It's so picturesque this ‘lost village’ could almost be on top of a hillside in Europe.

It was, in fact, the old village of Berry Brow captured by a photographer back in 1954.

And it’s loss is still keenly felt by former architect Arthur Quarmby who, ironically, now lives beneath a hill in Holme.

Arthur said: “If regular commuters along the road from Lockwood to Honley were to see this Examiner photograph they would be astonished that such a wonderful Italianate village (by far the most attractive in the Huddersfield area) had ever existed and furious with the then council for ever demolishing it.

“We were there, my wife and I, when we first married, renting a one-bedroom cottage (with shared outside toilet) in Robin Hood Hill, Berry Brow. Huddersfield Corporation was minded to demolish the village because the houses had no inside toilets or bathrooms.

“Their plan was to destroy the lot and build new houses on the flat land at the top and blocks of multi-storey apartments down on the low side of the main road.

Arthur Quarmby
Arthur Quarmby

“I met a delegation of councillors on site and said it would be far cheaper and more satisfactory to install bathrooms using the improvement grants which were readily available at the time. Their reaction was ‘clear off, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“This loss of our most attractive village still rankles although I suppose the fact that nature has so effectively taken over the demolition site that it is now dense woodland is some consolation.

“And I would think that the Deadmanstone – the resting place for coffins being carried from the Holme Valley to either of the two churches which at the time covered the valley (Kirkburton and Almondbury) is still there.”

If you have memories of living in cottages or terraced houses with outside toilets then email them and any pictures to features@examiner.co.uk

Berry Brow in 1954
Berry Brow in 1954