Birstwith
Birstwith Mill on Wreaks Road is run by Kerry Ingredients, a food products manufacturer. The River Nidd provided water for the mill, and although sluice gates and a mill race exist, the water wheel no longer turns—an existing weir provides the mill with a head of water. The mill race rejoins the river downstream. About 1 mile (1.6 km) upstream is a packhorse bridge.
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The local public house is the Station Hotel which acts as a meeting place, and venue for organised charity events such as the Birstwith Coast 2 Coast Cycle Challenge. The village has a store and post office, and a doctor's surgery which is part of a Nidderdale medical group. Sport facilities include a cricket pitch, tennis courts, and a snooker room.
The village had a railway station on the NER line running between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge. The goods yard became Birstwith Grange, a housing development for commuters. The railway line continued along the Nidd Valley and was used in the construction of Scar House and Angram reservoirs.
A village primary school and a Reading Room, built and donated by the owner of the local Swarcliffe Hall around 1880, still exist today. In the mid-1970s Swarcliffe Hall was sold and the contents auctioned, the building became a private prep school. Today Birstwith has a Church of England primary school, and a private school which occupy Swarcliffe Hall.
St James' Church, Birstwith was completed in 1857 and is a grade II listed building.
In 2017 Birstwith In Bloom was established. Birstwith won a Silver-gilt at the Yorkshire in Bloom awards, this was the first time the village had entered the competition.
See also
References
- ^ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Birstwith Parish (1170216977)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
- ^ UK Census (2001). "Local Area Report – Birstwith Parish (36UD010)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
- ^ "Birstwith News", Harrogate Advertiser, 27 May 2008. Retrieved 17 December 2011
- ^ Suggitt, Gordon (2007). Lost railways of North and East Yorkshire. Newbury: Countryside Books. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-85306-918-5.
- ^ Historic England. "Church of St James the Apostle (1315284)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
- ^ "2017 Summary of Results Categories 1 – 5" (PDF). yorkshireinbloom.co.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
External links
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