In the days before the M62 the Floating Light pub was popular with travellers crossing the Pennines between Huddersfield and Saddleworth.

Drivers and passengers heading along the A62 Manchester Road/Huddersfield Road would stop off for refreshment and admire the bleakly beautiful views of Saddleworth before continuing their journey.

The pub was opened by Blackburn-based brewery Thwaites in 1940.

It was named after the lights used by navvies to build the Standedge canal tunnel below the moors.

At 350m (1,100ft) above sea level, the Floating Light may have been isolated but its location on a major trans-Pennine route ensured its survival for almost 50 years.

Pub pours in the cash. Alison Taylor, the landlady of the Floating Light at Standedge, is seen with two-year-old Marsden hole-in-the-heart boy Richard Quarmby (right) and Michael Szyszlo, nine, of Carrs Road, Marsden. Michael hands over a cheque for £100 for the Richard Quarmby Appeal which he raised with a sponsored swim. The other cheque is for £380, raised by regulars at the pub in a fun night. 20th June 1990.

But the pubs' fortunes began to chance with the opening of the Milnrow to Outlane section of the M62 in 1970.

Technical advances meant cars became faster, safer and more comfortable which reduced the likelihood of a stop-off at the Floating Light.

Like many pubs on roads between Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire, the Floating Light took its last orders in 1998.

The former Floating Light pub, New Hey Road, in 2013

The building was bought in 2000 by a private buyer, renovated and is now a home.

This collection of photos was taken in 1981 by an anonymous visitor.

Apparently, a member of staff took exception to the visitor taking pictures and ordered him (or her) out!