The ghost of Bradley Bar or roundabouts W

HERE is Bradley Bar? Jim Sykes of Fixby posed the question that had me scratching my head and led me to discover the ghost story of New House Hall.

“The roundabout on Bradford Road, at the Fixby Road junction, has signs indicating that it is Bradley Bar,” says Jim.

“When ever my wife and I use this roundabout, I moan to my wife that I always thought that Bradley Bar was on Leeds Road at the junction with Bradley Road.

“Today my wife snapped and told me in no uncertain terms to ask you, as you are well known as a bit of a know-it-all.

So, has Kirklees changed the location of Bradley Bar from Leeds Road up to the roundabout at Fixby?

“I am sure that you, or perhaps your erudite readers, will be able to answer this question that has been driving me ‘roundabout the bend’!”

Like Jim, I always thought Bradley Bar was at the Leeds Road junction, where the White Cross Inn is located. Could it be that both were at one time known as “bars” – the term given to toll-houses on turnpike roads? Sadly, I can find no proof. Wikipedia says: “The abiding relic of the English toll roads is the number of houses with names like ‘Turnpike Cottage,’ the inclusion of ‘Bar’ in place names and occasional road name.”

We also have Lockwood Longwood Bar.

Bradford Road, that runs past Asda and leads to the Fixby Road junction, was a toll road that linked Huddersfield and Bradford.

Bradley Road was the Dewsbury to Elland turnpike, with a toll house near its junction with Shepherds Thorn Lane. Could the White Cross Inn, that dates from 1806, have been built near another toll gate at the Bradley Road – Leeds Road junction?

During my fruitless research, I discovered the Milestone Society website that provided a description of a walk into historic Lower Fell Greave Woods, below Bradley Road, and told the ghost story of New House Hall, that concerned the doomed love affair between a young man and the daughter of Sir Joshua Brook.

The young chap sent love letters to the girl hidden in the collar of his dog. Sir Joshua discovered the ruse and chopped off the head of the animal which went howling home through the woods (quite how, without a head, I don’t know). The young man abandoned his romance and, the story goes, the young woman and the headless dog can sometimes be seen wandering the woods at night. If any local resident bumps into her, they might ask if there was ever a toll house near The White Cross Inn. Otherwise, perhaps an erudite reader can solve the problem of Bradley Bar?

The ghost story concerned the doomed love affair between a young man and the daughter of Sir Joshua Brook