LAST PLACE ON EARTH TO BUILD

IN the Middle Ages much land in the lower Grane valley was open mossland.

While attending to drains on my nearby smallholding I have dug up ancient tree roots preserved for centuries in the acidic, peaty soil.

The land was gradually improved and enclosed as meadow and pasture by the Holden estate. The Turnpike roads, the pub and the houses are all comparatively recent developments. However, the legacy of this ancient landscape remains – below the surface.

In 1972 I had installed a small private sewage plant. The contractor was the late Amos Taylor of Edenfield, a very experienced and highlyregarded builder who specialised in tricky jobs.

His digger driver was called Stanley. The last work on the scheme was to lay the final outfall of treated and filtered water

But Stanley’s digger bucket had gone into a large pocket of what builders call gristly (material between sand and gravel, laden with water).

Amos had to act swiftly and bring in screw jack revetments to prevent a complete collapse and to make further work safe.

When the land between Grane Road and Holcombe Road was proposed for industrial development in the early 90s, ground surveyors were brought in to investigate. They reported that they found the land ‘bottomless.’ The developer, Taylor

Wimpey, who wants to build some 130 houses on this ‘bottomless’ land has also commissioned a ground survey. If one reads between the lines of the surveyor’s report it pretty well says ‘don’t build here’.

Most importantly the likelihood of running sands is deemed high. The survey recommends piled foundations for the houses.

The cost would be substantial before a single brick was laid.

There are recent reports of a developer in the Fylde area who has decided not to proceed with development. Most of the Fylde area had been mossland.

Difficulties encountered by the contractor demonstrate how the sub-surface remains of mossland are best avoided for development.

There are many good reasons to object to the proposed development, but this piece of old waterlogged mossland would qualify it as one the last places to build on earth.

Tony Hodbod,

Holden Hall Farm, Haslingden