CRAGG VALE
COINER COUNTRY

 


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    All pictures on this site unless otherwise stated are © copyright Nigel J Lloyd.

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The village of Cragg Vale is located about a mile south of Mytholmroyd on the B6138 . The main claim to fame or infamy is it is the location of the homes of many of The Cragg Coiners., who's exploits in coin clipping and forgery led to murder and execution.

 

View looking down Cragg Road, The Robin Hood Inn is to the right.

 

The Robin Hood Inn

Robin Hood Inn sign.

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A view up the B6138 Cragg Road through the village.

Another view down the B6138 Cragg Road, through the village.

 

Yet another view up the B6138 Cragg Road through the village.

Yet another view down the B6138 Cragg Road, through the village.

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And yet another view up the B6138 Cragg Road through the village.

Guess what this is....

 

And what this one is...

The church of St John In The Wilderness, situated in the bottom of the valley.

 

Front view of the church.
(the little blue Citoen AX is mine)

The Hinch'
(Hincliffe Arms)
Which is next to the church.

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Cragg Vale school.

Hay Making.

 

The approach to a WWII Starfish Site.

A Starfish site was a World War 2 decoy site, set up to fool German bombers.

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This Starfish Site is sited not far from Cragg Vale on the edge of the moor. On this picture you can see the blast wall in front of the bunker.

All that can be seen now is the control bunker and it's blast wall. Beth and Scott are stood in the entrance.

 

Inside the control bunker.

A hole in the bunker roof.

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My daughter Beth trying to get up through the hole.

This view is from the roof of the bunker,  Drax Power Station can be seen, approx 28 miles away.

 

In this view you can see the TV transmitter at Emley Moor approx 13 miles away.

View looking towards Halifax 7 miles away.

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CRAGG VALE 'STARFISH SITE'

The 'Starfish Site' pictured above was one of  235 dotted around Britain by the end of 1942. The Cragg Vale one was erected as a decoy for the station and marshalling yards at Greetland near Halifax, and was operational from 1941 to 1943 by which time the Germans had lost air superiority. Some distance south west of the pictured control bunker were about a dozen square tanks described as being filled with oil and tyres which could be ignited remotely by  the staff at the control room. The resultant fires were supposed to imitate a series of incendiary bombs so hopefully fooling the German bomber crews into dropping their loads in the wrong place. Besides the control bunker and the flare pans, skeleton structures were also erected so as to imitate buildings to add to the overall effect of a station and marshalling yards.

  Looking at the area now, one can not believe what a hive of avtivity the place was in it's wartime heyday, around 20 RAF staff were employed in shifts in the running of the facility. Anyone who was not a member of staff caught near to the facility would be challenged and warned in no uncertain terms to keep away.
 This was bad news for some of the locals as the Sugden family were to find out. The family lived at Slate Delfs Farm which was to be found in the area of the site. When the men from the ministry came calling the family were evicted from their home and livelyhood, and were sadly never able to return. The farm lay derelict for some 50 years, it has now been restored.

  No bombs were ever dropped on the site, but also none were ever dropped on the Greetland marshalling yards.