The highest green in Huddersfield

Bowling News

Did you know that there used to be a bowling green in the area even higher situated than the one on Castle Hill? In fact there were two higher! The Huddersfield Exposed website explains with the startling revelation that there used to be a bowling green at the Wood Cottage Hotel on Greenfield Road at Harden Moss.

Situated near to The Huntsman Inn the former hotel and then Youth Hostel is clearly shown with a bowling green on the Ordnance Survey map of 1893. It is believed that it was really a recreational facility for hotel guests being so remote and hardly any nearby locals who could use the green on a regular basis.

Interestingly the O.S. map shows the boundary line between the hotel and the green - I wonder how that worked for licensing? The hotel was in Meltham Local Board District whilst the green was in Holmfirth Local Board District.

This green was clocked higher than one at Scammonden (1,086ft), higher than the one at Castle Hill (876ft), as the one at Wood Cottage Hotel is clocked at 1,179feet above sea level.

The Harden Moss Estate was placed up for sale in 1908 with a guide price of £3,700, including the Wood Cottage Hotel, Model Farm, and 360 acres of land.

As the hotel lost its licence in 1916 and was turned into a Youth Hostel, we can only assume that the green became redundant at that point as well as it failed to appear on any maps after that date.

The Wood Cottage Hotel was sited just after what is now The Huntsman Inn on the same side of the road and is now a private residential home. The green can be seen situated right in the centre of the map below. The second photograph is dated 1916 which is around the time that the hotel lost its licence. The map at the bottom of this page shows the location of the second-highest local green which was at Scammonden alongside the Upper Royal George Inn.

Click images to enlarge