW, on Flickr


Lower Whitley Farm 05 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The big barn:


Lower Whitley Farm 04 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3474 by HughieDW, on Flickr

On to the farmhouse bit. Predictably someone has ripped out the main fireplace in in the farmhouse part:


Lower Whitley Farm 07 by HughieDW, on Flickr

This smaller one survives in some part:


Lower Whitley Farm 14 by HughieDW, on Flickr

There’s also a lack of floors in the farmhouse:


Lower Whitley Farm 06 by HughieDW, on Flickr


Lower Whitley Farm 10 by HughieDW, on Flickr


Lower Whitley Farm 12 by HughieDW, on Flickr

It was a bit sketchy getting upstairs but I persevered:


Lower Whitley Farm 08 by HughieDW, on Flickr


Lower Whitley Farm 09 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Some rewarding views:


img3481 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3484 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Think we’ll give the cellar a miss:


Lower Whitley Farm 11 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Obligatory dead bird shot:


Lower Whitley Farm 13 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And a few externals to finish off:


Lower Whitley Farm 15 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3492bw by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3495bw by HughieDW, on Flickr

And this odd little building on the way back down:


img3500 by HughieDW, on Flickr


----------



## BikinGlynn (Oct 7, 2019)

Lovely pics there, it actually looks warm too!


----------



## Dirus_Strictus (Oct 7, 2019)

Very nice set of images. Also nice to see the evidence of the under floor fire in the upper storey room, which nearly caused the demise of this building all those years ago. Actually not that uncommon, in the days when open coal or peat fires were the only way of heating properties. As for the odd little brick structure - fifty odd years ago there were two others on the moor that we knew about and the informed locals stated that they were to do with WW2 activities on the moor. However others say they were for commercial usage such as peat digging, and were tool stores.


----------



## Sabtr (Oct 8, 2019)

'As for the odd little brick structure - fifty odd years ago there were two others on the moor that we knew about and the informed locals stated that they were to do with WW2 activities on the moor. However others say they were for commercial usage such as peat digging, and were tool stores'

I'd thought military too. They resemble (but on a much smaller scale) some structures we have left up in the North East where gun placements were.
I was wondering possible pump house for water? Perhaps an explosives store of sorts if there'd been quarrying nearby? I think the use of a tool store is right too and perhaps after their initial intended use.

Interesting place that. There are hundreds of similar abandoned farms up in the North Pennines and because of how common they are up here I'd never thought of doing a report lol.
Always a shame to see them crumbling but in the end, who would live up there? Probably no-one these days..


----------



## HughieD (Oct 8, 2019)

BikinGlynn said:


> Lovely pics there, it actually looks warm too!



Yup - certain was - teeshirt weather - until the wind started blowin'



Dirus_Strictus said:


> Very nice set of images. Also nice to see the evidence of the under floor fire in the upper storey room, which nearly caused the demise of this building all those years ago. Actually not that uncommon, in the days when open coal or peat fires were the only way of heating properties. As for the odd little brick structure - fifty odd years ago there were two others on the moor that we knew about and the informed locals stated that they were to do with WW2 activities on the moor. However others say they were for commercial usage such as peat digging, and were tool stores.



Many thanks kind sir!



Sausage said:


> 'As for the odd little brick structure - fifty odd years ago there were two others on the moor that we knew about and the informed locals stated that they were to do with WW2 activities on the moor. However others say they were for commercial usage such as peat digging, and were tool stores'
> 
> I'd thought military too. They resemble (but on a much smaller scale) some structures we have left up in the North East where gun placements were.
> I was wondering possible pump house for water? Perhaps an explosives store of sorts if there'd been quarrying nearby? I think the use of a tool store is right too and perhaps after their initial intended use.
> ...



I think pump house for water and an explosives store of sorts (there is indeed a quarry nearby) are good shouts mate...


----------

