Keels at Elland

A Broader Outlook: NarrowBoat, Spring 2021

Christopher M Jones

Chris M. Jones studies three images of West Country keels on the Calder & Hebble

The location of these three images is Woodside Flour Mills situated on the Calder & Hebble Navigation at Elland, near Halifax. The mill was located at the foot of Elland Wood as it sloped down to the off-side of the pound above Elland Top Lock (otherwise known as Woodside Lock) and Long Lee Lock. Just a short distance from the towpath was the meandering River Calder as it wove its way between fields, worsted spinning mills, works and factories on either side. Coal and grain were the main traffics and these keels were loaded with grain from the port of Hull for the flour mills. The journey would cover just over 75 miles from Hull to Elland via the rivers Humber and Ouse, then the Aire & Calder and Calder & Hebble navigations. Woodside Flour Mills was occupied by corn miller John Foster Milner from 1885. He also traded as a corn factor with premises at the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway warehouse at Bradford. By the early 20th century the mill had passed to the Elland Fl…