As far as I was aware, the Grassington mineral rights were still in the hands of the Chatsworth trustees. However, I don't think Hebden liberty was ever in the possession of the Dukes of Devonshire so maybe that's what Yorkshire Water have?

Yes - I also believe that the Grassington Moor mineral rights are held by the D of D. However, the portal of the Duke's Level is within the Hebden Liberty, the mineral rights of which were owned by the free-holders of Hebden. I am pretty sure that Yorkshire Water now have them, so I assume that there was a compulsory purchase sometime in the distant past. When the shaft collapsed on the moor, Yorkshire Water were pretty quick to install fences around anything they thought might be a shaft, and gated all the adits.

Probably when Grimwith reservoir was built I'd guess, and YW will have inherited them from Bradford Corporation.

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Probably when Grimwith reservoir was built I'd guess, and YW will have inherited them from Bradford Corporation.

Unlikely as Grimwith Reservoir is not only outside the bounds of Hebden, but it was originally built in 1864 when the Hebden Moor Mining Company were leasing the Hebden mineral rights. My guess would be that it was when the responsible water authority decided to utilise the water emerging from the adits for the Hebden water supply. I will try to find out for sure.

Interestingly, they didn't bother to gate Hebden Horse Level (https://www.braemoor.co.uk/horselevel/) when they gated the others.

I will try to find out for sure.

Not as simple as I thought. It may well be that the Hebden Liberty mineral rights are still owned by a group (including the Devonshire Estate who retained their share when they sold Hole Bottom in 1887). I can only be absolutely sure that the shafts and adits in Hebden Gill above Hole Bottom were purchased by Craven Water Board on 2 May 1966. This would explain Yorkshire Water's haste when they fenced and gated everything in that area when the shaft collapsed, but didn't bother with Hebden Horse Level which is in the village.

It's finally here!

Official membership to the Grassington Mines Appreciation Group is now open.

If you'd like to get involved in some of the group's activities or just want to keep informed with updates and information about our progress, then why not become an official member

Membership is free and it's as simple as logging onto the website and creating a user account. From there you will join the mailing list and will have access to the forum. Joining the membership list is a great way of supporting the group and all are welcome.

Just visit www.grassingtonmines.com and click on the tab "Become a Member". From there all you need to do is create a user account.



In regards to Dukes Level. I took a trip up there a few weeks ago to take some pictures for the website. The level is inaccessible due to the gate but, it wouldn't take too much effort to remove the bolts. We have a lot of other work going on up on the moor at the moment, but at some point will contact Yorkshire Water in order to arrange permission to access the level.

In regards to Dukes Level. I took a trip up there a few weeks ago to take some pictures for the website. The level is inaccessible due to the gate but, it wouldn't take too much effort to remove the bolts. We have a lot of other work going on up on the moor at the moment, but at some point will contact Yorkshire Water in order to arrange permission to access the level.

I took a look as I wandered past this morning, and you're absolutely right! When YW originally installed the grating they built a breeze block wall slightly in front of and up to the level of the portal arch, damming up the water behind. The water was at the same level as the grill. The wall has now been removed, some time ago by the look of it, and the water level is now even lower than when I went in some 40 years ago. I took a photograph through the grating, and it all looks open inside.

I'm not sure how cooperative Yorkshire Water would be about accessing the place, because the silt displaced muddies up the beck summat chronic, which won't make the fish farm too happy. There was no fish farm when we went in.