Memories of Styperson

Gilbert Beeley lived at Springbank Farm by br.20. The area to the east of the canal between bridges 19 and 22 is known as Styperson and contains a disused quarry which was operated by Whettons. The hill is natural, now tree covered; the pool is man-made and surprisingly shallow. These memories were noted in conversation with him in 1999. I met him twice and these memories were noted when I met him one morning walking on Styperson embankment.

He remembered the cable fence along Styperson embankment. It was in good condition with the cables pulled tight through the holes in the stone posts in the early 1930’s. I remember the rusted remains hanging out of several of the post holes in the late 1970s. By the 2000s all evidence was gone. The cables were redundant mine lift cables, heavily greased.

The west bank of Styperson embankment was used as a dredge dump and, once green again, the triangle of land was let to his grandfather for a rent of 1 shilling per year (5p). One year he forgot to pay and was threatened with being sued for his shilling!

He recalled travelling on his uncle’s boat from the wharf at br.19 round to New Mills on the Upper Peak Forest canal to collect a load of clinker from the sandpaper factory. This was on the uphill side of the canal at the bridge in New Mills. They started out at 8.00am and returned about 6.00pm.

Regarding the wharf at br.20 - named Ryles Wood wharf (right), he remembered the timber wharf crane.

The wharf at br.21, Dangerous Corner - has disappeared under the garden of the modern house. He remembered there being stone saws and Lancashire boiler(s) here. He remembered them bringing 'Styperson Blue' stone down from the quarry to be sawn and polished. This was not one of Whettons sites.

He noted that the canal company was responsible for the road surface over the bridges. The council surfaced the road to a set distance from the crown of the bridges marked by short metal posts in the verge.

The picture above of Ryles Wood wharf appears to have been taken in the early part of the 20thC. It shows a party out for the day on the canal in three boats. The means of propulsion is not at all clear. One man is leaning on a boat hook. As for the wharf, it was already heavily overgrown but still in use with some small stacks of stone perhaps awaiting despatch.