Hull, Reddish Vale and the Viaduct that wasn't there. 

Hi Martin, great video. Just some info Zac and Jack may find interesting: my Nana worked in the Calico Printworks as a little girl (her family also worked there). She was born in 1902 and so this would have been 1909-10 period. She used to tell me stories of getting very upset at having to work in bare feet in the mill (due to the risk of fire) because of the thick oil on the floor getting on her feet - she said it also used to make her feel really sick, and made the skin on her feet really sore. In the end, they were given little soft, material slippers to wear that protected her feet a little. She absolutely hated working there. Great video, lads!

Martin , just a thought - this magazine style of framework is so flexible and the content can be across the board ... your quality makes it all work - so keeping it going and involving your audience is great once in a while ...just a thought.

From The Forgotten Valley, page 28, "In its later years the coal from Wind Hill Pit was carried into the valley by means of a tramway, the line first spanning the Ashworth Road then dropping down the hill, across a timber trellis, through a narrow cutting and finally terminating at the foot of Deeply Hill. There were two four wheel wagons in use, each carrying five 21/2cwt. tubs of coal, and the gradient of the line allowed them to enter the valley by their own momentum. They were hauled back by means of a cable which was powered by a stationary steam engine situated by the pit".

Ahah -Hull - the ignored city so much history here - thanks for visiting cheers Rob

Its so refreshing to see kids getting out and taking an interest in whats around them. Excellent Martin thanks.

Cheers Martin, thanks for the inclusion. If anyone wants us to make more, we'll do what we can. This was our first atempt. Cheers, Chris, Elizabeth, Thomas and Rosemary on camera!!!

I think history is great for kids and don't understand why more are not interested. I mean think about it - you are uncovering treasures from the past and unlocking lost worlds from books. Then being able to see the remains in reality brings these worlds to life. Love the magazine style content alongside the rest.

Cracking video. Im 36 years young and follow all your videos. Keep up the good work

Its awesome the younger people are into exploring too!

I used to see the weir in the 50’s and loved watching the cascading water. There were hardly any trees on the valley floor and a clear view to Arden Hall now the motorway cuts right across in front. The print works was there and a row of cottages. Also remember the ski jump that was built there one summer. Great video. Thanks to the boys reviving happy memories of Reddish Vale

Thank you Martin, thoroughly enjoyed the video. brilliant to see the youngsters taking a keen interest in history.

Really good to see your new fellow enthusiasts.

Adventure Family following the footsteps of history.... Wonderful enjoyment... are outings of memory with the family, and a plus wondering through history that surrounds us. Cheers.

The strong construction of the right of way bridge for farm travel under the disused railway line in Hull show i think the importance placed on the farm and rural commerce still based on a running river even as the steel rail developed , amazing ,its so easy for things to be out of sight out of mind , and i now need some goggles when i watch , hmm which should they be ,, hmmm maybe both i think , one to remind me of tea time and the other to get a closer look at things , great stuff thanks martin and team (s)

No need to apologise for the mag style, it's great, do a bit of that and long-form. Here's hoping the lads go from strength to strength..

We lived in Brinnington in the early sixties and used to go down the vale quit regularly, in the summer we would strip down to our shorts and incredibly play on the top of the weir, walking over to the top edge to what you call strines weir and generally messing about on it. One summer me and my friends went down the vale with our mums for a picnic they say by the river near the viaduct and we as usual went to the weir messing around on it. shortly after our mums walked over saw what we were up to and we got a right thick ear for being so stupid.Oh god i cant believe some of the stunts we got up down there. Another great film Martin.

It is great to see young people taking an interest in local history. Great episode.

Another great video with some great contributions from Chris and his family and the boys and mum. Essential viewing on a Sunday evening from Steve in Bridlington.

South Manchester,I was born and brought up in Gatley ....in those days 1950’s/early 1960’s we still had steam trains on 2 seperate lines at the top of our road,Pendlebury rd Gatley...nowadays it’s the motorway where there were fields from which we did our train spotting... different times ,love your videos 🙂👋my gran lived in HeatonMersey...and we saw the stream trains there as well,......all long gone 😕

wonderful great to see you all and thank you for taking us out with you all even if i was still indoors on lockdown cheers from trev and Chris down south in Sussex by the sea

Jack is my childhood best friend it’s amazing to see him doing well in somet he loves 💙

Very interesting collaborative video. Thanks to Martin and the lads and mum!

You have done excellent work with the restrictions you have had....no apologies needed!

Those two are brilliant, and we know where they get their enthusiasm from, a great teacher. 👍🏻

As a Kid used to ride my bike from Anlaby Common embankment ,go across Springhead Lane bridge along the embankment to Aston road bridge to Willerby square .Go across the road to a field and follow the train track to a Mile long tunnel coming out at Weadley Springs and then on to South Cave .

That was great. I love this magazine format. It's amazing how much you can fit in to 30 minutes!

I am so impressed with the lads who have been watching your videos! I hope to inspire younger folk to take an interest in what is around them, too! Great video as always, and I love the content you've included this time - it is great when people are inspired and want to engage! Jack and Zach were brilliant as were your official Hull reporters including Elizabeth and Thomas! Brilliant work and you did a great job of connecting the different aspects of your story! ~M x

Zak and Jack future archaeologists. Great video, our hidden history.

Loved the video - as always - and the guest stars were fantastic! Sharing a love of history and curiosity is a great thing! Cheers from across the pond! Keep on cracking on!

My youth: It's 5 to 5 time for CRACKERJACK!! My Adult hood: It's 5 to 7 time for MARTIN ZERO!!

Been loven the magazine style all along here. I'd like to see you work with Jack and Zach again on something kid oriented but historical in origin. Things have come a long way since the trap door in the canal. Looking forward to the next video.

Always look forward to new uploads 👍👍

Fantastic video not surprised you have inspired the young ones and its great they have developed such an interest. Love the goggles we get a lot of steam punkers in Morecambe through the summer. Great to sit in the old Bruccianis café which dates back to the 1930 s and is still original selling their homemade ice cream watching all the different costumes passing by.. You must try it if you ever get to Morecambe.

Very interested to see Reddish Vale as my Dad lived in Reddish as a young man before WW2. He and his twin brother used to sketch around Stockport and Reddish Vale, I still have some of his sketches which are 70 years old. Loved those young lads , watch your back Martin 😂

Great work as always Martin and also great to see the next generation of young people interested in local history 👍🏻

Another class video Martin 👍.I do enjoy a good railway history video. I live on the route of an old branch line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway, built to serve a large mill nearby. Although the line was only 1.6 miles long, it had a 13 arch and a 14 arch viaduct, which both still stand today, as well as 2 stations and a large goods yard. Although the track has long since gone, there is still plenty of evidence of what was there if you know where to look - I’ve found a few sleepers and even lumps of coal by the old coal dumps, which is now just a dense forested area. Glad to see there’s more of us out there who have an appreciation for stuff like this.

Those young lads are great advocates for local history. :)

Definitely enjoyed the variety of content in this video.. very interesting. thumbs up! to Zak and Jack!!

Blimey Martin I think you might have some competition there with Jack and Zak very knowledgeable young men, glad you will be out and about next week but I have also enjoyed the magazine style blogs so thanks for keeping us entertained though this awful time. Love to everyone out there hope your all safe and well.

So many wonderful things here,the history as well as your young audience! There are more kids like this ,just need a bit of visibility. YOU all are amazing.

There was Dry side but even the dry side is wet!! Love it x

Another great video Martin. Those youngsters were brilliant too. Many thanks Pete.

I really enjoy this type of video where you mix a few things up, nice to see young kids interested in history too, soo much better than a stuff classroom. 😃😃

At the top of the viaduct, is the old junction thru brinington tunnel onwards to tiviot dale station stockport and onwards to northern junction, the remains of the Midland mainline and Cheshire lines viaduct and bridges use to cross the mersey further up after stockport, great walk.👍

I'm so glad I found this vid.I spent some formitive years in the Reddish area just up from the Giants money box bridge. Really nice to see bits of the place. I was never sure what the slit might be but the coal drop seems a reasonable reason than any other. Really enjoyed the rest of the content and will be watching more. Nice one

I was always interested in history as a kid, so it's great to see the youngsters of today taking and interest. Another great video. Thank you!

Great video once again Martin. You're clearly an inspiration to the younger generation, for which you deservedly should be commended. p.s. formerly Ashton on Mersey Bugle :-)

Excellent video from the guys in Hull great to see people getting involved with your channel martin

Hi Martin, Had to watch this one again...... Great video.......

Cheesden Valley, Deeply Vale as per Martin's vid last week.. I went today for an explore, mind was blown.

Over the other side of Reddish Vale, going towards Brinnington is the old CLC railwayline, locally called the "deadline", which heads towards the old Tiviot Dale station where there are still some small remains of the platform. There's also a branch (before you reach Tiviot Way - heading towards Stockport and Tesco's) which goes under a rather wonderful old tunnel heading in the direction of Romiley and Marple. If you head to Red House Lane in Bredbury, you can see the remains of the old line running next to the existing line. When I was a kid in the seventies, that mechanism was mostly covered by earth, but you could clearly see the top of it...I'd pass it when heading up "Big Ben" to skive at my friend's house, to avoid doing the whole of the school-cross country run. Wonderful to see it in all of its glory now.

Had to watch this a second timr,and such a cool thing to see these boys into the history of it all.

Excellent as always Martin. Great contribution from Chris and family and the lads from Jay Zay. Really good to see young people taking an interest in their local history. Many thanks.

i LOVE the way the whole family is involved

That's some beautiful scenery

We have railroad embankments here in northern Kentuckythat are huge with culverts that do double duty as roads, very narrow and low, date to early 1900's. I don't know of any borrow pits so I imagine they shifted Earth from cuttings and redistributed it. Great fun trying to drive through them during heavy rains!

Martin, You never have to apologise for the content of your videos....they're always great. Bought my first house right next to Reddish Vale back in the mid 70's, so your collaboration with Zak and Jack was very interesting. The Vale seems a lot more wooded now than I remember. Shame the was no Viaduct to left to find in your first segment, but still, that little archway (whatever it was) and the twin culverts were a great find. Thanks again!

I’ve loved these videos Martin and it’s nice to know your getting out and about 😀

Strines wier looks like an old flash lock, used to make a river navigable. These only needed a single gate to allow boats to climb and descend between levels.

Really enjoyed that. Miss mash is just great, especially the boys good on them hope their channel goes well. Thanks Martin for taking me along and please stay safe

Martin you really make Sundays great. If you think this was a mish-mash it was one great mish-mash. It was very uplifting, everywhere you go there is beautiful countryside. It would be great to have a DeLorean time machine and go back a hundred years or so and see how things were. I am always amazed at the quality of the workmanship that was done back in the day. In the tunnel could that slot have been for venting of some sort? Again another great video. Thanks...….

Thank you to Chris and family.

Yet more loose ends to be sorted!!! Did I notice a certain river creeping back into your vid 😃😆🤣 Great to see the boys taking an interest in history - bit of a novelty these days.

A nice lighthearted video. It's great that you have some budding competition in the making. I hope this inspires more young people to explore their local history and share it with others.

Another fascinating video and wonderful to see these young protegé̩s whom you've inspired!

A nice historical vlog, also from the family. Got a holiday feeling about it. How nice that Zack, Jack and Sam are so busy with history, thumbs up.

Good magazine style video enjoyed the special guest made a change great lads they should do well. Loving the back in time railway adventures you never know what you find hidden in these over grown places. It always astonishes me in the work involved in making these tunnels and bridges all by hand and wheel barrow amazing really.

Love the guest productions its got so much potential, I went to one of the many Brunel viaducts in my area yesterday with my 4 Yr old son who does indeed watch your chanel too..

A great video and boys were fantastic, so good to see them interested in their local history. We'll done all 👍

I was intrigued by this and thought I would investigate, I've been map reading for some years and I believe you may have been slightly off track as the viaduct didn't run through the copse of trees but slightly in front, I plotted a line on an old map then overlaid the with today's google map. At the same time the plotted line will,stay in place and you can overlay an O/S map and take a grid bearing then convert to a magnetic bearing, anyway this is how I saw it didn't run through the trees, also it wasn't there for that long. Use the national library of Scotland maps archive, brilliant tool for research. Ps i was going to email the the map screen capture overlay to you, but couldn't find an email address. Another edit, I've been looking at the geography of this place and a few things jump out at me, the first being that it's a dead straight line, the second is that from the mill to the colliery there is a rise of 200ft in altitude, 725ft to 925ft, next is that the tram way is totally isolated and not connected to anything which suggest to me it was built from the pit for the sole purpose of supplying the mill, which then lead me to believe this could have been either a pulley system tramway or the wagons went up and down the tramway under their own weight? What you think Martin?

Great stuff. All the kids in the videos were charming. Atmospheric guitar redolent of intro to Smash It Up by The Damned. Peerless, Martin 🇯🇪

Another great remnants of a train bearing viaduct is the like that runs across Malton and Norton in North Yorkshire where it used to cross the Derwent river the old viaduct looked incredible. Sad there isn't th full thing left but there is the giant embankment leading up to the river edge with the pillars still remaining

Martin. With respect to your missing viaduct. I would suggest that it was originally built of wood. Spoil from the mines was subsequently tipped over the viaduct sides. This provided extra strength, eventually making the viaduct an embankment. On the other hand, I may be completely wrong. The tunnels under the railway, which you suggest were previous rights of way, do not seem to have a lot of headroom. It could be that this was a waggon way, especially as the tunnel seems to have a severe bend. It is nice to see younger people having an interest in exploring their surroundings Keep up the good work.

Hi Martin, what a great & jam packed video, phew. I loved the video that Chris made of some awesome history of the railway there before things changed., his Daughter seemed like a very bright girl and his Son was lovely too. I also loved the video of you with Zack, Jack, Sam and Mum, it's so refreshing to see young lads getting involved in history and they really knew what they were talking about too so kudos to them for that. Thank you for sharing another great magazine style video, take care. xx💖

You gotta keep those two youngsters in the mix. They're natural and energetic.

When anyone mentions Hull I can only think of Only Fool And Horses - To Hull And Back :)

Brilliant videos

Great that you will be getting out, but I have to say I do like this type of video also. It reminds my a bit of Nationwide - remember that. It would go well with your Hillman Avenger. If you are going back to Reddish you could catch the once a week train to Reddish South station from Stockport.

Our lad Martin uploading us more great content, thank you!

Wonderful, nice to see young fans joining in too

Very interesting well done all!

Martin Zero... an inspirational influence, witness, and victim, here.... on how he motivates others.

Hi Martin. I'm a bricklayer and I can tell you the hole left in the bridge was certainly built for a reason. It would take great skill and a lot of cutting of bricks by hammer and chisel to create that slot! I have heard it was built to drop mail bags from the trains?

So......the kids know of Pollard's brewery ? 'Twas good stuff. Next week ,Hartshead powerstation engine shed perchance? There were some items of interest around there from it's days as a mainline. Can't say too much - walls have ears !! Well done agin. On Stockport and railways; if you are on the M60 ,heading from Bredbury to Stockport, as you go under the viaduct, thereabouts, there's an old refuge visible in what was the sandstone cutting , of the line down from Woodley thru' Tiviot Dale and on to points west. I "famously" had a can of beans explode on the in-cab cooker on a class 47 passing thru' there! which now forms the motorway embankment .

13:31: Nice stroll! I love the blackbirds singing in the background.

Love the young adventurers, great stuff! But I can remember being interested in local history when I was around that age...

Can't get enough of disused railways.

Thank you and your friends for sharing there places to see with you have enjoyed thanks!!😎🐓🐓🇬🇧

Always good, Martin. Please consider setting up a Patreon page. You so much research and work. The more support, the better, to keep it going. (I do not want to do the You Tube join thing.) Thank you.

Loved the goggles Martin your videos are most entertaining! The slot in the giants money 💰 box 📦 was where the giant put his coins 🤣 🕳🏦👍🏻😎

Martin I used to walk through the tunnel at Upton when I was a kid in the 60s the hull to Barnsley line there is a group that are trying to get it up and running through the tunnel to the A1 from Upton it's about 2 miles long

Well done Jack and Zak..

You'll have to do more around Stockport it's got some incredible history and this is from a mancunian.....one for reddish I read somewhere that it had a temporary ski slope, I thought it was a joke but it turnout to be true.

You have great rapport with the kids! You've made this magazine style format quite interesting. Thanks for keeping this going through the lockdown.

Excellent video Martin realy enjoyed this one.

Really enjoyed watching the young lads, so refreshing seeing them interested in local history, pity Strines Weir is no more. In Reddish near to Hyde Road at Debdale Park there’s a path that was actually an old canal leading to the Ashton Canal at Openshaw facing Greggs Bakery, I was brought up down on the estate to the left after we left Miles Platting , before you get to the bridge at the end.

nice work martin an everybody else. keep up the good work, stay safe an well eh!

Hi Martin. Next time you visit reddish vale look for the canal they started building in 1795. It was called the beat bank branch and was to run from reddish to the coal mines in Denton. After two years digging the canal was abandoned. I have found sections of it and places where it was filled in.

Hello Martin, this is abit vague, but I'm not from around Manchester, but a few days ago, I deliver around, what seems to be new'ish industrial development, in the Trafford area, and came across either a train or tram line, next to the road. It was set into the cobbles or concrete, apart from a 100 yards of it. Very interesting, And wondered if you had any information on it. My satnav had just packed up, so I didn't take notice of the road, all I remember was alot of mini roundabouts. And quite modern industrial units. That's all cheers Steve 👍

So many great things about this vid i dont know where to start. My mum grew up near kirk ella she would have loved to have loved to have seen her old stomping grounds.