Salterforth to Greenberfield - Walk Guide - Section 03
At Skipton Road Bridge, no 154A and originally called Coates Bridge, Bankfield Mill is alongside the towpath. Originally a cotton weaving mill, built between 1905 and 1910, it was taken over by the Rover Company during the war, in 1940, when that car company was closely involved with the early development of the jet engine. In 1943, responsibility was passed on to Rolls Royce who now produce jet engine parts here — the famous RB 211 jet engine being named after Rolls Barnoldswick.
Opposite the mill was the first Barnoldswick canal warehouse, which accounts for the widening of the canal here to allow boats to turn round. Just behind the warehouse was Coates New Mill, a weaving shed opened in 1864. In 1897 a new warehouse was authorised at a cost of £557, and it was built next to the towpath on the other side of the bridge. It was a wood framed building which remained in use until 1922. The stone wharf frontage survives, and the location of the mooring rings and wood framework can still be seen, together with the rails for the sliding door between the towpath and the warehouse. The yard here was used right from the opening of the canal for storing coal, and at the far end there was a limekiln till the late-nineteenth century.
Now continue along the towpath. Towards Salterforth you will pass the remains of Eastwood Bridge, before reaching Long Ing Bridge, no 153. Towards Greenberfield you pass another dismantled bridge before reaching the remains of the old road, now a footpath in a field alongside the towpath.
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