WATERMEETINGS

"Eee ! We used to go there when we were kids. I can remember - we used to put butties up and buy pop from Mrs Brown's shop on Foreside and go up to Watermeetings, fishing for minnows, paddling and skimming stones in the river - do people still go there?"

This is the sort of response you often get when you mention the Watermeetings to a lot of people around the Barrowford area. The answer is, "Yes - people still go there."

Watermeetings is as popular now as it ever was. It is a place of pleasant memories of happy childhood days, for it always seemed that whenever you were at Watermeetings the sun was always shining. Even in the war years it was a place of peace and tranquillity - a sort of refuge from the troubles of the world - and today, although most people have cars, televisions and all the modern kinds of entertainment, if the sun comes out, Watermeetings still becomes the destination of countless families and walkers, no doubt looking for a few hours of peace and quiet.

The short stretch of footpath from the old packhorse bridge at Foreside has now become part of the new 'Pendle Way' and is very well used by ramblers and nature-lovers. Even in the middle of winter, when the footpath has been covered by three feet snowdrifts, the way is soon cleared again by early morning walkers. Nature lovers , ramblers and photographers spend many hours at Watermeetings which is also a birdwatchers paradise. Kingfishers, herons, dippers, finches, woodpeckers and many more of our lovely wild birds, too numerous to mention, can be spotted here.

It is not really known when this area first became inhabited or built on, but in 1984 an archaeological survey on an area just above the joining of the two rivers, i.e. Pendle Water and Blacko Water, produced positive evidence of a very early settlement. Remains were found of an iron bloom and kiln used for smelting iron and two pieces of vitrified material.

One of the oldest buildings in Barrowford is Watermeetings House and Cottage which was built around the year 1600 and was originally a large farmstead. The room at the north west of the house has still got parts of a very unusual and interesting designed frieze of plaster in quite good condition around the walls - at one time poultry were kept in here. There was also a carved stone lintel stating 'Dairy' over one of the windows on the north side. This was because the dairy was exempt from the window-tax which at that time was payable.

The house was originally T-shaped but in recent years the leg of the T, which was the dairy, was demolished and the stones were used to build two sheds next to the house. In 1988,these sheds were demolished and the dairy part of the house was rebuilt with the original stone and is now a very attractive entrance-hall and study.A large stone sink which is believed to have come out of the dairy was uncovered at this time - unfortunately this was broken but can be repaired and will soon be reassembled somewhere next to the house.

There must have been many residents in Watermeetings House over the years and it would surely be very interesting if information about each family who lived there could be found.

JAMES HARGREAVES

The earliest documents which have been found relating to Watermeetings House are of a James Hargreaves who died there in 1673. There is a last will and testament and an inventory of everything which was left in the house at the time of his death - even how much money he had in his pockets.

Miss Sarah Pearson, from the Royal Commission of Historic Monuments in London, has visited the house periodically and much of this information has been passed on from her. In her research of the house she states that James Hargreaves left Watermeetings House and moved into the "New House" he had just built, which he called 'The Big House' now better known as the 'White Bear'.

James Hargreaves later moved back into Watermeetings House where he died, leaving the farm and lands adjoining to his sons, but it is not known how long the Hargreaves' family stayed there.

Probably the best known family to live at Watermeetings in recent years are the Sharps and many Barrowford people will remember them. John Sharp from Scotland and his wife Ellen who was born at Whitehough in 1777 had moved to Watermeetings House about 1805. They had five children including Betty, Mark and William - Mark married Anne Fletcher from Blacko and had thirteen children. These were the first Sharps at Watermeetings but their descendants were there for over 130 years.

Possibly the best known of the Sharps' family, especially to the older local people, was a lady called Rose Sharp or 'Aunt Rose' as everyone called her, who lived at Watermeetings Cottage. The cottage part of the house was separated from the main house at some time possibly before 1900, but the old door between the two buildings is in fact still there, hidden behind a stone alcove.

Aunt Rose would nearly always be seated at the door of the cottage selling her fruit and flowers which she had grown in her garden. Many happy memories have been related about her and one little story has been told many times that she would let her young visitors pick as many wind blown apples as they could carry for a penny. Rose died in 1931 at the age of 84 and in her last will and testament it shows she was not badly off. She was a very gentle person and must have been much loved.

Another famous member of the Sharp family was Wilfred, born in 1882. He invented the farm tractor twenty years before they were commercially produced. He could interchange the various implements i.e. plough, hay-rake etc. and it was more or less what the modern tractor is today. This was sabotaged by the farmhands who were working the fields at that time because they were afraid it would take away their livelihood, so they broke it up, but Wilfred repaired the tractor and continued to use it on the farm. It was later exhibited at a farming show in the Midlands and won the exhibition for new farm implements. The tractor is still in existence but its present location is not well known. Wilfred also invented a gun and the patent was taken up by the War Office.

Archie Sharp, the clogger, was a very likeable person, remembered for the old clogs lined up in his shop window and the old tatty leather apron he used to wear. His shop was approximately where Barrowford Post Office is now and most older people of Barrowford are sure to remember him.

Kenneth Sharp was the headmaster at Barrowford school in the 1950's and whose pride and joy was the school garden. It was a picture to see, very neat and tidy and really was something to be proud of. He would send me up to the local brewery for spent hops for compost and the smell from the hops would really make your hair curl but the produce in the garden thrived on it.

One true story I often tell when reminiscing about school days, is of the time when myself and a pal were a bit fed up one evening so we decided to pay a visit to the school garden. There wasn't any fruit about, only vegetables, so we acquired a nice white cauliflower each and promptly went off to the village fountain in the Square to wash our ill-gotten gains. Whilst eating our plunder, I thought mine was a bit gritty and tasted a bit funny but carried on dining - it was, I might add, early winter and quite dark at the time. The following morning it was our turn to work in the school garden and the first words Kenneth Sharp said were : "Right, we're going to clear these caulies this morning, they're full of slugs and caterpillars." I've always been very careful since then when preparing vegetables and fruit for the kitchen.

For the past eight or nine years Watermeetings has been a sort of unplanned bird and animal sanctuary where all kinds of creatures and birds have been brought or even arrived on their own to be nursed back to health and released again.

One of the uninvited guests is Roger, a large wild grey and white gander with one foot missing, who flew into the paddock two years ago and made it his home. He was fed with all the best food and must have decided he liked, so he has stayed.

Lucy a small orphan duckling when she was brought to us four years ago, has since then raised at least fifty ducklings.

Olivia is one of the favourite inmates, she is a tawny owl and was at one time very badly injured and thought to be blind in one eye. She was brought to Watermeetings when she was semi-recovered and fed on the best of everything that owls like to eat. As she was becoming fitter and nearer to being released, she started courting. Each evening a male tawny owl would come and sit on top of the aviary hooting and tooting or whatever it is that owls do. Anyway he got his supper every night also until eventually it was obvious that Olivia was fully fit and ready to go. The 'pop' hole in the aviary was opened one evening and off she went with her boyfriend but of course they still come back most evenings for their supper.

Three small rabbits were brought one day because their mother had been killed and they needed to be cared for and fed immediately. Panic followed, but the local vet supplied a syringe and dried milk to feed them, with instructions on how to go about caring for them. So it was warm milk, cuddles and lots of loving every four hours night and day, but they survived, and eventually went off into the wide world.

A tiny fledgling blackbird was another patient to be brought to us to care for and it wasn't long before I was instructed on the sort of worms dig up and how small to chop them. Bessie as she was called, soon got the idea of how to open her beak when her dinner was offered and within two days she was perching on our shoulders and heads. As Bessie grew and became fully feathered she had to be taught how to dig in the soil and turn leaves over to find her own food - so her lessons began. A shallow dish filled with soil and leaves was prepared with a counted number of very juicy (I think) worms and left in her cage. After a couple of hours the dish was removed and any worms left were to be counted again to see if her lesson was successful. None were ever found, so it was clear that Bessie could look after herself. The time came to set her free. She hopped out onto the top of her cage, stayed there for a few minutes and then off she went. It was a sad moment to see her go, but at the same time very satisfying to see a creature, which would surely have died, fly off into it's own domain.

Trees, shrubs and wild flowers have been planted over the last few years at Watermeetings and the bird life seems to be teeming. It is only about 500 yards from a busy main road and yet to see the wild creatures and birds around, it could be a different world.

Watermeetings is timeless and, as in the past, it will be enjoyed by country lovers for generations yet to come and we must surely take pride in this beautiful unspoilt spot which is so accessible to almost anyone who wants to visit.

D.M. DEAN.

This article was written in 1989 by David who left Watermeetings to reside in the nearby village of Trawden.

I remembered this little piece of heartwarming delight, and sensed this man and his lovely wife, who were full of love and compassion for God's creatures, deserve some recognition on the worldwide web. I only hope that the present owners of Watermeetings will have some of the same warmth 'rubbed off' onto them. J.S.