MORE than 700 years of history have been brought to life with the publication of a new book by Helmshore Local History Society.
Musbury and Alden, by John Simpson, tells the story of the deer park built near Helmshore by the Earl of Lincoln in 1305.
The park covered most of the Musbury and Alden valleys and provided a place to hunt for the Earl and his entourage, as well as venison for his table.
A ditch and wooden fence, four miles in circumference, surrounded the park and remains of this old boundary can still be seen today, more than 700 years after it was made.
Once the deer park fell out of use in the early 16th century, it was divided up into farms, some of which are still worked today.
There are chapters on the development of these farms, and another on how the people of Musbury lived and worked in the 16th and 17th centuries.
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Industry came to the two valleys at the end of the 19th century and, before long, there were several fulling mills on the Musbury and Alden Brooks.
They were small affairs compared to the mills built later in the 19th century, which included Sunnybank Mill owned by the Porritt family.
By about 1900, the Porritts owned most of the land within the boundaries of the old deer park and they had a profound influence on the development of Helmshore in the second half of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century.
The book ends with a Musbury Miscellany', which includes the story of the man who tried to sell his wife at the White Horse in 1869, and of James Barlow who supplemented his income by distilling illicit whisky at his farm.
When he was caught by the excise men, he was much put out to find that the magistrates who fined him had been some of his best customers!
Above, in a family photograph dating back to around 1900, James is third on the left on the front row.
One of the oldest farms in Musbury is Kiln Field.
The other photograph was taken in the Second World War and shows Ernest Taylor (left) and Roy Gibbons spreading manure on land which had been ploughed to grow crops to help the war effort.
The hardback book is illustrated with maps and photographs and is limited to 500 copies. It costs £8.95, plus posting and packaging, and is available from John Simpson, The Cottage, Tor View Farm, Helmshore, Rossendale, BB4 4AB.
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