Holmfield & Southowram Light Railway

The Holmfield Scheme

Mr Beswick, the engineer, said it was not possible, having regard to the difficulties, to devise an adequate scheme to join the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Co's scheme at Elland. The proposed line had been extended at Southowram End at the suggestion of the Southowram District Council to serve the quarries at West Lane. Mr Williams took the objection that in the draft order the authorised terminus was at Milking Hill. What was not proposed was an extension and not a deviation. The commissioners held that this particular extension was irregular. Mr Barstow:

Then I must withdraw that part of the scheme

The Earl of Jersey:

It is not a case of competition between two lines, but whether the Holmfield branch will serve this district, and is well laid out from an engineering point of view

Mr Waugh asked Mr Beswick if a railway was to be made to serve two valleys it must not go to Elland. The Earl of Jersey:

We are not dealing with the valleys. This is obviously a line on high land and cannot serve the valleys

Some local quarry owners/brick manufacturers, etc.,

• Councillor William Oates, Managing Director of Oates & Green
• A branch of the Leeds Fireclay Company, owners of Sunny Bank  collieries
• Mr J. S. Hartley, a partner in Hartley & Kaye

addressed the inquiry, and said, of the seven firms in the Milking Hill district, only three sent any stone to Elland:

• Mr A.E. Jagger of Ringby
• Mr Nimrod Brearley, Secretary to Messrs E. A. Earnshaw & Co,  Tool makers of Boothtown
• Mr J. Whitley Ward JP who owned 200 acres of land
• Mr William Glossop, Secretary of Messrs Brookes Ltd
• Mr Harry Halstead Jennings, Managing Director of Southowram  Stone Company

said the majority of quarry owners promoted the Elland scheme. His quarries would not be served by the Holmfield line.

Mr Allen, glazed brick manufacturer of Hipperholme, said all the clay works would be left in the cold if the scheme was sanctioned. He considered it would not be an advantage to him of the fireclay interest in Southowram that the company should make that line and give a monopoly practically to Messrs Oates & Green. Mr Bairstow asked him

You think any scheme for Southowram should go up Walterclough Valley?

Mr Allen

Yes

Mr Alfred Farrar, director of John Farrar & Sons, stone merchants of Southowram, said

he did not think it fair that none of their quarries were touched by the railway

Mr Bairstow for the promoters said that unless Southowram could be developed by a high level scheme it could not be developed at all.

The Earl of Jersey announced that the decision of the commissioners would be sent to the parties in a day or two

 

Holmfield Scheme Sanctioned

On Thursday, we received a letter from the Light Railway Commission enclosing a copy of a letter which had been addressed to the Parliamentary Agents for the promoters.

This set forth that the Commissioners had decided to grant the application made for an order to authorise the Holmfield & Southowram.

The Commissioners propose, in due course, before submitting the Order to the Board of Trade for confirmation, to provisionally frame a draft thereof containing such clauses for the protection of land owners and either, as appear to be requested.

Copies of the draft will be issued for the observation of the parties interested and any such observation will be duly considered by the Commissioners before the Order is finally settled