200 years ago this month 150 men gathered in the field behind the Dumb Steeple which forms part of the Green Belt land threatened to become an industrial development. Increased mechanism meant that one machine could do the job of four men, so they and their families faced poverty and starvation. On the night of 11th April they marched up the fields past Hartshead to William Cartwright's Rawfolds Mill in Liversedge, but were overcome by armed militia and fled. Two men died. On 12th April 2012 a 7 mile walk traced the route taken by the Luddites from the Dumb Steeple to Rawfolds Mill.
Sparrow Park, Liversedge
Spen Valley Civic Society bought a piece of derelict land at Knowler Hill, Liversedge, and for the last six years they have worked evenings and weekends to create a small park, with funding from Veolia Environmental Trust, to mark the town of Liversedge. The Society commissioned a sculpture of a cropper and his daughter, made by Pete Rogers and Alex Hallowes, which stands as an eye-catching centrepiece. Alongside is a plaque (shown below) and an interesting information board which tells the story of the croppers and of the local area.
