This photo gives you a good idea of what Heptonstall village as a whole looks like - really not much changed (at least on the surface) from what it was 200 years ago. It's now a conservation area so in many ways it is 'frozen in time'. The streets' stone setts have been reinstated, and the old handloom weavers' cottages like those on the left (dating to around 1800) still stand, with their large upper windows, designed to give maximum light for the weavers, who sometimes worked 12 hour days to catch the light. The last handloom weaver of Heptonstall (and one of the last remaining in the Pennines), John Sutcliffe, died in 1902.
Apart from the fact that it always seems to be dull weather when I visit, the village has a rather dark, forbidding look, largely due to the soot-blackened buildings that, unlike many in Yorkshire, have never been cleaned up.
I love old streets like this. All those echoes from the past, priceless.
ReplyDeleteGrey stones have charm, and they match very well with greenery around; They must be beautyful when there's snow!
ReplyDeleteThe stone streets are lovely, there is so much charm over there! ~Lili
ReplyDeleteSomehow the overcast sky seems appropriate to the gray buildings; it helps give sound and taste to the scene. I'm glad the narrow street isn't choked with cars; that seems to be the fate of our old villages. Jim
ReplyDeleteWhat a contrast between Heptonstall and Knaresborough. Enjoying the tour a lot, though.
ReplyDeleteAt least there is the greenery to brighten it a bit!
ReplyDeleteLovely place and a lovely image. Those old cobblestone streets have so much character.
ReplyDeleteA few colorful flowers and it would be beautiful!
ReplyDeleteA street of craftspeople - what a pleasant thought! A lot of hard work was being done that's for sure.
ReplyDelete"Frozen in time" is right. Seeing the soot-blackened walls gives us a sense of its true history, not just a restoration.
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