A visitor is on tenterhooks to know why a piece of Marsden’s history has been neglected.
Lancashire man Aidan Turner-Bishop visited the village recently and went in search of the famous Marsden tenterhook posts.
Tenterhook posts were used to stretch and dry washed woollen cloth in textile mills and the term “on tenterhooks” comes from the metal hooks attached to the posts.
Usually the posts were wooden, but the Marsden posts are stone and were listed in July 1985 as Grade II listed structures due to their importance.
They are now hidden among shrubs off Crowther Bruce Mill Road – which links Brougham Road and Warehouse Hill Road – and once used by workers at iconic New Mills and Bank Bottom Mills.
But while Mr Turner-Bishop could find the Blue Plaque, discovering the actual posts proved a little more challenging.
He said: “On a recent visit I tried to find the Grade II listed tenterhook posts at Marsden.
“It’s not easy: they’re covered in shrubbery, sapling tress and undergrowth. Yes, there’s a blue plaque on a wall nearby but that’s next to the shrubs and it too will probably be obscure in a year or two.
“Can the site be cleared up and the unique listed tenterhooks be restored to public sight? Who owns the land? Is this a job for Kirklees Council or could a group in Marsden do something to restore the village’s heritage?”
While Kirklees Council does not own the structures, they did help in the past.
In 2011 the council set out to restore the posts, with a stonemason and trainees working on the tenter posts and nearby stone wall at Crowther Bruce Mill Road which had been left to deteriorate for many years.
A Kirklees Council spokesman said: “The council came to a one off agreement with the owner to repair the posts in 2011.
“This was carried out part of the council’s construction training programme for unemployed young people and adults (BUILD). The programme is no longer in operation and as such we are not in a position to offer this assistance again.
“The responsibility to organise any repairs lies with the owners.”
The Examiner has tried to contact the owners without success.
The mills are owned by descendants of the renowned mill-owning Crowther family under the company name of John Edward Crowther Ltd.
Both mills have stood empty since New Mills closed in 2002 and Bank Bottom the following year.
Ambitious regeneration plans were accepted by Kirklees Council in 2005 but not acted upon.
