Digging up the past at Cliffe Castle in Keighley (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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Digging up the past at Cliffe Castle in Keighley
9:00am Wednesday 20th March 2013 in News
Kate Stanley (left), of Bradford Council, with Barbara Klempka (right) and Angela Algie of the Conservation Group
Volunteers in Cliffe Castle Park, Keighley, have taken a path into history.
They have uncovered a path unseen for many years and carried out repairs so it can be walked by modern-day visitors.
The Victorian path is shown on old maps of the area within the grounds of the original owner of Cliffe Castle, Henry Butterfield.
But it was hidden under leaf mould and bushes until a working party spent two days on restoration work.
The path runs just inside the edge of Moorhouse Wood at the western end of the park near its border with University Academy Keighley. It links an existing path up from the Beechcliffe entrance to the 936-metre Cross Country post at the top of the wood.
The work was organised by the Joint Activities and Motor Education Service (JAMES), Keighley Volunteer Centre and Bradford Environmental Education Service. The working party included members of Cliffe Castle Park Conservation Group and members of the public.
Group spokesman Sue Skinner said: “The path was an early asphalt path edged with stone. Henry Butterfield was keen to use new technology and materials.
“The size of the aggregate pieces in the path is considerably larger than the smaller aggregate used in modern bitumen macadam.”
